Remy, a young rat with heightened senses of taste and smell, dreams of becoming a chef like his human idol, the late Auguste Gusteau, but the rest of his colony, including his older brother Émile and his father, the clan leader Django, only eat for sustenance and are wary of humans. The rats live in an elderly woman's attic outside Paris, but when the woman discovers them, they are forced to evacuate, and Remy is separated from the others. Encouraged by an imaginary Gusteau, he explores until he finds himself on the roof of Gusteau's eponymous restaurant.
