Rugrats
Rugrats is an American animated television series created by Arlene Klasky, Gábor Csupó and Paul Germain of Klasky Csupo Inc. for Nickelodeon. The series focuses on a group of toddlers, most prominently Tommy Pickles, Chuckie Finster and twins Phil and Lil DeVille and their day-to-day lives, usually involving life experiences that become much greater adventures in the imaginations of the main characters.
The series premiered on August 11, 1991. It is the second of the original three Nickelodeon animated series known as "Nicktoons", after Doug and before The Ren & Stimpy Show. The series initially lasted for 65 episodes spanning three seasons. Production was then halted, and Germain left Klasky Csupo Inc. in 1993 with the last episode airing on November 12, 1994. In 1995 and 1996, two Jewish-themed specials premiered, "A Rugrats Passover" and "A Rugrats Chanukah", respectively. During this time, after the end of its original run, Rugrats began to receive a boost in ratings and popularity due to frequent reruns on Nickelodeon.
In 1996, Klasky Csupo Inc. began producing new episodes with a new writing staff, and the series' fourth season began airing in 1997. As a result of its popularity, a series of theatrical films were released over the next five years: The Rugrats Movie, which introduced Tommy's younger brother Dil, was released in 1998, Rugrats in Paris: The Movie, which introduced Chuckie's stepmother Kira, his stepsister Kimi, and a poodle named Fifi, was released in 2000, and Rugrats Go Wild, a crossover film with another Klasky Csupo series, The Wild Thornberrys, was released in 2003.
On July 21, 2001, Nickelodeon broadcast the TV special All Growed Up to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the series. The special would eventually be considered a pilot for the Rugrats sequel series All Grown Up!, which aired from 2003 to 2008. It chronicles the lives of the characters after they age 10 years. The final episode of Rugrats aired on August 1, 2004, bringing the series to a total of 172 episodes over nine seasons. Two direct-to-video specials were released in 2005 and 2006 under the moniker Rugrats Tales from the Crib. A spin-off series, Rugrats Pre-School Daze, aired four episodes in 2008.
The 13-year run ties Rugrats with King of the Hill as the eighth-longest-running American animated television series. Rugrats is Nickelodeon's third longest-running animated series, behind SpongeBob SquarePants and The Fairly OddParents, and one of the longest-running animated series overall. Until SpongeBob SquarePants aired its 173rd episode in 2012, Rugrats was Nickelodeon's longest-running cartoon.
Rugrats gained over 20 awards, including four Daytime Emmy Awards, six Kids' Choice Awards, and its own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The series anchored Nickelodeon as the network's top-rated series from 1995 to 2001. Tie-in media for the series include video games, comics, toys, and various other merchandise.
A reboot of the series executive-produced by the original creative team of Klasky, Csupó, and Germain premiered on Paramount+ in 2021.
Premise
Characters
The series focuses on the experiences of a courageous, adventurous one-year-old baby named Tommy Pickles and his group of playmates – several other infants and toddlers, some of whom debuted later in the series. His playmates include Chuckie, Tommy's bespectacled, red-headed, insecure, cowardly two-year-old best friend, the twins Phil and Lil, noted for their revolting eccentricities, Tommy's baby brother Dil, who was born in The Rugrats Movie, Angelica, Tommy and Dil's outrageously spoiled and selfish three-year-old cousin who is a "rival" of his friends, Kimi, Chuckie's adventurous, playful stepsister who is introduced in Rugrats in Paris: The Movie, and Susie, a good-hearted neighbor of the Pickles family, who protects the babies from Angelica, with whom she often butts heads.The other characters depicted in Rugrats include the babies' parents, grandparents, and pets. Parental figures include Didi and Stu Pickles, Tommy and Dil's mother and father, Chas Finster, Chuckie's mild-mannered father, Kira, Chuckie's sweet-natured, kind and understanding stepmother whom Chas marries in Rugrats in Paris: The Movie, Drew Pickles, Angelica's indulgent and doting father, Charlotte Pickles, Angelica's workaholic mother, Betty DeVille, Phil and Lil's easy-going yet boisterous feminist mother, and Howard DeVille, the twins' mild-mannered and soft-spoken father. Grandparents include Lou Pickles, Drew and Stu's father and Tommy, Angelica, and Dil's grandfather, Lulu, Lou's second elderly wife that appeared in later seasons of the series, and Didi's parents, Boris and Minka, who are Jewish immigrants. The Pickles family also own a dog named Spike and a cat belonging to Angelica named Fluffy.
