Disney Wouldn't Let The Bear Drop Live Rats Onto Cousin Richie's Head

One of the things I wish I didn't find as relatable about "The Bear" as I do is several of the characters' inability to ask for help. They don't like to admit they are wrong, and they certainly don't want to come off looking not as capable as they think they need to be perceived as. I may not be as aggressive as the people on this show, but I am a stubborn, headstrong person who feels like he needs to be able to do everything on his own.

On "The Bear," the most resistant character to all of this is Richie, exquisitely played by Ebon Moss-Bachrach. He's certainly had this element of his personality his whole life, but now that The Original Beef is being completely overturned and remade into the titular restaurant, he is finding it more difficult than ever to find his footing. Naturally, this causes his irrational confidence and desire for control to reach new peaks before he's brought back down to understanding how he fits in his new world.

This comes to a boiling point in episode 2 of season 2, in which the characters discover a gigantic mold problem in their renovations, and instead of calling the necessary people to fix the situation, Richie just wants to ignore the problem. Or, more precisely, he wants to pretend there isn't one, and to show this, he wants to hit the ceiling as a sign that nothing will happen. Of course, it breaks open and covers him in mold, dirt, debris, and even a bouncing ball. Moss-Bachrach had an idea for something else that would fall on him in that moment, but unfortunately, the higher powers at the House of Mouse put the kibosh on that. He wanted a bunch of rats to fall on Richie.

There's an old adage in show business: "Never work with children or animals." Of course, this hasn't stopped a myriad of productions from doing so, but the idea is that they are completely unpredictable beings who can make work unnecessarily complicated and stressful. Even with animal trainers and child wranglers, they can cause serious production headaches. Speaking with Variety, Ebon Moss-Bachrach said he believed this to be the reason why Disney wasn't too keen on his idea for the ceiling gag in episode 2:

"I thought it would be funny to have a bunch of live rats rain on me and then scurry away. I thought that would be really scandalous and incredible. And they told me that they ran it up the pole at Disney, and that Disney said they didn't want to work with live animals."

As far as working with live animals, I'm not sure how safe this stunt would be for the rats. Not only are working with animals a pain, but you also have to make sure that they don't get injured or mistreated. So, that was the stated reason that was given as to why it didn't happen, but Moss-Bachrach thinks there's possibly more to the story:

"But I also wonder if maybe they didn't do that, and they just told me they did and didn't like my idea. Or maybe they did, but rats and Disney — with Mickey Mouse — is not something they're interested in entertaining."

He considers this "a low- to mid-level conspiracy theory," but I think it's a bit far-fetched. After all, they released a little film called "Ratatouille." The gag still works great without the rats, and they were saved any potential production problems. Maybe Richie can have a more sensible rat interaction in the future.