Feeling Hungry? We take a look at some of the world’s favourite movies about food.
A new study by professional kitchen suppliers Maxima Kitchen Equipment has found that 20 years after its release, a 2001 animated movie tops the list of most popular movies with food, restaurants or cooking as their main theme.
That movie is Spirited Away.
Directed by Hayao Miyazaki and produced by Studio Ghibli, Spirited Away follows the story of a little girl who must survive an unpredictable magical world and learn about love in a background full of restaurants, typical Japanese food, and beautifully plated dishes.
The ranking for the top 20 movies we are about to share with you was compiled based on each film’s box office profits, the number of average monthly Google searches it receives worldwide, and its IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes audience ratings.
The films were scored out of 10 on each of the factors, which were then added together for a final score out of 40.
Spirited Away has generated the most average monthly searches in the last year, 368,000, which resulted in a score of 10/10. The movie also made $337 million in profit, earning it the second-best profit score of 7.11 out of 10.
Its audience ratings of 8.6 IMDb rating and 9.6 from Rotten Tomatoes are the highest of all moves on the list, and contribute to a final score of 35.31 out of 40.
In second place is Disney’s Ratatouille, the story of Remy, a young rat whose dream is to cook professionally and forms an unlikely friendship with a hapless young chef to achieve his goal.
Ratatouille was also mentioned in a recent article of ours as it topped the list of the most popular movie food recipe to be recreated at home.
The 2007 movie has the highest total profit on the list, with 474 million dollars worldwide, giving it a maximum score of 10/10. However, it receives fewer average searches per month – estimated at 246,000, which scores 6.68 out of 10, while ratings of 8 from IMDb and 8.7 on Rotten Tomatoes, leaving Remy’s story tailing behind the Japanese masterpiece with a final score of 33.38.
The list continues with Disney’s The Princess and the Frog with an overall score of 24.69, followed by My Big Fat Greek Wedding with a score of 23.59; and the top five closes with Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, which score is 21.60.
Maxima Kitchens had the following to say about the research:
“It is fascinating to see that Spirited Away, regardless of time, is still the world’s favourite movie where food has such a central role.
In fact, Japanese cuisine steals the stage, with countless shots of beautiful and traditional dishes which makes you want to enter the screen to grab them. Between these and a beautifully told story, Spirited Away has the perfect recipe for success!”
The research was carried out by Maxima Kitchen Equipment, which has more than 40 years of experience in the supply and maintenance of professional kitchen equipment.
The top 20 movies about food were as follows:
