Ratatouille Discussion Thread (Previews, Reviews, etc.)

[NarniaDis]

Loved it - great movie right up there with MI and TI as my favs...

A+

[gardener14]

I just saw Ratatouille, and I loved it. Previously, Finding Nemo and Cars were my favorite Disney/Pixar films, but now Ratatouille is right up there with them if not above them. I loved the leading characters, the simple, relateable, and unique story, the score, the beautiful backgrounds, the complete lack of cheap jokes and pop culture references, and that beautiful French song that is featured. I loved how I empathized with the characters, how I felt a glow of happiness throughout the movie, and how I felt chills of satisfaction at the conclusion. It just made me feel good.

I think Ratatouille is in many ways a return to classic Disney storytelling. It's the kind of animated movie that appeals as much to adults as young people, and I think Walt Disney and his team would be very proud that his name appears before it.

[MadonnasManOne]

My review is below. I'll try not to put in too many spoilers, but, beware.

My sister, my nephew, and I just returned home from seeing Ratatouille! I must say, I LOVED it! It is such a charming film, it doesn't have all the stupid crude humor, pop culture references, and gags that more recent CG animated films have, and for that, I am really impressed. It has a great story, the voice cast is excellent (there wasn't a bad one in the bunch!), and the animation is spectacular! I saw this with a packed theater, consisting mainly of children with their parents. The children seemed to really enjoy it. In fact, they were laughing at moments that I thought only the adults would get. Of course, they were all captivated by the many action sequences spread throughout. Oh, and the best part, in my opinion, was (highlight to read) when the health inspector showed up, and saw all of the rats in the kitchen. The rats go after him, as he tries to escape in his car, and they catch him, tie him up, and throw him in the walk-in fridge! Later, they get Skinner, and throw him in, as well! Talk about the whole theater cracking up! The score is terrific, the film flows well, and doesn't have anything that slows it down. A real winner! This film is very classic, and reminds me of some of the earlier Disney films. It's got such a magic about it. I can't describe it, but, I really enjoyed it. I believe I'll be making a return trip to see this! Having said that, I can't compose a ranking of these films. I love them all! Pixar hasn't made a bad film, in my opinion, and Ratatouille is another jewel in their crown.

I liked the short, Lifted. It was quite funny. Maybe not their best short, but, far from being a bad one. Seeing the teaser for WALL-E on the big screen gave me chills! I can't wait to learn more about it, and of course, to see it.

My nephew became a little restless (he's only two), but, during the action scenes, he was certainly captivated. There were a couple of moments that he looked over at me with a big smile, and said, "Ratatouille!", and laughed. My sister said she liked it, but, not as much as Finding Nemo and Cars. Those happen to be my nephews favorites. She said Ratatouille was more adult than she imagined.

At any rate, I HIGHLY recommend this film. It's a great film, for the entire family, and adults will certainly enjoy it. Especially the cooks in the family! Ratatouille is a tasty dish, and should be shared with everyone you know!

[MadonnasManOne]

I'd also like to add that the two showings of Ratatouille, before the showing we saw, were sold out. I'd say the showing we saw was sold out, as well, as I got the tickets earlier in the day, and then came back to the theater, after eating lunch. We headed directly into the theater, and I didn't check the board to see if the showing we were attending had sold out, but, it was pretty packed.

[Anthony]

Just saw the film this afternoon and loved it! What a great movie! The animation is so detailed and beautiful (especially the exterior shots of the city of Paris). Rich characters and wonderful story. I think I would recommend it more for adults than children, as there is not much kiddie-appeal.

Overall grade: A-

[Luke]

I can predict the future: Ratatouille will get #2 at the BO, Die Hard getting first, and like Cars' controversity it got when it lost the Oscar, everybody on various forum(except this forum as everyone here only cares about news that involves a red-headed fish) will be ranting and discussing away.

<i>Die Hard</i> made $9 M on Wednesday and $5.9 M on Thursday. Unless it suddenly gets a ridiculously huge boost from weekend traffic, I highly doubt <i>Ratatouille</i> will have any difficulty claiming the top slot at the box office. But then every Pixar film has opened at #1, so no surprise there.

[Widdi]

Easily Pixar's best movie, but I think it will fall victim to the "adult orientented" label in the same way that Pocahontas and the Hunchback of Notre Dame (two of Disney's best films, even with the changes to history and a classic novel) did in the mid 90's.

