Nothing like an animated movie about rats in France, dubbed in Spanish, to make this American happy!

Seriously, what a great movie! Ratatouille warmed my heart. Yesterday, Brodie and I spent the better half of the afternoon perusing the mall, avoiding the house, and preparing for a day at the movies.

After arriving a little over 30 minutes early, we hunkered down with nachos, popcorn, cokes, candy, and hot dogs....you know, all of the prerequisites for a healthy, balanced meal. Originally, we wanted to see Shrek 3, but it wasn't playing anymore. So, we were 'stuck' with this Pixar effort, which I knew little about....other than it was about rats in France....What a premise!

As far as I could tell (since it was in Spanish, and I'm not exactly Roger Ebert in my second language), this was a highly original movie, a sweet story of a peon cook that befriends a rat that happens to be a culinary prodigy. Together, they win the hearts, and, ahem, stomachs, of all of Paris. Actually, it was better for me watch it in Spanish, as it was a closer facsimile to the French subplots.....phonetically speaking, the Spanish renditions of Frenchmen was fascinating. Apparently, we're not the only ones to parody the classic French archtype. Well, enough about that! If you have kids, do them a favor, and take them to see Ratatouille.

It may even change your opinion about the jolly French....or make you have a hankering for frog legs. Au revoir!