Mouse Extra

From the moment I read the storyline to Ratatouille I was intrigued.  There was something about the very quirkiness of the subject that made me think this film was either going to be a terrible flop or a crowning achievement.  How could they possibly turn a film about a rat cooking in Paris into something memorable?  Well, they did, and Brad Bird and Pixar achieved near cinematic perfection along the way.

                                   image copyright Disney Enterprises Inc. and Pixar Animation Studios

There is nothing about this film that isn’t wonderfully entertaining.  The animation brings Paris to life in a way few filmmakers have ever achieved.  The human characters are in the classic cartoon tradition of exaggerated semi-realism, but they are altogether unique to this film as well.  But the lead character, the “Little Chef” Remy and his world of rats, is what truly makes you applaud Ratatouille.  His expressive face, hilarious mannerisms, and perfectly vulnerable voice are unlike any animated character before him.  Bird has stood on the backs of the great classic Disney animators, known for bringing animals to life, and created everything  they could have hoped for.  Remy is loyal, smart, lucky, scared, talented, scorned and confused all at the same time.  This character posses levels of complexity that Pixar has never achieved before.

The world of Ratatouille is a blend of remarkable authenticity combined with the just the right touch of cartoon pizzazz.  At times it is hard to believe you are not looking at a live shot of Paris itself, while the very next scene will show a band of rats playing a song on paperclips.  One moment your skin crawls as you see a swarm of rats scurrying across the floor, and then the very next moment you find those same rodents cute and funny.  This switch from realism to fantasy is so seamlessly weaved you hardly notice it.  And it is with this cinematic flexibility achieved that made it impossible for the film to fail.  Now Bird could take us virtually anywhere. 

To be honest, I don’t know how well this film will do with young children.  However, from the feel of this film it is somewhat hard to believe that young children are the target audience anyway.  Never once did I think to myself, “well the kids will love that”.  It was always smart and never juvenile, not even in the smallest way.  No cheap flatulence jokes or goofy name calling.  If kids like this movie, its because the movie doesn’t treat them like kids.

I also don’t know how well this film will do financially, and quite frankly I don’t care.  There isn’t the slightest detail of this film that isn’t remarkable.  From the Chaplin-esque slapstick, to the Woody Allen intellectuality it made you laugh.  From the Walt Disney classic sentimentality, to the very Pixar modernism it consumed you.  Each frame is a visual achievement, each joke comically appropriate, and each plot twist engaging.  Whether the general public rewards this film with its money doesn’t matter.  But the Motion Picture Academy certain is obliged to do some rewarding.   Regardless, Ratatouille will reward each and every viewer with wonderful entertainment.