Why Ratatouille is Pixar's Magnum Opus

people think of animation only doing things where people are dancing around and doing a lot of histrionics but animation is not a genre and people keep saying the animation genre it's not a genre a western is a genre animation is an art form and it can do any genre you know it could do a detective film a cowboy film a horror film an r-rated film or a kid's fairy tale but it doesn't do one thing and next time i hear what's it like working in the animation genre i'm going to punch that person funding for shaperless is provided by surfsharkvpn tune until the end to find out about their amazing service life is weird sometimes as i'm writing this video it's been less than a week since i officially graduated from college with a bachelor's degree in economics and i'm left with one simple two-word question in my mind now what four years ago the answer would have been simple if a bit vague get a job in the business field and make a difference and that would be life from then on but the only thing predictable about life is its unpredictability and believe it or not i'm not talking about the global recession pandemic elephant in the room i'm talking about this the channel you're currently watching the videos that have reached millions of people around the globe people who respect my opinions on media and keep coming back to hear my voice people i never thought i'd really ever connect with and you guys have inspired me in ways i never considered to be possible you've made me realize that my creative voice is valid even though i had so many doubts about that throughout my youth i'm still captivated by economics and i'm still pursuing a career in that field but i now understand that there's another passion i can pursue whether on the side or is the main focus of my life's work i want to make things i want to add something to this world but doubt comes in nearly every time i dream about the works of art i want to create doubt that i'll finish them doubt that anyone will care doubt that any of these fantasies are sustainable at all doubt pervades every fiber of my being and it's hard to break free of it no matter what i do and whenever i'm overwhelmed with doubt and need to be reminded of the limitless creative potential that exists in every single one of us i rewatch ratatouille a movie that tells me yeah people will care about the things i add to this world no it doesn't matter who i am or where i come from anyone can create something that will resonate or ring true with other people anyone has the power to change the world anyone can cook as i come to terms with my desire to create art a desire i repressed for years on end and only revived as a result of the overwhelming support i've received from friends and strangers alike these past few years i continue coming back to this film this extraordinary story about the little chef that could and reflecting on what the film truly means to me nothing has changed since last year when i made my animated feature ranking i still have some story problems with the film i'd still put it at number 4 on the list and i still prefer spider-verse the incredibles and spirited away overall but even though i think those are better movies ratatouille probably means more to me personally than all three of them combined and with the exception of ladybird i can't think of any film that speaks to me more personally than this so what is it why does this movie about a french rat chef controlling a noodle named noodle-armed ginger man have such a profound message about the nature of the human condition and why am i so obsessed with it and what am i talking about when i say this is pixar's magnum opus i just said the incredibles is better well i also said beauty and the beast is better than lion king but lion king is disney's magnum opus magnum opus is defined as a large an important work of art music or literature especially one regarded as the most important work of an artist or writer not necessarily the best but definitely the most important again though why what's so special about ratatouille of all the movies pixar has made that elevates it to such a status how is this film supposed to stand toe-to-toe with lion king and be considered this studio's crowning achievement am i out of my mind probably but that doesn't matter because we're going on a journey together throughout this entire film from beginning to end that's not how i normally do things obviously but given how crucial this film's pacing is i really couldn't have done it any other way so let's find out together what makes ratatouille the magnum opus of the pixar canon right from the start this movie does a ton to differentiate itself from the rest of the pixar library and this is something i picked up on as a kid these movies all have energetic intros [Music] or even ratatouille ain't about that the title of this movie just appears in front of a rainy house no fanfare no nothing in fact this whole intro is deliberately toned to feel miserable the muted colors and cloudy weather contribute to an atmosphere of dullness that persists throughout most of the first 10 minutes basically the movie's color palette is telling you that being a rat sucks but the colors spark up a few times in these first 10 minutes most notably through the taste sensation remy experiences by combining two flavors this is the mark of an artist taking pre-existing ideas and using them to give birth to something entirely new and unexpected and sensational in one visual the magic of creating a new idea is perfectly captured and the movie continues by illustrating remy's passions by having him come up with five different ideas at once and developing his own recipe on the spot unfortunately he goes a little too far in his pursuit of flavor town and gets caught by the old lady while trying to take her saffron this leads to an epic shootout seriously how many pixar movies can you say have shootouts in them oh okay i guess it's not that rare never mind and this shootout leads to the entire colony of rats getting exposed now there's something really interesting about this plot development that i only noticed on my most recent viewing think about it remy does something that inadvertently causes something really bad to happen to the rest of his clan it's a tale as old as time really think back to a bug's life where flick's doohickey causes the ant's grain pile to fall into the water or what about lion king one and a half where timon's song and dance routine distracts him and allows the hyenas to chase after his meerkat brethren here we got three movies that all have the same basic plot development what's different about ratatouille simple ratatouille doesn't have this boring ass scene where the clan is mad at the guy who screwed up now i love lion king one and a half so i'm not going to insult it any further so let me just say that a bug's life is probably the textbook example of how not to write a screenplay this is the second time in recent memory i've unfavorably compared it to something else because it's just so self-indulgent with its tedious cliched plot points ratatouille sees the main character screw up and get consequences for it but it's not a stupid ass we're mad at you scene instead he gets separated from his clan in the sewers and he'll probably never see them again that's pretty sad but again that was a direct consequence of his mistake here the color palette is the darkest and dingiest it's ever been so far because this is his lowest point he was miserable before but at least he had his family now he has nothing except his innate desire to create his internal passion and drive to make a difference in this world is made external through the ghost of chef gusteau can i just say what a brilliant decision this was making remy's internal voice be the chef he admired for so long