Main Cast: Elizabeth Daily, Christine Cavanaugh, Kath Soucie, Kath Soucie, Cheryl Chase, Tara Charendoff
Release Year: 1998
Country: US
Run Time: 79 minutes
MPAA Rating: G
Plot
Based on the popular Nickelodeon TV series Rugrats, this is the first full-length feature animated movie to star the little tots. It's the story of diaper-clad kids, told from a baby's point- of-view, and they were one of the hottest-selling toy franchises of the late '90s. The film features a hilarious musical number in the hospital nursery, where newborns have the voices of major rock stars that include Jakob Dylan (Bob Dylan's son), Iggy Pop, Lou Rawls, Lisa Loeb, and Patti Smith, to name a few. The story escalates when self-proclaimed leader Tommy Pickles is thrust into an impossible situation with the birth of his new brother, Dil Pickles. This new kid is grabbing all the attention and won't stop crying. With the help of other toddlers Lil and Phil, Tommy decides that the baby should be returned to the hospital for fixing. They all hop on their little wagon and take a high-speed ride straight into the deep woods where they realize they're lost. Chased around by animals (or so they think), the Rugrats clan must get home in one piece. Other celebrity voices include Whoopi Goldberg and The Rocky Horror Picture Show's Tim Curry, as well as Saturday Night Live's Andrea Martin and David Spade. ~ Chris Gore, All Movie Guide
Review
The Rugrats Movie brings the inspired enthusiasm of the popular, animated Nickelodeon-network toddlers to the big screen. The film presents a toddler's-eye view of the world with the same freshness that made the show such a hit. The plotline is aimed at a slightly younger crowd than most kids' fare, though there are enough cultural allusions and in-jokes to keep older viewers awake. The post-pubescent crowd will also appreciate the numerous celebrity voices and musical cameos from the likes of Bob Dylan, Busta Rhymes, Iggy Pop, and Beck. As with other TV adaptations, Rugrats occasionally strains in its efforts to extend a twelve-minute cartoon plotline to feature length; there are numerous poop jokes, not all of the clever variety. Nevertheless, the movie was hugely successful, at the box office as well as in the minds of younger critics. ~ Matthew Doberman, All Movie Guide
Melanie Chartoff - Didi Pickles; Jack Riley - Stu Pickles; Joe Alaskey - Grandpa Pickles; Philip Proctor - Howard De Ville; Cree Summer - Susie Carmichael; Michael Patrick Bell - Drew Pickles; Tress MacNeille - Charlotte Pickles; Busta Rhymes - Reptar Wagon; Whoopi Goldberg - Ranger Margaret; David Spade - Ranger Frank
Credit
Dima Malanitchev - Art Director, Julia Pistor - Co-producer, Eryk Casemiro - Co-producer, Hal Waite - Co-producer, Igor Kovalyov - Director, Norton Virgien - Director, Debbie Beece - Executive Producer, Albie Hecht - Executive Producer, Mark Mothersbaugh - Composer (Music Score), Karyn Rachtman - Musical Direction/Supervision, Gabor Csupo - Producer, Arlene Klasky - Producer, Kurt Vanzo - Sound/Sound Designer, David N. Weiss - Screenwriter, J. David Stern - Screenwriter, John Bryant - Supervising Editor, Mya Harrison - Featured Music
Tommy Pickles' little brother has disappeared without a trace, and now Tommy has the unfortunate job of telling his parents the bad news. Perhaps a new baby can replace the one who's missing? Based on the 1998 animated film, The Rugrats Movie has players guiding Tommy on an adventure to find a "substitute" for brother Dil Pickles. The game's eight levels will take Tommy through the Pickles' home, a hospital, the woods, an ancient ruin, and more. Two levels involve driving the Reptar Wagon from an overhead perspective, while the rest consist of side-scrolling platform stages. The goal in each level is to collect a specific number of objects and reach the exit before time expires.
~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide
Roots & Influences
Klasky Csupo Inc.'s Rugrats characters made their video game debut in 1998's Rugrats: Search for Reptar on the PlayStation console. This title featured a series of 3D mini-games set within the Pickles' house and backyard. Next came a Game Boy cartridge based on The Rugrats Movie, which found its way into theaters in the summer of 1998. The subsequent Game Boy Color version features 56 simultaneous colors and bonus levels missing from the monochrome game.
~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide
Review: Overall
The Rugrats Movie isn't a classic platform game by any means, but it does what it does admirably, which is to provide a colorful journey through levels based on the 1998 hit movie. And that should be enough to satisfy nearly everyone who saw the film, as this title definitely leans toward a younger audience.
Control involves moving left or right and jumping -- that's it. You can't squirt bottles at enemies or sling dirty diapers (unfortunately); these babies are simply here to make it through one side-scrolling level after another while collecting a certain amount of trinkets hovering in the air or along the ground.
