Is Ratatouille Actually The Best Movie Ever?
What’s the best kids movie? Toy Story 3, Shrek, and The Lion King are all popular suggestions- but the real answer might be a certain movie about a cooking rat. In fact, Ratatouille might not just be the best kids movie, but the best movie full stop. Controversial perhaps, but I’m convinced it has a popular following amongst film fans, foodies and critics for a reason. Here’s why, nearly two decades on, it might just be the best film ever.
An instant classic
Ratatouille came out back in 2007, and was yet another hit from director Brad Bird, who’d previously made both The Iron Giant and The Incredibles, and would go on to make the fourth Mission: Impossible movie, Ghost Protocol.
Pixar moved from the relatively high-concept films they were known for- toys that come alive, a family of superheroes and monsters that professionally scare kids- to tell a comparatively simple story about a rat with dreams of being a chef. Remy (Patton Oswalt) idolises the human chef Auguste Gusteau, despite the fact every other rat he knows is terrified of humans and prefers eating rubbish. He ends up forming a bond with garbage boy Alfredo Linguini (Lou Romano), inventing a way to control his cooking by pulling his hair under his toque hat. And somehow, it all came together, and critics loved it, as well as becoming big at the box office and subsequently.
Ratatouille saw Pixar move away from the relatively high-concept films they were known for to tell a comparatively simple story about a rat with dreams of being a chef.
Rufus, Contributing Entertainment Writer
Iconic characters
Surprisingly, Remy and Alfredo aren’t even the most memorable characters from the film (as good as they are): just like Toy Story, Ratatouille has plenty of great supporting personalities. The film’s antagonist, Chef Skinner, is played by the late Ian Holm, and despite his stern looks and hatred of rats, isn’t even too diabolical.
Janeane Garofalo plays Colette, one of the passionate cooks at the Gusteau restaurant, and who becomes a love interest for Alfredo. Arrested Development star Will Arnett, who would go on to voice Bojack Horseman, plays the bizarre sous chef Horst who constantly changes his backstory and claims he killed a man with his thumb. Gusteau himself (Brad Garret) appears in ghost form, having died before the main events of the story, and dispenses advice to the aspirational Remy. All of these characters, despite their cartoonish qualities, somehow feel believable.
All of these characters, despite their cartoonish qualities, somehow feel believable.
How to use a Hollywood legend
Celeb voice casts have long been a part of animated movies, often employing A-listers and Hollywood legends to give an extra marketing appeal. But Ratatouille might do it better than any other, casting Lawrence of Arabia star Peter O’Toole in the role of Anton Ego. Anton is, initially, presented as a bigger bad than Skinner, looming over the film as a terrifying food critic who gave Gusteau a bad review and possibly contributed to his death.
He appears at the climax of the film as he comes to again try the food at the restaurant, which Remy and co. must deal with.
The dish that is the film’s namesake comes into play as Remy constructs his take, and it’s served up to the hardened, uninterested-looking critic. But as he takes a bite, he’s instantly transported back to his childhood, and, despite his disbelief at the rodent chef who cooked it, gives glowing praise. O’Toole is basically a voice cameo in the film, and yet helps to make the character and the film timeless.
Winning over the restaurant world
Despite being an animated kids movie, Ratatouille takes itself seriously: the production crew did plenty of research to get it right. Pixar wanted to make the CGI food look like food you’d actually want to eat, and consulted world-renowned chef Thomas Keller for advice. They also wanted to portray taste and texture experiences onscreen, which Remy seems uniquely attuned to, again creating a visual feast for the eyes.
Others in the cooking world praised the film, with the much-loved Anthony Bourdain saying that in terms of films about restaurants, “far and away the best was about an animated rat. They got the food, the reactions to food, and tiny details to food really right – down to the barely noticeable pink burns on one of the character’s forearms.”
They got the food, the reactions to food, and tiny details to food really right – down to the barely noticeable pink burns on one of the character’s forearms.”
Anthony Bourdain
Serious staying power
In the nearly 20 years since Ratatouille first graced our screens, it’s only continued to remain relevant. There are plenty of GIFs and memes, of course- the one of Skinner reading a letter in shock, and of Ego flashing back to childhood. But there’s also a sense that it’s remained a hit with both kids who saw it at the time (and since) and adults alike. It’s been referenced and name-dropped in countless other films and TV shows from The Simpsons to Breaking Bad, and parodied in Everything Everywhere All at Once. There was even a TikTok musical version, and it has popped up all over the internet over the years.
Final thoughts
You can say many of these points about other animated movies (or films in general), but perhaps one of the most remarkable things is that Ratatouille has stayed as one single film. Not to say others like Toy Story or Shrek don’t have good sequels, but given the success, it’s refreshing that it hasn’t been spun into a franchise (other than a video game). Even though the film was a big critical and commercial success, Pixar has resisted endless spin-offs and sequels. Veteran film critic Roger Ebert said at the time that it was the first animated film that “made me positively desire” a sequel, and Patton Oswalt said he wanted to play Remy again- but Brad Bird has said he has no desire to make one. And it feels like the better choice.
You can say many of these points about other animated movies (or films in general), but perhaps one of the most remarkable things is that Ratatouille has stayed as one single film.