and it is his internal voice the movie makes it explicit multiple times that these ain't no ghost shenanigans remy is simply talking to a figment of his imagination the personification of his conscience and his desire to make things so remy takes gusto's advice or rather his own advice and keeps moving forward what follows is an absolutely delectable sequence entirely driven by the score and i must of course give my compliments to michael g aquino aka pixar's greatest musical asset now we all love pixar scores and randy and thomas newman always do a great job at developing some iconic music to go with the scenes in these films like toy stories monsters inc finding nemo wall-e etc but then michael g aquino jumped on the scene and yeah i like this [ __ ] this dude is behind what i consider to be pixar's most iconic scores the incredibles up inside out coco yikes never mind i think his entire career has just been invalidated i'm joking of course this man's work is consistently phenomenal he's done plenty of other high-profile work like the jurassic worlds the mcu spider-man's rogue one the best movie of 2019 all this big stuff nowadays but pixar is what initially launched him into the stratosphere now the incredibles was inexplicably not nominated for best original score but ratatouille finally garnered him his first oscar nomination and two years later he scored his first and only win for up i personally think up is the best score he's ever written but ratatouille is definitely a close second and i think this scene easily demonstrates why the music punctuates remy's pitter-patter perfectly and makes his ascent through a series of crevices and pipes way more engaging he encounters a pathetic easily avoidable trap the shadow of doug hello there a couple that could probably use some counseling or something like yikes girl and eventually patters his way outside climbing the side of a building and glancing at a woman in shadow entranced by an enticing taste in a way the perfect appetizer for what awaits him at the time remember how the movie deliberately set up a drab stormy miserable environment for the first 15 minutes of the film well this this glorious shot right here is the payoff it's honestly magnificent the luminous golden eiffel tower contrasted against the pink and purple sky the swelling incredible rendition of the movie's main theme taking center stage remy's realization that he's been so close to the city of his dreams for so long and that he can finally see it for himself there's only one word that comes to mind when i watch this scene and that's cinema this is easily one of the greatest moments in any pixar film and the movie is just getting started at last we get to see a gourmet kitchen in action every piece flowing perfectly every person doing their part to help the efficient artistic machine run dare i say a gourmet kitchen there's like an enormous question he's like an enormous club i was gonna say cluster but that works too and it's a cluster from the perspective of linguine this guy right away we can see that this newly hired garbage boy is way out of his elements while remy is living it up on top impressing his imaginary boyfriend with his innate knowledge of the kitchen linguine is just trying to mop the floors and stay out of trouble but he's a clumsy boy and that causes him to spill some soup so he's gotta fix it or just make it worse that's always an option remy once again puts his passions on full display for all of us to see no rational person would get this upset about a soup getting ruined it's just a soup bro chillax but remy can't chillax this is his greatest passion his entire universe the restaurant he's always dreamed of seeing for himself and to watch someone desecrate the sanctity of gusto's name by [ __ ] up soup this badly he cannot stand for this and that's really admirable if a bit misguided after crash landing into the sink we have a fun sequence where remy evades all the perils of the kitchen and attempts to make his grand escape and eventually remy gets his chance to make a break for it but he gets a bit sidetracked by something now shelby from girlfriend reviews requested an analysis of the scene where remy runs by the stinky soup and gags so i obviously must oblige even though the analysis will unfortunately not be 20 minutes as i promised so ratatouille the rat has his chance to escape but as he runs past the soup he says hold up a minute this is the worst thing ever created by a human and its foul repugnant odor is so heinous that it causes him to gag even though rats are biologically unable to do so this awful soup broke the laws of physics because it is simply that irredeemable now it's up to remy to make this irredeemable soup on irredeemable he figures he can just half-ass it and throw in a couple yum yums before continuing his escape but then he really starts to realize the opportunity he has been gifted here a chance to do some real cooking in the restaurant he always dreamed to do it in his chance to live out his greatest passion is here before him and he knows he would never be able to live with himself if he didn't seize the opportunity and so he does the cauldron is his canvas and he begins painting his very first masterpiece a flurry of ingredients flies through the air and into the delicious mixture being concocted by an artist in his prime in his element with the music perfectly scoring every action there is no better word for this sequence than sensational nothing can stop remy now uh-oh yeah remy gets caught for this transgression and liguini gets caught by skinner who yells at him for attempting to cook in his kitchen but while he's distracted the soup is sent out stop that sauce and to everyone's shock the critic really likes it and even though skinner is still angry with linguine he seems to be in the minority here how can we claim to represent the name of gusto if we don't uphold his most cherished belief anyone can cook there it is in one simple phrase remy's passion has been validated he's made a delicious dish of his own in the greatest restaurant in paris and for the first time in his life he's received validation for his life's dream even if he isn't getting the credit it doesn't matter all that matters is that gusto was right a rat can cook and in the eyes of these chefs a simple garbage boy can cook so skinner finally reads the room and gives linguine another chance to cook the soup again oh [ __ ] alright the day of reckoning has come remy prepare to die and stop staring at me with some big old eyes now i've seen a lot of people who do not particularly care for linguine they say stuff like oh luigi's just a regular old goofball he's a pretty standard wig nut he's a knucklehead mcspazzotron oh my god if i had a nickel for every time i've heard someone call linguine a knucklehead mcspazzotron i'd have two nickels which isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice right i get why not everyone thinks linguine is anything special but personally i think he's hilarious i love watching this bumbling idiot finesse his way through a gourmet kitchen with the help of a rat and i think there's actually more going on inside him that a lot of people give him credit for he has a lot of expectations to live up to both through remy's cooking abilities and his illustrious lineage but we'll get to those things later here we finally get to see our main duo get to know each other for the first time oh pixar sure loves those main duos woody and buzz mike and sully jack black and smith tale it's such a common format employed by the studio but there's a consistent element throughout all these movies that isn't present in ratatouille in these movies both characters talk and play off of each other it's a fun format but ratatouille decides to make a somewhat risky change to the concept what if one of them