An imagined musical version of Disney’s 2007 animated film “Ratatouille” has appeared on TikTok as a result of the boredom many find from being at home. An abundance of videos can be found of TikTokers creating songs, choreography, costumes, makeup looks, stage sets and more for this theoretical musical.

According to a New York Times article by Christina Morales, the trend was inspired by a “love ballad” posted on TikTok by 26-year-old Emily Jacobsen about Remy, the rat from “Ratatouille.” It was then enhanced by composer Daniel Mertzlufft, who added musical instruments and more vocals to the song. After the new version was shared on TikTok, many other creators contributed to the hypothetical musical.

Related Stories

REVIEW: The Game Awards 2020 was surprising in some aspects, but overall mediocre

SCHS' annual Family Giving Tree goes virtual and surpasses donation goal

Virtual Tree Lighting unites Santa Clara community despite not being able to happen in person

OPINION: Joe Biden and Kamala Harris deserved to win the 2020 election, but they must be held accountable for how they lead

Junior Antoinette Gamboa first discovered the trend when she saw a fan-made song on her “For You” page. She thinks the patchwork musical has grown due to the free time many people have because of the coronavirus.

“While we have nothing else to do, some people have a lot of time in their hands to contribute to the musical,” Gamboa said. “It is nice to see something that brings people to work together in a well-known toxic app and see it’s positive impact.”

Like Gamboa, junior Kasen Millett has seen many TikToks contributing to the theoretical production. He thinks the musical allows for more creativity in contrast to other trends.

“It’s all over my ‘For you’ page,” Millet said. “It’s cool that people found more ways to interact while at home. A year ago, no one would’ve thought of this.”

Freshman Maleeha Lateef recognizes the toxicity that can come about on TikTok due to the idolization of influencers. Lateef notices that people get upset when the person they look up to makes a mistake, which can lead to unnecessary drama and internet fights. The “Ratatouille” musical, however, does not create any negativity.

“With the ‘Ratatouille:’ the musical, it is literally just a bunch of people writing songs, making dances for a rat,” Lateef said. “I feel like people can’t really come for it. It’s just people having fun and creating something fun.”

Gamboa enjoys this trend because she sees it as a positive creative outlet in the midst of what can sometimes be a toxic app. She feels there are many trends that are steered towards more popular creators, but the “Ratatouille” musical allows for anyone to contribute.

“Looking at this trend, you can see the variety of creators, big or small, joining in together with their creativity and talent to build up this musical,” Gamboa said.

Lateef believes that the popularity of “Ratatouille,” specifically on TikTok, is due to how random it is, which makes it stand out.

“In the media, a lot of entertainment is romance, but this is different. It is a children’s animated movie about cooking. Romance can get shoved down our throats a lot of the time. Even with TikTok, it’s like ‘Who is dating who,’” Lateef said. “It (the musical) shows how good of songwriters, choreographers and producers there are since they can collaborate on such a random movie.” 

Furthermore, Lateef thinks “Ratatouille” the musical is a very unique but oddly fitting TikTok trend that Gen-Z has taken upon themselves to make a reality.   

“Disney has a lot of musicals, especially the princess ones, but people wouldn’t exactly make a musical for ‘Cars’ or something. So when you watch ‘Ratatouille,’ it makes sense. Even though it can seem so random, it fits well,” Lateef said. “I think it’s an iconic thing our generation has done.”

Due to the increased popularity of the trend, it has been announced that Seaview Productions will be streaming a version of the “Ratatouille” musical on January 1st, 2021. According to an article from the Verge by Chaim Gartenberg, it is unclear of what the actual stream is going to look like. The money from the tickets, however, is donated to the Actors Fund.

Lateef is eager to see what will become of the musical. She is excited to see what started out as a TikTok trend turn into something bigger.

“It shows how much our generation can become, even if right now, all we’re doing is singing about a rat,” Lateef said. “While they are doing this for fun, it’s still something that takes effort and time. If they want to profit a bit off of their hard work, they deserve it.”