Plot 1 – Case Study: Ratatouille

film, written by Brad Bird

(assisted on story by Jan Pinkava and Jim Capobianco)

Ratatouille is one of the top animated films from Pixar, a

studio known for their excellence in storytelling along with
groundbreaking digital animation. As with most
entertainment designed for kids, it’s quite plot-driven, but
the story mixes in enough sophistication and
characterization to tantalize adults.

Premise – A rat who dreams of becoming a great chef gets

a job (secretly) cooking in the kitchen of a renowned Paris
restaurant.

Protagonist – Remy, a rat young enough to live under his

father’s thumb (paw?) but old enough to think of striking
out on his own. Remy loves his rat family, but they think of
garbage as food while he has a discerning sense of taste
and smell and longs to concoct meals with wondrous
flavor. He just can’t stop himself from pursuing his
passion, regardless of the danger it may bring.

Note: Everything in italics is commentary.

Beginning
Section 1 – Farmhouse
In a few quick scenes, we see that Remy isn’t like the other rats in his clan who dwell in a farmhouse attic
in the countryside of France. He has a highly developed sense of smell and taste. He would like to be
eating better fare than the garbage his clan lives on, but instead his talents are put to use sniffing for rat
poison. Remy’s dad insists that food is nothing more than fuel.

Inciting incident – Remy sneaks into the kitchen of the farmhouse, finds a plate with leftover strawberries
and cheese. He takes a bit of each and discovers—wow!—when you put those two flavors together, you
have something incredible. This spurs Remy into a secret life—finding ingredients and combining them
to create sensational flavors.

One day, accompanied by his brother, Remy finds a mushroom, then a piece of cheese, then a sprig of
rosemary. This time he wants to cook. So he scampers to the farmhouse rooftop and cooks the ingredients
over the smoking chimney. Remy is determined to add saffron, so he sneaks into the kitchen. The old lady
who lives there is fast asleep in front of the TV, which is showing a documentary about August Gusteau,
the famous French chef who believed “anyone can cook.” Remy is inspired, then sad to hear that he died
shortly after his restaurant, Gusteau’s, lost one of its five stars. Suddenly the lady wakens, sees the rats,
shoots at them with a shotgun. A chunk of ceiling breaks off and the whole rat clan falls into the room.
They flee, but Remy stays behind to grab Gusteau’s book, Anyone Can Cook.

By the time Remy gets outside, the rat clan is heading downstream in boats. Using the book as a boat,
Remy paddles after them, but he can’t catch up. He’s carried through a series of sewers, which leads him
to Paris. Overlooking the magnificent city, Remy sees a sign for Gusteau’s restaurant.
© GOTHAM WRITERS WORKSHOP
Case Study: Ratatouille Gotham Writers – Plot 1 2

Section 2 – Gusteau’s
Perched on a skylight, Remy watches the cooks work their magic in the kitchen of Gusteau’s. Linguini, a
klutzy young man (whose mother was a friend of Gusteau’s) applies for a job. Skinner, the current head
chef (who served as sous-chef to Gusteau) reluctantly hires Linguini as a garbage boy.

Soon, Remy notices Linguini secretly trying to doctor a soup on the stove. Horrified that Linguini has
ruined the soup, Remy dives into the kitchen and improvises at fixing the soup. No one sees him, except
Linguini. Then Skinner, noticing Linguini with a ladle by the soup, berates him for trying to cook. But the
soup is served, to a food critic no less, who happens to love the soup. Though Skinner would like to (he’s
a vindictive man), he can’t fire Linguini because the critic would be unhappy about it. Skinner will let
Linguini cook, but will be watching him closely.

Then Skinner catches a glimpse of Remy. He’s terrified word will get out that there’s a rat in the kitchen,
which could get the restaurant closed down. He orders Linguini to take the rat away and kill it.

First major turning point – Linguini is about to toss Remy into the river, but Remy pleads with his eyes.
(Remy can’t speak to humans, but can understand their words and actions.) Set free, Remy decides not to
flee, but to form a partnership with Linguini; Remy will help Linguini cook.

Desire – Remy’s external goal is to be a great chef in a great restaurant. His deeper desire is to live a life
of creativity and passion not typically allowed to his species.

This section sets up Remy’s desire—igniting his interest in cooking, then putting him in the kitchen of a
great restaurant, with the means to work there. It takes a clever arrangement of steps to make the premise
work.

Middle
Section 3 – Culinary Star Rising
The next day at Gusteau’s, Skinner demands that Linugini soon recreate the soup from the previous night.
Skinner senses Linguini can’t do it.

Remy comes up with a plan: hidden in Linguini’s chef hat, Remy will guide Linguini’s moves by tugging
on his hair. The two practice until they perfect this crazy cooking method.