doesn't talk obviously half silent duos have existed plenty of times before this movie but pixar never gave it a try at this point it would be so easy to just have remy talk to linguine and remove the communication barrier entirely but in my opinion this would have weakened the movie considerably since it would have destroyed the idea that remy's from a different world than the one he wants to join i almost feel bad picking on this movie because it clearly was never made with the intention to rise to the same levels as ratatouille it clearly didn't ask for this but [ __ ] it [Music] b-movie and ratatouille are the same movie and here's why they both come out in 2007 they both about animals who are told they not talk to humans but then they meet the humans what is there's a conflict involving the ethics of stealing and finally the humans come to realize that this tiny animal really is on their same level of intellect and that they can co-exist with each other in spite of the bigots who disagree oh that bee is living my life so these are the same movie i proved it now b-movie aspires to lower heights than ratatouille and that's not an insult that's just a fact a film fact b-movie wants to be a light-hearted comedy about jerry seinfeld b hitting it off with renee zellweger lady also side note i want to clear my name i knew who renee zellweger was before i made the shark tale review me pretending not to know who she was was a dumb joke i'm a theater kid i've seen chicago calm down anyway b-movie was never intended to be a cinematic masterpiece but i think the way its themes and ideas intersect with ratatouille really goes to show just how above and beyond ratatouille went not just as an animated kids film but as a film in general besides i don't think ratatouille is a kids film but we'll get to that later b-movie and ratatouille both present their protagonists with the notion that they should not talk to humans under any circumstances this notion is supported by the fact that the humans don't take kindly to their kind around here but ultimately both barry and remy are shown kindness by one human one person who has an opportunity to dispose of them but decides not to out of the goodness of their heart from here the animal forms a relationship of some sort with the human in spite of a disapproving world but again there is one key difference between these two stories barry benson b can talk like it's nothing so he can have winnie banter with vanessa and tell those pesky humans what's for for all intents and purposes barry and all the other bees are just tiny people not that there's anything wrong with that b-movie is in a word bonkers and that's exactly what it wants to be a pure comedy that isn't really meant to be taken seriously that's fine for what the movie wants to accomplish but it also personifies the easy way out the easy way to showcase a relationship of equals between an animal and a human even if ratatouille wants to take itself more seriously than b-movie it could have just made things simple and have remy secretly talk to linguine have him whisper instructions and hope this clumsy dude can properly follow them but it doesn't take the easy way out it wants to take itself seriously both ratatouille and b-movie are equally silly premises when you get down to it but ratatouille takes its silly premise and shows what kind of creativity and emotional significance can be achieved if you try hard enough they treat the idea of a rat who wants to become a chef realistically which is why he doesn't talk they realize that that would be a step too far and so they do something that is simultaneously more realistic and more outlandish and much much more creative who would even think about making a movie where a rat controls a human like a puppet by pulling on his hair it's absolutely absurd and yet even though it takes time to get used to it starts to make sense as the story continues on we the audience start to accept this absurd system of control because it just becomes second nature to the characters and through it we get to see these two characters directly help each other achieve their own desired success linguine becomes a star at the restaurant and he starts to win over his new mentor colette and remy gets to live out his lifelong dream of cooking at gustos the way these two characters directly affect each other's destinies like this makes them one of the most memorable and well-written duos in pixar history even though only one of them is doing the talking that really doesn't matter because right from the start linguini and remy have excellent chemistry whether through linguine's paranoid shouting or remy's subtle humorous mannerisms they connect extremely well and have some great exchanges i really like how remy initially runs away content with having tricked this clown before he regains his conscience and returns to help i like how linguine initially thinks remy has stolen food and runoff only to find him innocently cooking an omelet the fact that they come into conflict with each other and don't trust each other at first makes their relationship feel more realistic it feels like there's a ton of progression here and it only gets more interesting as it goes along but we'll get to that later at this point in the movie it's fun to watch these two slowly improve their craft with this whole hair puppet maneuver this montage where we get to see them spectacularly fail at cooking only to get better and better to the point where they can handle a knife no problem is a big part of the reason why this hair pulling tactic starts to feel more natural and less weird to us and so our boys finally recreate the soup but that was just a tutorial level [ __ ] [Music] i think now is as good time as any to talk about brad bird and what really sets his pixar movies apart from the rest of the pack so obviously i think the incredibles in ratatouille are the two best pixar movies buy a long shot and as i've said numerous times before it's because in sharp contrast to most other pixar films they feel like they were written specifically for adults brad bird writes films intended to be enjoyed by adults first and kids second because he doesn't believe that animation is a genre that would imply that everything from samurai jack to rick and morty to caillou all falls under the same genre and is accordingly very similar which can can i just say what well it's a little bizarre to have in the same category uh uh sean the sheep nominated alongside uh anna melisa the new charlie kaufman existential drama so that animated category is a little bit of a joke well if it's animated it's then it doesn't matter well that's like like then then have don't have best picture like all these movies are so completely different like if you're gonna have best animated then you have to have subcategories for that too i don't know it's it's a bunch of nonsense animation isn't a genre it is a storytelling medium now for the longest time i didn't understand what made him so aggro about this terminology conflict but when you consider how tonally distinct the incredibles and ratatouille are from other pixar movies it starts to make sense and believe me i'm not trying to disparage the other pixar movies they're also great pre cars 2 pixar movies are great and thematically rich and tell intricate fantastic stories but incredibles and ratatouille just take things to the next level in incredibles we're dealing with a man going through a realistic midlife crisis a woman being realistically concerned about her husband having an affair a man committing genocide on a group of so-called super individuals that he was shunned by an attempted suicide and a schrodinger's cat-like discussion about the nature of a thumbtack that simultaneously does or does not exist coincidence i think not incredibles 2 is not very good but