Ratatouille (2007)

Yes. 90% of real audiences liked it based on 18,265 votes. Critics agree, scoring it 96%.

Remy, a rat living in Paris, possesses a palate far more refined than that of his fellow comrades. He dreams of becoming a chef, determined to create culinary masterpieces rather than scavenge for scraps. When fate deposits him in the sewers beneath one of Paris’s most famous restaurants, he finds himself ideally placed to fulfill his dream. Forming an unusual alliance with a bumbling young kitchen worker, Remy begins a daring culinary double life. Together, they must outwit the scheming Head Chef Skinner, evade Remy’s disapproving colony, and impress renowned food critic Anton Ego, who strikes fear in the hearts of chefs all throughout France. Wikipedia ↗

Ratatouille is a 2007 American animated film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and directed by Brad Bird. The film follows Remy, a rat with an extraordinary sense of taste and smell who dreams of becoming a great chef in Paris. After being separated from his colony and finding himself near Gusteau's, a once-celebrated restaurant that has fallen from its five-star glory, Remy forms an unlikely partnership with Alfredo Linguini, a clumsy young garbage boy, by hiding under Linguini's chef's hat and controlling his cooking movements by pulling his hair.

Together, they must navigate the cutthroat world of Parisian haute cuisine while hiding Remy's existence from the restaurant staff and the terrifying food critic Anton Ego. Ratatouille had a complicated production history — Jan Pinkava originally conceived the project and served as director before Brad Bird, fresh off The Incredibles, was brought in to overhaul the story and take over directing duties. Bird's version retained Pinkava's core concept while sharpening the narrative and deepening the themes.

The film's depiction of Paris was meticulously researched, with the animation team making multiple trips to France to study the city's architecture, light, and culinary culture. Anton Ego's climactic review, in which the fearsome critic is transported back to childhood by a taste of ratatouille, is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful and philosophically rich monologues in animation history — a meditation on the nature of creativity, criticism, and the transformative power of art. Michael Giacchino's whimsical, accordion-inflected score perfectly evoked the Parisian setting.

Ratatouille earned $623 million worldwide and won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film. The phrase "anyone can cook" from the film has become shorthand for the democratic ideal that talent can emerge from the most unlikely places.