2020 / Web post / Crowdsourced TikTok musical collaboration
Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical
A tiny “Ode to Remy” turned into the internet earnestly building an entire imaginary Broadway musical, one TikTok at a time.
The original is off-site. HAHrchives preserves the story and a route back to it.
What happened
Nobody assigned the roles. Theatre fans simply kept adding the part they wished existed, using TikTok replies and duets to make an unwritten musical feel increasingly real. The joke was generous rather than cynical: everyone treated a fake show about a cooking rat with the seriousness of opening night.
Where it came from
In August 2020, theatre creator Emily Jacobsen posted a short TikTok song for Remy, the rat from Pixar’s Ratatouille. Composer Daniel Mertzlufft arranged it like a big finale; then other creators answered with songs, choreography, costumes, scenic designs, and even a mock Playbill.
Why it mattered
Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical was peak collaborative internet optimism. Instead of remixing one punchline until it wore out, strangers built on one another’s skills until an app-native daydream became a real charity event—without losing the delight of its homemade beginning.
How it spread
The hashtag became a cross-platform theatre-community project during Broadway’s pandemic shutdown. Seaview later brought many of the TikTok creators into a one-time benefit presentation in association with TikTok, while Disney publicly thanked the online theatre makers for supporting The Actors Fund.
Keep going
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