A rugged Rugrats coverage by OSS

OldSchoolerSimpsons

Who gives a hoot
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There was a time where I didn't even picture myself sitting through this show. Now I'm suddenly waiting for the DVDs to arrive.

Usually my review threads never get finished or at least not updated very often, so I'm gonna set a rule for myself to always write something no matter how little I have to say. Sometimes you might get a full review, other times just some short comments. Otherwise I am just gonna let people down by abandoning the thread, which I don't want to do.

And before anyone asks, I'm not gonna cover the new CGI reboot. I have no interest in that in the slightest. I also don't see myself gravitating towards All Grown Up!. This is purely about the original 9-season run as well as the movies that came out inbetween.

I'm gonna start either next week or a bit later, depending on how long I have to wait.

With all that being established, let's get ready for some Chuckie Cheese.

This quote from IdiotDetector best sums up what I'm getting into:
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It's half kids show, and half adult satire - and that's what made it really popular once it got into daily repeats; not only did the kids watch it, but so did their mothers. (It wasn't that popular when it first aired on Sunday mornings.)
Want my advice? The minute Dil (Tommy's brother) shows up in the opening titles, turn the show off.
 
I quoted that post as a bit of obscure irony. That guy was a little too obsessed with Rugrats, practically screaming at anyone who doesn't consider it cutting-edge artistic genius.

I'm in it for the long haul, so I will keep watching even as Dil gets introduced. At least that season's still cel-animated, I'm not looking forward to the bland digital look the last few years have.
 
I quoted that post as a bit of obscure irony. That guy was a little too obsessed with Rugrats, practically screaming at anyone who doesn't consider it cutting-edge artistic genius.

I'm in it for the long haul, so I will keep watching even as Dil gets introduced. At least that season's still cel-animated, I'm not looking forward to the bland digital look the last few years have.
You mean the Kimmi years? Weren't those still cel-animated? The animation was "cleaned up" at Nickelodeon's request; IIRC, somebody thought the characters were "too ugly."
(I need to be careful when I talk about Rugrats; I live in the city where the actress who voiced Kimmi grew up, and I think she was the only one replaced in the new version, possibly in bart because Kimmi, in addition to her age change (Kimmi and Susie pretty much switched ages), changed from Japanese to Chinese, so who knows what the "official city position" on the new show is.)
 
The digital seasons were handdrawn, but digitally inked and colored. Cel animation means you do everything by hand, including those parts.

Also, they changed which part of Asia one of the characters comes from? What the fuck? Man, the CGI reboot sounds bizarre.
 
Did you get the season sets seperately, or did you get a complete series set like I have?

Seeing this also reminds me that I was rewatching the show myself around the time I got my DVD set but stopped a little after the Mother's Day episode. Should maybe get back into it as that brief return period before Dil was added when I first started watching.

@That Don Guy Kimi's new VA was due to her original Dionne Quan retiring from acting in 2015. From what I've read (haven't watched the reboot, nor do I plan to), I think she is still Japanese. Also, cool to know you live in the same town where her original VA grew up.
 
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The first one has the best music, the second has the most heart, and the third had an interesting concept (a crossover). I actually prefer the thornberries series so Rugrats go wild was a guilty pleasure for me. Debbie and Angelica bonding was cute.
 
@GlitterCat The second movie is my favorite, but I've seen the first more times because I owned it longer whether it was VHS or DVD (didn't own the second for the first time until 2012 which was the VHS, only just recently got the DVD a few years ago).

Did you see Rugrats Go Wild in theaters? And so, did you have the Burger King scratch and sniff card for it?

I actually prefer the thornberries series
I remember watching a good portion of that show during it's initial run and even got the complete series set for it about seven years ago. Just finished rewatching the whole series (plus the movie) about a month ago actually.
 
I do remember the scratch and sniff cards! I saw it in theatres with my younger cousin and it was a lot of fun. Burger King had really good promos back in the day.
 
