RUGRATS MOVIE, THE/ *

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The Rugrats Movie

*

Rated on a 4-star scale
USA
Directed by Igor Kovalyov and Norton Virgien
Written by J. David Stem and David N. Weiss

CAST.....
The voice of E.G. Daily..... Tommy Pickles
The voice of Christine Cavanaugh..... Chuckie Finster
The voice of Kath Soucie..... Phil DeVille/Lil DeVille
The voice of Cheryl Chase..... Angelica Pickles
The voice of Tara Charendoff..... Dil Pickles
The voice of Melanie Chartoff..... Didi Pickles
The voice of Jack Riley..... Stu Pickles
The voice of Joe Alaskey..... Grandpa Pickles

If you think that recent episodes of the animated TV programme "Rugrats" have lost the plot, and the show is becoming less and less funny, you still ain't seen nothin' yet. "The Rugrats Movie", an uninspired attempt to cash in on "Rugrats" before its popularity wanes, has not a trace of what made the early episodes of the cartoon fun, and even at a slight 80 minutes, is a complete waste of time.

The lame excuse for a plot involves the regular gang -- Tommy (E.G. Daily), Chuckie (Christine Cavanaugh) and Phil 'n' Lil (Kath Soucie). Tommy's mother, Didi, gives birth to a new kid, Dil, and when the other babies take him out for a ride on a toy vehicle, they manage to get lost far away from their neighbourhood, in a side-road which looks like a jungle, and is populated by some of the same creatures. Meanwhile, all their retarded parents panic.

The show was good for several reasons. Firstly, we discovered small-time adventures from a baby's point of view, and we saw how simple domestic situations could seem dangerous, or exciting. Secondly, the glimpses we caught of adults were wonderful satire -- of the stupidest of middle-class America, and of their stupidest occupations, philosophies and fads.

"The Rugrats Movie" is totally different from the series, except for a few bits from old episodes that have been recycled out of context. It spends too much time with the adults, who are still shown as irritating half-wits, but not for the purpose of satire, or for any purpose at all, except to annoy the viewer. And when we are with the kids, so what? Their adventures are no longer domestic, but in a forest that the "Pulp Fiction" hitmen would probably not make it out of, and so the novelty and ingenuity are gone. Even the beginning of the movie, before the kids have gone anywhere, has a meaningless prologue showing an Indiana Jones-style escape from danger. Instead of delving into adults' cupboards, or discovering the insects in the garden, the characters in "The Rugrats Movie" get involved with explosions and fireballs, clouds of smoke, futuristic hospitals, train crashes, drives on cliff-edges, truck chases, killer monkeys and a big, dumb musical number.

This is not just a bad movie, but a totally inept one -- even in "The Waterboy", a film I despised, I could tell what was intended to be funny, whereas here I did not have a clue. Does your idea of a good film have jokes and good timing replaced by big teeth, shouting, whining, dopey voices, pervasive use of the word 'poop', toddlers in fatal danger and new-born babies being kidnapped by mangy monkeys? If it does, then perhaps "The Rugrats Movie" is for you. I found it to be an entertainment-free dead zone.

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