even that movie operates in the same fashion sometimes there's a lot of intelligent conversations about giving up our freedoms and desire to do things ourselves out of the sake of convenience and some other stuff i assume but see this is what brad bird does he gives adults a ton of ideas to think about he writes all of his movies as if they are primarily intended for an adult audience there's a difference between putting thought-provoking adult themes in your animated movie and putting in lame pop culture references to keep adults from falling asleep are you not entertained no there's a difference between putting mild sexual themes or alcohol in your movie because it fits the tone and doing this he won three piston cups he didn't want this cup ugh ratatouille decides to start delivering the goods in a number of different ways starting with colette literally calling out the patriarchy and how hard it is for a woman to succeed in a culinary setting this is a concept i would have loved to see explored more especially considering how much of an [ __ ] skinner is it wouldn't be out of place to make him more sexist and less respectful of colette's contributions to the kitchen but i guess that would have made the movie more depressing and a little too real so the way they move on from it is fine skinner's enough of an [ __ ] as we can see by him exploiting gusto's image in order to sell microwave burritos i didn't know what any of this meant as a kid i just thought it was funny when all the gustos talked to remy later on this is such a bizarre plot thread to put in your kids movie unless you weren't making a kid's movie at all see what i mean when i say this movie was written for adults skinner is presented as a greedy money-grubbing opportunist who completely lacks any artistic integrity opting instead to exploit the image of his famous deceased friend he is a big ol sellout except it's worse cause he's not even selling out with his own image he's using a dead man's image to further his frozen food business pursuits he's honestly way more evil than i ever gave him credit for as a kid and the fact that brad bird snuck this under our nine-year-old noses is such a testament to how much better his movies are for adults than they are for kids but bradley isn't done with his adult themes yet suddenly gusto apparently had an affair and linguini is his offspring quiet plus we get collette telling us about all the apparent serial killers who work in this kitchen i killed a man with this dumb again i had no idea what she was talking about when she said this one guy fooled around with the circus ringmaster's daughter or how this other guy ran guns for the resistance the only thing i understood here was i killed a man with this dumb honestly this is where some of the missed opportunities in the script start to present themselves i really wish these chef boys could have been fleshed out more since their backstories are honestly really fun and entertaining there's this one guy larousse who has so much personality despite never saying a word [Music] when linguine first captures remy and asks if he should kill him now we get larousse maliciously nodding in the background but as skinner tells him to take the rat outside larusse's smile fades and he extinguishes the fire what a letdown but then later on when linguine becomes president of gustovs and stops frozen food production larousse finally gets his chance to commit arson on all the gusto standies look how happy he is to set property on fire what a lad this is some nice attention to detail with his characterization and it really makes me wish these guys had more characterization i want to know more about them and see them functioning as a unit collette also somewhat disappoints me as she's ultimately just a tool for linguine's development it's nice to see the two of them connect over time similarly to how linguine and remy connected though i guess not exactly the same way yeah but ultimately i feel like your character is pretty bare bones and maybe they should have gone further with the overcoming the patriarchy angle though something tells me this wouldn't have flown at pixar at the time so i guess we just gotta work with what we got collette at least manages to provide an interesting wedge between linguine and remy and it's a good setup it all starts when someone asks what is you you you looked like what do i do what did you do but did you tell them i told you what is skinner sees this as an opportunity to sabotage linguine's success by giving him the most rancid ass recipe in existence like this [ __ ] calls for sea horseradish toenail clippings you gotta drop it in the toilet oh my god it's just horrible i really like remy's body language when colette is reading the recipe he's like oh [ __ ] how am i gonna salvage this and salvage it he does remy improvises a brand new version guiding linguine all around the kitchen in a dynamic funny tension-filled cooking quest but colette who's always preached the value of following gusto's recipes shuts remy's ideas down and delivers the shitty ass chum bucket version but before she can add the sea horseradish remy swoops in with the krabby patty secret ingredient and oh my god it's just so exciting pixar movies often have life or death scenarios with a ton of tension and adrenaline but this movie manages to capture those same feelings just by showing us a battle of wits between two brilliant chefs with linguine caught in the middle it's a tremendous accomplishment so yeah remy's gambit pays off and he and linguini enjoy a night of success remy gets to take a well-earned break while skinner gets linguine drunk as hell a perfect cap off to the most explicitly adult portion of the film now's as good time as any to catch up with our rat king returning to the b movie conundrum the trade-off of not having remy talk to linguine is the fact that he hasn't really talked that much for the past 30 minutes so it's maybe a little jarring to pick up his storyline with his family again after we just experienced a long stretch of time where he's staying silent and interacting with linguine but despite being initially a bit weird for the film to shift gears like this it quickly becomes apparent what a great plot thread this is at this point remy is living it up and he ain't gonna stop he's found a place where he really belongs and by reintroducing his family here it becomes clear that his sensibilities and desires never really coincided with theirs what initially just seems like a cute relatively pointless scene of remy trying to get a meal to save her food and enjoy taste sensations is actually a soft way of breaking it to remy that he'll always be different from his family and that they'll never really understand him or his passion the hard way comes during his conversation with his father who is not named in the film but the script says his name is django it's probably pronounced django but i'm calling him dejango anyway because it's fun to say the giant go is absolutely dumbfounded with the idea that remy isn't staying which leads to an argument over what kind of rat remy is here remy finally expresses his desire to thrive and create rather than just take and survive to him surviving is not living he wants to contribute art to the world because that is what will give him purpose and fulfillment maybe it's not how a rat should be behaving but that doesn't matter to him it's what he wants to do with his life honestly i relate to remy so hard here just the idea of creating something that'll impress or inspire people you don't know the fact that you're leaving an impact on others lives through your creations it's just an exhilarating thought to me and i doubt i'm the only one who thinks that art can and will outlive us when we're gone which is why it's so inspiring to create and add something to this