Cartoon Retrospective: Rugrats

For anyone reading this that's not informed: I'm writing a series of blogs about cartoons. My loose plan is to feature one cartoon per blog and tell you--dear reader--why I love each featured cartoon. We can then proceed to recall the 'good ole days' of our respective youths.

Full series:

• Part 1 -- "Hey Arnold!"
• Part 2 -- "The Magic School Bus"
• Part 3 -- "Rugrats"
• Part 4 -- "Spider-Man" (You're reading it!)

Rugrats

Surprise, surprise. I was a child of the 90s, and I watched Rugrats. Is Rugrats super played out this day and age? Maybe, but it doesn't change the fact that Rugrats was one of my favorite cartoons as a wee lad. Having gone back to watch a few episodes of it on YouTube, it actually holds up. That may or may not be pure nostalgia talking, but I enjoyed reliving some episodes none the less. I'm finding, as I write these blogs, a common denominator between my favorite cartoons. That denominator being: super memorable and unique characters.

Rugrats is obviously no exception, as many of you I'm sure remember. The characters are endless: Tommy, the fearless leader; Chuckie, the scaredy-cat; the always fighting twins, Phil and Lil; and Angelica, the older bully. Those are the most prominent characters, but there are other just as memorable characters that appear throughout the series such as: Susie, friend to the babies; Kimi, Chuckie's step-sister; Dil, Tommy's baby brother; Tommy's parents and grandpa, Stu, Didi, and Lou; Phil and Lil's Parents, Betty and Howard; Chuckie's dad, Chaz; and of course the dog, Spike.

Whew, that was quite a few characters. If I had to choose two that I most closely related with growing up though, it's hands down Tommy and Chuckie. In the show, Tommy and Chuckie are almost polar opposites. Tommy finds adventure and danger to be exciting, while Chuckie wants nothing to do with it. This dynamic ends up playing a big part in most of the episodes. When I was young I had a friend that was similar to Tommy, and as you may have guessed, I was more on the Chuckie side growing up. I can recall a specific moment when my friend and I were getting our usual adventure on, and exploring the local wilderness. There was a spot, where in order to get through, we would need to cross these super thorny bushes. I wanted nothing to do with it, but my friend tried his best to convince me by saying "Come on. Are you a Tommy, or a Chuckie?" So then I thought to myself for a minute before coming to the conclusion that "eff this, I'm a Tommy!". We then both proceeded to trample through this treacherous patch of thorn bushes. Minor scrapes and scratches may have been acquired. That just goes to show you: Kids that watch Rugrats learn to make stupid decisions! :P

I think a very large reason I liked Rugrats as a kid--and continue to like it--is the incredible ability to relate with the babies. Everything that they do--no matter how crazy or magical--is something that I too most probably did as a kid. The show has a great way of capturing the delightful thoughts of blissfully ignorant babies. A good example is an episode where Tommy's dad Stu decided to order an extravagant and complicated toy for the babies. This toy ends up being more trouble to put together than it's worth, but that doesn't stop each of the babies imaginations from running wild with the box that the toy came in. Each of the babies has their own box fantasy, and it's just an absolutely perfect example to me of how kids think, and I love it. I know I was that way as a kid as well. This episode's on YouTube, so check it out!

There was another episode in which Tommy's grandpa fakes that he is sick with a "bug" in order to get out of trouble, and out of doing yard work. The babies hear about the "bug" and naturally think that there's a real creepy crawly bug inside Tommy's grandpa. It's moments like this that makes this show so terrific, as the babies come to the conclusion that the only way to get the bad bug out of grandpa, is to get a whole bunch of "good" bugs from the back yard, and have them fight (!) the bad bug. How amazing is that?! Whoever writes these episodes is a great person. The simplistic logic of the babies in nearly every episode, and how that leads to interesting events, is always top-notch.

I can't write about the Rugrats though without bringing up it's attempt to grow up with it's audience. That's right, I'm talking about the "All Grown Up!" spin off. In this cartoon, Tommy, Chuckie, and the rest of the gang are now several years older as the title suggests. To be honest, I didn't watch a lot of this series; It just didn't appeal to me nearly as much without the things I mentioned earlier, like the babies simple (yet amazing) logic. It could very well be a case of people not taking too kindly to change, but I have only heard negative things about the "All Grown Up!" show. It's sad really that the series had to go out on this kind of note, but it doesn't take away all the great original series episodes. Maybe I'll see if I can find a couple of the "All Grown Up!" episodes on YouTube to see what I think about it. That's not a high priority though; I'm perfectly happy looking back on the original cartoon, which was without a doubt one of my favorite shows as a child.

As always, feel free to share your own Rugrats memories. Cartoon memories in general are always welcome too. :)

<3

--JJWeatherman

For anyone reading this that's not informed: I'm writing a series of blogs about cartoons. My loose plan is to feature one cartoon per blog and tell you--dear reader--why I love each featured cartoon. We can then proceed to recall the 'good ole days' of our respective youths.

Full series:

• Part 1 -- "Hey Arnold!"
• Part 2 -- "The Magic School Bus"
• Part 3 -- "Rugrats"
• Part 4 -- "Spider-Man" (You're reading it!)

Rugrats

Surprise, surprise. I was a child of the 90s, and I watched Rugrats. Is Rugrats super played out this day and age? Maybe, but it doesn't change the fact that Rugrats was one of my favorite cartoons as a wee lad. Having gone back to watch a few episodes of it on YouTube, it actually holds up. That may or may not be pure nostalgia talking, but I enjoyed reliving some episodes none the less. I'm finding, as I write these blogs, a common denominator between my favorite cartoons. That denominator being: super memorable and unique characters.

Rugrats is obviously no exception, as many of you I'm sure remember. The characters are endless: Tommy, the fearless leader; Chuckie, the scaredy-cat; the always fighting twins, Phil and Lil; and Angelica, the older bully. Those are the most prominent characters, but there are other just as memorable characters that appear throughout the series such as: Susie, friend to the babies; Kimi, Chuckie's step-sister; Dil, Tommy's baby brother; Tommy's parents and grandpa, Stu, Didi, and Lou; Phil and Lil's Parents, Betty and Howard; Chuckie's dad, Chaz; and of course the dog, Spike.

Whew, that was quite a few characters. If I had to choose two that I most closely related with growing up though, it's hands down Tommy and Chuckie. In the show, Tommy and Chuckie are almost polar opposites. Tommy finds adventure and danger to be exciting, while Chuckie wants nothing to do with it. This dynamic ends up playing a big part in most of the episodes. When I was young I had a friend that was similar to Tommy, and as you may have guessed, I was more on the Chuckie side growing up. I can recall a specific moment when my friend and I were getting our usual adventure on, and exploring the local wilderness. There was a spot, where in order to get through, we would need to cross these super thorny bushes. I wanted nothing to do with it, but my friend tried his best to convince me by saying "Come on. Are you a Tommy, or a Chuckie?" So then I thought to myself for a minute before coming to the conclusion that "eff this, I'm a Tommy!". We then both proceeded to trample through this treacherous patch of thorn bushes. Minor scrapes and scratches may have been acquired. That just goes to show you: Kids that watch Rugrats learn to make stupid decisions! :P

I think a very large reason I liked Rugrats as a kid--and continue to like it--is the incredible ability to relate with the babies. Everything that they do--no matter how crazy or magical--is something that I too most probably did as a kid. The show has a great way of capturing the delightful thoughts of blissfully ignorant babies. A good example is an episode where Tommy's dad Stu decided to order an extravagant and complicated toy for the babies. This toy ends up being more trouble to put together than it's worth, but that doesn't stop each of the babies imaginations from running wild with the box that the toy came in. Each of the babies has their own box fantasy, and it's just an absolutely perfect example to me of how kids think, and I love it. I know I was that way as a kid as well. This episode's on YouTube, so check it out!

There was another episode in which Tommy's grandpa fakes that he is sick with a "bug" in order to get out of trouble, and out of doing yard work. The babies hear about the "bug" and naturally think that there's a real creepy crawly bug inside Tommy's grandpa. It's moments like this that makes this show so terrific, as the babies come to the conclusion that the only way to get the bad bug out of grandpa, is to get a whole bunch of "good" bugs from the back yard, and have them fight (!) the bad bug. How amazing is that?! Whoever writes these episodes is a great person. The simplistic logic of the babies in nearly every episode, and how that leads to interesting events, is always top-notch.

I can't write about the Rugrats though without bringing up it's attempt to grow up with it's audience. That's right, I'm talking about the "All Grown Up!" spin off. In this cartoon, Tommy, Chuckie, and the rest of the gang are now several years older as the title suggests. To be honest, I didn't watch a lot of this series; It just didn't appeal to me nearly as much without the things I mentioned earlier, like the babies simple (yet amazing) logic. It could very well be a case of people not taking too kindly to change, but I have only heard negative things about the "All Grown Up!" show. It's sad really that the series had to go out on this kind of note, but it doesn't take away all the great original series episodes. Maybe I'll see if I can find a couple of the "All Grown Up!" episodes on YouTube to see what I think about it. That's not a high priority though; I'm perfectly happy looking back on the original cartoon, which was without a doubt one of my favorite shows as a child.

As always, feel free to share your own Rugrats memories. Cartoon memories in general are always welcome too. :)

<3

--JJWeatherman

This show was amazing. 

Thoughts upon watching that episode:
 

• Yea, it holds up rather nicely, but it's a bit more generic than I remember. There's just something about it that doesn't come off as distinct, even though it is.
• Holy shit, some of that cartoon made me feel like I was back in LSD.
• Angelica's a bitch. Enough said.
  

Rugrats was good before it came back the first time. It was like an entirely different show, now with an extensive range of fart jokes and horrible musical vamps to let the audience know when the "jokes" were. 
 
It was a hollow, simplified version of what it once was.