@GlitterCat I've talked to someone else who had the scratch and sniff card when he saw it in the theater. According to him, it didn't work for crap. Can't really speak for BK promotions since I didn't go very often (the nearest one is about 45 mins out of town), but my town does have a McDonald's and their promos from back in the day were awesome.

Didn't see it until it came out on home video, but I'm guessing the number cues for the cards were burned into the film transfer they used because I recall seeing a 5 in a circle pop up in the upper right at one point.
 
They work about as well as 3d glasses. Not super awesome but not bad.

I do still love the promos. We went to McDonald's on my last birthday and I got Pokemon trading cards. Before that we got a knuckles toy from sonic 2. Really hoping they have TMNT toys at some point this year.
 
@GlitterCat I remember watching a good portion of that show during it's initial run and even got the complete series set for it about seven years ago. Just finished rewatching the whole series (plus the movie) about a month ago actually.
At least with the DVDs, you didn't have to wait the better part of a year to watch the final episode.
True story: the "Alaskan Adventure" episodes at the end were supposed to air every night at 8:30 over a week, but somebody realized that the existing Friday schedule (that included new Spongebob and Fairly Oddparents episodes) was too popular to pre-empt, so at the end of the fourth episode, there was an announcement that the final episode would air on Saturday (at the end of a planned TWT marathon) - but the next day, Nickelodeon replaced the marathon with another show (can't remember if it was SpongeBob or TFOP). They had a chance to air it a few months later, as part of a U-Pick "New Episodes" show, but it lost to a new As Told By Ginger, and the last episode didn't air for another few months. Speaking of which, I can only imagine how many mothers complained that pre-teenager Eliza was kissing a boy on the lips, even if it was only shown as a reflection in a pool of water.

Did you see Rugrats Go Wild in theaters? And so, did you have the Burger King scratch and sniff card for it?
Did you see Nickelodeon's TV commercials for that movie? They consisted of some random boy saying something like, "The Rugrats Go Wild is coming to theaters - and Spike's gonna talk!", then the rest of the commercial is three kids doing what appears to be a hula dance of some sort.
I think the original plan was for this movie to be released before the Wild Thornberrys movie, to get Rugrats fans more familiar with the Thornberrys, but I want to say that it took so long that the Rugrats "fan wave" had diminished by then.
 
Funny enough, adults watch MLP, Bluey and Word Girl so the idea of watching Rugrats would probably be less controversial nowadays, though I do think its definitely partially adult satire. I hear people say that after a while the show gets kiddier but I do remember enjoying most of the series.

Also, I actually am curious to see more of the reboot, mainly seeing how de-aging Suzie and adding her to the regular cast would change the dynamic. Same with Kimmy. But I only watched a couple episodes. My one takeaway is that the CGI almost looks too good to be using the same sound effects from the 90's

Also, I always thought Runaway Reptar was a movie. I checked and, guess not.
 
In case it's not on the dvd please seek out the pilot short "Tommy Pickles and the Great White Thing" which has the greatest animation in all of rugrats if you haven't seen it already
 
It's not on the official series set for some reason, but I did order a different DVD where it's featured.
Pilots usually aren't, although a number of shows (e.g. Ren & Stimpy ("Big House Blues"); Rocko's Modern Life ("Trash-O Madness"); AAHHH!!! Real Monsters ("Monsters Get Real"); CatDog ("Fetch"); ChalkZone (er, "ChalkZone"); My Life as a Teenage Robot ("It Came from Next Door", originally called "My Neighbor is a Teenage Robot" when it premiered on Oh Yeah! Cartoons)) put their pilots, usually extended, into regular episodes. Hey Arnold! gets an asterisk; its pilot ("Arnold") was completely remade, pretty much word-for-word, into "24 Hours to Live."

The As Told by Ginger pilot, "The Party," is available only on the "Far From Home" DVD.
 
Tommy Pickles And The Great White Thing 8.9/10

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Tommy sees something big and mysterious one day. What could it possibly be? The audience knows it's a toilet, but Tommy doesn't, and that's where the excitement lies.

