• Skip to content
  • Skip to navigation
Raising Children Network
  • Pregnancy
  • Newborns
  • Babies
  • Toddlers
  • Preschoolers
  • School age
  • Pre-teens
  • Teens
  • Grown-ups
  • Autism
  • Disability

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.

Supported By

  • Department of Social Services

Raising Children Network is supported by the Australian Government. Member organisations are the Parenting Research Centre and the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute with The Royal Children’s Hospital Centre for Community Child Health.

Member Organisations

  • Parenting Research Centre
  • The Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne
  • Murdoch Children's Research Institute

Follow us on social media

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • Twitter
Sign up now to get free parenting news delivered to your inbox.
Aboriginal flag (c) WAM Clothing
Torres Strait Islands flag
At raisingchildren.net.au we acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which we live, gather and work. We recognise their continuing connection to land, water and community. We pay respect to Elders past, present and emerging.
  • Privacy statement
  • Terms of use

© 2006-2023 Raising Children Network (Australia) Limited. All rights reserved.

Warning: This website and the information it contains is not intended as a substitute for professional consultation with a qualified practitioner.

This website is certified by Health On the Net Foundation (HON) and complies with the HONcode standard for trustworthy health information.