Rugrats

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Rugrats is an American animated series, produced by Klasky-Csupo, Inc. for Nickelodeon. The series ran from 1991 to 1994, and again from 1997 to 2005. The show is about how babies and young children view life and perceive the events happening around them.

The toddlers in the show, Tommy Pickles, Chuckie Finster and the twins Phillip (Phil) and Lillian (Lil) DeVille, are able to communicate to each other in baby speak that the adults are unable to understand (however the viewer can understand the babies because it is supposedly 'translated'). Oftentimes, they mispronounce words or use poor grammar (in one episode, Chuckie uses the phrase "as God is my witness", but instead says, "as Bob as my witless"). Despite the toddler's inability to communicate with the adults, they can understand their parents' speaking, although often misunderstand what they say, usually by taking metaphors literally. Angelica Pickles, at age three, is able to communicate and understand language from both the toddlers and the adults, which she often uses as an advantage when she wants to manipulate either party.

The show airs in the UK on CITV.

Contents

Characters

The children

Tommy Pickles (voiced by E.G. Daily, and Tami Holbrook in the unseen pilot): The most adventurous baby, always getting the group into trouble. Generally considered the babies' leader. Tommy is named after the first son of Paul Germain, one of the show's creators. Full name is Thomas Louis Pickles.
Dil Pickles (voiced by Tara Strong): Tommy's younger brother, a true baby (i.e. not a toddler like the other children). Introduced in the first Rugrats movie. Full name is Dylan Prescott Pickles.
Angelica Pickles (voiced by Cheryl Chase): Tommy and Dil's cousin who always bosses the "babies" around, being the oldest about 3 years old. She enjoys lying to the toddlers, distorting & twisting their perception of reality. Angelica behaves well (most of the time) in front of the adults but is generally mean to the babies. Full name is Angelica Charlotte Pickles.
Chuckie Finster (voiced by Christine Cavanaugh up to 2002, Nancy Cartwright since): Tommy's loyal sidekick. Afraid of everything, especially clowns and "the guy on the oatmeal box." Full name is Charles Crandall Finster III.
Phil and Lil DeVille (both voiced by Kath Soucie): fraternal twins (boy and girl) that have everything in common. Both enjoy playing in mud and like to eat worms and insects. They squabble sometimes but they always stick together.
Kimi Finster (voiced by Dionne Quan): Chuckie's younger step-sister, introduced in the second Rugrats movie, Rugrats in Paris. Kimi is a very happy girl who is always smiling.
Susie Carmichael (voiced by Cree Summer): A neighborhood friend who is about Angelica's age. When around, Susie often stands up to Angelica when she taunts the young toddlers. She also has two older brothers, Edwin and Buster and older sister Alisa.

