This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at KU chapter.
For the past couple of weeks, Gen Z has been creating Ratatouille The Musical on TikTok, and honestly, it’s been the highlight of my social media this past month.
The musical is based on the Disney Pixar movie Ratatouille, which follows Remy, a rat who wants to cook in a French restaurant. Linguini is a human who works as the dishwasher at the restaurant Gusteau, who later partners with Remy so Remy can cook and Linguini can become a successful chef. Remy controls Linguini in secret by hiding under Linguini’s hat and controlling him by the hair. This wonderful movie explores friendship, determination, love, and most importantly: Anyone can cook.
I’ve been on TikTok for a few years, and collectively as a generation, we’ve decided Ratatouille is one of the best Disney movies ever produced. There have been many memes over the years. The most recent one was the still of Remy about to puke when he runs past a badly cooked soup.
One day, a video went viral about Ratatouille the Musical. I’m not sure who posted the first video or what it said, but since then, the idea has exploded. Songs and scenes and dances have been created for this potential Broadway piece. People have started coming up with costumes, how rat to human ratio would work, who would play who. My whole For You page is video after video of people coming up with new and creative ways to bring Ratatouille the Musical to life.
Not going to lie, 24/7 I have the intro song stuck in my head. My roommates can attest to me singing “Oh Remy, the Ratatouille, the rat of all my dreams…”. The song originally started as a joke ballad by user @e_jaccs which Gen Z quickly took on to be the closing number to the musical. It includes a full ensemble, glitter, and Remy at center stage, according to the many likes on the video. The ideas came from user @danieljmertzlufft. The song is very catchy, and personally, I think it’s perfect for the closing song to the musical.
Another song that has been created is “Ratatouille Tango” which is between Colette, the female protagonist chef, and Linguini when Colette teaches Linguini how to cook. The song was created by users @blakeyrouse and @aaacacia_. There is the song “Good in the Garbage” by @fettuccinefettuqueen, which focuses on the scene when Remy’s rat family tells him how good garbage actually is. There’s “Ego’s Ratatouille” created by @rjthecomposer, which focuses on Ego, the food critic who Remy has to impress at the end of the movie. “Little Rat (Skinners Song)” by @ryandavidjacobs focuses on the main antagonist of the movie, Skinner, the head chef of Gusteau’s.
I’m sure there are more songs that have been out there, but those are just a few that have become very popular and shown up on my For You page multiple times. My favorite is “Ratatouille Tango.” I will link all the songs at the bottom of the article.
The user @siswij has ever created a playbill for the musical, featuring the shape Remy but in stacks of the food ratatouille. This is just one example of how creative Gen Z has become when creating the musical through TikTok. Looking at all the art and songs and designs has gotten me really excited about this musical that isn’t even official yet.
Actor and Broadway performer Kevin Chamberlin, known for his role on Disney’s Jessie, even added his own input into the musical. He created a song called “Anyone Can Cook” which features Gusteau, the head human chef who is an inspiration to Remy. In the video, Chamberlin dressed up as a chef and sung the song, and many in the comments mentioned he would be the perfect person to play Chef Gusteau.
On Twitter, actor Patton Oswalt, the voice of Remy in the movie, has commented on a few videos which feature different TikTok users singing the songs created for the musical. To me, it sounds like a go-ahead for Ratatouille the Musical to be official.
I’m excited to see if the musical will officially be created on Broadway in the future, as seeing the journey of it being created on TikTok has been really entertaining and fun. Honestly, it’s inspiring to see our generation come together and put something huge like this together. Either from boredom with quarantine or a de-stressor from the rough online school format this year, Ratatouille the Musical is just what we needed.
Here are the links to the songs and videos mentioned in the article! Everyone should check them out and like the user’s videos to show support! Also, check out more Ratatouille the Musical videos on Instagram to keep updated on the progress if you are interested!
Hi! My name is Alex Corbin and I'm a sophomore at KU majoring in Behavioral Neuroscience in the Pre-Med track! I'm a huge movie and TV show fan, and my life has been taken over by TikTok. I hope you like reading my articles!