While these basic gameplay elements have been done to death on other systems, this is not a title that shamelessly capitalizes on the immensely popular Rugrats license. It controls well (even though lead character Tommy's jumps are a hair too floaty), there's a steady challenge as the levels progress, and there are some entertaining overhead vehicle stages to add some variety to the action.
Yet it's the graphics that are the star of the show, as the use of color makes everything much more visually appealing than traditional Game Boy titles. Tommy looks great as he jumps around collecting items, and the levels could pass for something you'd see on the Nickelodeon animated television series.
The only real drawback (other than the simplified controls) is that this is a game that is quite possibly already in your child's library. The Rugrats Movie was released in 1998 on the monochrome Game Boy, and the colorized update doesn't offer anything substantially new to a game that was only a year old at the time of this title's release.
Still, for those youngsters who passed on the game the first time around, The Rugrats Movie will keep you busy on that long family vacation or dreaded trip to Grandma's house. And if they can get past playing as a baby, older gamers just might find themselves staring in front of the LCD screen a bit longer than they might have thought!
~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide
Review: Enjoyment
The pleasing graphics and tried-and-true gameplay will entertain younger audiences for quite some time, as the challenge steadily increases throughout.
~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide
Review: Graphics
The graphics are well-defined and easy to make out despite the small screen. The developers did a great job in using the system's color palette.
~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide
Review: Sound
The music is surprisingly catchy, although it does grow repetitive the longer you play the game. The sound effects are ordinary.
~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide
Review: Replay Value
Each level offers a password so players can resume where they left off after shutting down the system.
~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide
Review: Documentation
The manual covers the basics of gameplay and explains the various controller functions.
~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide
Production Credits
SOFTWARE CREATIONS Color Conversion Programmed by: Dave Stead, Mike Ager; Graphics: Martin Holland; Sound: Martin Goodall, Paul Tonge; Produced by: Jim Tripp, Lorraine Starr, Trevor Bent; QA Manager: Paul Lee; Testing: Tony McColgan, Ajay Dadlani; Original Mono Version Programmed by: Brian Beuken, Mike Ager; Man in Glasses: Andy Onions; QA Manager: Paul Lee; Level Design and Testing: Simon Hundleby, Tony McColgan, Trevor Bent; NICKELODEON Executive Vice President: Ann Sarnoff; Vice President: Tom Ascheim; Director: Seth Jacobson; Producer and Product Manager: Syma Sambar; Project Coordinator: Erika Ortiz
This plot summary may be too long or overly detailed. Please help improve it by removing unnecessary details and making it more concise. (November 2009)
The Rugrats Movie is a 1998 animated film, produced by Klasky Csupo and Nickelodeon Movies and distributed by Paramount Pictures. Based on the animated Nickelodeon series, Rugrats, this film introduced Tommy's baby brother Dil Pickles, who was named after Didi Pickles's cousin, and appeared on the original series the next year. In theaters, the CatDog short "Fetch!" was featured before the movie, though the CatDog short "Winslow's Home Videos" was featured before the movie on VHS. The film marks the first film distributed by Nickelodeon Movies to be based on a Nicktoon, to be animated, and to receive a G rating from the MPAA. This was also the last Nickelodeon Movie to be released in the 1990s, and to be credited as Nickelodeon on the film's Nickelodeon Movies logo.
The movie starts off with Tommy and his friends, Chuckie,Phil and Lil in a tomb raider spoof, which parodied Indiana Jones. Tommy almost grabbed the treasure, which was actually a bowl of ice-cream, when a large boulder came rolling towards them. However, the boulder was actually Didi's baby bump. The gang run, but hit the glass door. Meanwhile, outside the house, all the Pickle's relatives and friend join together to celebrate the upcoming child. The Rugrats are expecting the arrival of Tommy's new sibling, whom everyone believes will be a girl. Although Tommy is enthusiastic about the idea, Angelica warns him that once the new baby arrives, his parents will forget him. However, a singing competition with Angelica and Susie causes Didi to go into labor. She is rushed to a hospital where she gives birth to Dil Pickles. Right at the start, however, the brothers do not get along. Dil cries endlessly, seemingly for no reason at all. Didi leaves Tommy in the middle of his bedtime story to sing Dil a lullaby, leaving him feeling that maybe Angelica was right. The next day, Stu gives Tommy a pocketwatch holding a photo of him and his brother Dil, and tells him he now has responsibility ("Sponsitility" as Tommy puts it) to look after Dil. Meanwhile, the Banana Brothers' Circus board on a train. The Brothers argue who should watch the monkeys and who gets the coffee. The two men go get coffee together, but the monkeys drive off with the train and then crash into the forest.Phil and Lil believe Tommy is not happy with Dil, and so decide to take him back to the "hopsicle" (hospital) using Stu's invention, the "Reptar Wagon" to get his money back for Dil. Angelica accidentally kick-starts the Wagon, sending the Rugrats on a hectic ride around the city, eventually ending up in the back of a matress lorry. Angelica soon discovers her beloved doll, Cynthia, has gone missing, and realizing the babies must have it, ventures out with Spike to find them. Stu and Grandpa Lou discover the disappearance of the babies and Angelica, and briefly believe they may have been taken during the delivery of the "Reptar Wagon" to Japan. As a result they race to the airport, and end up stuck behind the lorry the babies are in. Stu's attempt to pass the lorry result in it driving off the cliff and crashing into the forest. Angelica and Spike meet a similar fate not long later.
