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The Rugrats Movie

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Wikipedia article




'The Rugrats Movie' is a 1998 American animated comedy film based on the Nickelodeon animated television series 'Rugrats'. It was directed by Igor Kovalyov and Norton Virgien and was written by David N. Weiss & J. David Stem. The film introduced Tommy Pickles' baby brother Dil Pickles, who appeared on the series the next year. The film features the voices of E. G. Daily, Tara Strong, Christine Cavanaugh, Kath Soucie, Cheryl Chase, Cree Summer, and Charlie Adler, along with guest stars David Spade, Whoopi Goldberg, Margaret Cho, Busta Rhymes, and Tim Curry. The events of the film take place between the series' fifth and sixth seasons, and is the first film to be based on a Nicktoon.

Plans for a Rugrats film adaptation, along with 'Ren and Stimpy' and 'Doug', began when Nickelodeon made a contract with 20th Century Fox to produce films between 1993 and 1995. However, the contract expired with no films into production. Around the same year when the contract expired, development of the film restarted with Paramount Pictures since Nickelodeon's parent company, Viacom, purchased the studio in 1994 and production had restarted on the television series after a small hiatus.

'The Rugrats Movie' was released by Paramount Pictures in the United States on November 20, 1998. The film received mixed reviews from critics and opened at #1 in the United States box-office. Grossing a total of $141 million worldwide, it became the first non-Disney animated film to gross over $100 million in the United States. The film is followed by two sequels: 'Rugrats in Paris: The Movie' in 2000 and 'Rugrats Go Wild' in 2003.

Plot



Didi Pickles is pregnant with her second baby, which makes her son Tommy wonder how that will change the family dynamic. The baby comes unexpectedly early and, despite being told it will be a girl, Didi delivers a boy. She and her husband Stu name him Dil and quickly find themselves struggling to cope with his constant outbursts. Tommy finds Dil hard to get on with but accepts being an older brother after Stu gives Tommy a speech about responsibility and assures him that one day he will be happy to have Dil as his younger brother, and gives him a pocket watch with a picture of Tommy and Dil inside. Elsewhere, a circus train is hijacked by the monkeys on board, who crash it in the woods, which all of the monkeys survive uninjured.

Stu finishes building the Reptar Wagon for a toy contest in Japan, which Phil and Lil suggest using to take Dil back to the hospital. As Tommy and Chuckie object, the car drives away with the babies on board. They speed recklessly through the streets and eventually crash in the woods, where they realize that they are lost. At first, Angelica shows no concern until she realizes the babies have her Cynthia doll, which prompts her to take the family dog, Spike, to find them and retrieve Cynthia.

The babies set off for a ranger's cabin in the woods where they believe a magic "lizard" (a mispronunciation of wizard) lives and can grant their wish to go home. On the way, they encounter the circus monkeys, who take Dil with them. When his friends refuse to go after Dil, believing they are better off without him, Tommy sets off to rescue his brother alone. Meanwhile, the parents soon find out that the babies are missing, and set out to find them in the face of the media sensation that has suddenly generated around their children's disappearance.

Tommy eventually finds Dil during a storm, but as he tries to take care of him, Dil again acts selfishly. Tommy finally snaps and prepares to give Dil back to the monkeys, but Tommy's rage scares Dil into ending his behavior. At the same time, Dil's remorseful tears cause Tommy to come to his senses and the brothers finally begin to bond. After the storm, they are found by Phil, Lil, Chuckie, Angelica and Spike, and they all continue their way to finally reach "the lizard".

On the bridge to the ranger's station, the babies are confronted by the monkeys, who are then scared off by a huge wolf who has been tailing the babies since they arrived in the woods. Spike saves the babies by fighting the wolf and then dragging it off the bridge, saddening them when it appears Spike is gone. Stu, who has been looking for the babies in a pterodactyl-like glider, sees them from above and crash lands into the ranger's cabin. Believing he is the "lizard," the babies ask him to bring Spike back instead of going home. Stu falls through the bridge and reveals Spike, who survived the fall by landing on a plank of the bridge. The children are reunited with their parents and accept Dil as one of the group.

