Rugrats
is an American animated television series created by Arlene Klasky, Gábor Csupó, and Paul Germain for Nickelodeon. The series premiered on Sunday August 11, 1991 and aired its last episode on Tuesday June 8, 2004.
The show centers around four babies and their day-to-day lives, usually involving common life experiences that become adventures in the babies' imaginations. It was one of the first three Nicktoons and also aired on Nick Jr. in 1996.
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RUGRATS TICKETS
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Premise
The show originally revolved around a group of toddlers,
Thomas "Tommy" Pickles (whose family moved from
Akron, Ohio to their current location in
California [1]),
Charles "Chuckie" Finster, and the twins
Phillip "Phil" and Lillian "Lil" DeVille. The toddlers are able to communicate with each other through baby speak, although viewers can understand them, because it is 'translated'. Often, they mispronounce words or use poor grammar and their speaking is full of
malapropisms. An example of this is using the word "poopetrator" instead of "perpetrator." The group is often reluctantly joined by Tommy's
cousin,
Angelica Pickles. At age three years old, Angelica 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. She is usually very mean to the babies.
Susie Carmichael, who lives across the street from the Pickles, is also able to communicate on the same level as Angelica, though she isn't manipulative. As a result, Angelica and Susie often clash.
[2]
In 1998, a new character was introduced. After
The Rugrats Movie
, in which Tommy's baby brother
Dylan "Dil" Pickles is born, he was soon added as a character on the show. As a four month old baby, Dil is not able to communicate with anyone. Later in 2000, after
Rugrats in Paris: The Movie
was released,
Kimi Finster was added as a character. She is Chuckie's
stepsister.
Characters
The Pickles are a mixed
Jewish-
Christian family. 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,
Kwanzaa, 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.
Production
Rugrats was Nickelodeon's second
Nicktoon. The series was in production from 1991 to 1994, and again from 1996 to 2004. It aired in Nickelodeon's
Snick block from 1997-2000. It is the longest lasting Nicktoon to date, at over fourteen years longevity. The Rugrats received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in a ceremony on June 28, 2001.
The show airs in the UK on
CBBC,
CITV,
Nicktoons,
Nickelodeon UK and
Nicktoonsters as well as in Canada on YTV. In Australia, it can be seen on Nickelodeon Australia (and, for a period, ABC Television).
On August 11, 2001, Rugrats celebrated its 10 year anniversary. The special/TV movie, "
Rugrats: All Growed Up
" was produced for the occasion. After the show, a special retrospective lookback aired, entitled
Rugrats: Still Babies After All These Years
. It was narrated by
Amanda Bynes.
The show ended in 2004 then afterwards, two fairy tale themed direct-to-video films based on the original series under the title, "
Rugrats: Tales from the Crib
" were planned and then released separately in 2005 and in 2006.
Theatrical films
In 1998, the first Rugrats film was released, entitled
The Rugrats Movie
, which introduced baby Dil, Tommy's little brother, onto the show. In 2000 the second movie,
Rugrats in Paris
, was released, with two new characters introduced, Kimi and Kira. Kimi would become Chuckie's sister and Kira would become his new mother, after marrying his father. In 2003, the third movie,
Rugrats Go Wild
, was released. It was a crossover between the
Rugrats
and
The Wild Thornberrys
.
Reception
In a 1995 interview
Steven Spielberg referred to
Rugrats
as one of several shows that are the best children's programming at the time. Spielberg described
Rugrats
as "sort of a TV
Peanuts
of our time."
[3] It was named the 92nd best animated series by
IGN.
[4]
Episodes
Other projects
DVD Release
Nickelodeon and
Amazon.com have struck a deal to produce
DVDs of new and old Nickelodeon shows, through the
CreateSpace service. Using a concept similar to
print on demand, Amazon will be making the discs, cover art, and disc art itself. The first and second seasons of Rugrats are on sale.