Linguini makes the soup, passing approval from Skinner. Skinner tells him, reluctantly, to join the
cooking crew.

Subplot, Collette
Collette is tasked with showing Linguini how the kitchen works. She resents this assignment, but
obeys.

Skinner meets with a slick marketer, who is helping create a line of frozen foods using Gusteau’s name.
Skinner is hoping to use his position to gain great wealth. Then Skinner sees a letter from Linguini’s
deceased mother informing him that Linguini is actually Gusteau’s son. This terrifies Skinner because
Gusteau’s will bequeathed the restaurant to him—unless an heir appears within two years of his death.
Skinner’s lawyer will run a DNA test to see if the heir is legit.

Subplot, Collette
Collette shows Linguini kitchen techniques, with a little philosophy tossed in. (Hidden in the hat,
Remy is eagerly listening.) And Collette is getting nicer to Linguini.

Skinner glimpses Linguini with what he thinks is a rat, but then the rat is gone.

© GOTHAM WRITERS WORKSHOP

Case Study: Ratatouille Gotham Writers – Plot 1 3

A customer asks for something new, off the menu. Skinner instructs Linguini to make something “new,”
setting him up to fail. Using his natural talent, Remy guides Linguini to make an inspired dish. The
customer loves it, and other customers are now requesting the same “special order.” The other cooks
congratulate Linguini. But Skinner thinks he spies a rat in Linguini’s hat. When he checks, the rat is gone.

In his office, Skinner plies Linguini with wine, trying to find out about his relationship with the rat he
thinks he keeps seeing. But he gets no insight.

Meanwhile, Remy’s brother finds him in Paris. After Remy feeds his brother some delicacies from the
kitchen, the brother leads Remy to the rat clan, who are all in Paris now. The rats are feasting on garbage
in a sewer. Remy’s father expects his son to rejoin the clan, but Remy wishes to stay among the humans.

Midpoint – The father takes Remy to see a store with rat traps and rat poison, warning him that humans
kill rats. Even so, Remy insists he must keep cooking.

Remy has made great strides achieving his goal of being a great chef, but he’s not fully there because it
all hangs by the slender thread of his ruse with Linguini. It could end any moment, especially with
Skinner on his tail, so to speak. And the midpoint raises the stakes, showing that it could well end with
Remy’s death.

Section 4 – Rats Not Welcome

Subplot, Collette
The next morning, Remy finds Linguini dead asleep in the kitchen, because Skinner made him
stay up all night cleaning. When Collette shows up, Remy manipulates Linguini (like with
cooking) to make it appear he is interacting with Collette. But she gets angry because he doesn’t
seem to be giving his full attention. Linguini finally wakens and is very apologetic. He really
likes her and, wanting to come clean, he’s about to tell her all about Remy. Desperate, Remy
forces them to kiss, which sidetracks Linguini from giving away his secret.

Anton Ego, the powerful food critic (the one who took a star from the restaurant resulting in Gusteau’s
death), learns that Gusteau’s, a once fading restaurant, has made a comeback, due to the talent of a new
chef.

The lawyer confirms to Skinner that Linguini is indeed the son of Gusteau. But, according to Gusteau’s
will, the heir inherits everything only if he claims it in the next three days. Skinner, going mad, doesn’t
know if Linguini is aware his parentage, and what of that rat he thinks he keeps seeing?

Subplot, Collette
Linguini, now madly in love with Collette, is too distracted to properly follow Remy’s cooking
guidance. After work, Linguini zips away on Collette’s scooter. Remy tumbles out onto the street,
then a human tries to kill him, reminding him what humans think of rats.

Remy’s brother shows up, along with some other rats, all hoping for some food from the restaurant’s
kitchen. Remy sneaks into Skinner’s office to get the key to the pantry, and he notices documents proving
that Linguini is Gusteau’s son. Skinner appears, sees Remy. Remy runs for it, taking the documents.
Skinner chases Remy through the streets, but Remy gets away.

Linguini confronts Skinner, now armed with the documents. He knows he is Gusteau’s son and the
restaurant is rightfully his. Linguini takes over Gusteau’s; Skinner is banished.

The news hits the newspapers. Linguini is now in charge. And famous.

© GOTHAM WRITERS WORKSHOP

Case Study: Ratatouille Gotham Writers – Plot 1 4

The rats from Remy’s clan keep showing up for free food in the kitchen. It makes Remy nervous because
it could get him trouble. Skinner, spying on the restaurant, observes the rats.

Skinner anonymously calls to report a rat infestation at Gusteau’s, but the health inspector says it may be
a while before he can come for an inspection.

Linguini appears before the press, a little too cocky with his success. When asked where he gets his talent
and inspiration, he refuses to tell the truth. This greatly disappoints Remy, depriving him of a chance to
solidify his career. Ego, the critic, shows up, skeptical about Linguini’s buzz, saying he will come
tomorrow for dinner to see for himself if the food is truly great.

