I went and saw Ratatouille on the weekend. The film is the latest creation of Pixar and animator turned writer/director Brad Bird, lauded by yours truly for his excellent 2004 feature The Incredibles.

It was an excellent film. It's currently rated at 95% at Rotten Tomatoes. I wasn't the only one who noticed the extraordinary level of detail in the film. The cooks all had telltale burns on their wrists (I was worried one of the main characters was a cutter before I figured it out). The layout of the kitchen, the textures of food, the spices were all the result of a concerted desire to accurately convey the workings, the culture of a fine kitchen.

Ratatouille could have been a cookie-cutter animated film about cutesy animals who didn't belong. That format would have been terribly unremarkable. Instead, Pixar gives us interesting characters, stunningly intricate visual detail, and a powerful statement about the role that the creation and consumption of good food means to humanity. I hope Pixar, and Brad Bird in particular, continue the trend of bringing us fresh animated films in the future. Bravo!