Old School Lane's Nickelodeon Tribute: All Grown Up!

The year is 2003. The last Lord of the Rings movie Return of the King, The Last Samurai, Finding Nemo, and Big Fish were released in theaters. Chappelle's Show, TMNT, The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, and Reno 911! debuted on TV. As we mentioned in our last review, Klasky Csupo was the top animation company for Nickelodeon. They had created and/or produced 5 Nicktoons, released 3 critically and financially movies, and had a pristine reputation of quality, creativity, and unique animation. Around July 21, 2001,Rugrats had released a special called Rugrats 10th Anniversary: All Growed Up!

It was a 1 hour special featuring the Rugrats characters as pre-teens. The story was about Tommy borrowing Stu's lucky medallion to give to Angelica after she bragged to her friends that she had it. It turns out that Stu has the same mediallion as Emica, a famous pop star who is going to have a concert in her town. Tommy makes a fake mediallion to confuse Stu and Spike steals it. It's up to Tommy and the gang to find the mediallion before Stu needs it for a disco competition. For many people, it was amazing to see the same babies that they've seen for 10 years grown into pre-teens. The same characters that people saw as kids were already teenagers like they were. It was such a huge success. It was so successful that over 70% of children from 2-11 watched the special. It had ratings that Nickelodeon had never seen before."The ratings compared to Superbowl shares, and I remember I cried,'' said Cyma Zarghami, then executive vice president and general manager of Nickelodeon. "We have to make that show.'' Even Arlene Klasky and Gabor Csupo wanted to create a spin-off show based on that idea. "It was always in the back of our minds that we would love to see what these characters were like as they grew," replied Arlene Klasky. 

There were also talks from the producers from Nickelodeon that they were excited for a new spinoff on Rugrats. Zarghami approved of it and the people who grew up with the original will love this new show. "''I think the exciting thing about this series is that we'll have the opportunity to tell more individual stories,'' Ms. Zarghami said. ''The greatest thing about aging up is that characters' personalities just get more developed. You can ask a 13-year-old if they still watch 'Rugrats' and in public they say no, but the research shows many of them still do." On April 12, 2003, All Grown Up! debuted on TV.

The show takes place 9 years after Rugrats, but before the Rugrats 10th Anniversary Special. The same characters Tommy, Chuckie, Phil, Lil, Dil, Susie, Kimi, and Angelica are living their regular lives as middle school students dealing with everyday problems and solving it. There were many changes that the characters went through besides them getting older. Tommy had a love for film and wanted to be a filmmaker, Chuckie was struggling with talking to girls, Phil and Lil loved soccer and were trying to be their own person as oppose to a twin, Angelica is trying to be popular, Susie wants to be a singer, and Kimi is...well, not much went with her that stood out. But the one person who changed for the...weider was Dil. Dil dressed in a very strange getup with a hat with chattering teeth hanging on the side, mismatched clothing and having strange hobbies from speaking with dolphins to looking for aliens. If people thought that Dil was annoying when he was a baby, he's certainly more stranger as a kid.

Not only were there the characters we knew from the original show, there were new characters introduced in All Grown Up! There was Savannah, Angelica's popular friend, Harold, Angelica's goofy friend that knew her since preschool, Rachel, Tommy's on-and-off again Jewish girlfriend, and Z, a "bad" boy that Kimi has a crush on. While there were some new things that were introduced in the Rugrats universe, there were some old things that were brought into the show such as flashbacks from when they were babies and toddlers to bringing back characters such as Boris and Minka to Reptar. 

The show lasted for 5 seasons until it ended its run on August 17, 2008. When the show first came out, it had received positive feedback from both critics and viewers alike. For people who grew up with Rugrats, it was an incredible concept for characters that they've known for a decade to be grown up. Very rarely do we see cartoon characters age and develop, but Rugrats was willing to take that risk. For kids who were introduced to the newer episodes of Rugrats, they were able to see All Grown Up! as well and it became one of the most popular cartoons in Nickelodeon. However, just like ChalkZone, it had received a ton of hate over the years. Many people who grew up with the original Rugrats hated All Grown Up! due to the many changes that the show went through.

As for me, I didn't really care for All Grown Up! The majority of the episodes were very boring and very forgettable. The great thing about Rugrats was that it was a very creative concept with talking babies going through many adventures involving with imagination. With All Grown Up!, it lacked the charm and creativity that the original Rugrats had. Also the new characters introduced to the show weren't very interesting. They were very 1 dimensional and bland. Klasky Csupo already had a very well done show about teenager problems with As Told by Ginger and we already had the 10th anniversary special to answer the big question of what the babies would look like if they were older. This was the first indication that Rugrats was growing stale on viewers and the beginning of the end for Klasky Csupo as Nickelodeon's #1 animation company. SpongeBob SquarePants, Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, ChalkZone, and The Fairly Oddparents were already gaining popularity and viewers. As of recently, Arlene Klasky and Gabor Csupo had officially retconned All Grown Up! from the Rugrats universe. However, the show still has a huge cult following, but it didn't impress me or many other Rugrats fans. I don't recommend checking it out.

