Which movie features Remy, a rat who wants to be a chef?
Quick answer
Remy the rat stars in Ratatouille (2007), an animated film by Pixar directed by Brad Bird. Remy, who has an extraordinary sense of taste and smell, dreams of becoming a chef in Paris. He teams up with a clumsy kitchen worker, Alfredo Linguini. The film won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature.
Key facts
- Studio
- Pixar Animation Studios
- Director
- Brad Bird (with Jan Pinkava)
- Released
- 2007
- Award
- Oscar for Best Animated Feature (2008)
The story
Remy loves good food, unlike the rest of his rat colony, which eats garbage. He idolizes the late chef Auguste Gusteau, whose motto is “Anyone can cook.” After getting separated from his family, Remy ends up in Gusteau’s restaurant in Paris. Hidden under Linguini’s chef’s hat, he cooks dishes that win over even the feared food critic Anton Ego.
Characters and voices
| Character | Voice |
|---|---|
| Remy | Patton Oswalt |
| Linguini | Lou Romano |
| Colette | Janeane Garofalo |
| Anton Ego | Peter O’Toole |
| Skinner | Ian Holm |
Research in real kitchens
Pixar’s team took cooking classes and studied famous kitchens, including The French Laundry in California. Chef Thomas Keller designed the film’s version of the dish, an elegant layered style called confit byaldi. Animators also kept pet rats to study how they move.
What is ratatouille?
Real ratatouille is a vegetable stew from Provence, in southern France, made with tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, peppers, onions and garlic. It’s a simple country dish, which is why Ego’s emotional reaction in the film, a flashback to his childhood, is so memorable.
Awards and legacy
Ratatouille earned about $620 million worldwide and won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature; learn about that award’s history in the first Oscar for Best Animated Feature. In 2020, a TikTok fan project turned it into a crowd-sourced musical, later performed online for charity.
At Disneyland Paris and Epcot, the ride Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure shrinks visitors to rat size. For more on French and Spanish food, see where paella comes from.
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