Rugrats

Rugrats is an animated series, produced by Klasky-Csupo, Inc. for Nickelodeon. The show is about how babies view life and perceive the events happening around them. Each rugrat is characterized by his or her own individual personality quirk.

Brief history

The series debuted on August 11, 1991 (with "Tommy's First Birthday") as part of Nick's latest move: commissioning its own animated series (known as Nicktoons). It went out of production in 1994, but after increased ratings when shown in primetime it was revived in 1997, subsequently leading to 3 movies: The Rugrats Movie (1998), which became the first non-Disney animated movie to earn $100 million in the US, ' (2000), and Rugrats Go Wild! (2003), a crossover with The Wild Thornberrys that was hated by many fans. Despite the fact that The Rugrats Movie did very well at the box office, many fans feel that this was the moment when Rugrats jumped the shark.

Related Topics:
August 11 - 1991 - Nicktoons - 1994 - 1997 - Movies - The Rugrats Movie - 1998 - Disney - 2000 - Rugrats Go Wild! - 2003 - Crossover - The Wild Thornberrys - Jumped the shark

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In 2001, the show celebrated its 10th anniversary by making a special one-hour episode about what the Rugrats would be like 10 years older. After the special had aired, Klasky-Csupo said that they had no plans to make a series about it. The special became one of the highest rated episodes in Nick's history. Nick eventually commissioned a full series, All Grown Up!, which started its regular run in November 2003 (a sneak peek full episode named Coup DeVille had aired earlier in April). Many fans feel that AGU has taken a step in the right direction, while others feel that it takes away from the show's original premise, and reduces it to something that, at best, vaguely resembles the show that many people grew to love in the 1990s, and pales in comparison to the writing, acting, artwork, and even music of the original show. Still, it is considered the best cartoon Klasky-Csupo has made since 1998. Meanwhile, production on the Rugrats series (along with that of most of the other Klasky-Csupo shows) was eventually shut down, and the last new episode ("Hurricane Alice") aired on August 1, 2004.

Related Topics:
2001 - Anniversary - All Grown Up! - November 2003 - 1990s - 1998 - August 1 - 2004

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In 2005, Klasky-Csupo announced that they were reviving the original Rugrats as a series of DVDs based on classic fairy tales. The first were based on Snow White and Jack and the Beanstalk.

Related Topics:
2005 - DVDs - Fairy tale - Snow White - Jack and the Beanstalk

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