In a week that saw the summer blockbusters take center stage... A family movie by Pixar quietly visited the silver screen near you. Ratatouille is a Walt Disney movie from Pixar Studios.
When encountered with rain storms on the evening of the 4th my wife Linda and I decided to go out to the movies instead of the fireworks which would most likely be cancelled. And we were not disappointed with our choice!
Now, we could have chosen to go and see Transformers the latest big screen splash. But we'd read a favorable review of the little Disney movie Ratatouille on a favorite website of ours, http://www.pluggedinonline.com/ and chose it instead.
Ratatouille is the story of a young aspiring cook. Who has a gift for detecting subtle tastes, smells and textures. He longs to experiment and grow as a chef. The only problem is he's a rat named Remy. And as you know rats rarely get the chance to try cooking for others.
Remy, through a twist of fate gets separated from his family and swept through a storm drain to the city of Paris. The rat is struck with wonder as he gets the opportunity to visit the famed restaurant of his idol Chef Gusteau in the city of lights. While there he surreptitiously helps season a soup which is brilliantly received by the dining customers.
This is where the movie's plot takes a clever turn. Remy's soup is credited to a poor kitchen boy named Linguine. Linguine dreams of working as a chef too. But lacks the gifts that Remy possesses as a potential chef. Together they team up to become one of the finest new chefs in Paris.
Ratatouille is wonderful story filled with timeless themes. Such wonderful golden nuggets as: teamwork, friendship, and creativity. Ideas like these are that we all aspire to develop in our own lives. They are the bedrock of a strong and thriving society.
But most of all I was impressed with Disney's desire to plumb the depth of difficult values and personality traits. One being humility. Linguine learns some hard lessons about taking a step back and not letting pride get in the way. Another value espoused is self effacement. Our natural desire is to be recognized and heralded for our achievements but Remy is a great example of staying out of the limelight and really shining all on his own. The best and most enduring theme of this film is, "winning isn't everything." This is a concept we all need to learn over and over again. I don't want to spoil the ending of this movie... but in the end we learn losing is sometimes a winning venture in and of itself. There is joy in the journey my friends!
And you will be overjoyed and strangely warmed by watching this fun little film... Ratatouille is well worth your time and money. Watch it and enjoy!
Images from: http://www.disney.go.com/disneypictures/ratatouille/main.html
Friday, July 6, 2007
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