That's all for now. Tune in next time as we see Klasky Csupo try to get back on track with their 4 feature film Rugrats Go Wild.

Hope to see you around Old School Lane soon. Thanks for reading.

-Patricia

Movie Review: Rugrats in Paris: The Movie

With the financial success of The Rugrats Movie, it was high time for a sequel. Two years later on November 17, 2000, Rugrats in Paris: The Movie was released in theaters.



So is Rugrats in Paris just as good as the previous Rugrats movie or has it taken a huge baby step down? This is Rugrats in Paris: The Movie. 

The movie starts off with a movie parody such like the first movie. The Rugrats Movie started with the parody of Raiders of the Lost Ark and Rugrats in Paris parodied The Godfather. Angelica portrayed as the "Bobfather" who can grant wishes to the babies if they kiss her ring. When it's Chuckie's turn, he doesn't know what his wish is. But before he can think about  it, we see Grandpa Lou looking at the janitor's closet where the babies are and brings them out. We then start the movie with the celebration of Grandpa Lou and Lulu's wedding. They finish off their dance until the next dance start which involves the kids and their moms. Everyone goes out to dance with their moms except for Chuckie. He feels sad and alone that he's the only one who doesn't have a mom. With that said, Chaz and Chuckie goes home. Chaz gives Chuckie a teddy bear named Wa-Wa that his mother made him. Chaz knows that Chuckie needs a mom more than ever and he decides to try to find a date again.



Meanwhile in Paris, a corporate businesswoman named Coco LaBouche (voiced by Susan Sarandon) is having a discussion with her boss Mr. Yamaguchi (voiced by Mako) about being the head of EuroReptarLand, a Reptar-themed amusement park. Mr. Yamaguchi is impressed with Coco's reputation and work ethics, but doesn't have the "heart of a child" to run the place. Coco makes up a lie saying that she's getting married to a man with a child and Mr. Yamaguchi considers her for the job. Coco's assistant Jean Claude (voiced by John Lithgow) knows that Coco is never going to find a man with a child at time since she's not a likable person. While Coco follows with an defensive argument, a giant Reptar robot begins to malfunction. Coco is very angry and asks for her assistant Kira Watanabe (voiced by Julia Kato) to call the man responsible for the giant Reptar robot to fix it: Stu Pickles.



Kira calls Stu around 3:00 in the morning asking him to get the earliest ticket for him and his family to Paris on the route to EuroReptarLand. All of a sudden, they play off a Home Alone in which the entire gang consisting of the Pickles, the Devilles, and the Finsters running towards the airport, getting passports, packing their stuff, and riding on the plane. On the plane, Tommy, Phil, and Lil are looking around the plane to see if there are any cool places to explore. They find Angelica in first class listening to music and hanging out, but they tend to mess that up when Chuckie stumbles at the stewardess' cart and crashes into the seats and opens up the luggage compartments. As things begin to calm down, Chuckie looks out to the sky and the song "I Want A Mom That'll Last Forever" sung by Cyndi Lauper begins.

Finally they arrive in Paris and make their way to EuroReptarLand. They meet up with Kira who welcomes them to the theme park. We then see the group looking at a parade consisting of a story about a princess who is loving and kind. She was the one who loved Reptar more than anything and was very sad when her people wanted to get rid of him. She approached the people saying that Reptar is not a mean dinosaur and that he is kind and friendly. When seeing the parade and hearing the story, Chuckie now knows that he wants the princess to be his new mommy.Angelica sneaks off and sees Coco and Jean Claude discussing about where they're going to find a dunce with a baby so that she can get the promotion. While they leave, Angelica makes her way into the office and begins eating her chocolate bon-bons. When Coco returns, she grabs Angelica and threatens her to why Angelica should live. Angelica claims that she knows a man who is a dunce and has a baby whom Coco can marry to get her promotion. Coco smiles and claims that she has made a new friend with Angelica. As the story continues, we find out that Spike runs away from the hotel room and wanders around Paris. Then the song that continues with Spike's journey, "Who Let The Dogs Out?" sung by The Baha Men begins.

That night, we then cut to a Japanese sushi restaurant where the gang is having their dinner. Chuckie tells the gang that he wants the princess for his mommy and Angelica interrupts three karaoke singing sumo wrestlers singing to the song "Bad Girls".

Then all of a sudden, Coco appears and beings flirting with Chaz. She sees Chuckie and tries to be friendly to him, but Chuckie appears scared to seeing her. After they return to their hotel rooms, Chuckie wishes to be brave and Tommy tells him that he will be. We see Chuckie have a dream of him turning into a martial arts expert named Chuckie Chan. Then the song "Chuckie Chan" sung by Isaac Hayes and Alex Brown begins.