The adults

Stuart "Stu" Pickles (voiced by Jack Riley of The Bob Newhart Show fame): Tommy and Dil's father and brother of Drew. Absent-minded toy inventor. He constantly gets into fights with his brother, Drew. Married to Didi. His name is a parody of the word "stupid", a trait that is not absent in his character.
Didi Pickles (see Kerpackter) (voiced by Melanie Chartoff): Tommy and Dil's mother. A part-time schoolteacher who teaches at a high school and is married to Stu. She constantly worries over her sons' mental and pyhsical well-being and depends on child psychology books like an addiction.
Louis Kalhern "Lou" Pickles (voiced by David Doyle from 1991, until his death in 1997, and Joe Alaskey; 1997-Series End) Tommy, Dil and Angelica's grandfather and Stu and Drew's father. Lived with Stu's family for the first few seasons and often babysits the children. His name is a parody of the word "loopy". He is not crazy, but a little bit odd at times. Whenever he watches the babies he always falls asleep.
Lulu Pickles (voiced by Debbie Reynolds): Lou's second wife; he met her in the hospital where she works as a nurse. Also Tommy, Dil, and Angelica's step grandmother and Stu and Drew's stepmother.
Drew Pickles (voiced by Michael Bell): Angelica's father and Stu's brother. An investment banker married to Charlotte. His name is a parody of the word "droopy", which is a personality trait of his.
Charlotte Pickles (voiced by Tress MacNeille): Angelica's workaholic mother. CEO of her own company and married to Drew. She tries to be a good mother, but is usually sidetracked by business interests. Is often shown talking on her mobile phone to Jonathan, who was shown several times during early episodes of the series.
Betty DeVille (voiced by Kath Soucie): Phil and Lil's mother. Quite the jock and women's-libber. Married to Howard. Helps operate the Java Lava Coffee House with Chaz Finster in All Grown Up.
Howard DeVille (voiced by Philip Proctor, formerly of The Firesign Theatre): Phil and Lil's mild mannered father. Often overpowered by and cringing towards his wife, Betty.
Charles Crandall "Chaz" Finster II (voiced by Michael Bell): Widower; Chuckie's father, from whom he inherited his adenoidal whine. Married Kira in the second Rugrats movie. Kimi's step-father. Runs the Java Lava Coffee House.
Kira Finster (voiced by Julia Kato): Kimi's mother and Chuckie's step-mother. Married Chaz in the second Rugrats movie. Operates the Java Lava Coffee House with her husband.
Lucy Carmichael (voiced by: Cheryl Carter (1992, 1997-Series End), Lisa Dinkins (1993), Hattie Winston (The Rugrats Movie): Susie, Edwin, Buster, and Alisha's mother and Randy's wife. She is a Harvard-educated "wonder mom" and does a lot of cool things. She is also a Doctor. She delivered Dil.
Randall "Randy" Carmichael (voiced by: Ron Glass): Married to Lucy Carmichael & is Susie and her siblings' father. Randy is a writer for the famous Dummi Bears Show.
Boris and Minka Kerpackter (voiced by Michael Bell and Melanie Chartoff), Didi and her brother Ben's Jewish parents. Eastern European immigrants who are always complaining that it wasn't this way in the "Old Country". Boris was banned from the Rugrats comic strip in which he recited a prayer in a synagogue on September 20 1998
Aunt Miriam (voiced by Andrea Martin), Lou's cousin and Angelica, Tommy, and Dil's great aunt removed
Shirley and Marvin Finster (voiced by Miriam Margolyes and Stacy Keach), Chaz's parents.

The pets

Spike (only voiced in the TV show once, and voiced by Bruce Willis only in Rugrats Go Wild!): The Pickles' brown hound dog. Tommy deeply admires him. He is a Siberian Tiger Hound. (Spike was once voiced in a very old Rugrats episode in which Chuckie had a dream that he and the other babies went into Spike's doghouse. In the doghouse, Spike was drinking tea and spoke with an old English accent.)
Fifi (Voiced by Grey DeLisle): Purple poodle, who was originally a Parisian stray which Spike fell in love with in the second Rugrats movie. Now, lives with the Finsters.
Spiffy and Pepper (not voiced): Purple and brown (respectively) puppies adopted by the Stu Pickles and Chaz Finster households. The offspring of a union between Spike and Fifi.
Fluffy (not voiced): Angelica's cat whom Angelica loves dearly, but who always causes trouble for the others, particularly Spike. She has the same hair style as Angelica.

