TikTok sensation Ratatouille to become musical show
- Published
It began as a short post to TikTok by a Disney fan who had made up a song about the rat Remy, hero of the classic animated film Ratatouille.
Little could Emily Jacobsen, a 26-year-old teacher in New York, have known that her song would eventually result in a huge Broadway-style musical.
Her song sparked the creative juices of singers, actors, composers, choreographers and stage designers.
The result will be Ratatouille, the TikTok Musical, external, streamed on 1 January.
The event, which will be available to download for a further 72 hours, is being staged to raise money for The Actors Fund.
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It is perhaps a story that could only have happened during a pandemic.
Ms Jacobsen had posted to the social media platform TikTok a 16-second Ode To Remy, external she had made up in early September; mainly she later said, in response to a cancelled family trip to Disney World, external and "to annoy my family. I had no goals or aspirations to go along with it."
The 2007 film by Pixar and Disney charts the adventures of the rat Remy who dreams of becoming a chef. Along the way, Remy meets head chef Auguste Gusteau and surly restaurant critic Anton Ego, among others.
Ms Jacobsen's song was picked up and given a full musical theatre treatment by New York-based composer Daniel Mertzlufft, external a few weeks later, complete with big finale suggestions such as a full ensemble, lots of glitter, and "Remy on a lift flying over the audience".
This inspired thousands of other creatives - many of them without work while the theatres remain closed - to post their own contributions to TikTok.
Remy hopes to be a chef in the much-loved film Ratatouille
Broadway star Kevin Chamberlin created the song Anyone Can Cook, external, based on Gusteau's famous lines. Composer RJ Christian posted what he called the "chilling solo" from Anton Ego, external.
There were also choreographed dance routines, external, and even a designed stage set, external.
Even Disney and Pixar made reference to the phenomenon, external on Instagram, and Disney Park workers created their own "unofficial audition", external for the musical.
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Disney is known for being very protective of its intellectual property, but welcomed what fans had done in this case.
"We applaud and thank all of the online theatre makers for helping to benefit the Actors Fund in this unprecedented time of need," the firm said in a statement.
The New Year's Day event is being put on by Seaview Productions, which said it would let "Gen Z know that Broadway is watching and they are seen: as creators, as fans, and as future audiences".
"This event provides a once in a lifetime opportunity to harness this extraordinary outpouring of creativity and galvanise the energy behind this viral moment to create an unexpected, unprecedented, landmark response."
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- Published21 November 2020
