The Rugrats Movie facts for kids

Quick facts for kids The Rugrats Movie
Theatrical release poster
Written by	David N. Weiss J. David Stem
Starring	E. G. Daily Tara Charendoff Christine Cavanaugh Kath Soucie Cheryl Chase
Music by	Mark Mothersbaugh
Editing by	John Bryant
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures Nickelodeon Movies
Release date(s)	November 8, 1998 (1998-11-08) (Grauman's Chinese Theater)November 20, 1998 (1998-11-20) (United States)
Running time	80 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$24 million
Money made	$141 million

The Rugrats Movie is a fun animated comedy film from 1998. It is based on the popular Nickelodeon TV show Rugrats. The movie was directed by Igor Kovalyov and Norton Virgien. David N. Weiss and J. David Stem wrote the story.

This film introduced Tommy Pickles' new baby brother, Dil Pickles. Dil later joined the TV series too. Many familiar voices from the show are in the movie. These include E. G. Daily, Tara Charendoff, Christine Cavanaugh, Kath Soucie, and Cheryl Chase. Famous guest stars like David Spade and Whoopi Goldberg also lent their voices.

The movie's story happens between the fifth and sixth seasons of the Rugrats TV show. It was the very first movie ever made based on a Nicktoon (a cartoon from Nickelodeon).

Plans for a Rugrats movie started way back in 1993. Nickelodeon first worked with 20th Century Fox. But that deal ended without any movies being made. Later, in 1994, Nickelodeon's parent company, Viacom, bought Paramount Pictures. This meant Paramount would release the movie. Production for The Rugrats Movie officially began in 1995.

The Rugrats Movie came out in the United States on November 20, 1998. It was a big hit at the box office, earning $141 million worldwide. It was the first animated movie not made by Disney to earn over $100 million in the U.S. Two more Rugrats movies followed: Rugrats in Paris: The Movie in 2000 and Rugrats Go Wild in 2003.

Movie Story: A Baby Adventure

Tommy Meets His New Brother

Didi Pickles is expecting her second baby. Her son, Tommy, wonders how this will change his family. The baby arrives earlier than expected. Didi gives birth to a boy, not a girl as they thought. She and Stu name him Dil.

When Dil comes home, he cries a lot. Tommy finds it hard to get along with his new brother. Stu tells Tommy that one day they will be happy to have Dil. Tommy then accepts his role as an older brother.

Lost in the Woods

Dil keeps causing problems at home. Phil and Lil suggest taking him back to the hospital. They plan to use the Reptar Wagon, a toy Stu built for a contest. Tommy and Chuckie argue with Phil and Lil.

Suddenly, Angelica walks in. She tells the babies to be quiet. Dil grabs her favorite doll, Cynthia. Angelica tries to get Cynthia back. She accidentally kicks the Reptar Wagon. The wagon starts to drive away with the babies inside!

They speed through the streets and crash into a mattress van. The van then crashes in the woods. The babies realize they are lost. Angelica doesn't care at first. But then she sees her Cynthia doll is gone. She takes the family dog, Spike, to find the babies and get Cynthia back.

Searching for a "Lizard"

Tommy leads the babies toward a ranger's cabin. He thinks it's the home of a magic "lizard" (he means "wizard"). He believes this "lizard" can send them home. But a hungry wolf is hunting them.

On their way, they meet monkeys. The monkeys crashed their circus train in the woods. The monkeys kidnap Dil. Tommy's friends refuse to help him, thinking they are better off without Dil. Tommy goes after his brother alone.

Meanwhile, Stu finds the babies are missing. He and Grandpa race to the airport. They think the babies might have been accidentally shipped to Japan. Didi also learns the babies are gone. The news media starts talking about their disappearance. Drew and Charlotte arrive. Drew learns from Rex Pester that Angelica is missing. This makes Drew angry at Stu.

Brothers Bond and a Heroic Dog

Tommy finds Dil during a storm. Dil is still acting selfishly. Tommy gets very angry and almost gives Dil back to the monkeys. But his anger scares Dil, who stops being selfish. Dil's tears make Tommy calm down. The brothers finally start to get along.

After the storm, they meet Phil, Lil, and Chuckie again. The friends had a change of heart. They stop the monkeys from taking Tommy and Dil. Angelica finds her Cynthia doll after a monkey drops it. She then reunites with the babies.

They try to cross a broken bridge. Angelica falls out of the Reptar wagon. She hangs from the bridge over a rushing river. The monkeys appear again. But the wolf scares them away. The wolf then tries to attack the babies. Spike jumps in and fights the wolf. Spike drags the wolf off the bridge and into the river. It looks like Spike is gone. The babies are very sad.