Still spying, Skinner finally discovers that the rat is the real chef.

Linguini is getting annoyed that Remy is so bossy in the kitchen. Angry at Linguini, Remy invites the
whole rat clan to raid the pantry.

Second major turning point – Late at night, the whole clan of rats invades the kitchen, devouring
everything in sight. Linguini shows up, to apologize for not treating Remy well. The rats try to hide, but
Linguini sees them. Linguini is furious, feeling betrayed by Remy. He drives the rats—and Remy—from
the restaurant, telling Remy if he comes back he’ll treat him like he should treat a rat. Remy realizes he
was never really welcome to be a chef.

Things take a darker tinge in this section, with Remy’s career and life becoming quite precarious. And
things looks really bad at the second major turning point; Remy has lost his only means to be a chef—just
when Ego is coming to make or break the restaurant.

End
Section 5 – The Ego Review
It’s the day Ego is coming to review the restaurant. Linguini is terrified. He can’t cook without Remy.

Skinner traps Remy in a cage. If Remy creates a line of frozen foods for him, he won’t kill Remy.

That evening, Ego arrives. He tells the waiter he wants Linguini to serve his best shot.

Remy talks to an imaginary Gusteau (which he’s been doing periodically) and is inspired not to give up
on his dream. Remy’s family comes to set him free. He scampers to the restaurant, believing, again, he is
a chef.

Without Remy, things are going disastrously in the kitchen. When Remy arrives, without hiding, the
cooks try to kill him. But Linguini steps in, telling the full truth—Remy has been guiding his cooking all
along. The kitchen staff is dumbfounded. And they all quit the restaurant, even Collette, along with the
waiters. Meanwhile Ego is waiting on his order.

Just then, the rat clan—including Remy’s father—shows up to help. The health inspector also shows up,
sees the rats, runs away to file a report. But a bunch of rats stop him and tie him up. (When Skinner
appears, in disguise, they also tie him up.)

Remy, no longer hiding under a hat, masterfully guides the rat staff in the kitchen. He takes charge of the
meal for Ego—a surprisingly simple dish: ratatouille.

© GOTHAM WRITERS WORKSHOP

Case Study: Ratatouille Gotham Writers – Plot 1 5

Subplot, Collette
Collette comes back to help, because she loves Linguini.

Linguini, now serving as waiter (which he’s actually good at), delivers the dish. With the first delicious
bite, Ego is transported to memories of his childhood. He compliments Linguini, thinking he’s the chef,
but Linguini says he can meet the true chef once all the customers are gone.

Climax – Remy dares to meet Ego, as the head chef of Gusteau’s.

Ego writes a rave review, not mentioning the fact that the chef was a rat, but deeming Remy “the finest
chef in France.”

They had to set the health inspector loose, so word about the rat infestation gets out, which causes
Gusteau’s to close and Ego to lose his credibility. But…Ego helps to open a little bistro, where Remy is
openly—at least behind the closed kitchen doors—the chef.

The end section stays focused on the big night when Ego reviews the restaurant, eager to bring the place
down if it’s not perfect. The climax involves Ego tasting the ratatouille and then writing his rave review,
but the real moment of climax for Remy is when he meets Ego, finally showing himself to be the chef
everyone is talking about, and accepting the risk that comes with this revelation. This bravery is
rewarded with him being publicly acknowledged for this talent, marking the real attainment of his goal.

Further Analysis:
The most striking feature is how this story makes a wild premise (a rat becoming a great chef) plausible.
The cause-and-effect progression of events is worked out logically and (for a fantasy) believably.

It’s all very plot-driven, and Remy doesn’t have that much internal development. He has a natural talent
for cooking from the start, but his confidence and willingness to face danger keep growing, with a crisis
of faith happening, only briefly, at the second major turning point. Linguini has more of an evolution,
especially late in the story when he gets a bit cocky, from which he soon recovers.

Skinner is the main antagonist, with all kinds of reasons to rid a rat from the kitchen, but late in the story
Ego also becomes an antagonist, determined to bring the restaurant down.

The only true subplot is the romance between Linguini and Collette, which intersects with the main plot
by serving as a wedge, temporarily, between Linguini and Remy.

Two prominent plot strands run alongside the cooking storyline. 1) Remy’s family, which serves as a
force (especially the father) trying to pull Remy back to the clan. 2) Skinner’s obsession with discovering
the truth about the rat, which presents a suspenseful threat, and his scheme to keep Linguini from
inheriting the restaurant.

You might express the theme as, simply, “follow your dream.” It’s one of the most conventional themes in
the book, but that doesn’t matter because it’s illustrated here in such a wondrously unique manner.

© GOTHAM WRITERS WORKSHOP