My favorite Pixar movie
This is my favorite Pixar animated movie and I give it 4.5 stars. I have watched this movie countless times, and I never get tired of it! Maybe it's because the main attraction is *food* and I love food. =)

Remy is a rat, but he's not your ordinary rat. He has dreams bigger than slumming it in the gutters with his family, making do with scraps from the garbage bin. His dreams encompass becoming a chef, and creating dishes that tantalize the taste buds. He occupies his time watching a cooking show by famous Parisian chef Gusteau and learning the trade in the kitchen of an old cottage. Unfortunately, being a rat, he is run off the property by the owner in a very funny scene (an old lady in hair curlers wielding a shotgun.LOL). This sets in motion his journey to realize his dream of becoming a chef.

Okay, you're probably wondering what is so great about a story in which the main character is a rat?! I thought the same thing, and never did go see this movie when it was out in theatres. Finally, on a whim I bought the DVD to watch and was pleasantly surprised by the humor and touching warmth of the story about, yes a rat!

There were so many moments of humorous scenes, I think my favorite is Remy getting caught in the act of fixing a soup Linguini messed up, with Linguini standing there in astonishment as he watches a rat cooking.

At its heart, it is about reaching for your dreams despite the odds and obstacles set in your path. Despite the nay-sayers who say, "You can't do this!", which Remy encountered a few times from his family especially his father. Determined, Remy ignored the "You can'ts" and the odds against him, and befriends a young man named Linguini and they partner up to create yummy dishes. Although there are human characters in the movie, and one the klutzy boy Linguini, plays a main role, Remy is the star of the show.

You can't go wrong with a Pixar movie, and despite my initial misgivings of a movie about a rat, I'm glad I caved in and bought it. Like all the animated movies by Pixar I've seen, Ratatouille is wonderful and touching, an excellent movie.

If you like your kid flicks twisted and a little "off"
...then "Ratatouille" is a good choice. It's a great story with a lot to offer kids and adults. But, the reason for my comment is that apparently computer animation has reached a point where it can render the stuff of nightmares.

The rats have likable personalities and make surprisingly sympathetic characters, but each and every hair is rendered. When there is rat pack on the screen, you can see each and every hair, to the point where it taps into conscious and subconscious feelings towards rodents (personally, I like 'em.)

The juxtaposition of fine food with the image of 1001 rats scurrying across a kitchen makes this animated feature worth the investment of 90 minutes.

Just don't try the trick of cooking mushrooms over a rooftop chimney in a thunderstorm!

Great pic, but story is terrible
1080p pic is great, however this movie could not keep my full attention nor my wife and our 3 year old daughter. I wanted to like this since it was my first blu-ray movie, but I did not. I resold it the following day.

Not appropriate for younger children even with G rating
There should never be blasting shot guns in a G rated movie. That constitutes violence to me. My 3.5 year old daughter got very upset and we did not even get to the wonderful parts because the gun scene appears within the first 15 minutes of the film.

A cute story for food lovers.
A young rat named Remy is shunned by his family and other rats for his mature palate. While they, like all rats, eat garbage, he tries to blend flavors to enhance his food. When he, then, becomes unfortunately separated from the other rats he must learn to fend for himself for the first time and winds up in the most unlikely of situations. He teams up with Linguini, an awkward young man who is an aspiring chef. Together they are able to bring Remy's culinary visions to the (human) public. The unconventional duo must fight through adversity that is more than just what would happen if people found out that not only is there a rat in the kitchen, but that rat just prepared their dinner.

I liked this movie. It wasn't my favorite Pixar movie, but I certainly enjoyed the creativity. And it looked great, as the Pixar movies all do. The story was a little weak on its own, and I feel that I enjoyed it a little more on a personal level than others might. If you don't enjoy being in the kitchen, you might miss some of the charm, I feel, was present in this movie.