Ratatouille: the TikTok Musical

 BY ALLISON FEINSTEIN

Like most twenty something year olds in college during a global pandemic, I spend a decent amount of time on my phone. Particularly TikTok, the social media app where anyone with an account can share 3-60 second video. The TikTok algorithm is said to create a custom experience for each user based on their own interests. 

Alongside the trending dances, recipes, and life hacks, is a special “side” of Tiktokok that is very near and dear to my heart: musical theatre TikTok. Dig a little deeper into this realm and you will find something amazing brewing; Ratatouille the TikTok musical, or as some people call it, The Ratatatoosical. On August 10th, 2020, twenty-six-year-old Emily Jacobson (@e_jaccs) used the app to release a “love ballad” called Ode to Remy based on the 2007 Disney Pixar film, Ratatouille.15,500 videos have since been released using the sound. Two months later, Daniel Mertzlufft made a video suggesting the song be turned into a full blown musical in two acts, with an ensemble of 40+ performers. Once musical theatre TikTok got a hold of this idea, they ran with it fast. Not long after that, content creators began releasing original songs for the hypothetical show. 

Some of the most notable contributions being Trash is our Treasure, intended to be sung by Django, Remy’s father, released by twenty-four-year-old Gabbi Bolt (@fettuccinefettuqueen), multiple numbers including Anton Ego’s song, released by NYU student RJ Christian (@rjthecomposer), and Colette’s tango along with several other songs released by seventeen-year-old Blake Rouse (@Blakeyrouse). There are so many talented minds on this app that sometimes the contributions are simply ideas. For example Colette’s Tango was based on a video released by nineteen-year-old @cincinnatusstrikesagain where they described the style and main idea for the song without actually singing a word. 

Once some of the music was established, hundreds of ideas began popping up for a variety of design elements, color pallets, lighting designs, staging, costuming, choreography, directorial suggestions, you name it. Jess Siswick (@siswij) has even designed a beautiful playbill for the show that depicts a forkful of Rataouille in the shape of Remy the rat against a dark purple background. An official account that has gained 222,500 followers, was created by Josh Abrams (@ratatouillemusical), in an attempt to organize some of this brilliance. 

The hashtag #ratatouillemusical currently has 67.2 million views and has picked up enough traction that it’s gained the attention of several notable performers. Patton Oswalt, the original voice of Remy the rat in the film tweeted about the GenZ brain child and voiced compliments to some of the creators as well. Kevin Chamberlin, best known by my generation as the butler from Disney’s Jessie, also submitted a song of his own for the character Chef Gusteau. Most recently, the Disney Parks account (@Disneyparks) released a video of Milo Manheim and Pearce Joza, from the Disney Channel original film Zombies 2, singing their own submission to the show from inside the hoping-to-open post-pandemic, Ratatouille attraction at Disney’s EPCOT park. 

Although the musical is still a hypothetical for the time being, I strongly believe it will one day be produced. Living through the tragedy that is COVID-19 has been a life altering experience for most everyone. Even if you are able to keep your job, food on your table, and a clean bill of health, going into a lock down and being instructed to “stay inside” and keep a physical distance from other people has its toll. It feels extremely isolating and you begin to crave human interactions realizing the role others play in your life and how easily that gets taken for granted. In terms of theatre, Broadway has had to temporarily close, shows put on pause, and performers left to wonder what’s next. In a time when everything feels so disconnected, the TikTok community, ranging in race, age, sexual orientation, prior experience, and physical location, has come together in spirit to create and collaborate. 

What I find particularly inspiring is the young minds driving this project forward. Simply being on the app and scrolling the videos makes you feel like you’re a part of this experience and right now, that’s a truly remarkable thing. Even tagging Abram’s account makes me feel like I am part of the creative team by sharing the content others have created that feel like a good fit for the show. There is a genuine thrill that comes with seeing it come together so well and knowing that you’re making history. As they say in the movie, anyone can cook, which really resonates with the conception and development of this project as we’ve learned, anyone can create. A generation that in their twenty somethings attended colleges virtually or risked their health to attend in person, socially distanced with masks, amidst a global pandemic, civil unrest, and a jarring election year, decided to create this: Ratatouille the musical. Enjoy.