After Dil poops in his diaper, the Rugrats are forced to change it, which goes horribly after Dil pees everywhere in the process. The rest of the adults discover the disappearance of their children, Drew Pickles nearly murdering his brother in the process,and Stu falls right into a cacti ditch. Didi, Betty, Drew, Howard, Charlotte, and others head out into the forest to find the babies, while Stu, Chas, and Grandpa try to figure out another way of searching. They are hampered by a nosy news-reporter named Rex Pester (Tim Curry). Back at the forest, Phil and Lil blame Dil for all their troubles they are having. Tommy quickly attempts to defend his brother, but Dil grabs one of his diaper straps and rips it off, making his brother's diaper fall down entirely, humiliating Tommy in front of his friends. After Tommy picks up his diaper, Chuckie notices a house in the distance, which is really the ranger station, and Tommy declares they should go to "find the Wizard who lives there" like in his storybook, who can help them get back home. But while running, he falls into a pawprint, made by a wolf, which they hear howl. They dash into the Reptar Wagon and speed down a hill. Then, they splash into the river because of Dil's absent-minded hands, and then Chuckie nearly drowns in the river. While this happens, two park rangers passing by think that the Reptar Wagon is a dragon, and one of them becomes very worried about the dragon in the park. After the Reptar Wagon reaches land, pulled by the babies, Tommy, Phil, and Lil blame themselves of how they got lost, until Chuckie finds a giant clown picture on the Banana Brothers Train.
The babies have now discovered the monkey train, and have a number of problems, including being pursued by a horde of circus monkeys and a hungry wolf (nicknamed Scar Snout by fans). Chuckie is hurt multiple times and breaks his glasses, but Tommy is too pre-occupied by Dil to notice. Phil and Lil accidentally allow Dil to be kidnapped by the monkeys, and try to pass a baby monkey off as Dil. Tommy believes his brother was turned into a monkey but they reveal their ruse once he decides to use their wish to get home to change Dil back. After being insulted by his friends, Tommy goes off to find his brother. Tommy finds Dil, but his brother refuses to behave, prompting Tommy to lose his temper, and shout at Dil. He nearly abandons him but a storm frightens Dil, and Tommy protects him with a hug and a song. The two brothers finally bond. After the storm is over, Chuckie; Phil; and Lil come looking for Tommy and Dil, and save them from the monkeys. They also run into Angelica and Spike, but the group gets trapped on a rope bridge, and just as the monkeys came by, so did Scar Snout. The kids start to panic and the monkeys start to run away in fear of the wolf's presence, but Spike comes to the rescue, fighting Scar Snout to defend the kids. Eventually Spike "sacrifices his life" by pulling himself and Scar Snout into the river below.
Stu flies in using "Dactar", a pteradactyl shaped mechanical glider that both he and Drew earlier deemed useless but crashes into Rex Pester's helicopter, and crash-lands in front of the babies. They mistake Stu for the "Wizard" and after discussing whether or not they should wish to go home, they decide they want Spike back. Stu collapses, and Spike appears beneath the bridge unharmed. The parents, accompanied by forest rangers, arrive, and are re-united with their children as well as Spike now reunited with the Pickles for good. Rex Pester is attacked by the monkeys, who are also re-united with their circus owners. Tommy and the rest of the Rugrats welcome Dil into their group with open arms.
Reception
The Rugrats Movie was released on November 20, 1998, and reached #1 at the box office with a gross of $27,321,470 in 2,782 theaters averaging to about $9,821 per theater, ahead of Enemy of the State, and became the first non-Disney animated movie to gross $100 million in the United States and Canada, and the only such movie not made by DreamWorks until 20th Century Fox's Ice Age achieved the feat. The film was followed by 2000's Rugrats in Paris: The Movie and 2003's Rugrats Go Wild. It grossed in worldwide results, $140,894,675, making it a very large box office success, considering its modest $24 million budget. Despite the commercial success, the film earned mixed reviews. It has a "rotten" rating of 56% on the Rotten Tomatoes website.
Two songs were cut from the film during production. 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 theaterical version and the VHS and DVD versions of the film. However, they were already animated at the time, and the scenes are shown on CBS and Nickelodeon TV airings of the film.
Soundtrack
The Rugrats Movie (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
