Rugrats Go Wild | |
---|---|
Directed by |
|
Written by | Kate Boutilier [1] |
Based on | |
Produced by | |
Starring | |
Edited by |
|
Music by | Mark Mothersbaugh [1] |
Production companies | |
Distributed by | |
Release date |
|
Running time | 80 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $25 million [5] |
Box office | $55.4 million [5] |
Rugrats Go Wild (originally titled The Rugrats Meet the Wild Thornberrys) is a 2003 American animated crossover adventure film [3] based on the Nickelodeon animated television series Rugrats and The Wild Thornberrys . [6] It is the final installment of both the Rugrats and The Wild Thornberrys film series and the sequel to both the films Rugrats in Paris: The Movie (2000) and The Wild Thornberrys Movie (2002). The film was the first to feature Nancy Cartwright as the voice of Chuckie Finster following original voice actress Christine Cavanaugh's retirement in 2001. [7] [8] The film follows the Rugrats and their famillies as they prepare for their planned vacation, but eventually get stranded on an uncharted island in the Pacific, where they meet the Wild Thornberrys for the first time.
The film was produced by Nickelodeon Movies and Klasky Csupo and released in theaters on June 13, 2003, by Paramount Pictures. Rugrats Go Wild grossed $55.4 million worldwide [5] and unlike its predecessors, it received unfavorable reviews from critics. The film used "Odorama", which allowed people to smell odors and aromas from the film using scratch and sniff cards (reminiscent of 1960s Smell-O-Vision). This is the only Rugrats film to receive a PG rating by the MPAA. [9]
The Rugrats go on an imaginary safari: Tommy impersonates Nigel Thornberry, who is his role model, and spoofs his nature show. The babies and their families are about to go on vacation on a tropical cruise ship, courtesy of Tommy's father, Stu. Upon arriving at the pier to depart, they discover that he has instead rented a ramshackle boat as their real vacation. The families are angered that Stu did not consult them on his plans, and during their journey, the boat is flipped over by a rogue wave during a tropical storm. Everyone is forced to abandon the ship and board a life raft as the ship sinks; the group blames Stu.
The next morning, they arrive on a small, seemingly uninhabited island in the South China Sea. The adults make Betty the leader after Didi forbids Stu from volunteering, much to his chagrin. On the opposite side of the island is the famous globe-trotting family, the Thornberrys, out to film a clouded leopard. The kids, except for Angelica, set off to find Nigel to get his help to get them home, for they suspect he is somewhere on the island. Along the way, Chuckie gets lost and runs into the Thornberry's son Donnie, who steals his clothes, forcing Chuckie to wear Donnie's shorts.
Meanwhile, Eliza Thornberry is exploring the jungle with Darwin, her chimpanzee companion, and runs into Spike, the Pickles' dog. Since Eliza can talk to animals, Spike is heard speaking; he informs her that his babies are lost somewhere on the island. Under the impression that Spike means he is looking for puppies, Eliza and a reluctant Darwin agree to help him find them. Following a close encounter with Siri, an angry clouded leopard, they learn that he meant human babies.
Simultaneously, Eliza's father, Nigel, finds the lost babies. He heads in their direction but ends up tumbling down a hill and suffers amnesia after a coconut falls on his head, which reverts him to his three year-old self. They encounter Siri, but Donnie fends her off; Chuckie finds him and they swap back their clothes. After escaping from Siri on a high-speed pram, the gang lands in a crater. Angelica runs into Debbie Thornberry, and takes off with Debbie in the Thornberry's all-purpose mobile communication vehicle (commvee). To get back more quickly, Angelica steals the Thornberry's bathysphere and accidentally sinks the commvee in her attempt to pilot it. She manages to find and retrieve the babies and Nigel.
Meanwhile, Stu, has managed to create a working coconut radio. He and the other parents run into Donnie. After chasing him down the beach, they run into Marianne Thornberry, the mother of Eliza and Debbie and the wife of Nigel. Stu's coconut radio picks up the babies, as Angelica accidentally turned on the bathysphere's radio. Angelica and Susie, while fighting for control, crash the bathysphere at the bottom of the ocean. Nigel hits his head in the crash and reverts back to his normal self. Stu comes up with a plan to raise the commvee, and Marianne then uses the automatic-retrieval system to rescue Nigel and the babies just as the air runs out.
The babies and Nigel are reunited with their respective families, with Stu being thanked and forgiven, and everyone gets on board the cruise they had wanted originally. The Thornberrys join them, too, deciding that they should take a vacation, much to Debbie's delight, and Spike vows never to lose his babies again.
During its initial theatrical run, Rugrats Go Wild was presented in "Smell-O-Vision". During certain scenes in the movie, an icon would pop up on screen with an item inside of it (example: a smelly shoe). When this happened, audience members would smell a scratch-and-sniff card (which were handed out at the box office) with the corresponding image.
Among the biggest promotion the film received was Bruce Willis voicing Spike, and the use of "Odorama" cards to enhance the viewing experience, Burger King and Blockbuster released a scratch and sniff piece of cardboard that was to be scratched and sniffed during the run of the movie. The cards would later be released with the DVD release of the movie.
There were some complaints with the Odorama cards, including the claim that the cards only smelled like cardboard. The Odorama card was considered an homage to John Waters' 1981 film Polyester . Waters felt he was ripped off and realized that New Line Cinema, the studio that released Polyester, did not renew the copyright for Odorama. He later said that "a cheque would have been an homage". [10]
Rugrats Go Wild was released on VHS and DVD on December 16, 2003, by Paramount Home Entertainment. Most VHS copies included a "Smell-O-Vision" scratch-and-sniff card, as did most initial run DVDs. Later copies of the DVD did not include additional cards, but did retain the option to view the film with the scratch-and-sniff icons on.
