The Rugrats Movie is a 1998 animated adventure-comedy-drama film, the third theatrical film produced by Nickelodeon Movies, their first Nicktoon theatrical film, and the first of three movies based on the 1991 television cartoon series of the same name. The film was distributed by Paramount Pictures and released into theaters on November 20, 1998. It also became the first non-Disney animated film to gross over $100 million in the United States.
Plot
The film starts with a parody of the 1981 film Raiders of the Lost Ark. Afterwards, the Rugrats are chased out of the temple by a boulder but the boulder and the imagination was Didi Pickles who is at the baby shower at the Pickles' house, where Didi is pregnant with her and Stu's second child, which everyone believes will be a girl. Tommy is at first enthusiastic about having a younger sibling, although Angelica warns him that once the sibling is born, Stu and Didi will forget him. Eventually, the rugrat is born, and she's a boy, who they name Baby Dil, after Didi's cousin. Unfortunately, Angelica's words appear to be true when Baby Dil quickly becomes a very selfish Baby Dil, crying non-stop for attention, keeping all of the rugrat toys for himself, and refusing to share with Tommy. He also takes the attention of Didi and Stu, leading Tommy to feel ignored.
When Baby Dil pushes the Rugrats too far, they decide to take him back to the hospital and end up driving recklessly through the streets in a Reptar Wagon, Stu had built until they crash in the woods. As Baby Dil had secretly pinched Angelica's Cynthia doll, Angelica and Spike embark on a mission to find the rugrats - but Angelica only wants to get back her Cynthia doll. Around the same time, a circus train suffers an accident in the same woods and a group of wild monkeys escape from the wreckage, while the monkeys' owners, the Banana Brothers, attempt to search for them. The parents soon discover their rugrats absence, and call the police and rangers for help, and the news leaks out and reporters come to interview them.
As the Rugrats attempt to find their way back home, the Reptar Wagon goes into the river and enters its water mode, and for a time, Tommy, Chuckie, Phil and Lil pretend to be pirates sailing the open seas. Since Baby Dil is not very well like Tommy, Chuckie, Phil and Lil disguise a smaller monkey as Baby Dil, but Tommy sees through their plan and gets angry, vowing to find his brother himself. Eventually Tommy finds Baby Dil and they find shelter underneath a tree. Tommy tries to look after Baby Dil, but when Baby Dil selfishly drinks all of their milk and refuses to share the big blanket with Tommy in the cold weather, Tommy finally reaches his breaking point, snaps at Baby Dil and decides to abandon him for the monkeys to take him away, but a bad storm combined with Tommy's furious face finally frightens Baby Dil. Tommy realizes what he is doing and stops. Feeling guilty, Tommy apologizes to his brother and takes him back under the tree. Baby Dil, who turns over a new leaf, willingly shares the torn blanket with Tommy. After the thunderstorm is over, Phil, Lil and Chuckie catch up with Tommy and Baby Dil and save them from the monkeys, and are eventually reunited with Angelica and Spike.
As the Rugrats make it to a bridge over by the ranger station, they are confronted by a wolf that has been stalking them all day. Just as the wolf is about to attack them, Spike comes to their rescue and pounces on top of the wolf stopping it from harming the Rugrats. The two animals fight as the rugrats cheer Spike on. However, the wolf almost knocks Spike over the bridge, but Angelica calls it to the wolf distracting it from finishing Spike off. The wolf tries to attack Angelica, but Spike bites its tail, dragging them both off the bridge to their apparent deaths.
Luckily, Stu finally finds the Rugrats and crash lands through the ranger station. Emerging from the wreckage stuck under his Dactar glide, the Rugrats mistake him for the "Lizard" and wish for Spike's life instead of returning home. Stu falls through the bridge, finding Spike alive and unharmed. Simutaneously, the parents arrive and are reunited with the children.
In the final scene, the babies are having the same imaginary adventure
Cast
- E.G. Daily asTommy Pickles
- Tara Strong as Dil Pickles
- Christine Cavanaugh as Chuckie Finster
- Kath Soucie as Phil and Lil Deville
Betty Deville - Cheryl Chase as Angelica Pickles
- Jack Riley as Stu Pickles
- Melanie Chartoff as Didi Pickles
- Joe Alaskey as Grandpa Lou
- Michael Bell as Drew Pickles
Chas Finster - Tress MacNeille as Charlotte Pickles
- Cree Summer as Susie Carmichael
- Michael Bell as Grandpa Boris
- Melanie Chartoff as Grandma Minka
- Phil Proctor as Howard Deville
- Tim Curry as Rex Pester
- Whoopi Goldberg as Ranger Margeret
- David Spade as Ranger Frank
Release
The film was released in theaters 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 in CatDog. However, the VHS and DVD releases a CatDog short, "Winslow's Home Videos".