This little short is incredibly memorable and exciting for being just 6 minutes. The limited runtime means we don't get a good look at all the characters, and most of them haven't even shown up yet. That's not a flaw however, as Tommy's babylike curiosity and enthusiasm for finding out what that thing in the bathroom is provides enough entertainment. Phil and Dil are the only other infants that appear, but don't get that much to do besides question Tommy when he tries to tell them about something incredible he saw.
In fact I weirdly enough wouldn't say that the dialogue is the biggest strength. It's certainly fine, just not there for much there than set up the basic plot elements and introduce us a little to the characters. We still get a solid sense of how most of them are like though, such as the twins being argumentative and Grandpa Pickles being a little aloof. The only possible exceptions are Stu and Didi, who we simply know loves their kids.
The voice acting is pretty good from all fronts. Even though Tami Holbrook wouldn't voice Tommy in the official series I think she gets the essence of the part down right, and wouldn't have minded if she was picked as the voice instead of Daily. The rest of the cast are the same, and I especially enjoy David Doyle as Tommy's grandpa. Even though his dialogue is near-intelligable (Perhaps because of like I mentioned the minimal focus on dialogue-based humor) he's nevertheless a very colorful presence.
All right, let's talk about the main reason for all my enjoyment: the animation. My God, every frame is jampacked with personality and life, with practically every second being freeze-frame worthy. Both the facial expressions (That goes not only for the regulars, but even the TV screen at the end) and the camera angles work together to take a deceptively plain premise and make it as crazy and wacky as possible. We even get a hilariously unnecessary but cool shot inside Tommy's mouth, his tongue almost looking like it belongs to a lizard. This is a weird comparison to make, but the atmosphere was almost that of an anime at times. Just something about the oddness of the animation as well, perspectives as well as the awesome score made it come off as somewhat alien and otherwordly. And maybe that's kind of the point.

I just realized that the story is the one thing I've forgotten to talk about. Well, it's thin pretty much by design. Tommy sees the toilet, some mishaps occur as he approaches it late it night, then he leaves the adults confused and pissed off seeing the bathroom in a mess afterwards. The whole Rube Goldberg-esque sequence as Tommy almost stumbles into the toilet, gets himself mummified with toilet paper and soap gets into his mouth is so fantastically over-the-top that it's perfect. Then at the ending you have him doing this really cute dance together with the dog Spike as they imitate the moves on TV.

It's not hard to see why the executives were fascinated by this "great white thing" and picked the show up for a full season order.
 
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@OldSchoolerSimpsons just watched the pilot and it's pretty good i like the animation in it and the different angles they show it looks really good
It's not hard to see why the executives were fascinated by this "great white thing" and picked the show up for a full season order.
i like how the babies talked with each other and what names they gave to stuff, that was really enjoyable lol
 
Tommy's First Birthday 9/10

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Tommy is turning 1. Stu and Didi want to throw the best party for him they possibly can, but run into several problems with the arrangements. Tommy himself has a very strange reason for wanting to get his hands on some dog food.

This episode just like the pilot is largely introductory, letting us get to know the characters and their dynamics. You can tell Chuckie hasn't been fully formed yet since his scaredy cat trait isn't very prominent, but he still manages to be an amusing and likable presence. Angelica is pretty firmly shown who she is, even if right now it's more subtle. Her controlling nature comes through pretty well, such as when she calls dibs on Tommy's presents despite it being his birthday, as well as tightly hugging him and Chuckie showcasing an evil smile while Didi takes a snapshot of them, letting us fear for a short blink what she's up to.
We don't get any Angelantics this time though, with her simply hopping onboard Tommy's quest to steal dog food for all of them to eat.

His reason for wanting dog food so badly is pretty funny. It turns out to be something else than disappointment over today's meal. He's somehow been bizarrely convinced that eating it will turn him into an actual dog. And the others turn out to be just as gullible, even mistaking Spike for Tommy successfully transforming when he comes out of the kitchen at a timely moment. You can get away with extreme naivety even more easily when you have characters who barely comprehend how the hell the world works 90% of the time.