The next day, Coco treats the babies to a trip around EuroReptarLand riding all the rides. The first ride is Gooey World. The babies then meet up with a new friend: Kira's daughter Kimi (voiced by Dionne Quan). She tells them that she knows where the princess is and takes them to where she is. They sneak out of the ride and Kimi takes them to a tower that has a robotic replica of the princess.



When Chuckie develops the courage to talk to the princess, Coco's ninja security guards capture the babies and bring them back to Gooey World safely. Chaz starts falling more in love with her, but is skeptical that Chuckie doesn't like her very much. If Chuckie doesn't like Coco, then Chaz will not consider dating her. Coco knows that she cannot do it alone, so she promises Angelica that she will be the leading lady in the parade if she can help her. Angelica then tells Coco that Chuckie wants the princess from EuroReptarLand to be his new mom. Coco then has an idea.

We then cut to Spike meeting a stray poodle named Fifi and they start going out. They walk around Paris, see the sights, and recreate the scene from Lady and the Tramp eating food together. Instead of it being spaghetti and meatballs, it's a slice of pizza from the trash. Spike and Fifi eat the pizza, but the cheese is so sticky that they get stuck.



The next day, the gang see a play about the princess and Reptar. Chuckie smiles as she sees the princess and walks over to the front stage to give Wa-Wa to her. But then Coco steals the stage princess and appears on the stage dressed as her. When Chuckie gives her Wa-Wa, she reveals herself as Coco and Chuckie is shocked. Chaz is so impressed that Coco performed on the show that he knows that Coco is the one. We then cut to the wedding of Chaz and Coco where everyone is getting dressed for the occasion.



Knowing that Chuckie and his friends are not happy about the wedding, Coco and Jean Claude captures the babies and locks them away in a warehouse. She also locks Angelica in the warehouse since she claims that she can stop the wedding by telling the adults. With the babies locked up, Angelica confesses to Chuckie saying that she was the one who tells Coco about her dad and making it so that she can be his new mommy. The babies are shocked saying that this is the worst thing she ever did to them. However, Chuckie knows that he has to go to the church and stop the wedding before it's too late. They steal the Reptar robot and walk all over Paris trying to find the church where the wedding is held.



When Jean Claude sees that the babies escape, he gets into a robot of Reptar's villain Robosnail to stop the babies. What happens next is a really awesome fight between the babies and Jean Claude controlling these giant robots. It's like looking at a battle in a Godzilla movie.



The babies win, of course, and the babies make their way to the church. Just when Chaz and Coco kiss, Chuckie runs into the church yelling "NOOOO!" Chaz is shocked that Chuckie can talk. Angelica then comes in and tells the whole story of Coco using Chaz and Chuckie so she can get a promotion. Mr. Yamaguchi hears the conversation and fires Coco on the spot. Coco couldn't believe it and so she walks out. The babies step on her dress and we see Coco's underpants. Coco runs away in embarrassment and everyone laughs at her.



Kira and Kimi appear with Chuckie's bear. Chaz sees Kira in a new light and begins falling in love with her. A few weeks later back home, we cut into Chaz and Kira's wedding. While they get married, the babies parody The Godfather again, but this time Chuckie is the new "Bobfather". When the game is over due to cake being served, Kimi asks Chuckie if he misses his mom. He does, but he knows that his mom is looking at him up from heaven and now he has a new stepmother. He feels lucky because he has two moms now. Chaz and Kira take their kids and now have their special dance together with the song "When You Love" by Sinead O'Connor.

The movie ends with a huge cake fight by the babies and cake is being thrown on the camera.

When the movie first came out, while it didn't make as much money compared to The Rugrats Movie, Rugrats in Paris was called a much more superior film than its predecessor. I completely agree. This movie is more well-put together, doesn't have as much plot points, is a lot easier to understand, and more funnier. There are some minor gripes, though. First of all, why didn't this movie take place in Japan? You have Reptar, who is originated from Japan, they go to a Japanese restaurant, Chaz marries a Japanese woman, and you have the song "Chuckie Chan". The only times in which I feel that the movie takes place in Paris is when Spike and Fifi are wandering around the city and the wedding taking place in Notre Dame. It didn't use Paris to its full capabilities and that's where the setting fails for me. It should have been in Japan.

Also, the subplot with Spike and Fifi is completely pointless. Do you really need to dedicate 15 minutes of the movie showing that Spike and Fifi fell in love and walked around Paris? No! I don't think that Spike was needed for this movie. I think he should have been left home instead so we can get more development from Kira and Kimi. Don't get me wrong, they're nice, but Kira's a bit bland and forgettable and Kimi is essentially a female Tommy. They should have been developed more and have a more understandable reason why Chaz fell in love with Kira in the first place.