world even if everything seems to be working against you remy is an extreme example but even so seeing his stalwart desire to overcome adversity and create against all odds and reason and logic is one of the most powerful aspects of a film i've ever seen but of course it doesn't gel with his father's perception of how a rat should behave so dejango tries to discourage remy from meddling with the human world by showing him the traps and poisons humans use on rats in typical kids movie fashion remy gets discouraged by this scary sight and begins to wonder if he'll ever be able to trust humans like linguini again oh wait that doesn't happen because this isn't a kids movie remy actually stands firm in his belief that he can change the future and make things better between rats and humans because after all change is nature so after that we've got some fun shenanigans with linguine being asleep and him confessing that he likes colette and all that stuff this is as good a time as any to say just how excellent the voice cast is and what's really cool is that it's not just a pile of a-list celebrities thrown in there for the sake of getting butts in seats just a really solid group of talented performers i'm really glad they went with patton oswalt for the voice of remy his voice is just an exquisite fit for a snarky yet hopeful rat janine garofalo and ian holm bring excellent levels of manic energy to colette and skinner respectively but damn i just can't get enough of linguine's voice lou romano is an animator who just happens to be an exceptionally talented voice actor as well kinda like walt doran who played rumple stinky pants lou romano doesn't just voice linguine no no he voiced the most iconic pixar character of all bernie don't bernie me this little rat is guilty romano brings such great comedic time into linguine it's probably my favorite performance in the movie and the animators obviously have the time of their lives bringing his puppet-like movement to life this is actually one of the reasons brad bird wanted to take over the project in the first place he was excited by the physical comedy possibilities present with linguine and i think this passion definitely paid off okay so the scene ends with linguine and colette kissing and as a kid i didn't realize she had pepper spray i thought that was rat poison and that she somehow knew that linguine was about to reveal that there's a rat controlling him i don't know why i was so stupid as a kid anyway though this newfound romance presents its own problems now the conflict between remy and colette is heightened since liguini resists his rat programming and takes colette's advice more often remy starts feeling like he's needed less and less by linguine and it's not a coincidence that this is the point in the movie where he starts stealing food for his brother and the other rats the concept of stealing is synonymous with rats in this movie it's all they do and remy despite his father's beliefs to the contrary is still a rat at the end of the day and as he starts feeling more and more neglected with the human world since linguini is taking off without him he starts becoming more and more in touch with his rat instincts it's a subtle yet neat touch and remy's about to steal the most important thing of his life no no i wish so i think the next two scenes back to back really say something interesting about the pace and overall tone of this movie but first can i just say what a weird line this is why would linguini be filed with your will this used to be my office huh that doesn't answer the question like at all but anyway remy discovers the truth about link weenies dad he's gusto's son yeah we got that when you said dad yeah yeah he's his son this leads to a manic chase where skinner tries to get those documents back from remy and hide the evidence that linguini rightfully owns the restaurant and i have to say on rewatch this scene feels a little out of place i don't know there's been actiony tense scenes earlier in the movie but they all made sense since it was about a rat trying to evade danger the old lady with a shotgun and the perils of the kitchen they felt somewhat more grounded and they fit the tone but something about this chase weirds me out it's a good enough scene on its own but it feels like maybe they go a step too far with skinner here now i definitely enjoy skinner as a character more than most people i think he's really funny and i like his increasing insanity and paranoia regarding whether remy is real or not i like the visual of this really short guy being constantly angry at everyone and i like how the movie doesn't actually make any jokes about him being short it's strictly a visual comedy element like i love you shrek but please shut the [ __ ] up i don't need to hear a 17th joke about lord farquaad's height it's not as funny as you think it is so yeah skinner is a fun key player and a decent antagonist for this portion of the movie but i kind of get the impression that this chase scene was only added because brad berg was told he needed more action this is the one part of the movie that feels like it's mainly for kids which probably explains why it took me out of the film a little bit but whatever i suppose it's a decent way to close out skinner's role as an antagonist except not really but we'll get to that later what i love however is the montage that follows this chase scene it's like a complete 180 from what we just saw because it feels exceptionally adult and refined i suppose hearing the majestic and magnificent le festine for the first time in the film in vocal form really helps but yeah everything just goes right in this montage linguine is declared king of gustos he bans all the shameless frozen foods he has a nice new house he and collette enjoy each other's company even bomb voyage has turned over a new leaf and begun entertaining children wholesome i feel like now is a great time to talk about the way the movie is paced and the overall tone the pacing is striving for way back in my animated feature ranking i said that this movie feels like a smart indie film but like how so well this is gonna be a little hard to describe so bear with me so the thing about mainstream movies is that they are usually always goal based the characters need to achieve some sort of goal in a marvel movie it's usually beat the villain in a star wars movie it's usually beat the villains in a pixar movie it's often get from point a to point b andy's house paradise falls the land of the living wherever the [ __ ] they were going in good dinosaur or the goal could be something else like get boo home find nemo find dory oh wait what the movie was about finding dory's parents well then why was it called finding dory goal-based movies are important for general audiences they need a goal in their movies that gets achieved by the end otherwise they'll come out of it saying what was the point now this doesn't always pan out good dinosaur had a goal that was achieved and everyone who saw it still came out asking what the point was but regardless this is a concession that needs to be made with mainstream films independent of how good many of them are but sometimes a filmmaker can sneak a movie into the mainstream without a goal one and a half pixar movies come to mind in this regard first up toy story 2. part of the reason this is easily the best toy story movie and anyone who thinks different is lying to themselves is because half of the movie doesn't have a set in stone goal buzz and the toys are trying to get woody back that's a goal good for them but woody despite initially attempting to escape and return home slowly starts to rethink his position and what it means to be a toy in general leading to a lot of slower paced more introspective and emotionally moving sequences where he just talks to the other toys around him