[Ting Ting]

After months and months of anticipation, I finally saw Ratatouille earlier this afternoon and I agree 100% with MadonnasManOne. It was fantastic! The cast was great, the writing was brilliant, it had a beautiful score, and the animation was stunning, as usual. A vast improvement when compared to Cars, in my opinion (though I wasn't big on that film at all). This one just might take the #2 spot on my list of favorite Disney/Pixar films (Toy Story has been and always will be #1).

A friend of mine asked me if I'd be willing to go see it again tomorrow so that she can see it, too, and of course I agreed. I'm highly anticipating my second viewing!

[Simba3]

I'm so glad to hear that everyone here at UD is enjoying "Ratatouille". It's great to hear positive reviews of the film and hear taht most people are really enjoying it. I wouldn't say it's Pixar's best movie, but it certainly isn't their worst.

[reyquila]

I saw it last night with my wife and kids and we all loved it. Great story, excellent animation, both lovable and despicable characters. I loved the music, there was even some action and adventure!!! One of the top three Pixar films for me!!

[magicalwands]

I'm just going to make it easy for myself and say I agree with MMO. (Hope you don't mind!) It made me really uncomfortable though when Remy rides the sewers, he finds himself under Paris already? A little too convenient for the filmmakers. Oh, and the ending! GREAT ending. I'm glad they didn't put one where it was predictable or what other studios would have probably done: Everyone is okay at Gusteau's with Remy as the main cook.

Overall: A

[Disneykid]

I just got back from seeing it, and as I expected, I loved it. Everything just flowed so well. It never felt like it was dragging the way some parts of The Incredibles and Cars were. While the humor here is gentler and less sharp than Pixar's other films, it was still funny. Unlike Pixar's other films, this is less of an ensemble piece. I understand how that can be seen as a flaw since it renders the supporting characters as underdeveloped, but that didn't bother me at all. By having most of the focus be on Remy and Linguini, we got to know them very well. Also, both characters are fairly distant from their respective groups, so it makes sense that we would be, as well. The animation was, of course, stunning, as were the performances and score. Despite being Pixar's most low-key film, yet, it still manages to hold its own. It's amazing the film turned out so well considering it had a fairly problematic production. Here's how I'd rank this amongst the rest of the Pixar library:

1. Finding Nemo
2. Monsters, Inc.
3. Toy Story 2
4. Toy Story
5. Ratatouille
6. The Incredibles
7. Cars
8. A Bug's Life

Overall, I'd give it **** out of four, and a 9/10. I mentally kept going back and forth between 8 and 9, but the climax and ending were so emotionally satisfying that it locked a 9 for me.

[roswellian]

Saw it tonight with my boyfriend, I loved it!

[rexcrk]

Hmm, I guess I'm the black sheep here, because I wasn't totally IMPRESSED with it as everyone else. I mean it was good and all, but it just didn't have that WOW factor that The Incredibles or Cars had for me. I'd have to say that it's at the bottom of my Pixar movies list with Finding Nemo.

The biggest disappointment, as silly as this may be, was that I couldn't figure out who John Ratzenberger's character was in this movie

Still a good movie though and worth the 8 bucks to see it!

[Simba3]

The biggest disappointment, as silly as this may be, was that I couldn't figure out who John Ratzenberger's character was in this movie

This was John Ratzenberger's character, Mustafa:

[Anthony]

Boxofficemojo.com reports that Ratatouille made $16.6 million its first day of release. With that, it's probably projected to take in around $39 -42 million this weekend. Really low for a Disney/Pixar release.

http://boxofficemojo.com/daily/chart/

[carter1971]

I saw it today and absolutely loved it. I want to echo the thoughts of all the others in this thread who loved it as well, especially those of gardener14 and MadonnasManOne. You guys pretty much summed up how I felt about it. I'll definitely be seeing it again, as I have another voucher from a recently purchased Pixar DVD. (I bought the two-disc versions of the Toy Story movies to supplement my Toy Box set.)

Like MM1, I can't rank the eight Pixar films in order of preference. They're all masterpieces, in my opinion. Now the wait begins for Wall-E!

[MadonnasManOne]

Boxofficemojo.com reports that Ratatouille made $16.6 million its first day of release. With that, it's probably projected to take in around $39 -42 million this weekend. Really low for a Disney/Pixar release.

http://boxofficemojo.com/daily/chart/

BoxOfficeMojo.com reports that it is estimated to have taken in $16.6 million on Friday, alone. Yes, that is true. However, they don't say anything about expecting it to take in around $39-42 million during the weekend. I don't know where you are getting that number, unless that is your guess? I mean, Cars took in only around $3 million more than that on its first day of release. Cars went on to take in $60,119,509. during its first three day weekend.