The poop and pee jokes are more prominent in this movie than the series, but it's excusable since they were as well in The Rugrats Movie. Also, the soundtrack is hit and miss with the majority of the songs being updated retro songs like "These Boots Were Made For Walking" and "Bad Girls", but same could be said for The Rugrats Movie. However, the original songs for this movie are actually really good. "Chuckie Chan" is a very fun song and "I Want A Mom That'll Last Forever" is beautiful! Cyndi Lauper did a fantastic job bringing in the emotion and melody to this song. It's actually my favorite song in the whole movie. It's just too bad that this song was hugely overlooked due to The Baja Men's "Who Let The Dogs Out?" Remember when that song was just everywhere in every radio station? It was so popular that it was even the opening for the second season of 100 Deeds for Eddie McDowd. That song was one of the most iconic songs of the 2000's. I never really liked it, but I can see why it was loved by so many people.



As I mentioned in my Rugrats review, there were many people who were involved in Pee-wee's Playhouse that did Rugrats at one point. Cyndi Lauper was one of them. I can't believe that the same woman who sung "I Want A Mom That'll Last Forever" sung this song at one point.

Yeah, yeah. I know that she sung great songs like "Girls Want To Have Fun" and "Time After Time". I was joking, okay. You're supposed to laugh! Anyway, bottom line, Rugrats in Paris: The Movie is, in my opinion, a much better movie than The Rugrats Movie. I highly recommend checking it out.



That's all for now. Tune in next time as we go into the year 2001 with the TeenNick teen sitcom Taina. 



Hope to see you around Old School Lane soon. Thanks for reading.

-Patricia

Old School Lane's Nickelodeon Tribute: Rocket Power

Around the late 90's, extreme sports such as skateboarding, surfing, BMX biking, and snowboarding were becoming extremely popular due to the undeniable success of the X-Games. The undeniable king of the vert skateboarding was Tony Hawk who had accomplished the impossible trick, the 900, on July 27, 1999. Even if you never seen the X-Games, you knew from someone or somewhere that skateboarding was all the rage. Before Neversoft released their now iconic skateboarding game based on the king of skateboarding Tony Hawk's Pro Skater a month later, the minds of Arlene Klasky and Gabor Csupo had created their last Nicktoon in the 90's. That cartoon was known as Rocket Power which debuted on August 7, 1999.



The show took place in California in which three kids would spend their days skateboarding, rollerblading, surfing, or biking. The kids were the siblings Otto and Reggie Rocket and their best friend Maurice "Twister" Rodriquez. When a new kid moves into their neighborhood, they decide to see who it was. It turned out to be a chubby, pale, nerdy kid from Kansas named Sam Dullard. Not too familiar with sports due to him being a technology nerd, the group decided to take him in and teach him how to play street hockey and other sports. Seeing that he has an up-to-date computer, Reggie approaches Sam to help her publish a new sports magazine. When playing street hockey, they learn that Sam is not the most athletic, but he had proved to be an excellent goalie. With Sam's potential to be a good athlete and his technological know-how, Otto, Reggie, and Twister decide to have Sam as a member of their group calling him "Squid", meaning he was the new guy.



We were also introduced to the adults in the show consisting of Otto and Reggie's father Ray "Raymundo" Rocket, a surfer, owner of a skate/surf show and a burger joint called The Shore Shack, Tito Makani, Ray's Hawaiian best friend who helps him run the Shore Shack, Twister's mean older brother Lars, their next door neighbors Violet and Merv Stimpleton, their police officer friend Officer Shirley, and Sam's overprotective mother.

Each episode would have Otto, Reggie, Twister, and Sam partake in an extreme sport pulling off some crazy tricks or learning how to pull off new ones. We would also see our characters go through everyday problems from Otto and Twister getting good grades, Sam trying to learn how to skate and surf alongside his friends, or Reggie trying out for volleyball. For kids who had a love of going outside to skateboard, riding bikes, or surfing, Rocket Power had became a favorite. Just like The Wild Thornberrys, Klasky and Csupo had released a Nicktoon to cash in on the popularity of what kids were into at the time. While Nickelodon's Sk8-TV was the first show to cash in on the skateboarding trend of the 90's, Rocket Power improved on it by tenfold by having surprisingly relatable characters, a real life setting in California, and real colorful animation.



The show lasted for 3 seasons ending its run on July 20, 2004. Overall, I found the show to be pretty okay on its own, but awesome if you're a huge fan of extreme sports in the late 90's. This was a show that looked it was made by extreme sports fan for extreme sports fan. The characters were relatable and at times generic, the animation was colorful, and the lingo, laughable now with terms like "lame-o" and "shoobie", was fitting in the 90's. The diversity of different sports they would play and the encouragement of going outside to play is absolutely refreshing to see with today's kids interesting in video games, TV, and cell phones. Admittedly, Rocket Power hasn't held up very well since the popularity of extreme sports has waned down over the years and a lot of the episodes kind of blend in with one another making some of them forgettable While not up-to-par with Rugrats and Aaahh! Real Monsters, Rocket Power is a show that comes highly recommended if you're a huge fan of extreme sports during the 90's. But for other people, it's probably worth skipping.



