Following in the footsteps of Finding Nemo, Monster’s Inc. and all the rest, Pixar’s latest film, Ratatouille, has a lot to live up to. Although it is no The Incredibles, I found it to be a lot of fun and a great kids’ movie. As have been all of their films, with the possible exception of Cars.

(Any flick that includes Larry the Cable Guy in a role other than “Dead Guy #3″ makes the short list of movies I would have to be paid to sit through. This may make me a bit of a jerk, but as long as I do not have to watch or listen to LtC, I’m cool with that.)

The story of Ratatouille is your basic adaptation of Top Chef, with the reality TV elements toned down and more emphasis placed on the little-known anthropomorphic animal hero aspect of the show. It follows a young rat prince named Rémy who gets separated from his family and winds up lost and alone on the streets of Paris.

Following the advice of a recurring hallucination that takes the form of Auguste Gusteau, a departed master chef and personal hero of Rémy’s, the film’s rodent protagonist soon finds himself befriending Alfredo Linguini, a hapless and bungling garbage boy who works in Gusteau’s old restaurant. We soon discover that Linguini is, in fact, Gusteau’s long-lost, illegitimate love child and heir to the restaurant. Rémy does his best to help his new friend, but he is torn between Linguini’s needs, the needs of his family, and his own desire to become a master chef.

Predictably enough, each of these problems has been solved by the time the credits roll: Linguini gets the restaurant and the girl, Rémy finds his place in the world, and the rats are living large off the restaurant’s scraps.

For me, the film was the most interesting when it attempted to depict the tastes of certain foods by using music and swirling, abstract art. I’m fascinated by the idea of synesthesia, and I think that with a little tweaking and devotion, the approach taken by Pixar in this movie to translate the sense of taste to the senses of sight and sound could bear even more fruit, and prove to be artistic and moving and so on. I’d like to see it explored more fully in a short film or even a feature, but I doubt that will happen anytime soon. Until then, Ratatouille is not a bad way to pass an hour and a half. Not by a long shot.

(By the way… If you like to read short fiction, or if the idea of synesthesia intrigues you–or even if you are simply literate and breathing–then check out The Empire of Ice Cream by Jeffrey Ford. It’s Required Reading, and unlike Ratatoille, it’s free. Gotta love it!)

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