To crown his achievement, Brad Bird has finally found a sympathetic vehicle for that most vilified member of the animal kingdom, the rat.Ĭhief protagonist is Remy (voiced by comedian Patton Oswalt), a rat whose ambition in life is to be a gourmet chef in a five-star French restaurant like his idol Auguste Gusteau, who runs one of the finest restaurants in Paris and whose mantra ‘Anyone can cook’ has inspired him throughout his rat-life. Certainly the nuances of the French setting and cooking terminology might be above the heads of many toddlers, although adults and critics will be delighted. If the film doesn’t near Finding Nemo numbers, it is only because the storytelling is too demanding for younger children. The situation where domestic box office exceeded international on Cars ($244.1m to $218m) will be reversed here, and international numbers will be closer to the $371m take of The Incredibles. It’s easy to forget you’re watching animation, instead imagining that some hot new auteur is behind the camera.īox office prospects are appetising for Buena Vista domestically and Buena Vista International, and the global demographic for the film is enormous. We have seen CG-animated characters come on in leaps and bounds since Toy Story in 1995, but Bird and his team experiment here with stylish camera angles, complicated set-ups and panning shots which bring the action to life.įor the kitchen in which much of the action takes place, they create a sense of physical geography which is unprecedented in these films, and to the streets of Paris, they bring an atmosphere and design which are surprisingly authentic. Just as impressive is the style and movement of the animation itself. Ratatouille is rich, complicated, intelligent and long - 110 minutes to be precise, although last year’s Cars was longer - but its unusual blend of human and animal characters, subtle charm and gentle humour, warm characterizations and wealth of detail render it as sophisticated as any live action film, and more than most. After a couple of years when animation has become stuck in a creative quagmire of penguins and assorted zoo pictures, Bird and the wizards at Pixar have taken the format to the next level of smart storytelling and visual inspiration.īy the finale, which manages to be both funny and strangely moving, it’s a genuine wrench to leave these characters behind. The Academy might as well hand over the animated feature Oscar to Brad Bird right now, since it is hard to imagine any other film coming close to his glorious new film Ratatouille in this or any year.

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