Home | Movies By Year | Movies from 2003


Rugrats Go Wild

Buy Rugrats Go Wild now from Amazon

First, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the movie. And once you've experienced the movie, tell everyone what you thought about it.

Wikipedia article




{{Infobox film

| name = Rugrats Go Wild

| image = Rugrats go wildposter.jpg

| caption = Theatrical release poster

| alt = The Rugrats sit atop a palm tree, with the Wild Thornberrys standing underneath

| director =

| producer =

| writer = Kate Boutilier

| based_on =

| starring =

| music = Mark Mothersbaugh

| editing =

| studio =

| distributor =

| released =

| runtime = 80 minutes

| country = United States

| language = English

| budget = $25 million

| gross = $55.4 million

}}

'Rugrats Go Wild' is a 2003 American animated adventure film based on the Nickelodeon animated television series 'Rugrats' and 'The Wild Thornberrys'. It is the third installment in the 'Rugrats' film series and the second film in 'The Wild Thornberrys' series. It takes place after the ninth season of 'Rugrats' and the fifth season of 'The Wild Thornberrys'. Christine Cavanaugh, the original voice of Chuckie Finster, was replaced by Nancy Cartwright. It was produced by Nickelodeon Movies and Klasky Csupo and released in theaters on June 13, 2003, by Paramount Pictures. 'Rugrats Go Wild' was the least successful film in the 'Rugrats' series, grossing $55.4 million worldwide and received negative reviews from critics.

The film used "Odorama", which allowed people to smell odors and aromas from the film using scratch and sniff cards (reminiscent of 1960s Smell-O-Vision).

Plot



The Rugrats go on an imaginary safari with Tommy impersonating Nigel Thornberry, who is his role model and spoofs his nature show; the babies and their families are about to go on vacation on the Lipschitz cruise ship. When the families arrive at the dock, they miss the Lipschitz cruise. Tommy's father, Stu, has rented a ramshackle boat called the S.S. Nancy which he reveals to be their real mode of transportation, and their real vacation. The families are angered that Stu did not consult them on his plans, and soon the boat is flipped over by a rogue wave during a tropical storm. Everyone is forced to abandon the ship and board a life raft as the ship sinks. Everyone blames Stu for causing all of this and lose hope of being saved.

The next morning, they arrive on a small, seemingly uninhabited island. The adults make Betty the leader after Didi forbids Stu from volunteering, much to his chagrin. On the opposite side of the island is the famous globe-trotting family, the Thornberrys (out to film a clouded leopard). Tommy, Chuckie, and the rest of the kids, except for Angelica, set off to find Nigel, for they suspect he is somewhere on the island. Along the way, Chuckie gets lost and runs into the Thornberry's child Donnie, who steals Chuckie's clothes, forcing Chuckie to wear Donnie's shorts.

Meanwhile, Eliza Thornberry is exploring about the jungle with Darwin, her chimpanzee companion, and runs into Spike, the Pickles' dog. Since Eliza can talk to animals, Spike is heard speaking; he informs her that his babies are lost somewhere on the island. Under the impression that Spike means he is looking for puppies, Eliza and a reluctant Darwin agree to help him find them. Following a close encounter with Siri, an angry clouded leopard whom Spike believes to be just a regular domestic cat, they learn that he meant human babies.

Simultaneously, Eliza's father, Nigel, finds the lost babies. He heads in their direction but ends up tumbling down a hill and suffers amnesia after a coconut falls on his head, which reverts him to his three year-old self. They encounter Siri, but Donnie fends her off; Chuckie finds him and they get back their clothes. After escaping from Siri on a high-speed pram, the gang lands in a crater. Angelica runs into Debbie Thornberry, and takes off with Debbie in the Thornberry's all-purpose mobile communication vehicle (commvee). In order to get back faster, Angelica steals the Thornberry's bathysphere, accidentally sinking the commvee in her attempt to pilot it, but manages to find and retrieve the babies and Nigel.

Meanwhile, Stu, who has managed to create a working coconut radio, and the other parents run into Donnie. After chasing him down the beach, they run into Marianne Thornberry, the mother of Eliza and Debbie and the wife of Nigel. Stu's coconut radio picks up the babies, Angelica having accidentally turned on the bathysphere's radio. Angelica and Susie, while fighting for control, have crashed the bathysphere at the bottom of the ocean. Nigel hits his head in the crash and reverts back to his normal self. Stu comes up with a successful plan to raise the commvee, and Marianne then uses the automatic-retrieval system to rescue Nigel and the babies just as the air runs out.

The babies and Nigel are reunited with their respective families, with Stu being thanked and forgiven, and everyone finally gets on board the Lipschitz cruise. The Thornberrys join them, too, deciding that they should take a vacation, much to Debbie's delight, and Spike vows never to lose his babies again.