this stuff is absolutely phenomenal and it's what makes the movie work so well as a kid i loved the buzz stuff and thought the woody stuff was pretty good but as an adult it's the other way around i have fun with buzz and the gang's misadventures but it's the woody storyline that really hooks me because it feels independent from the traditional mainstream format of many animated films i also want to mention the incredibles which follows this more indie format for the first half of the movie before transitioning quite masterfully into a more goal superhero finale but the one pixar movie that sticks to an indie formula all the way through the one that isn't afraid to tell a more unconventionally structured story than its peers is cars too i'm not gonna finish that no anyway before returning to rat patootie let's talk about indie structure independent art house films are much more free with what they can do they don't need to worry about alienating the audience i came here to be alienated dammit i want a rich cinematic experience i could tell my grandchildren about i need something more real many indie movies are just about life it's not clear what the end goal is if there's even any at all it's just a matter of showing us a slice of life and as a result the events shown on screen don't have to follow a rigid system of progression like they do in mainstream movies captain america can't be at a shopping mall checking out computers and then suddenly the scene changes to a secret nazi bunker with a german scientist whose brain is in a computer we need to know how those two scenes connect to each other and why he visited cyber doofenshmirtz the plot is the primary focus and we need to know why he is where he is at all times but in an indie movie often times we're just watching life unfold no obvious rhyme or reason between how certain scenes connect we're just shown glimpses of what life is like for a certain person okay so easy example lady bird one of my top five favorite movies of all time and it really doesn't have a plot we're just following the main character throughout her senior year of high school watching her conflict with her mother her experience with two different boyfriends her falling out and reconciliation with her best friend all of that is captured within 94 minutes of run time an entire year filled to the brim with emotional relatable wholesome content it only took 94 minutes for this movie to change many people's lives including mine and i feel like it's because the movie isn't tethered to a strict plot it can focus on character and it feels well paced as a result now this format takes a really skilled writer to pull off or else it can become bloated and boring and not very good at all but when it works it works wonders i can't name how many seemingly plotless movies over the past few years have managed to leave an incredible impression on me and now we finally come back to ratatouille what is the goal here remy wants to cook that's it and guess what he gets his chance to cook right here with the soup by all means that's the end of the story if we're adhering the goal-based story structure okay wait maybe he wants to cook consistently and not just that one time well now he is cooking consistently with linguine 55 minutes in the goal has been completed but the movie keeps going because there are characters to flesh out new storylines to tell new struggles that continue to pop up over time that's just how life is ratatouille is the only pixar movie that just centers around characters living life encountering new struggles and hardships as they go on living and that's why this is the most sophisticated pixar movie ever made its scenes don't flow one after the other within a consistent plot they just showcase these people cooking deepening bonds discovering things about each other and so much more it's unclear how much time passes between each scene and i love that because it makes the movie feel more authentic like we're actually watching glimpses of these people's lives and not just a journey starring movie characters this sort of pacing style isn't unprecedented in animation studio ghibli films generally follow this format for instance and oh what do you know they're generally considered the pinnacle of animation in general by a lot of people but ratatouille represents that one spectacular instance where pixar decided to take a bold risk and create a movie that didn't adhere to the mainstream story structure a movie with a more refined adult tone than any of its contemporaries a movie that would only grow in esteem over the years before finally blossoming into one of their most beloved and respected a true cinematic masterpiece but this movie still needs a climax and a rather unconventional new villain [Music] at this point in the story the true antagonists begins to manifest and believe me skinner tried his best but it's not him it's ego no not that ego ego with a small e ego permeates all of the main characters and drives the conflicts they have with one another it's exceptionally hard to achieve success without some level of arrogance eventually seeping in when linguine finds out he's part of the illustrious gusto lineage ego begins to set in suddenly he believes that he doesn't need remy to succeed anymore he resents being treated like a puppet and he'd rather listen to colette's advice from now on linguini completely forgets who it was that got him to the place he's at today that's ego remy on the other hand gets mad at linguini for not acknowledging his contributions to both of their success but linguine can't physically acknowledge him outside of calling him the little chef in his head which sounds quite bizarre to the average person even so remy expects all the acknowledgement for linguini's triumphs ignoring the fact that colette did play a significant role in helping both of them along he gets furious that linguini would dare to call collette his inspiration as a chef that's ego and finally we have anton ego himself he is absolutely furious with the idea that gustos is popular again despite the scathing review he gave it years ago he's convinced that he is the utmost authority on all things cuisine and that his reviews and perspectives are gospel and now we have the masses overturning the ruling of the gospel why it's heresy so much so that ego has to rise from his coffin-shaped abode and deliver one last death blow to the restaurant once and for all he believes that he alone is allowed to determine the success or failure of an entire restaurant how could it be popular that's ego and so the critic arrives in person to warn linguini of his impending call out post gustos is going to be cancelled for sure so the pressure is on for both linguini and remy and their ego driven conflict reaches a boiling point remy who's fed up beyond belief with linguini makes a hasty decision and invites his family to steal food he feels rejected by the human world so he gives in to his rat instincts and when linguine comes to apologize and discovers the heist in progress he is totally right to get angry it's such a harsh betrayal and you can see the guilt on remy's face it's clear that he regrets acting so rashly but at this point it's too late so here we have a pretty natural main character splitting up low points it's not based on any tedious misunderstandings or liar reveals it stems from a legitimate betrayal and i think it works really well even if it is an overused trope but it's really heartwarming when remy and linguini reunite because they need each other remy is done pretending and he's finally ready to be his own cook linguini is done pretending that he knows literally a single thing about fine dining and breathing together they reveal the truth to everyone in the kitchen oh yeah i forgot remy got captured by skinner honestly this kind of feels like