Another Stuart Little?

Going into this assignment, I decided I wanted to read a review that would sway my opinion one way or the other to finally go see a movie or not. I found this review that was written by David Ansen from Newsweek. He wrote this article on the new pixar animated film Ratatouille. I have always been a little hesitant on the animated movies ever since I watched Stuart Little. Don't ask me why I saw that because it is something I still ask myself today. Animated films to me are boring in a sense and kind of predictable. I wanted to see if Ansen agreed with the rave of how good Ratatouille is.
D. Ansen starts out his critique by stating some of the obstacles that Ratatouille had to overcome like the title being in French and others. He tells us that Brad Bird, the creator of the furry rat, was excited to take on the challeges to change people perception of the film.
Ansen says:

It would seem that Pixar's newest animated movie, "Ratatouille,"
has a few
obstacles to overcome. The title isn't in English, and a good
percentage of
the audience has probably never tasted it, let alone heard of
it.

Seeing that I speak French , it also caught my eye in the sense that the setting was taking place in France and that the title was French. I know some things about French culture and the language that it might help me understand the film better.

Ansen does a good job of telling a brief description of what the movie is. The main character Remy, is a rat that is chasing his dream to become a chef; something he has always like. While all odds are against him, he finds a way to do something that he really likes.

Ansen goes on to compare the movie to the pixar film "Cars". He states that Ratatouille is a much better film just simply on the main character. It's a little cheesy in my opinion to have a movie about talking cars. The audience will perceive and understand the movie a lot better if it's a simple character like a friendly rat. Ansen states:

If Pixar's last movie, "Cars," was hampered by the unavoidable fact that
automobile hoods just aren't all that expressive, "Ratatouille”'s lovingly
detailed computer animation is a marvel of subtle shrugs and sly facial
gestures.

Ansen goes on to later describe how this movie could relate to both children and adults in the sense that the children enjoy the animated characters and the adults can relate to his drive and not settling for anything but what he wants. He compares it the "The Incredibles" in the sense that it's a family movie and something that everyone can enjoy.

Ansen points out:

Ratatouille" may prove more fascinating to grown-ups than little kids, whose
interest in food (other than candy) tends to be functional at best. But surely
they'll relate to Remy's cockeyed quest. Like the extraordinary family in Bird's
"Incredibles," who refuse to hide their superhuman gifts under a bushel of
conformity, Remy won't settle for anything less than the best.

After reading this critique and seeing what Ansen had to say about Ratatouille, I think i'm going to have to see it. He assures that it's not like "Cars" with talking front hoods. He has given me enough reasons to go see it with the family based story, the French background and the funny little rat character. I'm glad that I feel confident that it's not going to be a repeat of "Stuart Little". I think this was a sucessful first blog post...