Fictional TV Characters

Reptar (not voiced): A big green dinosaur reminiscent of Godzilla. Tommy and the other Rugrats love him; Reptar products such as cars, clothes and candy are frequently seen on the show. Reptar was a main character in Rugrats in Paris and had his own theme park called Euro Reptarland (Which is obviously a parody of Disneyland Paris). There was a giant Reptar robot there too, which the babies piloted and fought against Jean Claude.
Robosnail (not voiced): Reptar's arch enemy. Robosnail is a mechanical snail with snapping pincers. He made a special guest appearance in Rugrats in Paris, controlled by Jean Claude. Robosnail and Reptar fought throughout Paris and he wound up falling into a river.
Dactar: a big Pterodactyl who fights Reptar on TV. He resembles Rodan from Godzilla. Stu is seen using a model version of him in The Rugrats Movie.
Captain Blasto (Adam West): From the early seasons of the show. A spaceman who hosts his namesake show, a low budget locally made kids program that is reminiscent to the Captain Video series of the 1950s. In "Super Hero Chuckie", Tommy, Chuckie, Angelica, Stu and Drew go to see the show made at the television studio, where they learn the secret about how Captain Blasto flies (a cable that attaches to his costume).
The Dummi Bears: A cartoon watched by the babies. It is a spoof of the Care Bears and Gummi Bears franchises. Suzy's father Randy Carmichael was a writer for the show, and in one episode, the babies are taken to a movie theater to see the Dummy Bears movie (they escape from their parents to go see the Reptar movie, and cause havoc in the movie theater)
Alan Quebec (Alex Trebek): hosted Super Stumpers, the fictitious game show on which Didi Pickles appears in the episode "Game Show Didi."

(Rugrats Go Wild!)

Nigel Thornberry: Host of an Wild Life Show and Tommy's TV Hero.
Marianne Thornberry:Wife of Nigel Thornberry and Mother of Debbie,Eliza and Donnie.
Debbie Thornberry: The oldest child who Angelica befriended with.
Eliza Thornberry: The middle child who can talk to animals and have contactions with Spike.
Donnie: The wild boy who looks like Chuckie Finster.
Darwin: the pet chimp in the family.

The McNultys

Conan:He's Lou Pickles's archenemy. He cheats whenever Lou challenges him in a game and not to mention he is tricky too. He's the grandfather of the McNulty brothers.
Timmy McNulty:He use to be Angelica's arch enemy but now he's kind of like Tommy's arch enemy. He's 4 years old and he's a bully and also the leader of the McNulty brothers.
Teddy, Ty, Todd, and Terry: Theres not much info of them about except they're part of the McNulty brothers.
Colleen: She is the McNulty brother's mom. She's from Ireland and is friends with all the Rugrats' moms.

The Other Carmichael Children

Alisa: The oldest of the Carmichael children, she is a teenager with an attitude. In a memorable episode, she had to babysit her younger siblings and Tommy because the parents went to a ceremony.
Buster: He is a punk and a prankster.

Edwin: The younger of the two brothers. He is a child genius.

Other Characters

Taffy (voiced by: Amanda Bynes She is a pop star singer and a babysitter for the Rugrats.
Dr. Lipschitz: He's a baby instructor which Didi and Chaz listen to all the time but Betty really dislikes him.
Larry and Steve: They are cameo janitors.
Bucky Majors: Famous baseball player. Only appeared for one episode.
Jonathan (voiced by Rene Auberjonois in (Mommy's Little Assets), Dan Castellaneta in (Jonathan Babysits),: Charlotte's assistant who stole Charlotte's job in New York. He became her assistant again but again with no success tried to steal her job. Charlotte talks to him on her cell phone alot.

Villains

Coco LaBouche (voiced by: Susan Sarandon) (Rugrats In Paris): A mean manager of EuroReptar that Kira used to work for and who almost become Chuckie's new Step-Mother, Disney's Villains reference:Cruella DeVil.
The Wolf (The Rugrats Movie): seeks the Rugrats as its dinner. Was thrown into a river by Spike, who risked his life to save them.
Snow leopard (Rugrats go wild): Same thing like the wolf and was defeated by a brach.

