Move over, Ratatouille: TikTok’s newest musical is about a groundhog named Phil
Inspiration is everywhere and this week, folks on TikTok have found it in a rodent. No, not that rodent. This rodent, Punxsutawney Phil — the groundhog who pops his head out every winter to predict whether spring will come sooner or later.
Phil has had the same gig for more than 100 years, even though groundhogs typically only live for about six. To keep the magic alive, the folks over at the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club claim to feed the little guy an “elixir of life” to keep him going. However, the Club does not extend the same courtesy to Phil’s wife, Phyllis.
So how do the pressures of eternal life affect Phil and Phyllis’s relationship dynamic? That’s the question TikTok user @olivesongs11 explores in an original song from Phil’s perspective.
The tune finds Phil grappling with his immortality, telling his wife, “You can have the fame, Phyllis. I’d give up all the fame. You can have the overbearing stares, the noisy crowds, the holy shadow, and the shame.” But, he warns her, celebrity is more a curse than a blessing. “Don’t pretend you want this. Don’t be so naive,” he sings, “Nothing’s supposed to live forever, Phyllis. The burrows be made will eventually fade and I’ll be left to sing the same old song.”
Posted on Feb. 3, the video has been viewed more than 4 million times and duetted dozens of times by TikTok users adding Phyllis’ perspective, the plot of their fictional marital strife thickening with each addition.
As many a commenter has pointed out, the duets are reminiscent of The Last Five Years, a two-person musical about the highs and lows of the relationship between a struggling actress and successful writer whose fame drives a wedge between them. Sound familiar?
In 2021, a community-produced musical adaptation of the Pixar movie Ratatouille raised more than $ 1 million for charity after its crowd-sourced material gained traction across the platform in 2020. No word yet on whether Phil and Phyllis will get the same treatment, but you can enjoy some of the best takes on the idea below.