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[tab title="Movie Review"]

Pixar never cease to surprise me. On the sole summary of one of their stories, I almost never get a sense of just how much I may fall in love with whatever they’re dishing out. Toy Story, The Incredibles, Coco, you name it, I’ve underestimated their power to completely suck me in and demand revisits through the years. While I have definitely learned my lesson about assuming that they WON’T be my thing, I still get surprised by just how much many of the films stay in my heart. I guess that is the power and the magic of this particular studio. Ratatouille is one of their many that I hold dear.

It’s an outrageous narrative. A rat names Remy grows up outside Paris, foraging, unlike his vermin brethren, for fine ingredients. Not any old thing, mind you, and through watching a famous Chef Gusteau’s cooking show on a TV in a house he pilfers from, he dreams of cooking like him. Through a series of unfortunate events, Remy finds himself separated from his family, and in gay Paris, right near the now Gusteau’s restaurant. He stumbles upon a hopeless dishwasher within that restaurant, and through sneaky subterfuge Remy’s stellar recipe is assumed to be from the dishwasher named Linguini.  They agree to work together, with Linguini claiming credit and allowing Remy to fulfill his dream and cook. The new head chef, Skinner, becomes suspicious and places both Linguini and Remy at the breach of ruin, all the while holding back some vital information and destroying Chef Gusteau’s name. The unlikely duo needs to face the truth of what they are doing (and of who they really are) to be the best they can be and find contentment. {googleads}

The Incredibles director Brad Bird took the helm of this film late in the game, fleshing out Jan Pinkava’s original 2000 idea. He infuses this film with the same heart he gave superheroes. His subject matter is bat shit crazy, and yet he delivers an environment and characters, and yes RATS, so warm and inviting that it’s impossible not to love. Also its themes of being true to yourself and striving to live an honest life that is universal and accessible. The twist and turns of the plot are truly surprising and wonderfully paid off to a happy ending that seems organic not forced.

This film is packed to brim with perfectly cast voice talent. The likes of Patton Oswald, Peter O’Toole and Ian Holm masterfully suck you in. Production designs are… realistic, favoring natural tones throughout the streets and buildings of Paris in juxtaposition to the stylized figures of the humans and rodents that occupy it. It’s a soft and inviting place to spend a couple of hours, and the attention to detail on the food presented would rival the greatest master chef.

There really is nothing to criticize about this film. It’s my second favorite Pixar movie (both of which were directed by Bird.) It might have something to do with my early working life being spent in restaurants, but I think more so it’s because this film has a beautiful heart and universal story that breaths excellence in every frame.

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[tab title="4K UHD Review"]

4K UHD/Blu-ray Details:

4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital HD

Home Video Distributor: Disney / Buena Vista
Available on Blu-ray - September 10, 2019
Screen Formats: 2.39:1
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish
Audio: English: Dolby Atmos; English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1; English: DTS-HD HR 5.1; English: Dolby Digital 5.1 EX; English: Dolby Digital 2.0; French: Dolby Digital 5.1 EX; Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1 EX
Discs: 4K Ultra HD; Blu-ray Disc; Two-disc set
Region Encoding: 4K Blu-ray: Region free; 2K Blu-ray: Region A

VIDEO:

Ratatouille’s production decided to go more a more muted palette than other Pixar offerings. As a result, you are not going to benefit from some of the gob smacking colors some of their catalogue can deliver. Having said this, the HDR-10 4K up-scale delivers impressively improved texture on the rats, the human’s hair, the pots and pans, the plates and the food. As this film was a deliberately softer appearing film, the contrast also boosts the sharpness in detail between darks and highlights. It’s a decent up-grade but I’d like to have seen a proper 4K scan.

AUDIO:

You get a 7.1 ATMOS track that’s nuanced and powerful at times, and yet suffered from volume anemia until you crank that dial. (something apparently common on Disney 4K discs.) I was especially taken with kitchen scenes, with real depth and complexity coming from every which way. It’s a great mix.

Supplements:

Commentary:

• None

Special Features:

Nothing on the 4K disc as usual. You get the Blu-ray, and on it are archival and identical extras from the softer 2007 release. If they’re not gonna put effort into adding new features, I’m not gonna waste my time going through what’s come before.

• Fine Food and Film
• Animated Short: Your Friend the Rat
• Animated Short: Lifted
• Cine-Explore: Animation Briefing
• Cine-Explore: Documentary Shorts
• Cine-Explore: Deleted Scenes
• Deleted Shots R.I.P.: Several shots only identified by numerical code.
• Game: Gusteau's Gourmet Game
• The Will
• Remembering Dan Lee
• Easter Eggs

Blu-ray Rating:

	Movie
	Video
	Audio
	Extras
Overall Blu-ray Experience

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[tab title="Film Details"]

MPAA Rating: G.
Runtime: 111 mins
Director: Brad Bird, Jan Pinkava
Writer: Brad Bird
Cast: Brad Garrett, Lou Romano, Patton Oswalt
Genre:  | Animation | Adventure
Tagline: He's dying to become a chef.
Memorable Movie Quote: "No. Dad, I don't believe it. You're telling me, that the future is - can *only* be - more of *this*?"
Theatrical Distributor: Buena Vista Pictures
Official Site: https://www.pixar.com/feature-films/ratatouille
Release Date: June 22, 2019
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date: August 20, 2019.
Synopsis: A rat named Remy dreams of becoming a great French chef despite his family's wishes and the obvious problem of being a rat in a decidedly rodent-phobic profession. When fate places Remy in the sewers of Paris, he finds himself ideally situated beneath a restaurant made famous by his culinary hero, Auguste Gusteau. Despite the apparent dangers of being an unlikely — and certainly unwanted — visitor in the kitchen of a fine French restaurant, Remy's passion for cooking soon sets into motion a hilarious and exciting rat race that turns the culinary world of Paris upside down. Remy finds himself torn between his calling and passion in life or returning forever to his previous existence as a rat. He learns the truth about friendship, family and having no choice but to be who he really is, a rat who wants to be a chef.

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