Rewatching Ratatouille recently made me think of a line from the Guardians of the Galaxy Honest Trailer, which portrays Marvel as so dominant and drunk on its own power—and its fans so eager—that a weird movie with a trash-talking raccoon and monosyllabic tree can be a smash success. Their tongue-in-cheek name for the studio: “F— You, We’re Marvel.”

Ratatouille is Pixar’s “F— You, We’re Pixar” moment. 

A movie about a rat becoming a chef by controlling a human through his hair? Oscar win for Best Animated Feature. Portray the critic as a cadaverous meanie? 96% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Touché, Pixar.  

(Somehow Ratatouille is ranked only #7 on my Pixar rankings, which feels low. Though in my 4 year old’s unofficial Pixar rankings it’s tied for #1 with WALL-E.)