Story
Remy (voiced by Patton Oswalt) is a rat with an appreciation of food and a talent for cooking. He lives with his family in a rural farmhouse. While the other rats steal food and garbage to survive, Remy aspires to higher things. His hero is the celebrated and recently deceased Chef Gusteau. During a forbidden visit to the farmhouse to watch a cooking show, Remy and all the rats are discovered. They are attacked by the woman who owns the house. In the chaos, Remy is separated from his family and drifts aimlessly in the sewers.
Alone and lost, Remy receives support and advice from an imaginary friend in the form of Gusteau (Brad Garrett). Gusteau encourages Remy to go above ground. To Remy’s delight, he discovers he has in fact drifted into Paris and Gusteau’s restaurant. There he observes the new kitchen hand, Freddo Linguini (Lou Romano), accidentally ruining the soup. Remy steps in to rectify the soup disaster then Linguini saves Remy’s life. The pair form a partnership. This allows Remy to develop and display his culinary talent and enables Linguini to keep his job, fall in love and gain fame.
With success comes increasing expectations and complications. For Remy, the reunion with his family reminds him of the expectation to conform and behave like a rat, not a human. For Linguini, an unexpected connection with Chef Gusteau places him in charge of the restaurant just when a famed restaurant critic, Anton Ego (Peter O’Toole), announces his intention to review it. Under this increasing pressure, the friendship between Remy and Linguini is challenged. Nehey work together for the sake of the restaurant.
Themes
Animal distress; separation from a parent; bullying
Violence
There is some violence in this movie including:
- During one of Remy’s attempts to cook at the farmhouse, both he and Emil are electrocuted during a storm. The scene is comical and although the rats are scorched, they do not suffer severe injuries.
- When Remy and Emil are discovered by the farmhouse’s owner, they are repeated shot at. They appear frightened and have a number of near misses. The ceiling falls in, resulting in all the other rats coming under attack also. In the chaotic scene, bullets are flying everywhere, glass shatters, objects fall and break inside and outside the house. None of the rats are shown to be harmed or killed.
- When Remy first enters Gasteau’s kitchen, he is nearly stepped on, cut with knives, run over by trolleys, and nearly baked in the oven. He appears scared during this experience.
- When Collette, the only female cook in the kitchen is asked to mentor Linguini, she yells at him and pins his shirt sleeve to the bench with 3 knives to get a message across to him.
Sexual references
None
Alcohol, drugs and other substances
There is some use of substances in this movie. For example:
- When Linguini is successful in the kitchen, he is toasted by the other cooks.
- In an attempt to get information out of Linguini, the evil new head chef drinks a bottle of wine with him. Linguini clearly appears a little drunk. He is shown asleep on the restaurant floor the morning after.
Nudity and sexual activity
Linguini and Collette kiss on two occasions.
Product placement
None
Coarse language
This movie contains some very mild coarse language in this movie.
Ideas to discuss with your children
Ratatouille is a highly entertaining animated comedy about two misfits trying to succeed in the world of Parisian fine dining. The well-depicted characters, slapstick humour and excellent animation should appeal to children and adults alike. The story highlights the following values:
- focusing on what is ahead of you, not what is left behind
- making your own choices in life
- embracing change
- loyalty, friendship and the importance of famil
- tolerance.
You could talk to your child about these values as well as the real-life consequences of stealing, disobedience, bullying and prejudice.