Ratatouille

“Ratatouille”

USA. 2007. Written and directed by Brad Bird. Starring: the voices of Patton Oswalt, Lou Romano, Ian Holm, Janeane Garofalo and Peter O’Toole.

Rating: ★★★★

Would you want to see a story of a Parisian rat who wants to become a chef? I certainly would, as will everyone else, if it is from those geniuses at Pixar. After all, the studio managed to make toys, bugs, monsters, fish, superheroes and even cars come to photorealistic life.

Yes, at a time when Hollywood studios crank out digital animation at a dime a dozen, the Pixar films have never forgotten about that little thing called story. This time, they have made their most mature film to date with a narrative that would typically serve an artistic, independent film. Add in some awesome digital animation and you've got another instant...well, you know the blurb.

We are introduced to Remy (Patton Oswalt), a rat with an acute sense of smell, who sneaks into homes to read cookbooks and watch TV shows from the famous French chef, Gusteau. This doesn't sit well with the rest of his family and clan who avoid the humans and simply steal whatever food they can from the garbage. Not Remy, as he adores the humans and envies their abilities to “discover and create.”

One day, when he gets separated from his family, he sees that he has stumbled into Gusteau’s kitchen. There he meets the new garbage boy, Linguini (Lou Romano) who knows nothing about cooking. But when Remy is able to cook a stew that impresses a food critic and Linguini takes the credit, the duo strikes an unlikely partnership and Linguini becomes the new cook in the kitchen.

The film has the usual hilarious pleasures that children will enjoy such as how Remy controls Linguini’s actions by pulling strands of his hair or an old granny blasts her house to pieces with a shotgun just to take out a rat infestation. But writer/director Brad Bird, whose previous effort was “The Incredibles,” goes way beyond simply providing the jokes pitched at adults. What other animated film have you seen that features French culinary artistry, the battle to impress famed food critic, Anton Ego (Peter O’Toole) and outsmart a scheming cook, Skinner (Ian Holm), a touching friendship between a rat and a human and even a human love story between Linguini and Colette (Janeane Garofalo) all seamlessly rolled into one?

As is the case with each Pixar film, every animated frame of this feature is a breakthrough. It may sound odd to say that an animated film plays like a travelogue through the city of love and great food but not anymore. From the smooth waves of the Seine River to the great, jazzy musical score by Michael Giacchino, reminiscent of Edith Piaf’s classic music, the imagining of Paris is as astonishing as it is wondrous. And the animators must have taken numerous wildlife videos of scampering rats to get that motion just right.

One of the many brilliant story touches is in how the rats talk to each other but never to humans (though they can understand the latter). Thus, once Remy lands in the kitchen at the 20-minute mark, the film boasts some fine screenwriting, as the rodent shows all of his understanding and knowledge of delicious cooking purely through action and facial gestures. Of course, it is anyone’s guess when the others in the kitchen will intuit that a rat is behind the culinary perfection.

Speaking of culinary senses, I had complained about a film called “Perfume” last year for being unsuccessful in communicating the sense of smell to the big screen. Here, freed into the realm of animation, Bird “blindfolds” the audience by fading the screen to black and visualizing the aroma and touch to the tongue in colorful images. And the single funniest moment in the film is a literal visualization of the old phrase, “just like Mom used to make.”

The Pixar guys also never make the mistake of riding on box office star appeal over talent with their voice casting. Patton Oswalt, best known from Comedy Central’s “Reno 911,” provides humorous, adorable touches of moxie, innovation and sheer wonder. The biggest delight (no pun intended) is the legendary Peter O'Toole, who can make or break a restaurant with a glowing or scathing food review, and delivers a final stately monologue to provide the perfect conclusion.

In the film's most insightful scene, when his father shows a series of dead rats and traps in an animal store to explain the trappings of a rat's life, Remy simply replies, “Change is nature." Sometimes humans forget that idea and we stop thinking to “discover and create.” Here is a film to remind children and adults alike.