Cast



Main

* E. G. Daily as Tommy Pickles

* Tara Strong as Dil Pickles (credited as Tara Charendoff)

* Christine Cavanaugh as Chuckie Finster

* Kath Soucie as Phil, Lil, and Betty DeVille

* Cheryl Chase as Angelica Pickles

* Jack Riley as Stu Pickles

* Melanie Chartoff as Didi Pickles and Grandma Minka

* Michael Bell as Drew Pickles, Chas Finster and Grandpa Boris

* Tress MacNeille as Charlotte Pickles

* Philip Proctor as Howard DeVille, Igor

* Joe Alaskey as Grandpa Lou Pickles

Guest

* David Spade as Ranger Frank

* Whoopi Goldberg as Ranger Margaret

* Tim Curry as Rex Pester

* Hattie Winston as Dr. Lucy Carmichael

* Andrea Martin as Aunt Miriam

* Cree Summer as Susie Carmichael

* Tony Jay as Dr. Lipschitz

* Busta Rhymes as Reptar Wagon

* Roger Clinton, Jr. as Air Crewman

* Margaret Cho as Lt. Klavin

* Edie McClurg as Nurse

* Charlie Adler as United Express Driver

* Gregg Berger as Circus Television Announcer

* Abraham Benrubi as Serge

Baby singers

* Lenny Kravitz

* Iggy Pop

* Lisa Loeb

* Gordon Gano

* B-Real

* Patti Smith

* Jakob Dylan

* Phife Dawg

* Beck

* Lou Rawls

* Dawn Robinson

* Laurie Anderson

* Fred Schneider, Kate Pierson and Cindy Wilson of The B-52's without member Keith Strickland

Production



Talks about making 'Rugrats' into a feature film existed since the beginning of the series. The first attempt was in 1993, when Nickelodeon made a two-year contract deal with 20th Century Fox to produce new material, but an unnamed Nickelodeon executive did not rule out the possibility to make films based on their existing properties, one of those that was proposed was 'Rugrats', alongside 'Doug' and 'The Ren & Stimpy Show'. However, in 1994, Nickelodeon's parent company Viacom acquired Paramount Pictures, and Paramount would distribute the films instead. As a result, the contract from Fox expired, with no films produced (although 'Doug' would eventually get a theatrical film from Walt Disney Pictures in 1999). Production on 'The Rugrats Movie' started a year later in 1995.

Two months before the release of the movie, an episode prequel titled "The Family Tree" was aired as the final episode of the fifth season. The film's beginning and ending parody Paramount and Lucasfilm's 'Indiana Jones' film series. This later inspired the second segment of the episode "A Tale of Two Puppies / Okey-Dokey Jones and the Ring of the Sunbeams", that aired during the show's eighth season in 2002.

This film was the first Rugrats media to use digital ink and paint, rather than the traditional cel animation used in the show.

Two songs were cut from the film during production. The first revolves around Stu and Didi in a nightmare sequence where Dr. Lipschitz criticizes their parenting through a song. The second depicts the Rugrats pushing the Reptar Wagon through the woods, debating what to do about Dil in an army chant style song. These two scenes were cut from the theatrical, VHS, DVD, and Laserdisc releases. However, these scenes are shown on CBS and Nickelodeon television airings of the film. These scenes were also present in the print novelization.

The film was released in theaters with a 'CatDog' short titled "Fetch". This short was later broadcast in 'CatDog' Episode 21. However, the VHS, DVD, Laserdisc, and Blu-ray (through The Rugrats Trilogy Movie Collection) release contains a different 'CatDog' short from Episode 28 titled "Winslow's Home Videos".

Media



Home media

'The Rugrats Movie' was released on VHS and DVD on March 30, 1999 by Paramount Home Video, which was reprinted many times. The film on was also released on Laserdisc on the same day by Pioneer Entertainment. On March 15, 2011, the film was re-released in a three-disc trilogy DVD set alongside its sequels, in honor of 'Rugrats' 20th anniversary. In addition, it was re-released in some movie sets by Paramount, in 2016 with all the non-sequel Nickelodeon-animated movies up to 'Barnyard', as well as a separate 2-disc set with 'Hey Arnold!: The Movie'. The film was released on Blu-ray on March 8, 2022 in a trilogy set alongside its sequels.

Soundtrack



'The Rugrats Movie: Music From the Paramount Motion Picture' was released by Interscope Records on November 3, 1998. The enhanced soundtrack contained thirteen tracks, bonus CD-ROM demos and commercials. Amazon.com's Richard Gehr praised the CD for "[bridging] demographics as nimbly as the [original] show itself [did]" and for songs "fans of all ages will love".

'Entertainment Weekly's David Browne rated the 'Music From the Motion Picture' with a C.

Browne noted that, while the soundtrack is enjoyable for children and does "[make] concessions" for parents, adults may dislike the amount of rap. Allmusic's William Ruhlmann reviewed the soundtrack positively, saying "the result" of the singers and songs "is a romp in keeping with the tone of the show and the film".

