2007 film “Ratatouille” directed by Brad Bird is still relevant in pop culture today. Photo from the letterboxd.com.
Inspired by a sudden resurgence of “Ratatouille” content on TikTok, I’ve rewatched the movie to see if it still holds up today. It does.
Watching “Ratatouille” again feels just like the scene where food critic Anton Ego tries Remy’s ratatouille for the first time and is brought back to a lovely childhood memory. The movie inspires you to reflect on past memories and find happiness in them, which I assure you can be done through rewatching this movie.
As a child, I loved “Ratatouille.” The color palette was enjoyable for a child, as the juxtaposition between the opening shot of the dark, dreary old woman’s house in France compared with the shot of Remy seeing Paris for the first time leaves us in awe. All of the feelings I felt back then arise when I rewatched this movie because of shots like this.
My favorite part of this movie will always be when the old lady shoots her ceiling (why you would pull a shotgun out on two rats and start firing inside your home instead of approaching the problem differently will always baffle me) and it falls down revealing the rat colony as they rush to the river. It always makes me laugh. Something about Django cupping his rat hands around his mouth and yelling “evacuate!” just gets me going. Similarly, when Remy enlists the colony’s help towards the end of the movie and Django is directing a group of the rats to go after the health inspector, I giggle.
The animation of Remy and Emile trying foods and tasting all of the flavors is what I imagine is what Gordon Ramsay does when tasting different foods (I’ve been watching a lot of “MasterChef” lately). I wish I could have a palette as sensitive as this, but I do not, so I’ll just have to watch this movie to remind myself that an animated rat can taste things better than I ever could.
The relationship between awkward Linguini and hardcore Colette alongside Skinner’s efforts to get rid of Linguini are mentionable plot points in this movie. They give a good laugh, but my heart will always be with Django acting mobster-esque throughout this movie to keep the colony safe.
I frequently find myself saying “anyone can cook” around the house as I concoct any mixture of foods in efforts to make an enjoyable meal as Chef Gusteau is always saying in this movie. I think it adds a bit of zest to the day and makes me feel I can accomplish anything I set my mind to, so I’d highly recommend adding this phrase to your daily activities for a little inspiration.
This movie is an inspiration to all that feel they might not have a place somewhere in the world, but in my eyes, if a rat can cook, anyone can accomplish anything. So if you’re looking for something to watch since virtually no new content is being released at the moment, cook a nice meal, grab some friends and rewatch “Ratatouille.”