Hadrien's First Movie

We went to see the Disney-Pixar animation film Ratatouille today, at the EDSA Shangri-la cinema. It was Hadrien's first movie, and I'm happy to report that he sat through it (it runs 1:57) except for a 15-minute interval when he insisted on going to the bathroom. The bathroom break - which was despite the fact that he was in diapers - was probably attributable to Kuya Baz having just gone to the bathroom himself. Hadrien looked so cute sitting on the theater chair, barely keeping it from folding up. Baz, meantime, was busy with popcorn and gummi bears, although there was a part with an old lady and a shotgun (she was going after the rats) which he disliked, saying that it was "violent."

The boys are quite the Disney-Pixar fans. Baz's first movie was Cars, last year, followed by Charlotte's Web with Gramps and Gramma. At home the boys enjoy Finding Nemo and like listening to the audio versions of Monsters Inc. and Toy Story. In fact, when Baz was big on Finding Nemo, he'd refer to himself as Nemo; to Hadrien as Marlin (which came out as "Marine"); to me as Bruce the Shark, and to Mommy as Bloat. That was before his Wallace and Grommit phase, with him as Wallace and Hadrien as Grommit - Hadrien appears to have accepted that he's the sidekick.

Ratatouille is about a rat (Remy) who's inspired to become a chef. He arrives in Paris, ends up at the restaurant owned by his cooking idol, Gausteau, and meets Linguini, the restaurant's garbage boy. Remy helps Linguini pass himself off as a chef, thereby earning Linguini the ire of Skinner, Gausteau's former sous chef who now runs the place. The movie's various plot points resolve themselves with the revelation that Linguini is actually Gausteau's illegitimate and unknown son; and Remy's father forgives him for leaving the family to help a human, and with the colony works the kitchen to help Remy save the restaurant from a scathing review by the very same food critic who ruined Gausteau. The movie's title explains itself in that scene with the restaurant critic, an excellent piece of work which wouldn't be out of place in a live action film.

Like any good fable, there's a moral: you can be anything you set out to be, as in this case when Remy pursues his calling to become a chef. You can also read it as, "Become the change you want to see" (Remy's father believes humans and rats will never get along); or "Give credit where credit is due" (when Linguini becomes famous, he has trouble admitting that Remy is behind his rise as a chef).

Good plot and excellent animation - Baz, Hadrien and I each give it a "thumbs up." Baz liked it because it had to do with cooking. Hadrien liked it because now he gets to call himself "Hadatouille"- I swear, he thought this name up himself.