That's all for now. Hope to see you around Old School Lane soon. Thanks for reading.

-Patricia

Movie Review: The Rugrats Movie

As we discussed in the Rugrats review, Arlene Klasky and Gabor Csupo did not like the direction where the show was going. Paul Germain's ideas of having the babies acting like adults, the "controversial" episodes like "Tommy Goes Naked", and the inclusion of Angelica were not part of Klasky and Csupo's original ideas of how they wanted the present Rugrats to the public. So, the show went on a three year hiatus and most of the writers left, including Paul Germain. When the show came back in 1997, there seemed to be a huge glaring difference between what Rugrats would eventually be and the first three seasons. The animation was brighter, the situations they would get into were simpler, Angelica was less meaner, and the babies' intelligence were dumbed down a bit to appear as babies. Nonetheless, the kids watching it welcomed back Rugrats with open arms becoming not only one of the most  watched shows on Nickelodeon, but the longest lasting Nicktoon at the time.



In the episode "The Family Tree", Didi and Stu go off on a cruise to celebrate their anniversary and Didi ends up getting seasick. In the end of the episode, it was revealed that Didi was not seasick, but pregnant with their second child. With that said, Klasky and Csupo had decided to reveal the baby in their first feature film The Rugrats Movie.



Does this movie's addition of the new baby give us joy or does it stink worse than a dirty diaper? This is The Rugrats Movie.



The movie starts off with a parody of Raiders of the Ark in which Tommy is Okie Dokie Jones and Phil, Lil, and Chuckie are his companions. Chuckie narrates through the opening scene introducing the characters.



Then it turns out that the scene was just them using their imagination...big surprise...and we get to the main story of the movie. Didi is celebrating a baby shower in honor of their new baby girl and everyone around is having a good time. Meanwhile, Stu and Drew are in the basement arguing as usual. Drew is trying to convince Stu to get a job because of the new inclusion of the baby while Stu says that his new invention is going to make him a lot of money. That invention is the Reptar wagon.



Tommy is excited about having a new baby sister, but then Angelica comes and tells Tommy that when the new baby comes, he'll be forgotten by his parents because they'll be focusing their attention on the baby. Tommy doubts this saying that even with the inclusion of the new baby, his parents will still love him the same.



Next we cut to Susie singing a song about how babies are special. Angelica cuts in and ruins the song.



Angelica's screaming causes Didi to have sharp pains meaning that the baby is getting ready to be born. They all rush to the hospital immediately. While Didi goes to give birth, Tommy doesn't understand what's going on fearing that the baby got lost along the way. They decide to look around the hospital hoping to find a new baby. They enter the delivery room and see all the newborn babies. The babies consisting of the voices by Dawn Robinson, Lisa Loeb, B Real, Patti Smith, Lou Rawls, Laurie Anderson, Gordon Gano, Fred Schneider, Kate Pierson, Cindy Wilson, Phife Dawg, Lenny Kravitz, Beck, Jakob Dylan, and Iggy Pop sing the song "This World is Something New to Me".



Then finally Didi gives birth to, not a baby girl, a baby boy that they named after Didi's cousin Dylan Prescott Pickles or Dil for short. Tommy sees his baby brother for the first time and it doesn't go very well.



One month later, Dil is constantly crying and preventing the babies from having fun. Things don't seem the same anymore with the inclusion of Dil around the house. Angelica is trying to watch her favorite show, but can't concentrate. She sees a commercial about a Russian monkey circus coming to town. She wants to go, but Grandpa Lou says no. Meanwhile, we cut to a train consisting of the ringleader of the Russian monkey circus and his assistant making a pit stop. While they drink their coffee, the monkeys escape their cages and control the train. It ends up crashing into the forest.



Back with the main plot, Didi is reading a bedtime story to Tommy about a wizard granting a wish for a little boy. But then Stu comes in with Dil crying and trying to get him back to sleep. They end up trying to rock Dil to sleep while singing a lullaby. They do successfully, Dil gets to sleep, and Tommy is completely ignored wishing that he had his parents to himself again.



The next day, Stu awaits for the packaging people to come take the Reptar wagon away for a contest and Tommy and Dil start fighting with each other. Stu takes Tommy away giving him a pocketwatch saying that now he's a big brother with responsibility. The babies see the Reptar wagon and have the idea of taking Dil back to the hospital. When Tommy returns back to his friends, he finds out what they're doing and thinks it's a bad idea. Angelica comes out to quiet the babies since she's watching her favorite program. Dil snatches away her doll Cynthia and Angelica tries to get it back from him. Then her show comes back on TV saying that she'll be back on the next commercial. The Reptar wagon starts to move due to Angelica kicking it and the babies have their biggest adventure they've ever had.

Angelica finds out that the babies have Cynthia so she takes Spike, the Pickles' dog, along to track the babies.



