10 Thoughts on The Simpsons Movie and Ratatouille

Caught this last week at Power Plant mall, a "double feature date" w/ Goldy and her sister Kim. Seriously underestimated the Saturday crowd, but at least our seats were far from the screaming kids. And I saw my model crush Georgina Wilson, who turned out to be not as freakishly tall as I imagined her. She was accompanied by BF Richard Gutierrez and fellow model girlfriends, who shrieked when one of them appeared on the big screen in a commercial. Sigh. Getcher kicks where ya can...

I'll alternate thoughts between flicks:

• As with most TV-to-movie cartoon transitions, with TSM you could see the difference in terms of scope (widescreen) and "level of maturity" (Bart's wang, Homer flipping people off). I liken it to an OAV or the Batman direct to DVD animated movies.
• Cute as Rata's rodents were, Goldy could not get over the grossness of the concept of rats in the kitchen cooking. Talking toys, bugs, monsters, fish and cars, fine, but rats that cook? Eugh. No better than cooked rats, I gather.
• If you've been on the air for 18 seasons, some storylines are bound be retread: Bart (and Marge) fighting w/ Homer, Bart ends up w/ Flanders, Homer goes on a reflective quest, etc. Thankfully the jokes themselves are fresh.
• In terms of casting, Patton Oswalt(as Remy) isn't the most recognizable name (outside followers of American standup comedy and The King of Queens), and Janeane Garofalo (as Collette) was almost unrecognizable w/ her faux French accent. Peter O'Toole (as Anton Ego), on the other hand, I spotted right away.
• Boy, that Harry Plopper just went up and disappeared halfway through the second act, didn't he? Same deal w/ Lisa's would-be environmentalist /boyfriend, Colin. And just when Spider-Pig became the latest incarnation of Last Song Syndrome.
• While I was fine with the rat-chef concept, the infestation in the food closet have me the heebie jeebies. I was expecting Willard to do a cameo.
• Longtime viewers of the series are rewarded with the appearance of the thousand-eyed creature (in reference to Blinky the 3-eyed fish), as well as the scene of Homer and Bart finally making it over Springfield Gorge (see Bart the Daredevil). And Die, Dr. Nick!
• I loved the more-or-less realistic reaction of the kitchen staff when they walked out on Linguini after he tells them about Remy. C'mon, when someone you think was a master chef credits a rat for his skills, either you have him put away or bring him to the nearest tabloid reporter. Hell, the Supreme Court booted a judge who said he consulted magical dwarves in his cases. Still, the quasi realism was shattered when both a chef and food critic became accepting of Remy's talents. Yeah, yeah, we need our Happy Ending w/o The Lie.
• Much as I liked TSM, I probably could've just waited for the DVD.
  
• For those who want to know what real ratatouille looks like:

Obviously catering to both peasants and vegetarians alike.