The Disney media umbrella may sell itself as family-friendly entertainment, but the Mouse House has played host to some particularly bad influences over the years. What monster, for instance, would get a bunch of kids hyped up about making their house fly with a bunch of balloons, only for them to eventually get slapped in the face by reality when perennial party-poopers like “gravity” and “physics” and “by-laws” come into play?
Similarly, who in their right mind would suggest that it’s okay to have undomesticated rats messing about in one’s kitchen? Luckily, TikTok‘s @calebmason54321 seemingly avoided that indoctrination (likely on account of being a DreamWorks kid), but knowing is only half the battle.
In the 36-second video above, Caleb goes through all the motions of early-stage man-versus-pest; a prior confrontation left him spooked, he recounts said incident to us while requesting that we ignore the mess, he reenacts his positioning in the apartment, and right when he imitates the rat’s scream, the whiskered rascal (who’s an absolute unit, by the way) re-enters the fray for a salty runback. Caleb is stunlocked as this chunky Remy impersonator scours the kitchen for crumbs, leftovers, and enthusiasm with which to decorate his miniature pantry hidden in the walls of Caleb’s apartment.
Now, there’s a part in each one of us that kinda wants to see how much the rat gets away with before Caleb puts his foot down, but rats in the kitchen is no joke. According to Abell Pest Control, the biggest danger that these rodents pose is the diseases that they carry, which they can pass on via contact or by airborne aromas left by their droppings. Such diseases include plague bacteria, hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (which is a serious respiratory disease), and the potentially-fatal salmonellosis. Moreover, rats are capable of pretty severe structural damage; chewing through drywall can open the floodgates to more infestations, while one nibble on the wrong wire can cause a more elemental incident.
Moral of the story? Quit letting Pixar convince you that big problems are actually just whimsical little adventures waiting to snap up a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. If a giant blue monster shows up in your room, you book it the hell out of there instead of trying to befriend it, and if a rat shows up in your kitchen, you shuffle it out of your kitchen as firmly as you can instead of putting it on top of your head.