a waste of five minutes to me skinner already served his role in the story but the movie keeps clinging to him and i don't know why okay i i can't believe i'm about to bring this movie up as a positive example but here goes even b-movie knew when to get rid of ken he served his purpose as an antagonist and then we see him again in the ending that's all we really needed from skinner just a similar scene in the ending where we see where he's at i don't know why the movie kept clinging to him like this he wants to force remy into slave labor and have him create a line of chef skinner frozen foods as if anyone's gonna buy that skinner doesn't have the same brand recognition and appeal as gusto oh wait what am i saying i did skinner burgers yeah i'd totally buy some steamed hams from this guy that sounds delicious anyway though the rats saved remy and he goes back to the restaurant but like this still feels pointless remy didn't have to be caged up to emotionally reconcile with gusto and then tell his family he was going back to the restaurant that could have just happened right outside the restaurant and nothing in the story would change but this is kind of a nitpick ultimately it doesn't make a difference outside of being a little embarrassing that the movie still considers skinner important anyway yeah the truth coming out here is really powerful linguine is finally forced to admit that he has no cooking talent at all despite being the son of gusto he then presents the staff with his polar opposite remy the little chef that came from nothing yet was able to share his incredible talents with the world he managed to bring the restaurant so much success and linguine hopes that his fellow cooks will accept remy as he has but no no one is willing to accept this strange new idea no one stands behind linguini not even colette remy and linguini are left alone with a hungry clientele and a stern impatient critic while the stakes are lower than most pixar movies they feel just as high because these characters feel so real and their absurd situation feels deeply genuine however colette the staunchest believer of gusto's philosophies and ideals throughout the movie has an epiphany upon seeing gusto's message written plainly in front of her anyone can cook anyone happens to include a plethora of rats as remy's dad completes his arc and expresses how proud he is of his son for following his dreams so he brings the old rat family in to save the day and start cooking while linguine waits tables also they kidnap the health inspector it's all just so inspiring to see collette returns and helps remy cook his dish of choice for ego ratatouille it looks delicious even though it does sound a lot like rat patootie which does not sound delicious hey did you know that if you customize a frying pan in animal crossing you can actually make ratatouille i think that's amazing nintendo gets what we want anyway though the dish is prepared and sent out to ego and we watch with baited breath as he takes a bite so let's talk about the character of anton ego as i said before his name could not be any more fitting he's a cold intimidating pretentious critic who believes that his word on any culinary matter is final that was my last word the last word at the very beginning of the movie we closed out a television broadcast all about the life and times of gusto with an anecdote from ego dismissing the notion that anyone can cook ego expresses the sentiment that no not anyone can cook and the screen fades to black this is the statement the movie wants to leave us with before fading into the story of remy this is the movie's direct response to ego's perspective it goes on to establish a story where someone is told by the world that he cannot cook only to prove the world wrong again and again since the movie set up this connection between ego's perspective and remy's rejection of said perspective the only way this film can end is with this culinary confrontation we must see if ego will change his mind and it seems beyond unlikely he gave the only negative review of gustos back in the day costing the restaurant one of its five stars and causing gusto himself to die of sadness ego broke his heart he's going down a path gusto can't follow but ego doesn't care because he revels in being the ultimate contrarian and crushing dreams he believes that he is the only man qualified to provide perspective since no one else seems to have it in this bloody town and once again this is the most egotistical perspective imaginable it will truly take a miracle to convince this ghastly man to speak positively about remy's food so now we return to the taste test i've struggled with how to accurately convey my feelings on this scene for the better part of an hour now it simply cannot be done justice with words attempting to do so would honestly just cheapen it this is my favorite scene in any pixar movie and one of my favorite scenes in cinema and it ends with the critic dropping his pen the source of his power and privilege and ego to the ground he's no longer eating this meal as a harborer of judgment he's simply enjoying a delicious warm nostalgic meal as a food lover for the first time and god knows how long he expresses his compliments to the chef but linguini surprises him by telling him the truth he could have just said thanks now get out and go give us a positive review but at this point he's done lying and he wants his friend to get the recognition he truly deserves so they explained that remy is the true cook a risky move for sure but one that evidently paid off everyone loves ego speech because it just rings so true but i have to admit after critiquing movies for the better part of two years now the speech takes on an even greater meaning to me personally than it did before i started all this analysis stuff it's true that the work of a critic is generally easy i mean take a look at shark tale an extraordinarily abominable film that's so obviously bad and easy to pick on it's simple to look at this generally disliked movie and take up a position above it so easy to look down on its awful characters and broken story and say what an embarrassing feature film indeed i thrive on negative criticism which is fun to write and to watch in video form but the bitter truth i must face is that in the grand scheme of things the average piece of junk like shark tale is probably more meaningful than my criticism designating it so i mean my video on shark tale had a lot of problems it wasn't great overall but even if it was up to the standards of my modern work there is still more artistry thoughts and care put into the product of hundreds of animators actors writers and directors than a single 33-minute review made by one pretentious 20-something but there are times when a critic truly risks something and that is in the discovery and defense of the under-appreciated the world is often unkind to the neglected the deceptively great the films that were written off by history these films need friends ratatouille was hardly in need of attention and acclaim upon its release but generally grew overshadowed by the films that followed it and even those that preceded it all these films worthy of praise in their own rights and yet to say that ratatouille in particular has challenged my preconceptions about art house filmmaking is a gross understatement it has rocked me to my core in the past i have never understood brad bird's insistence that animation be treated as a medium not a genre but i realize only now do i truly understand what he meant not everyone can produce a great arthouse film but a great art house film can come from anywhere it is difficult to imagine more unexpected origins than those of the work of genius known as ratatouille which is in this critic's opinion nothing less than pixar's magnum opus i will be re-watching