The Rugrats Movie
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| The Rugrats Movie | |
|---|---|
| Image:TheRugratsMovieposter.jpg Poster | |
| Directed by | Igor Kovalyov Norton Virgien |
| Produced by | Gabor Csupo Arlene Klasky (Klasky Csupo) Nickelodeon Movies |
| Written by | David N. Weiss J. David Stem |
| Starring | Elizabeth Daily (voice) Christine Cavanaugh (voice) Kath Soucie (voice) Cheryl Chase (voice) Cree Summer (voice) Tara Strong (voice) |
| Music by | Elvis Costello Nigel Harrison Mark Mothersbaugh Jamshied Sharifi |
| Editing by | John Bryant Kimberly Rettberg |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
| Release date(s) | November 20 1998 |
| Running time | 81 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $28,000,000 (estimated) |
| Followed by | Rugrats in Paris: The Movie |
| IMDb profile | |
The Rugrats Movie is a 1998 animated film, produced by Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies. Based on the animated long running Nickeloden series Rugrats, this film introduced Tommy's baby brother Dil Pickles named after Didi Pickles's cousin. Dil later appeared in the Rugrats series the next year, and is considered the darkest of the Rugrats films ever to be produced due to its tone and aspects of the storyline (Babies lost in dangerous woods, interior conflicts between the group over being lost and Dil himself), being radical departures from the series' usual light-hearted appeal. There are some mixed opinions on The Rugrats Movie as a result.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
The Rugrats are expecting the arrival of Tommy Pickles new sibling, who everyone believes to be a girl. However, a singing competition between Angelica Pickles and Susie Carmichael causes Didi to go into labour. She is rushed to hospital where she gives birth to Tommy's brother - Dil Pickles. However, the brothers do not get along, Dil crying endlessly. Stu gives Tommy a pocketwatch holding a photo of the two brothers, and tells him he now has responsibility (Sponsibility as Tommy puts it) to look after Dil. Chuckie Finster and Phil and Lil DeVille believe Tommy is not happy with Dil and so decide to take him back to the hospital using Stu's Reptar Wagon.
Angelica soon discovers her beloved doll Cynthia has gone missing, and realising the babies must have it, ventures out with Spike to find them. Stu and Grandpa Pickles discover the disappearance of the babies and Angelica, and briefly believe they may have been taken during the delivery removal of the Reptar Wagon, which was taken by the babies. The rest of the adults discover the disappearance of their children, Drew Pickles nearly murdering his brother in the process. Didi, Betty, Chas, Howard, Charlotte and others head out into the forest to find the babies, while Stu, Drew and Grandpa try to figure out another way of searching. They are hampered by a nosy newsreporter named Rex Pester (Tim Curry).
The babies have crashed into the dark forest and have a number of problems including being pursued by a horde of circus monkeys and a hungry wolf. Chuckie is wounded multiple times but Tommy is preoccupied by Dil to notice. Dil is kidnapped by the monkeys, and after being insulted by his friends, Tommy goes off to find his brother. Tommy finds Dil but his brother refuses to behave, prompting Tommy to lose his temper and shout at Tommy. A storm frightens Dil, and Tommy protects him with a hug and a song. The next day, Chuckie, Phil and Lil come looking for the boys and save them from the monkeys. They also run into Angelica and Spike, but the group are trapped on a rope bridge and are attacked by the wolf. Spike defends the babies and sacrifices his life by pushing himself and the wolf into the river below.
Stu flies in using a special jet but crashes into Rex Pester's helicopter and crashlands in front of the babies. They mistake him for the "Wizard" and after discussing multiple wishes throughout the film, they decide they want Spike back. Stu collapses and Spike appears unharmed. The parents, accompanied by forest rangers, arrive and are reunited with their children. Rex Pester is attacked by the monkeys, who are also reunited with their circus owners. Tommy and the rest of the Rugrats welcome Dil into their group with open arms, and together they triumphantly steals a banana pudding from the Pickles refridgerator, Raiders of the Lost Ark style, which they failed to do at the start of the film.
[edit] Reaction
It was released on Thanksgiving weekend in 1998, and reached #1 at the box office (the first and only Nickelodeon Movies production to do so until Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events) ahead of Enemy of the State, and became the first non-Disney animated movie to gross $100 million in the United States and Canada, and the only such movie not made by DreamWorks until 20th Century Fox's Ice Age achieved the feat. It also remained the highest grossing animated film based on a TV show until 2007 when it was outgrossed by The Simpsons Movie. The success of the film brought more animated films based on TV shows to theaters including Doug's 1st Movie, South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut and Pokemon: The First Movie. While all 3 films were success at the box office, none of them were able to achieve the blockbuster status of The Rugrats Movie, until The Simpsons Movie in 2007. The film was followed by 2000's Rugrats in Paris: The Movie and 2003's Rugrats Go Wild.
[edit] Guest stars
- David Spade as Ranger Frank
- Whoopi Goldberg as Ranger Margaret
- Tim Curry as Rex Pester
- Busta Rhymes as Reptar Wagon
- Roger Clinton as Air Crewman
- Margaret Cho as Lt. Klavin
- Edie McClurg as Nurse
[edit] Newborn babies
[edit] Tagline
- An adventure for anyone that ever wore diapers.
[edit] Trivia
| Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones. |
- When the film aired on CBS in 2001, it included two songs that were cut in the theatrical and home video releases. This version also aired on Nickelodeon. The first sequence revolved around Stu and Didi in a nightmare sequence where Dr. Lipschitz berates their parenting through song. The other sequence occurs as the Rugrats are pushing the Reptar Wagon through the woods, debating what to do about Dil in army chant style; this scene was present in the print novelization.
- The film was released in theatres with a CatDog short titled "Fetch", in which Cat wins a radio contest and attempts to answer the phone as Dog chases down his tennis ball. (This short was later broadcast during a CatDog marathon and was also occasionally shown between programs on Nicktoons TV in the 2002-03 season.) However, the video release contained a different CatDog short, "Winslow's Home Videos".
- Slap T. Pooch from Nickelodeon's animation showcase Oh Yeah! Cartoons appeared in the Nickelodeon Movies logo sequence to this film.
[edit] Soundtrack
- Take Me There - BLACKstreet/Mýa
- I Throw My Toys Around - No Doubt
- This World Is Something New To Me - Dawn Robinson/Lisa Loeb/B Real/Patti Smith/Lou Rawls/Laurie Anderson
- All Day - Lisa Loeb
- Dil-A-Bye - E.G. Daily
- A Baby Is A Gift from a Bob - Cheryl Chase/Cree Summer
- One Way or Another - Cheryl Chase
- Wild Ride - Kevi
- On Your Marks, Get Set, Ready, Go! - Busta Rhymes
- Witch Doctor - Devo
- Take The Train - Rakim/Danny Saber
- Yo Ho Ho And A Bottle Of Yum! - E.G. Daily/Christine Cavanaugh/Kath Soucie
[edit] External links
Rugrats series | |
|---|---|
| Movies | The Rugrats Movie · Rugrats in Paris: The Movie · Rugrats Go Wild |
| Characters | Tommy · Dil · Chuckie · Kimi · Phil and Lil · Angelica · Susie · Reptar |
| Spinoffs | All Grown Up! (episodes) · Angelica and Susie's Pre-School Daze |
| List of Rugrats episodes · Klasky Csupo · Nickelodeon | |
