Rugrats

Rugrats
"Rugrats" Title card
Genre	Children's television series
Created by	Arlene Klasky Gabor Csupo Paul Germain
Voices of	E.G. Daily Christine Cavanaugh Nancy Cartwright Kath Soucie Cheryl Chase Tara Strong Cree Summer Dionne Quan Melanie Chartoff Jack Riley Michael Bell Tress MacNeille David Doyle Philip Proctor Joe Alaskey Julia Kato
Country of origin	United States
Language(s)	English
No. of seasons	12
No. of episodes	172 (List of episodes)
Production
Running time	22 minutes approx.
Broadcast
Original channel	Nickelodeon
Original run	August 11, 1991 – May 29, 1994, & December 6, 1996 - June 8, 2004
Chronology
Followed by	All Grown Up! (2003-2008)
External links
Official website
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

Rugrats is an American animated television series that aired from August 11, 1991 to June 8, 2004 on Nickelodeon. At 14 years, Rugrats is Nickelodeon's longest running show.

Premise

The show originally revolved around a group of toddlers, Thomas "Tommy" Pickles, 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. 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 very mean to the babies. New-comer, 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.^[1]

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 three 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 of Chuckie's step sister.^[1]

Characters

Main article: List of Rugrats characters

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 Jewish 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.

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, characters from another Nicktoon.

Episodes

Main article: List of Rugrats episodes

Other projects

Main article: All Grown Up!

Main article: Angelica and Susie's Pre-School Daze

Broadcast history

• USA
  • Nickelodeon (1991-2007)
  • Nicktoons Network (2002-present)

• UK
  • Children's BBC (Including Live & Kicking) (1993-2004)
  • Nickelodeon UK (1994-Present)
  • Nicktoons (2002-2008)
  • CITV (2005-2006)
  • Nicktoonsters (2008-Present)

• 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

• Ireland
  • RTÉ Two

• Canada
  • Treehouse
  • 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 Canal 5

• (1998 - 2001),repeat episodes sometimes.

Awards

Annie

• 1995 - Nominated - Best Individual Achievement for Writing in the Field of Animation

Artios

• 2000 to 2003 - Nominated - Best Casting for Animated Voice Over, Television

Daytime Emmy

• 1993, 2003 - Won - Outstanding Animated Children's Program
• 2004 - Nominated - Outstanding Animated Children's Program

Emmy

• 1997, 1999 to 2002 - Nominated - Outstanding Children's Program

Genesis

• 1999 - Won - Television - Children's Programming

World Animation Celebration

• 1999 - Won - Best Director of Animation for a Daytime Series

Kids' Choice Awards

• 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999 - Won - Favorite Cartoon

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 Travellers (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 (Tommy and Angelica playable)
• Nicktoons: Attack of the Toybots (Tommy and Angelica are seen, but are not playable characters.)

See also

• Klasky-Csupo

References

External links

• Nickelodeon's Rugrats site
• Rugrats at the Internet Movie Database
• Rugrats at TV.com
• Rugrats daily comic strip at Creators Syndicate
• Rugrats at the Big Cartoon DataBase
• Unofficial Rugrats homepage by Steve
• Sarah's Rugrats
• Rugrats Wiki at Wikia