Box office
The Rugrats Movie was released on November 20, 1998, and made US$27,321,470 in its opening weekend,[1] from 2,782 theaters, averaging about $9,821 per venue and ranking as the #1 movie that weekend.[2] In total, The Rugrats Movie made US$140,894,675, $100,494,675 from the domestic market and $40,400,000 from its foreign release.[1] It also debuted #1 at the UK box office.[3][4][5]
Critical reception
The Rugrats Movie was met with mixed to positive reactions from critics. It received a 59% on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, with 29 "Fresh" reviews and 20 "Rotten" reviews, certifying it as "Rotten".[6]
Video games
Video games were released for Game Boy and Game Boy Color titled The Rugrats Movie and Rugrats: The Movie respectively, with the former being released on June 19, 1998[7] and the latter on March 12, 1999.[8] Both games were developed by Software Creations and released by THQ.[8][9] They were side-scrolling video games and featured 8 levels, with the plot revolving around finding a replacement for Dil after he disappears.[10] IGN's Peer Schneider graded the Game Boy Color game with an overall score of 5 out of 10.[11] Schneider states that the game doesn't have much "to hold the attention of older game", but that "kids will love the easy gameplay, recognizable characters and memorable Rugrats tunes". He closes with saying that "unless you're looking for something to entertain and challenge at the same time, parents can't go wrong in buying the game for their kids."[11] Writing for GameSpot, Cameron Davis gave the Rugrats: The Movie a mixed review, stating that it wasn't "groundbreaking or innovative", but that the game "does what it sets out to do well".[12] Davis noted that the game was aimed at children and praised the "difficulty level" as being "set just right", so that "younger players can explore the levels in comfort thanks to the good collision detection and responsive controls, while those with a bit more Game Boy experience can use the generous time limits to ferret out hidden objects". The game overall was given a 6.2 by the critic.[12] On aggregator site GameRankings, The Rugrats Movie is rated as a 55%[9] while Rugrats: The Movie earned a 61.75%.[13]
Deleted scenes
Two scenes were cut from the film during production in order to bring the film to 85 minutes. 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. These two scenes were cut from the theatrical version and were not included in the VHS and DVD releases. However, they were already animated at the time, and the scenes are shown on the CBS and Nickelodeon TV airings of the film. Both scenes were also present in the print novelization.
Videos
Trailers
TV spots
Development videos
Movie clips
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "THE RUGRATS MOVIE". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved on December 22, 2009.
- ↑ FABRIKANT, Geraldine (December 28, 1998). "'Prince of Egypt' Is No King at the Box-Office". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1998/12/28/business/prince-of-egypt-is-no-king-at-the-box-office.html?scp=4&sq=The%20Rugrats%20Movie&st=cse. Retrieved on December 24, 2009.
- ↑ "Rugrats top UK box office ". BBC. April 10, 2001. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/1270844.stm. Retrieved on 2010-11-13.
- ↑ Natale, Richard (November 23, 1998). "Rugrats' Outruns 'Enemy' ". The Los Angeles Times. http://articles.latimes.com/1998/nov/23/entertainment/ca-46816. Retrieved on 2010-11-10.
- ↑ Welkos, Robert W. (November 24, 1998). "Weekend Box Office : 'Rugrats' Has Kid Power ". The Los Angeles Times. http://articles.latimes.com/1998/nov/24/entertainment/ca-47071. Retrieved on 2010-11-10.
- ↑ "The Rugrats Movie (1998)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved on December 22, 2009.
- ↑ "The Rubrats Movie". IGN. Retrieved on December 22, 2009.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Rugrats: The Movie". IGN. Retrieved on December 22, 2009.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 "The Rugrats Movie". GameRankings. Retrieved on December 24, 2009.
- ↑ "The Rugrats Movie". MobyGames. Retrieved on December 24, 2009.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Schneider, Peer. "Rugrats: The Movie". IGN. Retrieved on December 22, 2009.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Davis, Cameron. "Rugrats: The Movie Review". GameSpot. Retrieved on December 24, 2009.
- ↑ "Rugrats: The Movie". GameRankings. Retrieved on December 24, 2009.
External links
| This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The article or pieces of the original article was at The Rugrats Movie. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Nickipedia, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License. |