ratatouille again soon hungry for more [Music] in my best animated feature ranking video i lamented the fact that ratatouille was criminally underrated and i hoped more people would start giving it the respect it deserves and well i think my desire has come true i've seen many more people on social media lately praising this movie and talking about how exceptional it is even calling it one of the best pixar movies which it is also i guess that trend of leif esteem becoming popular on tik tok helped a bunch good job tiktok you did something right for once but ultimately i think that this film has managed to speak to so many people because of how inspiring and uplifting its message is that of perseverance of following your passions of never letting go of your dreams in spite of all the disadvantages life throws your way this movie paints a vivid and unconventional portrait of an artist who in spite of everything ends up thriving in his quest to follow his dreams the people who grew up watching this movie as kids are finally at an age where the story speaks to them on an exceptionally personal level which is why they're revisiting it and discovering just what an exquisite work of art it truly is in my opinion pixar has never made something on the same level of quality and expertise as this film in the 13 years since its release and after a decade of mostly mediocrity i feel like pixar fans are craving something similar to ratatouille something just as rich mature and inspiring if you want proof just read the comments section of the teaser trailer for pixar's next film seoul this trailer sucks so many people in by depicting an artist pursuing his dreams it was so uplifting and gorgeous and oh okay never mind i guess he's a blue blob guy now okay obviously i haven't seen the movie yet maybe it will be the next ratatouille it's definitely possible but the fact that such a jarring tonal shift occurred in this trailer and the fact that people were not happy that the inspirational angle was dropped in favor of funny cowboy dance says quite a lot about what pixar fans my age really want from this studio they want something adults again i think the backlash was perfectly summarized with this one comment i wanted this to be more of a ratatouille rather than an inside out kind of vibe you know yeah i know once again we don't know what the future holds for pixar and i don't want to disparage the amazing works of art they've put out the past few years amongst all the mediocrity but in my mind ratatouille is the cornerstone of how exceptional pixar can be if they would only set their mind to it it's an absolute masterpiece and an indication that mainstream media can have all the hallmarks of an art house feature without sacrificing mass appeal it's truly miraculous that a movie can be this excellent for both families and film lovers alike and you know what if sony animation can make a legit cinematic masterpiece then i see no reason why pixar can't one day make something superior to the incredibles and ratatouille so pixar my only advice left to give is surprise me perhaps one day we'll have a conversation about pixar animation studios new magnum opus but until then i'm perfectly content with ratatouille holding that title it is without a doubt one of the finest films ever to come from the medium of animation well fam that was quite a journey and now that it's done i'm gonna unwind with some food from the pants oh my god all these rats hacked my pantry security and stole my private data i mean food if only i could have secured my data with some sort of lock good thing surfsharkvpn exists an incredible product that encrypts your data and protects you online surfsharkvpn allows you to access geo-restricted content meaning you can trick your browser into thinking you're in another country thus allowing you to access content you couldn't get otherwise that way you don't have to physically travel to another country to watch that country's exclusive netflix content for example you can also use surfshark and attack lock system to get alerts anytime your email address or password is compromised hacklock scans various databases of leaked information and notifies its users if their data is found so they can take action which is an absolutely invaluable feature surfshark is also totally unlimited meaning you can use it on as many devices as you like even all at the same time no other vpn allows this go to surfshark.deals slash release and enter promo code rels to get 83 off and one extra month of surfsharkvpn for free it's an amazing deal and it's even better because it comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee so if you're not satisfied you can cancel during those 30 days and get your money back if you're looking for a great vpn there's no reason not to give serfshark a try once again head to surfshark.dashrealis and enter the promo code rils have a great time with surf shark vpn [Music] my but ultimately both barry and remy are shown kindness by one human the phone is ringing ah so my dear editor the thing is uh i can't exactly cut this part out because uh i can't pause the recording it would have to stop and start a new one so my friend you'll just have to deal with the phone ringing and me talking in order to wait for this to be over this is a long recording you don't need to put this in the video or make a joke out of it like some of my outtakes that get turned into jokes don't worry about it it'll be fine well despite what you're telling me i'm just going to edit over this whole segment anyways since you tend to give us this much power over these parts well at least for me since you let me put in anything rock dog related in your videos to spread the good message about this movie [Music] we're still waiting yep i would just start the recording over but i was already four minutes in hopefully this is entertaining somewhat you know what i'm i'm gonna i'm gonna do something i'm gonna pull up the b movie script while i wait for the person who's on the phone to be over so they don't get in the recording so i'm just gonna read you the b movie script to keep you entertained while you wait for this to be over uh you can skip ahead and see if i'm talking from the be movie script or talking from my actual ratatouille script and uh so you can just skip ahead and wherever i am that's where you can do it so here we go according to all known laws of aviation there is no way a bee should be able to fly its wings are too small to get its fat little body off the ground the bee of course flies anyway because bees don't care what humans think is impossible yellow black yellow black yellow black yellow black ooh black and yellow let's shake it up a little berry breakfast is ready come in one entirety of the bee movie script lay tail okay i think the person who's on the phone one in the basement so now i can record again what what what what was that oh the um phone stopped ringing well i i guess i should get back to working on this thing since we really don't want to drag this thing on for too long i mean there's probably a bunch of people in the comments already complaining that there's a fat [ __ ] furry on screen who never shuts up about the cinematic masterpiece of 2017 knows the movie called rock dawg all right jeez i'll shut up now well okay see ya

Channel: Schaffrillas Productions

Views: 2,471,884

Rating: 4.9544296 out of 5

Keywords: Schaffrillas Productions, Ratatouille, Pixar, Remy, Linguini, Colette, Skinner

Id: DkdokuYtsZ8

Length: 65min 22sec (3922 seconds)

Published: Tue Aug 04 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/Citizen-HAL]

Noice I helped edit this

[u/michelle01pd2019]

i love schaffrillas (did i spell it right) soooo much i’ve been waiting for this video for so long ahaha

[u/soujiaboy101]

we need another episode with Schafrillas, we really do.