The effort that Pixar put into making Ratatouille a stunner is evident in every gorgeous, breath-taking scene. Not only are the sets amazing, but the character designs are adorable. The animation has been done with careful attention to every detail--no formulaic walk cycles here. If anything, I wondered whether it was necessary to make Linguini trip and stumble quite so often. The rats are adorably ratty, right down to their slinky movements. The bittersweet ending put the cap on what was a remarkable movie experience.

The only fly in this delectible soup is the number of cliched themes it uses. Maybe 'follow your dreams' can't be said often enough, but there sure as heck are enough scenes where the disapproving parent figure relents and says, "If that's what you really wanna do, we're behind you!" And, naturally, the short ugly guy is the villain. And one must wonder what will happen when the health inspector gets around to checking out...oh, well, never mind.

If you've seen too many cartoons, the cliches will reek like a single rotten mushroom in an enormous and gorgeous salad. For the non-over-exposed, this movie must rank as a treasure which other films must only attempt to match.