Written by David N. Weiss and J. David Stern
Directed by Norton Virgien and Igor Kovalyov
Produced by Arlene Klasky and Gabor Csupo
Score by Mark Mothersbaugh
Animation & Digital Paint Production: Grimsaem Animation Co., Ltd., Seoul.
Voice Cast:
Tommy Pickles: E.G. Daily
Chuckie Finster: Christine Cavanaugh
Phil/Lil/Betty DeVille: Kath Soucie
Angelica Pickles: Cheryl Chase
Dylan "Dil" Pickles: Tara Charendoff
Didi Pickles: Melanie Chartoff
Stu Pickles: Jack Riley (II)
Grandpa Pickles: Joe Alaskey
Susie Carmichael: Cree Summer
Grandpa Boris/Drew Pickles: Michael Bell
I really liked the Rugrats series. I really did. The beauty of the show was that in spite of the subject matter -- the adventures of a bunch of babies in a world still too big for them -- it remained a treat that was as attractive to adults as children. The writing staff never talked down to the audience, the jokes hit on enough levels to keep an adult's attention, and there was a subversive sense of humor that kept the show in the same tradition as the best shows from Nickelodeon's past. Shows like You Can't Do That On Television and the original Ren & Stimpy. So I was expecting a great deal from The Rugrats Movie. I unfortunately have to say that I was extremely disappointed.
Just as Ren & Stimpy was co-opted by Nickelodeon and dumbed down into an unentertaining mess, The Rugrats Movie has the stench of a similar type of meddling. Conspicuous by his absence in the creative mix is Paul Germain, the head writer of the show during its original 65-episode run. (He is credited as an artistic consultant, but then again so was John Kricfalusi after he got thrown off R&S) This mess suggests that Germain might have been the one most responsible for the initial strength of the show.
The movie uses a situation which could have made a good 11 minute or 22 minute Rugrats episode: Tommy Pickles gets a new baby brother, Dylan. Dylan, or Dil as he is known for short, is a real handful...loud and a real terror. Phil, Lil, Chuckie and Angelica also feel the wrath of little Dil Pickles, and they all decide that Dil needs to be brought back to the hospital and exchanged for another baby.
Instead of a rollicking romp through the maternity hospital or something along those lines, the Rugrats incongruously end up lost in the woods. And that's where everything collapses into hideous, Barney-fied, bastardized mush. You can't really suspend disbelief because the pattern of reality that has been established in Rugrats episodes is either a completely real and believable one or something more fanciful that exists completely in the fertile imaginations of the babies.
Most of all, the songs grated on the ears. Even though Toy Story and Antz have shown that an animated film needn't be set up like a Broadway musical to be successful, the makers of The Rugrats Movie never got the message and slavishly follow the Disney formula. Although nobody hauls off and sings an "I Want" song, there are lame, candyass songs galore. They even had the gall to essentially rewrite the Blondie hit "One Way Or Another" and Ross Bagdasarian, Sr.'s "Witch Doctor" for the purposes of the film. And the songs drag the narrative WAY down in the worst Disney/Bluth tradition. Furthermore, even though people as hip and cool as Laurie Anderson, Patti Smith and Iggy Pop lent cameo voices here and there, their hipness factor was totally obscured by the fact that all the original songs written for the movie were sub-Barney in level of wit and sophistication.
The art direction seemed not to have any direction at all. The original character design on the show was designed for a two-dimensional medium...by adding 3D shading, it only made the characters look grimy. When the movie pushed out into the woods, and whiz-bang tricks like CGI sequences and mixed-media backgrounds which used both traditional painting techniques and photographs were thrown into the mix, it made for a muddled stew (no, not Stu, stew) which had no unifying style at all.
One bright spot in the mess is the above-average voice work. The Rugrats ensemble, led by veteran voice actresses Christine Cavanaugh, EG Daily and Cheryl Chase in her signature role as the ebullient toddler diva Angelica were up to the challenge. One only wishes that the writing, animation, art direction, music and overall direction was as up to the challenge as the voice artists.
If you really want to get the Rugrats experience, look at some episodes from the initial 5-season run. This is not the same. This only brings to mind the disaster that was Ren & Stimpy after Spumco was kicked off their own creation, and is of the same dismal caliber. Paul Germain apparently was the beating heart of Rugrats...perhaps with him on board this might have been fun, not the chore to watch that it was.
Graphic ©1998 Nickelodeon Movies/Paramount Pictures....All rights reserved under US and International Law. Used under "Fair Use" provisions of the US Copyright Code.
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