[5]
Broadcast history
- USA
- *Nickelodeon (1991-2007)
- *Nicktoons Network (2002-present)
- UK
- *Children's BBC (Including Live & Kicking) (1993-2004)
- *Nickelodeon (1994-2009)
- *Nicktoons (2002-2008, 2009-present) [6]
- *CITV (2005-2006)
- *Nicktoonsters (August 2008-July 2009)
- Argentina
- *The Big Channel
- *Magic Kids
- *Nickelodeon
- *Canal 9
- Australia
- *Nickelodeon Australia (1995-Present)
- *ABC Television
- *Network Ten
- New Zealand
- *Nickelodeon NZ (199?-Present)
- *TV3 (199?-Present)
- Philippines
- *TV5
- *Nickelodeon South East Asia
- *Studio 23
- Ireland
- *RTÉ Two (199? - Present)
- Canada
- *YTV
- Malaysia
- *Nickelodeon South East Asia
- *TV3 (1992-1994)
- *MetroVision (1996-1998)
- *NTV7 (2001-2004)
- Netherlands
- *Nickelodeon
- Ukraine
- *ICTV (Ukraine)
- Italy
- *Italia 1
- Mexico
- *Nickelodeon Latin America 1996 - 2006
- *XHGC-TV Canal 5 (1997 - 2001), repeats episodes sometimes.
Awards
| Year
| Association
| Award Category
| Result
|
| 1993
| Daytime Emmy Award
| Outstanding Animated Children's Program
| Won
|
| 1995
| Annie Award
| Best Individual Achievement for Writing in the Field of Animation
| Nominated
|
| 1996
| Kids' Choice Awards
| Favorite Cartoon
| Won
|
| 1997
| Emmy Award
| Outstanding Children's Program
| Nominated
|
| Kids' Choice Awards
| Favorite Cartoon
| Won
|
| 1998
| Kids' Choice Awards
| Favorite Cartoon
| Won
|
| 1999
| Emmy Award
| Outstanding Children's Program
| Nominated
|
| Genesis Award
| Television - Children's Programming
| Won
|
| Kids' Choice Awards
| Favorite Cartoon
| Won
|
| World Animation Celebration
| Best Director of Animation for a Daytime Series
| Won
|
| 2000
| Artios Award
| Best Casting for Animated Voice Over - Television
| Nominated
|
| Emmy Award
| Outstanding Children's Program
| Nominated
|
| 2001
| Artios Award
| Best Casting for Animated Voice Over - Television
| Nominated
|
| Emmy Award
| Outstanding Children's Program
| Nominated
|
| 2002
| Artios Award
| Best Casting for Animated Voice Over - Television
| Nominated
|
| Emmy Award
| Outstanding Children's Program
| Nominated
|
| 2003
| Artios Award
| Best Casting for Animated Voice Over - Television
| Nominated
|
| Daytime Emmy Award
| Outstanding Animated Children's Program
| Won
|
| 2004
| Daytime Emmy Award
| Outstanding Animated Children's Program
| Nominated
|
Video games
- Rugrats: Search for Reptar
(PlayStation)
- Rugrats: Studio Tour
(PlayStation)
- Rugrats: Scavenger Hunt
(Nintendo 64)
- Rugrats in Paris - The Movie
(Nintendo 64, Game Boy Advance, PC CD Rom, PlayStation)
- Rugrats: Totally Angelica
(PlayStation, Game Boy Advance)
- Rugrats: Totally Angelica Boredom Busters
(PC CD Rom)
- Rugrats: Go Wild
(PC CD Rom, Game Boy Advance)
- Rugrats: All Growed Up - Older and Bolder
(PC CD Rom)
- Rugrats: Castle Capers
(Game Boy Advance)
- Rugrats: Royal Ransom
(PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube)
- Rugrats: I Gotta Go Party
(Game Boy Advance)
- Rugrats: The Movie
(Game Boy Color)
- Rugrats: Time Travelers
(Game Boy Color)
- Rugrats Activity Challenge
(PC CD Rom)
- Rugrats Adventure Game
(PC CD Rom)
- Rugrats Food Fight
(Mobile Phone)
- Rugrats Muchin Land
(PC CD Rom)
- The Rugrats Mystery Adventures
(PC CD Rom)
- Rocket Power: Team Rocket Rescue
(PlayStation) (Tommy & Angelica appear as guest characters)
- Nicktoons Racing
(PlayStation, Game Boy Advance, Game Boy Color, Microsoft Windows, Arcade) (Tommy and Angelica playable)
- Nicktoons: Attack of the Toybots
(Wii, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, Game Boy Advance) (Tommy and Angelica are seen, but are not playable characters.)
- Nicktoons: The Videogame (possibly)
See also
References
- Rugrats Episode Guide (1993)
- TV.com
- "Spielberg Toons in." ''TV Guide''. October 28, 1995. 33.
- 92, Rugrats
- Rugrats DVD news: Pre-order - Season 1 from Amazon
- Show times for Rugrats - UK TV Guide