Toys

Cynthia: Angelica's favorite toy, a doll resembling Mattel's Barbie doll. Like Barbie, Cynthia comes with many accessories, including doll houses, hair brushes, vehicles, and furniture. In films, the clothing is different from the original (orange/ red stripes). It may be that Angelica changes it during feature films.
Wa-wa: Chuckie's teddy bear. Was given to him by his 'first' mother, Melinda. Was probably hand-made by his mother.
Yellow Screwdriver: Tommy keeps this handy in his playpen or his diaper, and will use it to unhook the lock to let him explore around the house. Although in the first series his screwdriver is red.
Superthing: Kimi's toy super hero, unusually made.
Reptar: an action figure of the fictional movie/tv sensation; resembles a spoof of godzilla

Setting

As the series is shown largely through a child's point of view, the area it is set in is never described precisely. It has been shown that the Rugrats, as it is probably assumed, live in the United States, although the name of a specific city or state is never mentioned.

The best guess as to which region of the country in which the series takes place is somewhere in the southwest, since the family has taken trips to both the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas, and Stu once mentioned "driving through the desert" while returning home from a one-day trip. Also Grandpa (while sleeping during an episode) mentions that he didn't want to move to California, despite the fact that he lived in the Dust Bowl. There have also been several scenes of desert or arid land around the area where the Rugrats live, but there was an episode which featured a snowstorm.

It is also unclear what type of community the characters live in; it could be a small city or a suburb of a larger city. This ambiguity in the setting was probably done intentionally to help give the impression of seeing the world through the naive eyes of toddlers.

One episode does however show they live somewhere in California due to the license plate shown on Grandpa's station wagon. In the episode "Special Delivery", a post office has the state's bear flag in front of it. Also in the Nickelodeon edition of Trivial Pursuit for Children, California is the answer to a question asking where the Pickles live, which may be supposed proof as to what state they reside in.

Their whereabouts in California are probably in the locus of Oakland. In one episode, Larry and Steve (occasional teenage characters, working as painters in this episode) remark that black and silver, Raiders colors are awesome. Of course, the Los Angeles area is also possible, as the Raiders played there until 1994. In another episode, Stu, Lou, Drew, and Howard want to watch a football game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Houston Oilers. Drew and Howard wear Cowboys t-shirts, while Lou and Stu wear Oilers attire. This implies a possible Texas setting.

In another episode in the first season, Didi is shown teaching at a high school in Yucaipa, an actual town about 70 miles east of Los Angeles. It does seem to snow in the wintertime, as in the episode where the babies play in the snow and pretend to go to the north pole.

However, in The Rugrats Movie, it is implied that the family lives close to Interstate 99, so the setting could also be somewhere in central Pennsylvania. This could be a script or drawing goof, as California has a state California State Route 99 serving the east side of the San Joaquin Valley.

It is reasonable to assume that they live on the west coast, because in one episode that was set on a beach, the sun set over the water.

Brief history

Rugrats was created by the then husband and wife duo of Gabor Csupo (pronounced Chew-poh) and Arlene Klasky in 1989 along with Paul Germain. They were inspired by the antics of their then infant children, which they found humorous, it was one of three pitches to popular children's cable channel Nickelodeon, which was planning on commissioning their own animated series, which would later be called "Nicktoons." They produced a pilot, "Tommy Pickles and the Great White Thing", which was directed by Peter Chung, later of Æon Flux fame. The production finished in early 1990, and was shown to an audience of children, of which the majority gave their approval. The pilot was only 6 1/2 minutes in length, and was not aired for that reason, according to Steve Mindykowski's Rugrats Online. However, this movie is available on the DVD Rugrats: Decade in Diapers, and Volume 1 of the VHS, as a special feature. The series debuted on August 11, 1991, along with Doug and Ren and Stimpy. It went out of production in 1994, but after increased ratings when shown in primetime, it was revived in 1997, subsequently leading to 3 movies: The Rugrats Movie (1998), which became the first non-Disney animated movie to earn $100 million in the US, [[Rugrats in Paris: The Movie|Rugrats in Paris]] (2000), and Rugrats Go Wild! (2003), a crossover with The Wild Thornberrys.

