3. A Skunk In The World Of Ratatouille
Clearly part of what made Ratatouille so engaging was seeing an animal in a situation where we would not normally place it. In this case it was a rat in the kitchenone of the last places wed want to see a rat. So, this is a pretty straight forward concept to spinoff. We need to decide on another animal, probably one we normally view negatively, and give it the desire for a human vocation wed not expect. And of course we need to have the sympathetic human helping the animal along. Ive had a few different ideas for this, but my favorite is a skunk who wants to work in a beauty salon. Our heroine could be a cute little female skunk who has a very refined sense of style. Somehow she meets an aspiring but untalented hairstylist and eventually gains her trust and friendship. Clearly Disney wouldnt reuse the marionette motif, but there are other ways the skunk could guide the humanperhaps a two-way mirror? The human protagonist could start gaining notoriety for creatively attractive styles and the climax would be when shes given responsibility for doing the hair of, say, the first lady for the inaugural ball. The film would be named after some rather obscure hairstyle that is ultimately what the first lady is given (unfortunately, I dont think there is any style with the word skunk in it). A quick internet search has me leaning towards "odango." Certainly there are plenty of other animals and situations Disney could toy with, but more than any of my other suggestions, I think this one would have to be done well to ensure it didnt end up as a disastrous joke. Keep in mind that people were pretty skeptical of Ratatouille before it was released. It was saved because it was a genuinely quality film, but Disney may have to work to again win over audiences if they reuse this sort of formula. But, if they can do it well, there is no reason it couldnt be just a cute and endearing.