Voice cast



Main characters from 'Rugrats'

* Tommy Pickles: E. G. Daily

* Chuckie Finster: Nancy Cartwright

* Phil DeVille and Lil DeVille: Kath Soucie

* Kimi Finster: Dionne Quan

* Angelica Pickles: Cheryl Chase

* Dil Pickles: Tara Strong

* Susie Carmichael: Cree Summer

* Spike: Frank Welker and Bruce Willis

Supporting and guest characters from 'Rugrats'

* Stu Pickles: Jack Riley

* Didi Pickles: Melanie Chartoff

* Drew Pickles: Michael Bell

* Charlotte Pickles: Tress MacNeille

* Chas Finster: Michael Bell

* Kira Finster: Julia Kato

* Betty DeVille: Kath Soucie

* Howard DeVille: Philip Proctor

* Grandpa Lou Pickles: Joe Alaskey

* Dr. Bill Lipschitz: Tony Jay (This was Jay's final film appearance before his death in August 2006.)

'The Wild Thornberrys'

* Eliza Thornberry: Lacey Chabert

* Darwin Thornberry: Tom Kane

* Debbie Thornberry: Danielle Harris

* Donnie Thornberry: Flea

* Nigel Thornberry: Tim Curry

* Marianne Thornberry: Jodi Carlisle

One-shot characters

* Siri the clouded leopard: Chrissie Hynde ('The Wild Thornberrys')

* Toa the monkey: Ethan Phillips

Production



'Rugrats Go Wild' was originally made by Klasky Csupo's television unit (directed by Mark Risley and written by Kate Boutilier), but after screenings, Paramount decided it should be shelved and remade into a feature film.

Among the biggest promotion the film received was Bruce Willis voicing Spike, and the use of "Odorama" cards to enhance the viewing experience, Burger King and Blockbuster released a scratch and sniff piece of cardboard that was to be scratched and sniffed during the run of the movie.

There were some complaints with the Odorama cards, including the claim that the cards only smelled like cardboard. The Odorama card was considered an homage to John Waters' 1981 film 'Polyester'. Waters felt he was ripped off and realized that New Line Cinema, the studio that released 'Polyester', did not renew the copyright for Odorama. He later said that "a cheque would have been an homage".Jeff Garlin's film of John Waters' one man show 'This Filthy World'.

The cards would later be released with the DVD release of the movie. Early trailers for the film give the title 'The Rugrats Meet The Wild Thornberrys'.

Release



During its initial theatrical run, 'Rugrats Go Wild' was presented in "Smell-O-Vision". During certain scenes in the movie, an icon would pop up on screen with an item inside of it (example: a smelly shoe). When this happened, audience members would smell a scratch-and-sniff card (which were handed out at the box office) with the corresponding image.

Rating

'Rugrats Go Wild' is the only 'Rugrats' film to receive a PG rating by the MPAA.

Home media

Paramount Home Entertainment released 'Rugrats Go Wild' on VHS and DVD on December 16, 2003. Most VHS copies included a "Smell-O-Vision" scratch-and-sniff card, as did most initial run DVDs. Later copies of the DVD did not include additional cards, but did retain the option to view the film with the scratch-and-sniff icons on. The film is also available as a part of the 'Rugrats' 3-disc set of all three films, as well as a double feature 2-disc set that also included 'The Rugrats Movie'. The film was re-released on DVD on August 29, 2017. The film was released on Blu-ray through a trilogy movie collection set on March 8, 2022.

Reception



Box office

The film grossed $39.4 million domestically and $55.4 million worldwide against a production budget of $25 million. The film earned less than each of the other two Rugrats films. The film opened at #4 with 'Finding Nemo' at the #1 spot.

Critical response



On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes the film holds an approval rating of 39% based on reviews and an average rating of 5.02. The site's critics consensus reads: "The 'Rugrats' franchise has gone from fresh to formulaic." Metacritic gives the film a weighted average score of 38 out of 100 based on 27 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.

Neil Smith at the BBC gave the film 2 out of 5. Film4 stated the film was not as bad as other reviews suggested but "it just doesn't hold a candle to 2002's charming and superior 'The Wild Thornberrys Movie'".

Soundtrack



{{Album ratings

| rev1 = Allmusic

| rev1Score =

}}

An original soundtrack for the film, titled 'Rugrats Go Wild: Music from the Paramount Motion Picture', was released on June 10, 2003 on Sony's Columbia Records label.

The following is a list of songs that appear on the 'Rugrats Go Wild' soundtrack.

See also



References




Buy Rugrats Go Wild now from Amazon

<-- Return to movies from 2003



This work is released under CC-BY-SA. Some or all of this content attributed to http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1110171372.