When the adults find out that the babies are missing, the news reporters and police come in to investigate on the situation. The babies drive everywhere around the neighborhood ending up in a mattress truck. The truck crashes and it ends up in the forest. The babies are officially lost, not knowing what to do, and want to get home.



Tommy becomes the leader of the group using his pocketwatch as a compass to find their way home. They climb a big hill seeing smoke from a distance indicating a nearby home. Tommy thinks that a wizard's there and convinces them to go there to make a wish to go home. While walking towards there, Tommy trips on a hole. But it turns out that it's not a hole, but a wolf's footprint. They keep their lookout on the wolf as they ride away on the Reptar wagon eventually landing on the river.



The adults eventually find out that the babies are lost somewhere in the forest. Stu, Grandpa Lou, and Chaz go back to the house to retrieve a flying pterradactyl named Dactar to use to search for the babies in the air while the rest of the adults go to the ranger station to ask for help. The babies land on another section of the forest and meet up with the monkeys from the Russian circus. They start having fun until Dil starts crying saying that he's hungry. When Tommy comes and feeds him banana baby food, the monkeys stop playing and steal the diaper bag. Tommy rushes for it while Phil, Lil, and Chuckie fend off the monkeys from taking Dil. Eventually, the monkeys took Dil with them.



When Tommy returns with the diaper bag, he finds out that Dil is gone taking by the monkeys. He asks his friends for help, but they refuse since they don't like Dil. Tommy, disappointed with his friends' decision, looks for Dil by himself. Tommy finds Dil with the monkeys and takes him away from them. When Tommy and Dil find shelter, Dil becomes selfish taking the bottle and the blanket all for himself. Tommy gets angry as he sees now that Dil is not a good baby and he doesn't want to be his big brother anymore. Then he searches for the banana baby food to pour it on Dil for the monkeys to take him away again. But knowing that it's wrong to do so, Tommy puts the baby food down and takes him back to the shelter.



Tommy and Dil begin to star loving each other and getting along with one another. This is actually my favorite scene in the movie. It's so dark, yet so sweet and captivating seeing the relationship between the two of them.



The next day, the monkeys come back and Phil, Lil, and Chuckie come to their rescue. Chuckie grabs the last bottle of banana baby food and chases the monkeys away, Tommy goes to save Chuckie, and Phil, Lil, and Dil go in the Reptar wagon to find the wizard. Angelica and Chuckie finally meet up with each other and the monkeys still continue to chase him. Angelica finds Cynthia with another monkey and she chases after him. Tommy meets up with Spike and together, they find Chuckie and rescue him. However the monkeys gang up on the babies until Dil comes in with the Reptar wagon saving them. Angelica sees the Reptar wagon and rides along with the babies.



They finally stop at a bridge where Angelica flies off the wagon due to a bump and they stop to rescue her. While doing so, the monkeys come by to pester them. All of a sudden, they run away. The babies start to cheer, but then find out that the wolf that has been brought up in the whole movie finally comes out. Spike fights against the wolf and they both end up falling out of the bridge. The babies fear that Spike has finally passed on.



Then Stu comes in finding the babies and crashing into the ranger's station with Dactar as a costume. The babies think that it's the wizard and Tommy makes a wish for Spike to return. Stu walks on the bridge, crashes below, and Spike appears just fine. Then the adults come in, hug their babies, and giving them lots of love and attention. The Russian ringmaster and his assistant come and greet their monkeys and in the end, everyone is happy. The movie concludes with the Raiders of the Lost Ark spoof with Chuckie narrating again saying that things have now changed for the better since the inclusion of baby Dil.

When the movie first came out, it was a huge hit both critically and financially. It was #1 at the box office, the ratings were good, and the movie made more than $140,000,000 overall. It was not only the biggest amount of money that Nickelodeon Movies made at the time, but it was their first critically acclaimed movie, and it was the first non-Disney animated movie to have hit the $100,000,000 mark.



However, to fans of the show, there were some mix reactions. Many people consider the inclusion of baby Dil as the "jumping the shark" moment for Rugrats. They hated Dil thinking he was annoying and an unnecessary character to include. The inclusion of Dil is the reason why some people hate this movie and think that it was the beginning of the lowing point for Rugrats.



As for my opinion, I think that the lowing point began when Paul Germain and the majority of the writers left Rugrats in 1994. The newer episodes around 1997 weren't as captivating or as interesting as the first three seasons of the show. Some of the most iconic moments for me came from those three seasons: the introduction of the characters, Reptar, the clever pop culture jokes, the intellectual moments with the babies, Reptar on Ice, and so much more. When the show came back in '97 without Germain and the writers, it didn't feel the same to me. The animation looked a bit off, the babies were a lot dumber, and the episodes don't feel as much inspired. This isn't something that I noticed when working on this tribute: I felt the same way when seeing it when I was a kid. At the time, I didn't know why it didn't feel the same: now I do.

