Ratatouille [blu-Ray]

Animation, Comedy, Family

Ian Holm	Skinner
Peter O'Toole	Anton Ego
Janeane Garofalo	Colette
Patton Oswalt	Remy
Lou Romano	Linguini
Brad Garrett	Auguste Gusteau
Russell Allman	Snive
Brian Dennehy	Django
Peter Sohn	Emile
Will Arnett	Horst
Julius Callahan	Lalo / Francois
James Remar	Larousse

Director	Brad Bird; Jan Pinkava
Producer	Brad Lewis; John Lasseter
Writer	Brad Bird; Emily Cook; Kathy Greenberg; Bob Peterson; Jan Pinkava
Musician	Michael Giacchino

One key point: if you can get over the natural gag reflex of seeing hundreds of rodents swarming over a restaurant kitchen, you will be free to enjoy the glory of Ratatouille, a delectable Pixar hit. Our hero is Remy, a French rat (voiced by Patton Oswalt) with a cultivated palate, who rises from his humble beginnings to become head chef at a Paris restaurant. How this happens is the stuff of Pixar magic, that ineffable blend of headlong comedy, seamless technology, and wonder (in the latter department, this movie's views of nighttime Paris are on a par with French cinema at its most lyrical). Director Brad Bird (The Incredibles) doesn't quite keep all his spinning plates in the air, but the gags are great and the animation amazingly expressive--Remy's shrugs and nods are nimbler than many flesh-and-blood actors can manage. Refreshingly, the movie's characters aren't celebrity-reliant, with the most recognizable voice coming from Peter O'Toole's snide food critic. (This fellow provides the film's sole sour note--an oddly pointed slap at critics, those craven souls who have done nothing but rave about Pixar's movies over the years.) Brad Bird's style is more quick-hit and less resonant than the approach of Pixar honcho John Lasseter, but it's hard to complain about a movie that cooks up such bountiful pleasure. --Robert Horton