'The Rugrats Movie: Music from the Motion Picture' spent twenty six weeks on 'Billboard' 200, peaking at #19.

One song written for the film's soundtrack that was ultimately removed was "(Safe in This) Sky Life", a new track by English rock musician David Bowie; the song marked a reunion with longtime collaborator Tony Visconti, who would go on to produce all of Bowie's material from 2002 up until his death in 2016. The track would later be re-recorded as a B-side for Bowie's 2002 single "Everyone Says 'Hi'", under the shortened title of "Safe"."The Complete David Bowie" by Nicholas Pegg, (p.151)

In honor of its twentieth anniversary, the film's soundtrack was released on vinyl on November 30, 2018.

Track listing



Video games

A side-scrolling video game titled 'The Rugrats Movie' was released for Game Boy and Game Boy Color in 1998 and 1999 respectively. It was developed by Software Creations and released by THQ. Brderbund also developed and published a computer game based on the film, titled 'The Rugrats Movie: Activity Challenge'. It was released in September 1998, as part of the film's marketing campaign.

Books

Several books were released by Simon & Schuster's Simon Spotlight branch and Nickelodeon inspired by 'The Rugrats Movie'. 'Tommy's New Playmate' and 'The Rugrats Versus the Monkeys' were also released on October 1, 1998, authored by Luke David and illustrated by John Kurtz and Sandrina Kurtz.

'The Rugrats Movie Storybook', released on the same date and using the same illustrators and publishers, was written by Sarah Wilson. The same date saw the release of 'The Rugrats Movie: Hang On To Your Diapies, Babies, We're Going In!: Trivia from the Hit Movie!', a trivia book written by Kitty Richards.

A novelization of the film written by Cathy East Dubowski was published on October 1, 1998, by Tandem Library. The following month, a 144-page guidebook, 'The Making of The Rugrats Movie: Behind the Scenes at Klasky Csupo', was released on November 1, 1998, by MSG. In May 1999, Hal Leonard Publishing Corporation released a book titled 'The Rugrats Movie'.

Reception



Box office

The film was released on November 20, 1998, and made $27.3 million in its opening weekend, from 2,782 theaters, averaging about $9,821 per venue and ranking number one that weekend, beating out 'Enemy of the State'. In total, 'The Rugrats Movie' made $140.9 million; $100.5 million from the domestic market and $40.4 million from its foreign release.

The film was released in the United Kingdom on March 26, 1999, and topped the country's box office for the next three weekends, before being dethroned by 'The Faculty'.



Critical reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, 'The Rugrats Movie' holds an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of . The website's critics consensus reads: "Charming characters; loads of fun for kids and adults." Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.

Roger Ebert gave the film two stars out of four. Ebert wrote that the film's target audience was primarily younger children, and that, while he as an adult disliked it, he "might have" liked it if he were younger and would recommend it for children. 'The New York Times's Anita Gates reviewed 'The Rugrats Movie' positively, calling it a "delight". Neil Jeffries of 'Empire' gave the film three out of five stars, saying, "Fun for kids, but, despite some adult references, appeal for the over 10s is limited."

Lisa Schwarzbaum of 'Entertainment Weekly' graded the film with a B. Schwarzbaum praised the movie for its appeal to both adult and child audiences, "juxtaposing the blithely self-absorbed parallel universes of small, diapered children and their large, Dockered parents". However, other 'Entertainment Weekly' reviewer Ty Burr gave 'The Rugrats Movie' a B, criticizing that the film's issues sprung from it being "bigger" than the original series, thus it having more cultural references, out-of-place CGI scenes, and "[going] into scary territory". Burr did praise the "escaped circus monkeys" for being "scary in a good way", as well as a joke that was accessible to younger audiences.

'Rugrats' co-creator and co-writer Paul Germain (who left the series in 1993, along with the other original writers) has stated that he disliked the film's story. Germain felt that the writers of the movie did not understand what the series was about, and thought that moments such as Stu giving a watch to Tommy did not work as the adults were not supposed to recognize the babies' intelligence. In addition, he felt that by giving Tommy a baby brother, Tommy was no longer the baby, which changed the story of the series from what Germain intended it to be.Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211205/ms39Ck6EcGM Ghostarchive] and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20200416022333/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ms39Ck6EcGM&gl=US&hl=en Wayback Machine]:

Sequels



Two sequels have been released: 'Rugrats in Paris: The Movie', which was released on November 17, 2000, and 'Rugrats Go Wild', which was released on June 13, 2003.

References




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