Anyone see the Rugrats all grown up thing?

[I.R Joey]

I guess they where technically not adults, but title problems aside it was actually okay. Kinda weird though.

Anyway they also had a behind the scenes look at it. They had many of the shows key creators but I couldn't help but notice that Paul Germain wasn't interviewed. As some of you may know along with Klasky and Csupo, Germain was a key creative influence in the show. Around the middle of the decade he left the studio though. At this time in my opinion the Rugrats lost alot of its "sharp edge" so to speak. As far as its satire on certain things.


Not suprisingy to me around this time Disney Animation let loose a show called Recess. Created by two former Rugrats writers, among them Germain himself. Recess as you may know has alot of that kind of Satire. IE relating the playground to global geopolitics, and often feels like something out of Orsen Wells imagination. Coincidence? I think not.

[Calhoun07]

I don't like the Rugrats. I go into a near psychotic state of rage when I hear that fraggin theme music come on and I have to turn the TV station, and turn it NOW. But I did think All Growed Up was a cool way to celebrate the tenth anniversary. Very cool indeed.

[RockItShipper]

I sat with my little sis through the "all growed up" bit. I thought some of the characters were deeper than usual, but other than that... The end really got to me. Warmed over teenybopper music, poor staging/storyboarding...

I wanted to see the "behind the scenes" bit, but I had to run some errands... My little sister already stated she wants it when it's out on the 7th.

Anyway, the little bit I did catch about everyone's fave eps... So Chuckie had a pseudo-marriage to Lil? And Phil and Tommy followed suit? Or did I hear it wrong?

[Calhoun07]

You know, Joey made a great point that has crossed my mind from time to time...Rugrats has lost its edge. I remember when it first came out, I remember the satire he's talking about and thought it was a cool show. Now, today....eeecch. I just don't like it's current evolution.

[DR. BELCH]

--I missed "Rugrats All Grown Up". Will it rerun soon?

Yes, Chuckie "married" Lil. Very yuri if you consider they're both voiced by women. Although my all-time favorite Rugrats moments were when Tommy thought his dad was a robot and attempted to open up his chest by twisting his nipple with a plastic wrench, and the one where Angelia vomited all over her old man (in close-up, to boot)....

[RockItShipper]

Originally posted by DR. BELCH
--I missed "Rugrats All Grown Up". Will it rerun soon?

At the end, there were ads for a rebroadcast the next day and a video release on August 7.

Yes, Chuckie "married" Lil. Very yuri if you consider they're both voiced by women.

What I heard was something about Tommy and Phil feeling left out and getting "married" too. But I don't really watch stuff on Nick.

[Calhoun07]

It's called Rugrats All Growed Up

[DR. BELCH]

--(another beloved Klasky-Csupo creation) "I'm one letter off! Crucify me!"

I checked Yahoo TV, and it'll rebroadcast this Friday at 7 PM. I'm looking forward to it--admittedly I haven't watched the show consistently in a while, and I have yet to see their Paris adventure, so I'm not up to speed on this new kid Kimmie--and hoping they'll show the behind-the-scenes stuff again also. Sometimes I enjoyed the show; other times the saccharine plots made me squirm a bit. Useless fact: Andrew Dice Clay was on Rugrats! He was the repairman in "Pirate Light". Make of that what you will....

[Calhoun07]

I was putting cover boxes away tonight at work, and saw that we had the video for All Growed Up already. Man, they wasted no time in getting that out! I suppose it was a pre-street release, so will be out in the next week or two.

[RockItShipper]

Originally posted by calhoun07
I was putting cover boxes away tonight at work, and saw that we had the video for All Growed Up already. Man, they wasted no time in getting that out! I suppose it was a pre-street release, so will be out in the next week or two.

Yep. The first airing of AGU mentioned its street date being August 7. I guess the marketing strength is being tested in hopes of it being a new Rugrats show.

[Calhoun07]

I am sure if it does spin off into a new series, imitators will be sure to follow behind. Could we see "updates" of other cartoon characters?

[DR. BELCH]

--"updates" of cartoon characters couldn't be worse than the "baby and youth" craze of the late eighties and nineties. Muppet Babies...Flintstone Kids...Tom and Jerry Kids...In a couple of Daria eps she envisions herself as an adult, and in a Tas-mania ep Francis X. Bushlad imagines himself and Taz as doddering old geezers. I just hope it doesn't go too far...imagine an elderly Tom and Jerry hobbling after each other on walkers, or an ancient Johnny Quest and Hadji watching their grandchildren globetrotting and recalling their carefree past....

[Calhoun07]

Originally posted by DR. BELCH
--"updates" of cartoon characters couldn't be worse than the "baby and youth" craze of the late eighties and nineties. ...I just hope it doesn't go too far...imagine ...an ancient Johnny Quest and Hadji watching their grandchildren globetrotting and recalling their carefree past....

There was an issue of Jonny Quest from Comico that featured the JQ characters as adults. It was extremely well done (that entire series was extrememely well done, worth seeking out) but it was a dream sequence, and it was all tied together at the end. It was an awesome issue, tho.

[The Mad Hatter]

Updates? Gah, nooooo! It took the animated community long enough to get over the whole "miniaturization" phase started by Muppet Babies. True, we did get Tiny Toons out of this, but we also had to endure countless "Flintstone Kids" and "Yo Yogis." I say thee nay.

[Psycho Fox]

Originally posted by The Mad Hatter
Updates? Gah, nooooo! It took the animated community long enough to get over the whole "miniaturization" phase started by Muppet Babies. True, we did get Tiny Toons out of this, but we also had to endure countless "Flintstone Kids" and "Yo Yogis." I say thee nay.

Well I can't say the idea is totaly horrible if it is done right. Take a look at Red Wall, Matthias is older in the second season and has a son Mattimeo. Ok so the TV series follows the book closely but still they advanced everyones age without screwing it up. I have seen fans do a decent job of bumping up cartoon characters ages too. In my opinon as long as it is done to tell a story I don't have any problems with it.

[Calhoun07]

Featuring cartoon characters all "growed" up isn't a new thing, but it's not common because not too many cartoons with kids really last this long. The only other one I can think of is the Flintstones, which had several adventures with teenaged Pebbles and Bamm Bamm. And, from time to time, we've seen episodes of the Simpsons which show us Bart, Lisa and Maggie when they grow up. It's not too many shows that do this, however, because not too many cartoons become popular enough for this kind of spin off.

[DR. BELCH]

...and rather liked it. One thing that irked me was that Phil and Lil's mom and (a greying) Didi looked markedly older, and Chas and Drew had bags under their eyes...but Stu and Grandpa didn't look a hair older. Also, when they showed Grampa's photo and then cut to Spike after Didi says, "You're nearly 90..." I thought, Sweet mother of frig, Grampa died!...though I soon saw I was wrong. Interesting to see that the most popular girl in school warms up to Chuckie when they discover they have a lot more in common that they realized...or how Phil seems nostalgic for infanthood as he looks at a sandbox or a plate of pasta...or how Angelica learns to be nicer to Tommy--well, almost. Fav scene: Phil assures Tommy that if Spike did eat the medallion, eventually he'll get it back--and Chuckie and the girls are visibly grossed out.
Regarding what Rocky calls "warmed-over teenybopper music"--well, it was saccharine, but it was rather cute. I was a little disappointed that it wasn't one of E.G. Daily's own songs/voice, though. Never heard her stuff but I hear she's quite the chanteuse....