They discover to their chagrin that the dog food has already been eaten by Spike. Until T. looks up and sees a can left standing on the top of a shelf. Their attempts to get it down is reminiscent of the rollicking catastrophic escalation of events shown in White Thing. And it goes even further since you now have more babies involved. Phil and Lil's cockiness as Chuckie tries to steer his friend down with a drone makes me chuckle as they are shown to be just as clueless and incompetent themselves. I'm almost surprised Angelica didn't fly into a fit of rage when the machine knocks her over and she's covered with flour. The whole thing becomes a gloriously colossal mess.

The adults' antics are quieter, but that's not say there isn't tension cooking underneath. Didi is feeling stressed over the party not turning out how she wanted, and Stu starts quarreling with his brother. I love the tragicomic way the conflict between them is incorporated. A puppet show was ordered to be performed, but the delivery men only give them the supplies without the puppeteers. So Stu and Drew come up with something themselves, Little Red Riding Hood. Except Drew can't remember the lines. Him forgetting the most simplest dialogue and coming up with such generic replacements such as "I know" and "Yes" when the wolf is asked about her weird facial features is hysterical, as if them having a really long argument still talking through puppets. Grandpa Pickles stepping in trying to break up the fight through the Woodsman is just the icing on the cake.
Boris and Minka also have an amusing silly argument where they argue about something so petty as the kind of cake is being served.

While the ruckus is going, the babies finally have gotten their previous dog food and are waiting for the changes to kick in. They don't notice anything at first, but then seemingly show "symptoms" and get so caught up in their imagination they start crawling around on the floor, barking and howling. The adults stop whatever they are doing, observing with fascinated eyes at what their kids' play activities. Stu gathers the whole gang together to take a picture. There is something so wholesome about this ending. All the hurt and pointless squabble are washed away temporarily thanks to the adorable innocence from a couple of children being into their own adventure. It feels so real and honest, even creating a sense of nostalgia.

The voice acting is superb from start to finish. Every new actor already sounds confident in their performances (No first episode shakiness whatsoever), and the ones we've heard before don't miss a beat either. There is one major change to discuss. Tommy's voice actor Tami Holbrook is replaced with E.G. Daily. And while I was happy with Tami's interpretation, the casting of Daily is simply perfect. She adds more of a baby quality to the voice, further highlighting the curiosity and wonder of the character.
Michael Bell and Melanie Chartoff (voicing Drew and Didi as well) are also a joy to watch as the other grandparents.

The music once again is highly memorable. In particular I love the Jewish jingle that plays whenever Boris and Minka appear. There's something classic and old-timey about the use of a slow accordion in it.

A lot of promise to be gathered from this premiere.
 
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Barbecue Story/Waiter, There's a Baby In My Soup 9/10

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Barbecue Story 9/10

Tommy is playing with his precious ball until Angelica cruelly kicks it over the fence. Now he and his friends have to try and get it back.
There's something about the way the show mixes the mundane with the craziness that is so compelling. Even if its exaggeration it still feels so real since you can imagine babies really blowing all the possible ordeals up to such an extent. Getting a ball back simply isn't a pain in the ass like it would be for an adult. It feels risky, dangerous and frightening. Tommy's friend warns him not to do it, but he confidently tells them (Giving us the first appearance of his catchphrase) "A baby's gotta do what a baby's gotta do." Then his diaper embarrassingly falls down, but nevertheless his bravado over such a seemingly small task is both amusing and strangely admirable.
After her muted debut in Tommy's First Birthday, Angelica gets to demonstrate her mean streak more clearly when she selfishly snatches Tommy's ball from his hands and then kicks it away as far as possible out of spite when he wants it back. She never shows again after this, but they're doing a solid job slowly building her up as a bratagonist. I think as long as it's still funny and she doesn't just get away with everything Caillou-style I could watch her without cooking with intensifying rage that many fans seem to do over her.


I love how rattled and fed up Chuckie gets as he gets his dead stuck inside a tree trunk. He rants like they've been out in the desert for 50 days and is almost infuriated with Tommy for forcing them to come with him. He really is Milhouse in infant form.