In 2001, the show celebrated its 10th anniversary by making a special one-hour episode about what the Rugrats would be like 10 years older. After the special had aired, Klasky-Csupo said that they had no plans to make a series about it. The special became one of the highest rated episodes in Nick's history. Nick eventually commissioned a full series, All Grown Up!, which started its regular run in November 2003 (a sneak peek full episode named Coup DeVille had aired earlier in April). Many fans feel that AGU has taken a step in the right direction, while others feel that it takes away from the show's original premise, and reduces it to something that, at best, vaguely resembles the show that many people grew to love in the 1990s, and pales in comparison to the writing, acting, artwork, and even music of the original show. Still, it is considered the best cartoon Klasky-Csupo has made since 1998. Meanwhile, production on the Rugrats series (along with that of most of the other Klasky-Csupo shows) was eventually shut down, and the last new episode ("Hurricane Alice") aired on August 1, 2004.

In 2005, Klasky-Csupo announced that they were reviving the original Rugrats as a series of DVDs based on classic fairy tales. The first were based on Snow White and Jack and the Beanstalk. "Snow White" was released in 2005, and "Jack and the Beanstalk" is soon to follow.

Popularity

The first three or four seasons of Rugrats were very popular. Despite the crude animation style, the early episodes boasted effective but subtle references to popular culture and occasionally but rarely then-current events (for example, in "Tommy And The Secret Club" Angelica worries about Saddam Hussein breaking into her club; there were also references to Clarence Thomas, Anita Hill and George H.W. Bush, these references were used to keep parents interested in the show while their children watched, at different points in the series). Despite the occasional potty humor, the early episodes were more reliant on amusing dialogue and imagery than juvenile jokes. This was different in the second version which used more "gross out"/potty humor than the original.

Criticism

After the show's revival in 1997 (and especially after the first movie), the show, though still making a few culture references, began relying on more bizarre and outlandish plots, and more reliant on gross-out/toilet humor, especially with the addition of Dil to the cast. The show also seemed to have changed its animation to a much brighter style. Two things which many of the show's older fans also found annoying in particular were the show's increased use of baby talk (such as "diapey" for "diaper", for the most obvious example) and repetitive plots (the babies hear an adult's conversation and misinterpret their words). The fans also noticed that the show had lost its creative innovation and seemed to be a lot lighter in tone. This is clearly due to the departure of all of the show's writers and producers and the incoming of brand new ones. The death of Grandpa's voice, David Doyle, and his replacement by Joe Alaskey, also created a negative reaction from many fans, as did the replacement of Christine Cavanaugh as Chuckie with Nancy Cartwright in 2002. The characters of Kimi and her family were met with a mixed reaction at best, while the character Taffy (voiced by Amanda Bynes) was universally disliked among fans. Due to this, many fans believe that this was the moment when Rugrats jumped the shark.

Many fans of the original seasons of the show (1991-1994) feel the newer episodes (1997-2004) should have never been made as they feel like two completely different shows. This shift in tone and creativity can be looked at in contrast to another popular Nick show, Doug, which was cancelled in 1994 as well, went on hiatus and was brought back to ABC in 1996 (thanks to getting bought by Disney) with a much different (and often criticized) style.

By 2000, the show's long-reigning position as Nickelodeons highest rated and most popular show had been surpassed by the then new SpongeBob SquarePants, which continues to hold this title to this day. Spongebob's humor style was considerably more sophisticated and at times even more adult oriented than that of the later Rugrats episodes, and because of this was often compared to older, lower-budget Nickelodeon shows such as Ren & Stimpy and Rocko's Modern Life as opposed to Rugrats and other high-budget Klasky-Csupo shows of the late-90s. Many, even ex-Rugrats fans, switched over to Spongebob, and Spongebob has been considered to have inspired many more recent and otherwise popular shows like The Fairly OddParents (primarily the first two seasons) and Invader ZIM to incorperate a more adult sense of humor without heavy production costs. Many see SpongeBob as the "murderer" of Klasky-Csupo's popularity.

