While the general consensus seems to be that Cars isn’t quite up to the standards of genius presented by previous Pixar efforts, their next comes from director Brad Bird, who already holds a perfect record for animated masterpieces (Iron Giant and The Incredibles).
The story of Ratatouille, based on a short by Pixar regular Jan Pinkava, follows the titular vermin (named for a delicious dish) and his quest for fine cuisine at a Paris restaurant operated by a peculiar chef. It also fortunately has nothing to do with NASCAR.
It took me a few moments (and some Google keystrokes) to place that rat’s voice: diminutive stand-up comedian Patton Oswalt, whose geekcentric material I’ve really come to appreciate. Not an expected choice, but Pixar is typically spot-on with selecting vocal talent, so the faith is maintained.