When I first saw Rugrats in Paris in theaters when I was 12, I felt the same way as everyone else: I had loved it! But looking back on it now, it's a cluttered, confusing mess. There are so many story arcs going on at once: you have the babies, Angelica, the adults, the monkeys, the ringmaster and his assistant, the park rangers, and the news reporter Rex Pester. Also, it seems that there are way more pee, poop, and butt jokes on this movie than any of the Rugrats episode that they had shown at that point. Also, the soundtrack is a mixed bag. While there are some original songs like "A Gift from a Bob", "This World is Something New to Me", and the lullaby are nice and catchy, songs like "Take Me There", the altered versions of "Witch Doctor", "One Way or Another", "Yo Ho Ho and a Bottle of Yum" are just meh. The remaining songs are also forgettable.



Also, just like the majority of the people, I did not like the inclusion of baby Dil. I found him to be annoying and selfish. Sorry, Tara Strong, I love you and all, but I don't like Dil.



If you're not a fan of the show or if you have never seen it, it will confuse the hell out of you to know what's going on. This movie was catered to the fans and it does not do well to help newcomers explain the plot on what's going on.

However, there are some good things to it: the relationship between Tommy and Dil turn out nice at the end, the voice actors and animators all did a good job putting the movie together, and it's faithful to the show. But there are just too many flaws for me to recommend seeing Rugrats the Movie. If you like it, that's fine. But, it's not my favorite.

That's all for now. Tune in next time as we go into the year 1999 with The Brothers Flub.



Hope to see you around Old School Lane soon. Thanks for reading.

-Patricia

Old School Lane's Nickelodeon Tribute: You're On/The Wild Thornberrys

Before we get to our main review, let's quickly discuss about the last Nickelodeon game show that debuted in the 90's. That was You're On! that debuted on August 1, 1998.

The show was about a group of two kids working together to get people passing by around Nickelodeon Studios to do silly stunts that focus on a theme. They have 10 minutes to do these three tasks would win a prize like camping gear or sporting equipment or a Nintendo 64. If they don't complete the three tasks in 10 minutes, then they win a gift certificate. In the second half of the show, they would be two games played called "Runaround" in which they would call two groups of six people. In the first game, it would consist of six kids divided into two teams. In the second game, it would be three kids and three adults who were related to the kids. In the first Runaround, the two groups guess on how many stunts that the two kids complete. The one who guesses correctly wins a prize.

In the second Runaround, the kids and adults would do the same as the first Runaround. At the end of each episode, the Runaround adult losers and the kid would be called on the stage and the host and the kid would do something some gross things.

The show was hosted by Phil Moore, the host of Nick Arcade. He brings his extremely goofy personality in You're On! when it came to the interaction of the kids. At least he's dressed less goofy without the over-the- top shirts that he used to wear on Nick Arcade. 



The show lasted for one season ending its run in 1999. Overall, being the last Nickelodeon game show in the 90's, You're On! was the weakest game show in the bunch. It was a borefest seeing kids just trying to get adults to do these silly stunts as well as seeing the kids in the audience guessing on how many they would do. Nothing exciting happens in this game show. Even though that this game show was basically suppose to be Candid Camera for kids, it was beyond forgettable. I don't recommend checking it out.

Now we get to our main review. In the late 90's, there was one channel that people were beginning to tune in like crazy: Animal Planet. The planet that gave viewers animal documentaries 24 hours a day, every day debuted on television on October 1, 1996. While they showed their documentaries featuring the living environment and behavior of animals, one show brought millions of audiences to their TVs, The Crocodile Hunter hosted by Steve Irwin.

This crazy Australian wildlife expert's TV show was a huge success. Over 500 million viewers from over 130 countries tuned in to watch Steve tackle large crocodiles in the wild.

Also around June 1998, Eddie Murphy starred in the family comedy based on the 1967 comedy Doctor Doolittle. Despite having mixed reviews, it was financially successful and had gotten kids wanting to talk to animals.




If The Crocodile Hunter and Dr. Doolittle had a baby, you would have The Wild Thornberrys which debuted on September 1, 1998.

The show was about a family called the Thornberrys who travel around the world doing a nature show looking for rare animals to film. The family consisted of the following:

Nigel Thornberry (voiced by Tim Curry) was the host of the nature show. He's a optimistic, yet clueless man who loves kippers, animals, and being with his family.

Marianne Thornberry (voiced by Jodi Carlisle) is Nigel's wife and the cameraperson/editor of the nature show. She's more down to earth than Nigel trying to keep her family at bay while trying to get their work done in time to send it to the network producers.

Debbie Thornberry (voiced by Danielle Harris) is Nigel and Marianne's oldest daughter. She's a typical 16-year-old girl who loves fashion and music. She longs for a normal suburban life for her family instead of traveling around the world surrounded by animals.

Eliza Thornberry (voiced by Lacey Chabert) is Nigel and Marianne's youngest daughter. She's a 12-year-old girl who loves traveling around the world with her family and exploring the wilderness alongside her best friend Darwin, a chimpanzee, and a little wild boy named Donnie.