That's nothing though compared to when they come across the guard dog who just so happens to be near where the ball landed. The animation plays up the raging threat so convincingly that it's both hilarious and understandable the babies expect to be ground into meat at any moment. Especially with it fiercely ripping the doghouse off from the ground. Even Tommy for all the bravery he showed earlier doesn't know what to do.

But not to worry, as Spike hears the desperate yells from dear companion and comes to the rescue, getting his head inside a decorative Totem Head in the process, which helps scare the wits out of the pitbull. Once again the animation does a great job at getting the highest possible dramatic tension out of the situation.

The adults' screentime is very limited this time around, but the little that's there works well enough. The fish-eye style of writing just makes you enjoy hanging out with them, even when it's something as simple as Stu singing a silly melody while grilling burgers and Grandpa Pickles getting distracted by a bug while in the midst of an extravagant story.

Waiter, There's a Baby In My Soup 9.1/10

Tommy comes along to an important dinner meeting where Stu has to convince a client his inventions are worth investing in.

This segment is a strange case. Not because I don't like it, I enjoy it the most out of the two stories. The reason I say that is because we learn something about Tommy's character, but I can't quite decide what it is. At home we learn he has often tried to flush Stu's tie down the toilet. And when Didi fails to find a babysitter he makes a giant ruckus in the kitchen. Tommy is known to be a bit clumsy, yet this is the first time we see him making a mess on purpose rather than it happening accidentally as he's on a quest towards something. It being Tomboy he remains feeling innocuous and playful.

This is demonstrated even further once we're introduced to Stu's client Mr. Mucklehoney. And my God, his design is just... something else. It's ugly, though artistically so. It goes together excellently with his immature and boarish demeanor, pulling pranks on people like he's got an addiction and treating Stu like a joke as he presents all his inventions. And whatever you may so about how he looks, all of his movements are so fluid that he's almost at a higher speed than the rest of the characters. Fascinating to behold.

Now what did I mean earlier that I'm not 100% sure what we learn about Tommy? If you thought he was mischievous before, when Mucklehoney enters the picture he goes all-out. He ties Stu and Muckle's shoelaces together, crawls to the kitchen drops a shitload of chili into the soup as well as hides a bunch of cutlery into a pie. I feel sorry for whichever person is gonna have their teeth destroyed receiving that order. Tommy does still do something accidental though as he tries to reach the spaghetti and falls inside it. So in other words the baby isn't in the soup. Suing the writers for flagrant advertising.

Does this mean Tommy is a person who is easily influenced considering he starts pranking left and right after he meets Mucklehoney, or is this just who he is general and Stu's client simply happened to give him more inspiration? I suppose I'll find out in the upcoming episodes, but the fact that I'm even comtemplating what's being presented reveals how nuanced his characterization is.

Stu is on his last legs with the inventions, pulling out the springy eyes in hopes of convincing Mucklehoney to hire him. It goes awry of course and lands in someone's drinks. The chili soup arrives and Muckle is the unfortunate victim. He reacts violently to the strong taste and also trips over the shoelaces that were tied up earlier, tripping and falling over the table. The duck-esque sounds he makes as he struggles breathing made me laugh hysterically. Michael Bell gives a spectacular comedic performance. When he finally recovers he starts laughing harder than ever, mistakenly thinking Stu set up the whole thing speaking to his fondness of pranks. Giving Stuey a victory after it didn't seem to go all that swimmingly at first makes you feel happy for his sake, proving even a troublemaking Tommy can somehow benefit others.

I got a chuckle out of the closing gag where the waiter stretches out his hand for a tip and Tommy hands him the spaghetti from the bowl he fell in. They show such a range of emotions on the waiter too. First reacting with disgust, then a fairly neutral face removing the spaghetti from his fingers, and finally a slight smile, suddenly finding some amusement in the baby's ultimately well-intended action. The attention to detail is astounding.

If you're hungry for something entertaining, whether it be overcooked burgers or soup that will leave you in the emergency room, you'll be doing just dandy with this Rugrats outing.
 
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