Great blog sir.
I dearly miss Rugrats. It had a certain...class to it. They could have easily gone down the 'babies poop and eat weird stuff' route but instead like you say they explored the mind of a baby and how they take things literally. Great cartoon. I also remember playing the Rugrats golf game on the PS1. Turns out it wasnt that great.
 
I was weirdly thinking about All Grown Up the other day, about how it was a slightly pointless and unnecessary excercise. I like the one of episode they did in proper Rugrats but spinning a whole series around it seemed unwise.

It seems we have identical tastes when it comes to 90's cartoons.  You've covered 3 of my absolute favorites so far (like, seriously, I can't express how much I loved these shows as a kid).  Keep up the good work!

" This show was amazing.  "

" @JJWeatherman: 
 
No, she's a bitch. Also:
 
 

  "

To this day i refuse to eat watermelon seeds because of Rugrats.

Rugrats was one of my favourite shows when growing up and I watched almost all of the episodes back in the day. I also watched "All Grown Up!" and I thought it was also a good show. You forgot to mention the Rugrats movies they made though, there was one in Paris and such.

" I think my favorite episode was the one where Tommy and Chuckie got locked in a toy store overnight.  Classic. "

" Rugrats was one of my favourite shows when growing up and I watched almost all of the episodes back in the day. I also watched "All Grown Up!" and I thought it was also a good show. You forgot to mention the Rugrats movies they made though, there was one in Paris and such. "

From what I saw of All Grown Up, it was pretty terrible. After all, whereas Rugrats lasted 10+ years on weird baby diaper jokes (that somehow managed to be clever), the spinoff just managed to exemplify everything everyone hated about middle school. Without being funny.

I was such a Rugrats fan, I remember going to watch that movie where they go to China at the theaters and having the Rugrats game for the ps1 which was great. aww man good times

I remember Rugrats.  I even bought the golf game for PS1.

" I remember Rugrats.  I even bought the golf game for PS1. "

I loved Rugrats
Out of most of the shows that I watched in the 90's, Rugrats is one of the few that I remember well
Watched it so much, I stopped when they got older, wasn't as fun anymore :/

I'm officially declaring this the best blog (the whole cartoon retrospective) on the website. You are my new favorite poster JJWeatherman. Sorry biff, you've been replaced.

I love the episode where they pretend that they're Adventure Squad. 
 
  

" I'm officially declaring this the best blog (the whole cartoon retrospective) on the website. You are my new favorite poster JJWeatherman. Sorry biff, you've been replaced. "

" I love the episode where they pretend that they're Adventure Squad. 
 
  

"

" @zyn said:

" I remember Rugrats.  I even bought the golf game for PS1. "

There was a Rugrats golf game? You should totally add it to the database, because I can't find it on the Rugrats page. "

Oh god nostalgia trip!

" @JJWeatherman said:

" @zyn said:

" I remember Rugrats.  I even bought the golf game for PS1. "

There was a Rugrats golf game? You should totally add it to the database, because I can't find it on the Rugrats page. "

Sorry, I thought it was a pure golf game, it wasn't.  It was Rugrats: Search for Reptar.  I remember there was a level with ghosts in it, scared me back then.  O_o; "

" Oh god nostalgia trip! "

What a great read!
 
I used to watch Rugrats with my younger siblings and remember loving it because it actually felt like you could relate to it, which is really weird for a cartoon.

Nice work, JJ. This is my favorite reoccurring user blog series on GB.
 
I really used to like Rugrats, but the one thing I couldn't stand was how it would always win any "Pick your Nicktoon" event. My favorite Nicktoon will always be Rocko. It never won, and I will partially blame that on Rugrats.

" To this day i refuse to eat watermelon seeds because of Rugrats. "

Dr. LipShitz
 
Some things in older Nick shows shock me that they got pass whatever certification they go through.

" Dr. LipShitz  Some things in older Nick shows shock me that they got pass whatever certification they go through. "

" I think my favorite episode was the one where Tommy and Chuckie got locked in a toy store overnight.  Classic. "

I deman' ah Pinkay an' the Brain blahg, deah sirrah!

Ahh rugrats was my childhood.

I used to watch Rugrats all the time.

I'm enjoying these retrospectives. Out of all the shows you've done so far this one probably my most favorite.

My favorite episode was when all the Rugrats were afraid of an evil terminator-like toy that kept coming back no matter what they did. :) Those were the good old days.

Great blog man. I really enjoyed reading it. It took me on one hell of a nostalgia trip. I hope we are going to see a Batman:Animated series retrospective one day :)

" Great blog man. I really enjoyed reading it. It took me on one hell of a nostalgia trip. I hope we are going to see a Batman:Animated series retrospective one day :) "

Rugrats was a great show. I also loved the feature films. Did you see those? One of the things I loved about the cartoon was when they would misinterpret everyday things, like when they thought the guy changing the pilot light was a pirate (due to them thinking Tommy's parents said "pirate light")

In Bob we trust