Darwin (voiced by Tom Kane) is a chimpanzee originally from the Congo. He's a bit of timid coward when it comes to traveling around the wild with Eliza all by themselves. However, he sticks close to Eliza side by side, never thinking about abandoning her when things get tough.

Donnie (voiced by Flea from The Red Hot Chili Peppers) is a 5-year-old boy that the Thornberrys found wandering around when they were filming about the orangutans in Borneo. He speaks in a really fast gibberish that no one can understand. He loves eating bugs.



The show mostly focuses on Eliza. When she was 10, she helped saved a warthog from a trap. That warthog turned out to be an African shaman named Lopsugne Sjoungboun Qeisha. For saving him from the trap, Lopsugne gave Eliza a gift: the ability to speak to animals. The only condition is that she must never tell anyone that she has this ability or else she loses it. Whenever Nigel and Marianne go out to find animals for them to film, Eliza sneaks out with Darwin and Donnie and explore their surroundings. They usually meet up with an animal that would either have a problem or the group would end up getting themselves in trouble. 



The show was created by Arlene Klasky, Gabor Csupo, and Steve Pepoon. Klasky-Csupo, their company, were already becoming a staple in the 90's with their top quality animated shows such as Rugrats, Aaahh! Real Monsters, and Duckman. Around the late 90's, they were in a slow state with Duckman being cancelled and Santo Bugito only lasting one season despite having being ahead of their time with a show about a world consisting of talking bugs. They picked themselves right up and did the animation for Stressed Eric and created The Wild Thornberrys. 



The inspiration for Nigel was based off of David Attenborough, a British broadcaster and the narrator for BBC animal miniseries such as the Life series, Planet Earth, Blue Planet, and Frozen Planet. Eliza was based on the looks and characteristics of Pippi Longstocking. She has the same red hair, pig tails, freckles, and a primate companion. Instead of it being a monkey named Mr. Nielsen, it's a chimpanzee named Darwin. Donnie is sort of like a younger, wilder version of Tarzan from being raised by orangutans instead of gorillas and having leopard shorts instead of a loincloth.

The show lasted for 5 seasons ending its run on March 11, 2004. When the show first aired, it was praised for including lessons about taking care of nature and appreciating the animals. It was gust of fresh air to see a family traveling around in a high-tech RV instead of a typical suburban home that other cartoons were doing at the time. It's also interesting to note that The Wild Thornberrys was the first Nicktoon to run 22 minute episodes as oppose to all the others that were 2 mini episodes running at 11 minutes. Also, it was nice to see the parents interacting with the kids. Other shows at the time had the parents either not being around the kids or scolding them for something stupid. Once again, the minds of Arlene Klasky and Gabor Csupo had created a show that was unlike anything else on TV. They had created another hit.



However, looking back years later, I find the show to be a tad bit overrated and underwhelming. First of all, some of the behaviors of the main characters can be a bit annoying. Whether it's Nigel's clueless personality, Darwin's timid personality, Donnie's yelling gibberish, or Debbie's mean personality towards her family. But the biggest problem with me is Eliza. She thinks that just because she can talk to animals, she thinks that she's more intelligent than they are. She tries to help with their problems, but sometimes it ends up worse than what it was. In one episode, a bird is struggling to get grubworms from a tree using a cactus needle. Eliza helps the bird out by giving him a threading needle. It works great. Now the other birds want threading needles to get grubworms. It ends up ruining the whole food chain with now the other animals going hungry.

Rule #1 when it comes to seeing animals in a crisis: don't interact with them. In every documentary, the film crew and the host do not get in the way of assisting an animal when they're in trouble. It's part of life. Animals do need to get eaten in order for the circle of life to continue. They teach us this in every documentary we see on TV and Eliza still does this despite the fact that her parents are doing a nature show. This is a huge flaw and this important rule is completely ignored throughout the rest of the series.



But when they're not rescuing animals and they end up exploring their surroundings, it tends to get a little bit boring. Nothing really interesting happens until a wild animal appears and they start interacting with it. The lessons that Eliza learns from her animal interactions is never brought up and it seems that in the next episode, she forgets it completely. The lessons are extremely vague at times and seeing an episode is a bit forgettable at times. I can't tell you where they were or who they met up with because it was a bit of a blur to me. The episodes get a bit repetitive: they go to a new location, Nigel and Marianne go out to look for an animal to shoot, Eliza wanders away from her home, Debbie sits around complaining about everything, they meet with an animal, a problem occurs, they solve the problem, and that's it.

If you're a huge fan of animal documentaries and nature shows, I'd say check it out. If you're not, then skip it. In my opinion, The Wild Thornberrys is Klasky-Csupo's second weakest Nicktoon. As for their first, we'll talk about that another time.



That's all for now. Hope to see you around Old School Lane soon. Thanks for reading.

-Patricia