The Rugrats Movie
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| The Rugrats Movie | |
|---|---|
| File:TheRugratsMovieposter.jpg Original theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Igor Kovalyov Norton Virgien |
| Written by | David N. Weiss J. David Stem |
| Produced by | Gabor Csupo Arlene Klasky |
| Starring | Elizabeth Daily Christine Cavanaugh Kath Soucie Cheryl Chase Cree Summer Tara Strong Charlie Adler |
| Edited by | John Bryant Kimberly Rettberg |
| Music by | Mark Mothersbaugh |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 89 minutes |
| Country | Template:FilmUS |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $24 million |
| Box office | $140,894,675 |
The Rugrats Movie is a 1998 American animated film, produced by Klasky Csupo and Nickelodeon Movies. The film was distributed by Paramount Pictures and first released in theaters in the United States on November 20, 1998.
Based on the animated Nickelodeon series, Rugrats, this film introduced Tommy's baby brother Dil Pickles, who was named after Didi Pickles' 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, DVD . 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, and the first Nickelodeon Movie to win a 1999 Kids' Choice Awards.
The film features the voices of Elizabeth Daily, Christine Cavanaugh, Kath Soucie, Cheryl Chase, Cree Summer, Tara Strong, and Charlie Adler.
Plot
The film starts off with a parody of the 1981 action animation film Raiders of the Lost Ark Afterwards The babies 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 baby is born, and it is a boy, who they name Dil. Unfortunately, Angelica's words appear to be true when Dil quickly becomes a very selfish baby, crying non-stop for attention, keeping all of the babies' toys for himself, and refusing to share with Tommy.
When Dil pushes the babies 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 Dil had secretly pinched Angelica's Cynthia doll, Angelica and Spike embark on a mission to find the babies. 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 children's absence, and call the police and rangers for help.
As the babies attempt to find their way back home, the monkeys catch up with them and take Dil away. Since Dil is not very well liked, Chuckie, Phil and Lil disguise a smaller monkey as Dil, but Tommy sees through their farce and gets angry, vowing to find his brother himself. Eventually Tommy finds Dil and they find shelter underneath a tree. Tommy tries to look after Dil, but finally reaches his breaking point when Dil selfishly drinks all of their milk and refuses to share the big blanket with Tommy in the cold weather. Tommy snaps at Dil and very nearly abandons him for the monkeys to take him away, but a storm combined with Tommy's furious face finally frightens Dil enough for him to see sense, and he turns over a new leaf, willingly sharing the torn blanket with Tommy. After the thunderstorm is over, Phil, Lil and Chuckie catch up with Tommy and Dil and save them from the monkeys, and are eventually reunited with Angelica and Spike. Tommy leads them to the bridge where they will supposedly be able to contact the legendary Lizard Man and wish to be sent back home, but once they reach the bridge, so did the monkeys. To make things worse, they both get attacked by a stray wolf who has been stalking them throughout the film. The children start to panic while the monkeys run away in fear of the wolf, but Spike bravely engages in a fight with the wolf, ending with the two dogs fall off the bridge to their apparent deaths. Just then, Stu, searching for the babies on his "Dactar" glider, spots the babies on the bridge and accidentally crashes into the rangers' hut. Tommy believes his father in the wrecked glider to be the Lizard Man, and nobly wishes for Spike to be brought back to life. Stu falls through the bridge, where he finds Spike alive and well. The other parents suddenly arrive and are reunited with their children just as the Banana Brothers find their monkeys and take them back.
Back home, the babies have another imaginary adventure, only this time with Dil, now having accepted him as one of their group.
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. Not only was the movie a commercial success, the film earned mixed to positive reviews.[1] [2] [3] It currently has an approval rating of 57% on the Rotten Tomatoes website. It also remained the highest grossing animated film based on a TV show until 2007 when it was outgrossed by The Simpsons Movie, although the film is the highest grossing Nicktoons film. Paramount released the movie on DVD and VHS on March 30, 1999.
Guest stars
- David Spade as Ranger Frank
- Whoopi Goldberg as Ranger Margaret
- Tim Curry as Rex Pester
- Busta Rhymes as Reptar Wagon
- Roger Clinton, Jr. as Air Crewman
- Margaret Cho as Lt. Klavin
- Edie McClurg as Nurse
- Lou Rawls as Baby Singer
- Charlie Adler as United Express Driver
- Frank Welker as Scar Snout, and The Circus Monkeys (uncredited)
- Iggy Pop as Baby Singer
- Fred Schneider as Baby Singer
- Kate Pierson as Baby Singer
- Cindy Wilsonas Baby Singer
Production cuts
- Two songs 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 the VHS and DVD releases. However, they were already animated at the time, and the scenes are shown on CBS and Nickelodeon TV airings of the film. These scenes were present in the print novelization.
Soundtrack
| Untitled | |
|---|---|
The film's original motion picture soundtrack was released on November 3, 1998 from Interscope Records. A score of the film was also released.
Track listing
1. "Take Me There" - Mýa and Blackstreet featuring Mase and Blinky Blink - 4:05
2. "I Throw My Toys Around" - No Doubt featuring Elvis Costello - 3:03
3. "This World Is Something New To Me" - Dawn Robinson/Lisa Loeb/B-Real/Patti Smith/ Lou Rawls/Laurie Anderson/Lenny Kravitz/Beck/Jakob Dylan/Phife Dawg/Gordon Gano/Iggy Pop - 1:57
4. "All Day" - Lisa Loeb - 3:29
5. "Dil-A-Bye" - E.G. Daily featuring Tara Strong - 3:42
6. "A Baby Is A Gift from a Bob" - Cheryl Chase featuring Cree Summer - 1:57
7. "One Way or Another" - Blondie - 3:33
8. "Wild Ride" - Kevi - 2:43
9. "On Your Marks, Get Set, Ready, Go!" - Busta Rhymes - 3:40
10. "Witch Doctor" - Devo featuring Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. - 3:33
11. "Take The Train" - Rakim/Danny Saber - 4:05
12. "Yo Ho Ho And A Bottle Of Yum!" - E.G. Daily featuring Christine Cavanaugh, Kath Soucie and Tara Strong - 2:17
13. "Take Me There (Remix)" - Mýa and Blackstreet featuring Mase and Blinky Blink - 4:00 (Hidden Track)
iTunes track listing
1. "All Day" - Lisa Loeb
References
- ^ "FILM REVIEW; A Sibling Takes a New Rival for a Ride". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-08-24. [dead link]
- ^ "The Pickles Are Sweet in Charming 'Rugrats'". LA Times. November 20, 1998. Retrieved 2010-08-24.
- ^ Leydon, Joe (November 16, 1998). "The Rugrats Movie". Variety. Retrieved 2010-08-25.
