Ranking Pixar: Number 2

Those who know me may be surprised to see this here because for a long time Ratatouille was my all-time favorite Pixar film and one of my favorite films period (the latter of which still being true). We’ll definitely get to why that changed, but for now, I’ve gotta gush about Ratatouille in the penultimate entry in this series.

Where to start with this movie? Well, like Up and the final entry on this list, Ratatouille just knocks the visuals out of the park. Paris looks just absolutely gorgeous in this movie. It’s full of warm colors that really bring the gourmet food to life, and each of the characters have that cartoonish look to them that Brad Bird was known for (also seen in The Incredibles), which, to me personally, look a hell of a lot better than trying to make the characters look realistic. The flames, the oils, the vegetables, the BREAD. Oh my god does the bread look good in this movie. You can practically taste ever morsel put in front of you on the screen. This is practically on the same level as Food Wars, which, if you haven’t seen it, also has some amazing food porn locked within. But aside from the food, even the dirty sewers and back alleys manage to look alive, like they’ve truly been lived in. Hair, clothing, everything has such incredible attention to detail put into it that sometimes you wonder how they even pulled it off. But they did, and it looks just incredible.

Every character in this movie is well-realized and compelling in their own way. Remy is frustrated with his at-home life but soon finds that his family, while they don’t agree with what he’s doing, will still support him to the bitter end. Linguini is a bit of a screw-up who needs to be pushed to take the risks to better his life, but at the end of the day he’ll stand up for his convictions and for his friends, even if he knows others won’t agree with him. Colette is a hard-ass, but only because she cares. And obviously because she’s been hurt before and is afraid to let anyone close again. And the kitchen staff within Gusteau’s are all memorable. Makes me wish we had more time to get to know them, but the moments we do have with them are plenty memorable and funny. And the idea to include Gusteau as a figment of Remy’s imagination was brilliant. Not only did it give us a chance to be partially connected to the character whose mere presence has influenced and shaped every other character in the film, but he also gives us deep insight into Remy as a character. It was a bold choice, but a smart one, and it worked out perfectly. The only other characters in the cast, really, are the other rats, who unfortunately aren’t nearly as interesting as the staff of Gusteau’s, but they still do an acceptable job and especially help wrap things up at the end.

As for the villains, Chef Skinner is a bit of a flat character, but he’s completely made up for by the brilliance of Anton Ego, who’s one of my favorite characters in all of film. Though he starts out as this bitter stick-in-the-mud, it’s clear that he wasn’t always like that, nor did he want to be like that. And it all culminates in one of my all-time favorite movie scenes: Ego’s review. One of the best endings to any film, and a huge moment of growth for Ego where he realizes his shortcomings and mistakes, and basically throws away his career just because he has to admit that he was wrong. And he’s happy to do it, and it’s clear his life after being a critic was happier still. He’s one of the best rounded characters I’ve ever seen, and not only is his review eye-opening for himself, but for the audience. There are plenty of thought-provoking ideas through these few minutes that don’t just apply to him, but to most people. Because at the end of the day, everyone’s a critic, and the average piece of junk probably IS more meaningful than the review that I’m currently writing.

One weakness of the film that we should probably discuss, is the story. Or rather, the story structure. The story itself is solid and well-told, except for some pacing issues in the middle. A lot of story is crammed in at one time, and it can make everything feel confused and strained. If the subplot about Linguini and Remy getting into a fight could have been streamlined (perhaps by axing the part where Remy steals from the restaurant), I think that part of the movie would have flowed better. Besides, we all know these kinds of scenes. We know the two will make up in the end, so why do we need to watch this play out?

Otherwise, like I said, I think the story is structured very well, and especially comes together at the end, tying up all the loose ends and ending on a very wonderful note.

Everything in the sound department is phenomenal. Sound design puts you right into the kitchen, every voice actor does a damn fine job of bringing their character to life, and the music… hoo boy is the music great. A bit softer than the usual Pixar sound, but with the French setting, it fits, and it fits well. Some of my favorite Pixar tracks are here, and some scenes would arguably fall flat without this music. It really feels like the two were made side-by-side in some instances, each influencing the other and building upon one another to create some really amazing scenes. Just one I have to mention is the scene right after Remy gets to Paris and is crawling around in the walls. Just so engrossing, and the music is a huge part of why.

And I don’t know why this is, but just the focus of the movie on food makes such a huge difference. Not only does the food look incredible (I swear you can practically smell it in some scenes), but just as all the characters in the movie are influenced by Gusteau and their relationship with him, they’re similarly shaped by their history with and perspective on food. Like, again, Ego. At first it seems like he has this snobbish attitude towards food because of his elite status, but it turned out that he came from humble beginnings all along, and his high expectations of food came from a deep-rooted respect of it. And somewhere along the way, he forgot that and needed Remy to remind him.

It’s touches like that which really set Ratatouille above so many other movies. Like I said, I’ve definitely criticized the movie more than others on this list (Up in particular), but I’ve always said that you can’t truly love any piece of media until you can take a critical eye to it and accept it for what it really is, warts and all. And in some cases, those deeper understandings will make you respect the movie all the more. That’s why I love Ratatouille, because as we learn in the movie, even those from humble beginnings can rise to be the greatest.

But, in this case, not THE greatest. Ratatouille was my #1 for a very long time, but it was recently unseated. If you’ve been keeping track, you know what’s coming next. For everyone else, stay tuned for my #1, coming soon…