Patton Oswalt’s Delicious Voiceover as Remy in 'Ratatouille'

Patton Oswalt’s voiceover narration in Ratatouille as Remy is a storytelling, personal account of everything that goes on in the movie. He talks about being different and as an audience, we feel it. Right off the bat, we’re introduced to our main character as he tells us about how different he is from the rest of his family and how he craves more out of life than the hand he was dealt. The 2009 Pixar classic doesn’t just use Patton Oswalt’s voice-over to show us Remy’s rich inner life but to humanize him and appeal to the outcast in all of us. 

Right from the beginning of the film, the audience is drawn into Remy’s world; immediately forgetting the most crucial detail, that he’s a rat. A rat with a love of fine food. Through his voice-over narration, we get his take on the world including what it feels like to be a misfit among misfits. Remy has talents and passions that go underappreciated by family, we’re given an inside look into what his life has been like and get to experience the world from his point of view. 

He loves his family, but he’s out of place with them. A fish out of water. A rat out of the rat’s nest. In a world of literal outsiders, he stands alone as the biggest outsider of all. Remy dreams of more than what life offers a rat and spares no time in telling us that through his voice-over. He wants to be a Chef, but the odds are stacked against him. He doesn’t want to eat garbage, he wants to be immersed in a world of flavor. 

He’s honest and energetic with a can-do attitude that’s almost infectious; as an audience, we can’t help but empathize with him. We want to see his dreams come true; like anybody with a gift, he just wants to use it. He wants his own life and the chance to carve out his own place in a world that wasn’t built for him. 

It’s also the story of an unlikely friendship that forms between two outcasts from different worlds but share the same passion. Through the use of voice-over, the audience is privy to Remy’s innermost thoughts and feelings, but the other main character isn’t so lucky and needs to figure it out for himself. 

The narration used in Ratatouille isn't just meant to humanize the main character but tell a story - his story. Remy sets off the narrative with an exposition of his life and where he comes from; what his family is like and how he dreams of more. He pops in at crucial moments to guide us through the plot, giving us updates on what he thinks and feels, always letting the audience know exactly where the story is headed. Patton Oswalt’s narration breathes life into the character, and makes the audience forget that he’s a rat; he makes people actually want to see a rat in the kitchen. The entire story is set from Remy’s point of view and the way he speaks to the audience is almost omniscient, but withholding enough to let things play out on their own. 

While the story is Remy’s to tell and the entire narrative revolves around his journey to becoming a chef, there’s actually a second narrator towards the end of the film. Voiced by Peter O’Toole and teased as the villain of the story, Anton Ego is a renowned food critic with a scathing pen and cutthroat tastes. Ever since his last review of the restaurant, his presence looms over it like a specter. Ego’s arrival is so anticipated and feared that when he does finally show up, it’s the climax of the story and a rallying point for Remy, his family, and the faux-chef Linguini. Finally having the chance to prove himself, he serves up a dish of the movie’s namesake and blows the critic away. Ego’s voiceover comes as a fitting surprise right before the end of the movie in the form of a review. It’s the only outside narration the audience is given throughout the story, but it works on a fundamental level as a conversation between chef and critic. The narration reflects his review of the tiny chef and it’s the first glowing review of his career  - and the last.  

Hitting theaters back in 2007, the Disney-Pixar classic didn’t just capture the hearts of audience members and critics alike but went down in history as one of the top 100 greatest motion pictures of the 21st century.

Ratatouille received such widespread acclaim and box office success that it grossed just over $627 million and earned itself an Oscar win for Best Animated Feature of the Year - among four other Academy Award nominations. The film did so well, in fact, that it was nominated for 58 different awards and won 38 of them; ten of which were the Annie Awards. 

Kim Handysides is an award-winning voice artist, and coach. Among her 20K+ narrations you have heard her on Discovery, Netflix, and the major networks, in iMax, the White House and the Smithsonian.