40 Years, 40 Disney Movies: Counting Down to Daddy’s Birthday Night 13 – Ratatouille!

“Les rêves des amoureux sont comm’(e) le bon vin; Ils donn(ent) de la joie ou bien du chagrin.”

Loose translation:  “The dreams of lovers are like good wine, they bring joy or also sorrow.”

-Le Festin (The Feast)

Yep, that attempt at appearing to be a sophisticated man of high culture means that it’s time for yet another installment of MEGA DADDY MOVIE TIME!! And this week, we are again reaching into the Pixar vault for a somewhat polarizing choice. I know a few people that have told me they don’t LOVE this movie. But those people obviously lack the refinement to appreciate the complexity of this beautifully crafted tale of finding oneself and reconciling the often conflicting passion within one’s self.

Or, they just don’t like rats.

So yes, I am obvs talking about Ratatouille.

And for this night, we had quite a crowd. It was the four of us plus we had some first-time Disney nighters – Nickie’s sister and her family came over (Christy, John, Billy and Trevor) and of course, Stephanie came on account of nothing to do and dragged her husband (whoa, that may be the first time I have written that) with her. You see kids, when you marry someone, what’s theirs is yours and what’s yours is theirs. And this includes lack of life. So yeah, Mikey, I am sure we will be seeing you at more of these in the future.

Side note – Mikey? Not the biggest Disney fan. I am pretty sure the only Disney movie he likes is Wreck-It Ralph. He did, however, admit that he liked this one. He was even spotted tapping his feet to the music. We may have a convert here. More to come.

The activity

The activity was a bit of a dud. The plan was to have the kids help us cook, but they ended up playing upstairs instead. So, we just ended up having Myles stir some roux. So yay, activities.

Also yeah, I made a roux…feel free to think I am awesome.

Ah, thank you.

The food

Wow, so with a movie that focuses so strongly on food, we obviously had to step it up a little with the meal.

To start, we had a lovely cheese plate and for the actual meal, we ate French onion soup, croque monsieurs, croissants, chicken cutlets (courtesy of Christy) and also served grilled cheese and tomato soup for those with more…erm…delicate palates.

For dessert, we had a French coconut pie and eclairs (again, thanks to Christy).

And of course we drank wine. Because we are alcoholi…I mean, because it tastes good.

The movie

I love Ratatouille for so many reasons. I mean, food. Obvs.  Food is great. This movie is about food. Therefore, this movie is great. It’s science.

And the underlying theme of greatness coming from anywhere, despite its humble origins, is a key ingredient in this one. I mean, that theme is so in your face here (a rat being a chef? WHAT??!!) that it seems so brilliant. One of my favorite parts in the whole film is when Ego’s review of Gusteau’s is read and he acknowledges that while not anyone can be a great chef, a great chef can come from anywhere. This is it, right? This is what we tell our children  and ourselves – that we can be anything we want. My kids want to be professional hockey and soccer players. And I say, why not? Why not them? Chasing dreams would not be possible without this type of optimism.

But the story of Remy and him coming to grips with who he really is is what I love most about this movie. The film starts with Remy living with a secret that he fears could negatively impact the family structure upon which so much of his life – security, companionship, love – is dependent.  He loves good food. Rats simply eat to survive. But once he is separated from this family, he realizes his true passion and becomes a chef and feels what it’s actually like to embrace the part of him he has hidden away for so long. But for him to truly be happy, he has to realize that there is more to him. He is not just black-and-white. And this is part of becoming the person you are supposed to be. Figuring out how to make the once contrasting pieces of yourself work in harmony to the best you you can be. This can be a painful, difficult struggle but in the end if you remain true to yourself and follow your dreams, happiness can’t be far behind.

Thanks Remy.