In the series, babies talk to each other whenever adults are either not around, or are not paying attention. The babies have a limited understanding of the world. Toddlers Angelica and Susie talk to the babies as well and also communicate with adults, as they act as a bridge between the two worlds.
Setting
Many of the adventures in which the babies find themselves take place at Tommy's house; the parents usually rely on Didi, Stu, or Grandpa Lou to babysit the kids while they run errands. Their address is revealed on an invoice in the season one episode "Tommy's First Birthday" as 1258 N. Highland, the original address of Klasky Csupo in Los Angeles. However, the specific city or state is never mentioned in the series. Several indicators, such as a state flag at a post office, license plate designs on the vehicles, and various trips to the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, and the beach, place the characters somewhere in southern California.The location is also hinted at during the season one episode "Little Dude" when Didi, who is a teacher, takes Tommy to her class at Eucaipah High School, referencing the city of Yucaipa, California. It has been implied that this ambiguity was done intentionally to help give the impression of seeing the world through the eyes of the babies, who would not understand the concept of location. The DeVilles live next door to the Pickles and, midway through the second season, the Carmichaels move in across the street.
Episodes
During the first six seasons of Rugrats, episodes were primarily divided into two eleven-minute segments. After the second movie, during season seven, Rugrats aired with a format of three seven-minute segments per episode, though it returned to its original format in the final two seasons.Production
Episodes took up to a year in advance to produce. After the episode's story was written and approved, the next phase consisted of voice recording, storyboarding, pre-eliminating animation, overseas production, overseas delivery, followed by editing and polishing.Development
Rugrats was formed by the then-husband-and-wife duo of Gábor Csupó and Arlene Klasky, along with Paul Germain in the summer of 1989. Klasky Csupo had a major animation firm at the time which also provided services for commercials and music videos. Klasky, Csupó, and Germain were also animating The Simpsons for Matt Groening at the time, which they would continue to do until 1992 when the series' producer James L. Brooks and his company Gracie Films switched domestic production to Film Roman. The trio decided to create their own series in reaction to a proclamation by the children's cable network Nickelodeon that they were to launch their own line of animated series, which would be later called "Nicktoons". The network's Vice President of Animation Vanessa Coffey approached them to create a pilot for their new series. With the comedic stimulation branching from the antics of Klasky and Csupó's infant children and pulling inspiration from The Beatles, the 6–minute pilot episode, "Tommy Pickles and the Great White Thing", was released on DVD by Paramount Home Entertainment in 2001.Peter Chung, along with Klasky and Csupó, co-designed the characters and directed the series pilot, as well as the opening sequence. In a Decider article, Chung said, "He wanted the babies to be 'strange' instead of 'cute.'" The production was completed in 1990, and they submitted it to Nickelodeon, who tested it with an audience of children. The feedback for the pilot episode was primarily positive. With that, Coffey and then-network president Geraldine Laybourne approved of and bought the series and sent it into production. Chuckie and Angelica were added as characters. Following the success of its first season, Nickelodeon renewed the series for its second season in November 1991.
Germain, who felt that the series needed a bully, based Angelica on a girl bully from his childhood and decided the character would be a spoiled brat. Klasky initially disliked Angelica and also protested her actions in episodes like "Barbecue Story", where she throws Tommy's ball over the fence. In a New Yorker article, Klasky said, "I think she's a bully. I never liked Angelica." Klasky disdained Angelica and never fully approved of her character development. Angelica became problematic for some Rugrats staff. When her voice actress, Cheryl Chase, had problems portraying a mean Angelica, Steve Viksten, one of the writers, would mention that Angelica was the series' J. R. Ewing. After seeing Angelica in The Rugrats Movie, Klasky commented, "I think she's great for the show; I love Angelica."