Are You With Us?: The Rugrats Movie
By Ryan Mazie
November 21, 2011
BoxOfficeProphets.com
So when I watched The Rugrats Movie for the first time in what seemed like ages, I wasn't sure what to expect.
With The Muppets resurgence this Thanksgiving weekend (speaking of Turkey Day, everyone still remembers the Rugrats holiday special – right?), I thought The Rugrats Movie released 13 years ago this same time frame was a perfect title to look at in retrospect(although when this movie was released, the TV show was in vogue).
Baby hero Tommy Pickles (Elizabeth Daily) and his group of diapered friends, bully Angelica (Cheryl Chase), scaredy-cat Chuckie (Christine Cavanaugh), and bickering twins Lil and Phil (Kath Soucie), welcome a new member to the gang – his newborn brother Dylan (Tara Strong). But before you can say “brotherly love,” the friends are ready to return the baby back to the “hopsicle.”
After an accidental toy car road trip (Reptar!) the babies are lost in woods that house a lurking hungry wolf, escaped Russian circus monkeys, and no Mommies or Daddies.
The Rugrats Movie, unlike The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, was a continuation of the TV show where the plot carried over back to the small screen, not being a separate entity. This gave the movie more weight as a must-see in theaters, delivering a powerful box office performance (having the best opening for a cartoon in 1998).
Opening at #1 to the tune of $27.3 million ($46.4 million today), the film struggled to crack the century mark, reaching $100.5 million ($170.5 million adjusted) after 20 weeks (seemingly leggy, considering other family-friendly Thanksgiving weekend releases, this actually falls in the lower tier of multipliers).
While The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, The Wild Thornberrys, and Hey Arnold! The Movie all enjoyed theatrical adaptations, none reached Rugrats' heights. In fact, out of all of Nickelodeon TV shows turned movies, The Rugrats Movie was the most successful until 2010’s The Last Airbender (although it came nowhere close in ticket sales, especially being in 3D).
I laughed quite a bit, probably more than I should have, during the movie, and found it a nice pleasure to revisit the characters of my childhood. The plot was well structured for a children’s cartoon and I finally noticed the adult appeal, which was interesting, with the over-the-head parenting jokes I missed as a kid.
Where the movie fails is how it departs from the show's success formula. There are strange animation sequences, musical numbers (where they fit in celebrity voice cameos by musicians like Lenny Kravitz, Iggy Pop, and Patti Smith to name a few), and more adult than usual dilemmas. While I disagree, some point to the movie as the point when the show, which debuted in 1991 and went on until 2004, “jumped the shark.”
The big-headed babies' sense of innocence in the face of peril is where most of the humor comes from and at a perfectly timed 84 minutes (including the opening theme song and end credits), The Rugrats Movie is an in-and-out operation. While having a larger, riskier plot for the silver screen, the film still seems as if it were meant to have commercial breaks in it.
There are frequent cliffhangers with fade-to-black moments where you are expecting to see ads for All That or Doug before returning back to the show. That can probably be blamed on directors Norton Virgien and Igor Kovalyo, whose only major credits prior to the movie were on the Rugrats TV show. However, the plot structure familiarity is comforting given the “bigger and badder” stakes the babies face.
Critics gave the film ho-hum reviews, ranking at a just-below-fresh 59% on Rottentomatoes.com. I would agree with that rating. While the movie provided the perfect format to introduce a new character, I felt as if for the other 60 minutes, the writers struggled with the forward momentum, finding entertaining diversions instead.
Two years later, Rugrats in Paris – The Movie earned about $20 million less; however, it was the 2003 Wild Thornberrys crossover flick, Rugrats Go Wild, that was the death blow to both franchises.
I loved the days where I could see the Rugrats logo plastered on almost everything imaginable. However, after diminishing returns, the film, like the franchise, is not with us. Having a generation grow up without the wide-eyed babies is a sad thought, but with the revival of ‘90s Nickelodeon cartoons that started this past summer during the Nick at Nite block previously reserved for TV Land programming, Rugrats' future seems to burn brighter than ever.
A nice blast of nostalgia, The Rugrats Movie, and it is hardly a movie at all, is an enjoyable experience and a surefire favorite for kids. My connection to the characters made the film hard to review. While the fan inside of me loved the film, I can’t help but feel as a critic that it was underwhelming.
The Rugrats Movie is truly a film of the ‘90s, before CGI completely took over classic 2D animation. With an aesthetic look you would never see today, it is upsetting that the movie plays almost as an educational film on the era rather than for entertainment. Loveable for fans, but just likable enough for newcomers, The Rugrats Movie is just a commercial break away from being just another regular TV episode.
Verdict: Not with us
6 out of 10