Master chef and restaurateur Paul Liebrandt breaks down the lessons about food that are taught in Pixar’s Ratatouille. The 2007 film, which won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, remains one of Pixar’s most critically acclaimed films, with a 96% critical score on Rotten Tomatoes. Its legacy lives on in other ways, ranging from the popular Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure ride at Walt Disney World’s EPCOT to being the basis for one of the many universes in the Academy Award-winning Everything Everywhere All at Once.

In a video with Insider, Liebrandt examined Ratatouille through the lens of what it teaches about food, and why it is a valuable movie for children to watch. The master chef compared the themes and accessibility of Ratatouille to Harry Potter and highlighted the real-life lessons about food that can be gleaned, including a specific scene where restaurant critic Anton Ego eats ratatouille. Liebrandt also rated the overall movie with a perfect score of 10. Check out his analysis below:

I love this movie, absolutely love it. It’s sort of the Harry Potter of cooking in a weird way.

The eating of the ratatouille, it’s like that, and takes it back to being a kid with mom cooking ratatouille. That is what food is about. It’s about memory. I would say that, from my point of view, I don’t aim to take people back to childhood with the food, because everybody’s childhood could be good or bad, I don’t know. It’s more to do with creating a environment and moment where you can literally switch off the world.

Every child in the world should watch this movie to have the appreciation for food and cooking. It’s real, what they’re saying. It’s 100%. I have to say, it’s a ten out of ten for me.

Why Ratatouille Is Timeless

Ratatouille Remains An All-Time Pixar Classic After 17 Years.

Liebrandt’s comments underscore some of the most important elements that make Ratatouille a timeless classic and one of Pixar’s best films. Part of the film’s power is what it teaches about food, and that it’s more about memory than it is about simply consuming it for energy or to be temporarily enjoyed for taste. Ratatouille presents the process of cooking and eating as an exciting art, using its stunning animation to turn these everyday necessities into a stimulating and deeply sensory experience.

Beyond the food itself, Ratatouille captures the power of a quality dining experience, and that it should ideally fully engage the customer, allowing them to be unburdened from their worries and responsibilities as they dine and instead allow them to fully savor the moment. This is a lesson that is arguably even more important in 2024 than in 2007, although it will always remain relevant. In true Pixar fashion, Ratatouille balances these themes with quality humor and a boldly creative premise.

On paper, the premise sounds delightfully absurd, which is part of why the “Raccacoonie” joke works so well in the absurdist comedy Everything Everywhere All at Once, 15 years after the Pixar film was released. Nevertheless, the premise is flawlessly executed in the actual film. While there is a ride at Disney World, without the additions of Ratatouille 2 or any other sequels, prequels, or other spinoffs, the legacy of Ratatouille has not been diluted. It continues to stand on its own as an epitome of Pixar’s best work.

Source: Insider