Saturday Movie Day

So, the photo here isn't quite right, since we didn't go see the Simpsons Movie (and most likely won't), but we did go to see Ratatouille and couldn't resist the photo op. We went to a theater right in the heart of downtown Redwood City (so cute) and even hit an outdoor Farmer's Market before the show started.

Douglas was SO excited to see this new Pixar movie. It has the same director as The Incredibles and follows such a string of huge hits, so needless to say all of our expectations were very high. If you haven't seen Ratatouille, it is a cute story, although I don't know if it hits the mark as well as The Incredibles or the Toy Story franchise. I'd liken the quality of the storyline to Cars (which I didn't like as well as some of the others). If you like chase scenes and physical comedy, you'll like it. I honestly think all of the wild action overstimulated the kids and I wonder if the storyline went over Douglas' head a bit. I was surprised that for a movie for kids, so many of the poignant moments of the film required reading (the scene where Colette sees Gusteau's book in the window and turns around, the scene where Remy puts all the rats in the dishwasher prompted by the "All Employees Must Wash Their Hands" signs, etc).

So, I don't think he really liked the movie. In fact, since our trip to the theater, he has talked non-stop about a preview he saw for the new movie "Underdog." He immediately came home and wanted a paper cape for his little stuffed animal dog. He didn't know what an underdog was (and can't read), so he mistakenly thought the movie was called "Thunderdog." We tried to set him straight. Later along the highway we saw a digital billboard promoting the movie and he called out, "Look Mama! Battledog!" I guess he just isn't convinced that "Underdog" is the right way to describe this unlikely hero.

All of that said, I have one more beef with Pixar. The pronunciation key under all of the movie promotions, instructs people to say "Rat-a-too-ee" (I know, emphasis on the RAT - how clever). However, the actual French pronunciatation is "ra-ta-TOO-ee." We Americans get a bad enough reputation for not knowing foreign languages. Why make it worse by asking us to mispronounce something on purpose?