In fact, the projection you give is rather low. I would say it is at least $10 million too low. If, using your estimate, Ratatouille is going to take in the higher end of your projection, then it would only need to make $25,400,000. over Saturday and Sunday. That would suggest it would make $12,700,000. each day. That is entirely too low a projection. It is more likely we'll see at least $20 million on Saturday, and at least $15 million on Sunday, bringing its total to $51,600,000 for the first three days. In fact, I would say it is likely to be a bit higher than that. The fact of the matter is, this film has overwhelmingly positve reviews, great word of mouth, and a good deal of buzz. I believe the Box Office totals will reflect this.

I am also very glad to see so many here at UD enjoy this film, and that they are just as pleased with it as I am. I also know that not everyone will be pleased with everything I am pleased with. The old saying goes, "If we all liked the same thing, life would be pretty boring." With that said, it's hard for me to see why anyone wouldn't like Ratatouille. It truly is a charming film. I've seen it echoed in so many reviews, from those who are film critics who write for newspapers, to those of us who just go to the movies, that Ratatouille reminds them of the early Disney films, and their sense of magic. I agree. I believe Walt Disney himself would have been very pleased with Ratatouille, and with most, if not all, of Pixar's output.

[Anthony]

Boxofficemojo.com reports that Ratatouille made $16.6 million its first day of release. With that, it's probably projected to take in around $39 -42 million this weekend. Really low for a Disney/Pixar release.

http://boxofficemojo.com/daily/chart/

BoxOfficeMojo.com reports that it is estimated to have taken in $16.6 million on Saturday, alone. Yes, that is true. However, they don't say anything about expecting it to take in around $39-42 million during the weekend. I don't know where you are getting that number, unless that is your guess?

Yes it is my guess. And it was $16.6 on Friday, not Saturday.

In fact, the projection you give is rather low. I would say it is at least $10 million too low. If, using your estimate, Ratatouille is going to take in the higher end of your projection, then it would only need to make $25,400,000. over Saturday and Sunday. That would suggest it would make $12,700,000. each day. That is entirely too low a projection. It is more likely we'll see at least $20 million on Saturday, and at least $15 million on Sunday, bringing its total to $51,600,000 for the first three days. In fact, I would say it is likely to be a bit higher than that. The fact of the matter is, this film has overwhelmingly positve reviews, great word of mouth, and a good deal of buzz. I believe the Box Office totals will reflect this.

Well given the fact that most opening days usually taper off on the following Saturday and Sunday, I based my projection on a small decrease on Sat of about $14mil and around $13-14mil on Sunday, giving it a weekend total of around $43.6mil. I think your projection of $20mil on Saturday and $15mil on Sunday is way too generous. There's no way it will make that much by Monday morning. I could be wrong though.... but if I were a betting man I'd put my money on it grossing under $45 million for the weekend.

In the end, it doesn't really matter how much it makes. The movie is excellent and that's the most important thing to me.

[MadonnasManOne]

Yes it is my guess. And it was $16.6 on Friday, not Saturday.

Oops. I meant Friday. Thanks for letting me know. I made the correction in my post.

Well given the fact that most opening days usually taper off on the following Saturday and Sunday, I based my projection on a small decrease on Sat of about $14mil and around $13-14mil on Sunday, giving it a weekend total of around $43.6mil. I think your projection of $20mil on Saturday and $15mil on Sunday is way too generous. There's no way it will make that much by Monday morning. I could be wrong though.... but if I were a betting man I'd put my money on it grossing under $45 million for the weekend.

In the end, it doesn't really matter how much it makes. The movie is excellent and that's the most important thing to me.

Oh, no, Anthony. A majority of movies experience a big increase on Saturday, then taper off on Sunday, but, will still remain above their Friday total. This is especially true of movies that are opening. In fact, you can check out the daily chart of any recent movie at BoxOfficeMojo.com, and see that movies almost always get a boost on Saturday, and taper off on Sunday. This is true, even for movies that have been out a while. I'm going to make my bet that Ratatouille will end up in the $52-$55 million dollar range, for the three day weekend.

However, like you, it really doesn't matter to me how much it makes. In the end, it's a great film, and is a success, in my opinion!