The show has waned in popularity among college students and older children through the years, but it is more popular with younger children.

Other spinoff plans

Besides All Grown Up! there were plans for two other spinoffs that never made it to air:

The Carmichaels was planned to see Susie move away from California to Atlanta, where she apparently has relatives. There were plans to make The Carmichaels into a series as early as the 1999-2000 TV season, but plans involving the toddler Rugrats had put the new series' plans on ice. Subsequently, when plans for All Grown Up! and Angelica and Susie's School Daze (below) came up, concerns for continuity led to this idea being shelved for good. The "Kwanzaa" episode (2001) serves as the show's pilot.
Angelica and Susie's Pre-School Daze was planned to be about the titular characters going to pre-school. 13 episodes had originally been ordered, and slated to premiere late 2002, and was also intended to feature new looks for the two characters. The most recent official word on this series was in this [press release] for All Grown Up!, when it was announced that it was reduced to just 4 episodes. There were also complications involving the planned new animation designs for the characters. The Pre-School Daze ep (made for 2002, aired 2004) serves as the show's pilot, and used the regular Rugrats look (as did the other episodes involving the preschoolers that actually aired before that ep in the US). Klasky-Csupo finally completed the 4 episodes of the series [link]. They had their television premiere on Nickelodeon UK.

However, the Rugrats as babies live on in the direct-to-DVD feature animation series, Rugrats: Tales From the Crib.

Trivia

The Rugrats received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in a ceremony on June 28, 2001. It was placed at 6600 W. Hollywood Bl., near Cherokee Ave. outside a toy and costume shop ([Klasky-Csupo press release]).
The Rugrats had a daily [comic strip] that ran from 1998 to 2003.
The Pickles are a mixed Jewish-Christian family. Many fans say the Pickles are somewhat based on Klasky's real family (for example, as in the show, she is from Southern California and in real life she is a Jew and married to a Christian). There are two episodes that reflect the Pickles' Jewish heritage, one episode deals with the Passover holiday and the other with Hanukkah (in addition to episodes about Christmas, Easter, etc.). These episodes have been praised by Jewish groups and are re-run every year on Nick at the appropriate holiday times and can also be purchased on VHS or DVD.
Susie Carmichael, the Pickles' neighbor, is based, at least by name on militant black civil rights leader Stokely Carmichael, who founded the Black Panthers in the late 1960s.
In the episode titled " The Clan of the Duck", Albert Einstein is dancing the Hora. Also, at the end of the episode, the Scottish babies lift their kilts and scream "FREEDOM!!!" This is a spoof of Braveheart.
A Spoof of the Rugrats is featured in an episode of PBS's hit Arthur (TV series)
Tommy's feet point inward because of some kind of disease like the creators son.
A parody of the Rugrats is also featured in the Fairly OddParents TV movie, Channel Chasers as "Carpet Critters".
Rugrats, along with Rocket Power, has a story line in which a mother, in which case Chuckies, is not a main/minor character because of some reason (car accident, sudden death, etc.).
The Season Four episode "Heatwave" is a parody of the film Lawrence of Arabia (the Nefud Desert, or "Sun's Anvil", for the "Black Tar Playground", and Tommy's rescue of Chuckie is a spoof of Lawrence's rescue of the Arab Gassim).

*Rugrats* and *All Grown Up!*
Episodes: List of Rugrats episodes List of All Grown Up! episodes Movies: The Rugrats Movie [[Rugrats in Paris: The Movie]] Rugrats Go Wild!
Characters
Tommy \| Chuckie \| Angelica \| Phil & Lil Dil \| Kimi \| Susie \| Harold \| Reptar
Other
Angelica and Susie's Pre-School Daze

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