Home at Last

Stu is looking for the babies in a glider that looks like a pterodactyl. He sees them from above. He crash-lands into the ranger's cabin. The babies think he is the "lizard." They ask him to bring Spike back instead of taking them home.

Stu falls through the bridge. He finds Spike, who survived by landing in the bridge's supports! The children are reunited with their parents. They all go home. Everyone accepts Dil as part of the group.

Meet the Voices: Who Plays Who?

Main Characters

• E. G. Daily as Tommy Pickles
• Tara Charendoff as Dil Pickles
• Christine Cavanaugh as Chuckie Finster
• Kath Soucie as Phil, Lil, and Betty DeVille
• Cheryl Chase as Angelica Pickles
• Jack Riley as Stu Pickles
• Melanie Chartoff as Didi Pickles and Grandma Minka
• Michael Bell as Drew Pickles, Chas Finster and Grandpa Boris
• Tress MacNeille as Charlotte Pickles
• Philip Proctor as Howard DeVille, Igor
• Joe Alaskey as Grandpa Lou Pickles

Guest Voices

• David Spade as Ranger Frank
• Whoopi Goldberg as Ranger Margaret
• Tim Curry as Rex Pester
• Hattie Winston as Dr. Lucy Carmichael
• Andrea Martin as Aunt Miriam
• Cree Summer as Susie Carmichael
• Tony Jay as Dr. Lipschitz
• Busta Rhymes as Reptar Wagon
• Roger Clinton, Jr. as Air Crewman
• Margaret Cho as Lt. Klavin
• Edie McClurg as Nurse
• Charlie Adler as United Express Driver
• Gregg Berger as Circus Television Announcer
• Abraham Benrubi as Serge

Baby Singers

Many famous musicians sang as the baby characters in the movie:

• Lenny Kravitz
• Iggy Pop
• Lisa Loeb
• Gordon Gano
• B-Real
• Patti Smith
• Jakob Dylan
• Phife Dawg
• Beck
• Lou Rawls
• Dawn Robinson
• Laurie Anderson
• Fred Schneider, Kate Pierson and Cindy Wilson of The B-52's

Making the Movie: Behind the Scenes

Animation Style

The Rugrats Movie was the first Rugrats project to use digital ink and paint. This means the animation was colored on computers. The TV show used traditional cel animation, where each frame was hand-painted.

Cut Scenes and Shorts

Two songs were cut from the movie during production. One song was about Stu and Didi's nightmare where Dr. Lipschitz criticized their parenting. The other was an army-style chant about the Rugrats pushing the Reptar Wagon. These scenes were not in the movie when it first came out on video. However, they were shown in some TV airings of the film.

The movie was shown in theaters with a CatDog cartoon short called "Fetch." But the home video versions (VHS, DVD) included a different CatDog short called "Winslow's Home Videos."

Movie Music and Games

Home Video Releases

The Rugrats Movie was released on VHS and DVD on March 30, 1999. It was also available on Laserdisc. In 2011, the film was re-released in a three-disc DVD set with its sequels. This was to celebrate Rugrats' 20th anniversary. The movie was also released on Blu-ray in 2022 as part of a trilogy set.

The Soundtrack Album

Professional ratings
Source	Rating
Allmusic	link
Entertainment Weekly	C link

The soundtrack for The Rugrats Movie came out on November 3, 1998. It had thirteen songs, plus bonus computer demos. Critics generally liked the soundtrack. They said it had songs for all ages.

The album was popular, staying on the Billboard 200 chart for 26 weeks. It reached as high as number 19. A song by David Bowie called "(Safe in This) Sky Life" was written for the movie but was not used.

Soundtrack Track List

Video Games and Books

A side-scrolling video game based on the movie was released. It was called The Rugrats Movie. It came out for Game Boy in 1998 and Game Boy Color in 1999. Another game, The Rugrats Movie: Activity Challenge, was also released in September 1998.

Many books were also released to go along with the movie. These included storybooks like Tommy's New Playmate and The Rugrats Versus the Monkeys. There was also a trivia book and a novelization of the film. A book about how the movie was made, The Making of The Rugrats Movie, was also published.

More Rugrats Movies

The Rugrats Movie has two sequels:

• Rugrats in Paris: The Movie was released on November 17, 2000.
• Rugrats Go Wild was released on June 13, 2003.

See also

In Spanish: Rugrats: La película - Aventuras en pañales para niños