On March 15, 2011, along with The Rugrats Movie and Rugrats in Paris: The Movie , the film was re-released in a three-disc movie trilogy collection DVD set, in honor of Rugrats' 20th anniversary. [11] On August 29, 2017, Rugrats Go Wild was re-released on DVD. On March 8, 2022, along with The Rugrats Movie and Rugrats in Paris: The Movie, the film was released on Blu-ray as part of the trilogy movie collection. [12] [13]
The film grossed $39 million in the United States and $16 million internationally for a worldwide total of $55 million against a production budget of $25 million. The film opened at #4 behind Finding Nemo , 2 Fast 2 Furious , and Bruce Almighty . [14] [5]
On Rotten Tomatoes, it holds an approval rating of 39% based on 89 reviews and an average rating of 5/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "The Rugrats franchise has gone from fresh to formulaic." [4] Metacritic gives the film a weighted average score of 38 out of 100 based on 27 reviews, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". [15] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale. [16]
Neil Smith at the BBC gave the film 2 out of 5. [17] Film4 stated the film was not as bad as other reviews suggested but "it just doesn't hold a candle to 2002's charming and superior The Wild Thornberrys Movie ". [18]
Rugrats Go Wild: Music from the Motion Picture | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Soundtrack album by Various Artists | ||||
Released | June 10, 2003 | |||
Recorded | 2002–2003 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 49:36 | |||
Label | ||||
Rugrats soundtrack chronology | ||||
|
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [19] |
An original soundtrack was released on June 10, 2003, from Hollywood Records. [20]
The following is a list of songs that appear on the Rugrats Go Wild soundtrack. [20]
No. | Title | Artist(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Message in a Bottle (cover of The Police)" | American Hi-Fi | 4:12 |
2. | "Big Bad Cat" | Bruce Willis and Chrissie Hynde | 3:15 |
3. | "She's on Fire" | Train | 3:50 |
4. | "Island Princess" | Cheryl Chase and Cree Summer | 2:32 |
5. | "Lizard Love" | Aerosmith | 4:35 |
6. | "Ready to Roll" | Flashlight Brown | 2:51 |
7. | "The Morning After (cover of Maureen McGovern)" | Chase and Summer | 3:22 |
8. | "Atomic Dog" | George Clinton | 4:45 |
9. | "Dresses and Shoes" | Chase and Summer | 3:28 |
10. | "It's a Jungle Out Here" | Summer, Nancy Cartwright, Elizabeth Daily, Tara Strong, Kath Soucie and Dionne Quan | 3:11 |
11. | "Lust For Life (cover of Iggy Pop only seen in ending credits)" | Willis | 3:43 |
12. | "Phil's Diapey's Hanging Low" | Tim Curry, Cartwright, Daily, Strong, Soucie and Quan | 3:01 |
13. | "Should I Stay or Should I Go" | The Clash | 3:09 |
14. | "Changing Faces" | Daily | 3:42 |
Total length: | 53:25 |
Rugrats is an American animated television series created by Arlene Klasky, Gábor Csupó, and Paul Germain for Nickelodeon. The series focuses on a group of toddlers, most prominently Tommy, Chuckie, Phil, and Lil, and their day-to-day lives, usually involving life experiences that become much greater adventures in the imaginations of the main characters.
The Wild Thornberrys is an American animated television series created by Arlene Klasky, Gábor Csupó, Steve Pepoon, David Silverman, and Stephen Sustarsic for Nickelodeon. The series portrays the zany hijinks of a family of nomadic wildlife documentary filmmakers known as the Thornberrys, which consist of the nature documentary television host Nigel, his wife and camera operator Marianne, their 16-year-old daughter Debbie, their younger daughter Eliza, their adopted son Donnie, and a chimpanzee named Darwin. The series focuses in particular on Eliza, who has a magical ability to communicate with animals. The Thornberry family travels to every continent and wildlife environment in the ComVee, a recreational vehicle equipped with safety mechanisms to handle any terrain or body of water, to document their journeys in detail, with typical episodes involving Eliza befriending an animal and subsequently finding herself in peril.
All Grown Up! is an American animated television series developed by Kate Boutilier, Eryk Casemiro, and Monica Piper for Nickelodeon. It serves as a sequel to Rugrats, and explores the daily lives of protagonist Tommy Pickles, his little brother Dil and his childhood friends, now tweens/adolescents. The concept for the series was based on the Rugrats episode "All Growed Up", which served as the original series' 10th anniversary special and proved successful with audiences.
The Wild Thornberrys Movie is a 2002 American animated adventure film based on the television series of the same name. It was produced by Klasky Csupo and distributed by Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies. Directed by Jeff McGrath and Cathy Malkasian, the film follows the show's protagonist, Eliza Thornberry as she goes on a quest to save a cheetah cub from ruthless poachers. The film was released on December 20, 2002, to mostly positive reviews and grossed more than $60 million worldwide. It is the first installment in The Wild Thornberrys film series.
Polyester is a 1981 American comedy film directed, produced, and written by John Waters, and starring Divine, Tab Hunter, Edith Massey, and Mink Stole. It satirizes the melodramatic genre of women's pictures, particularly those directed by Douglas Sirk, whose work directly influenced this film. The film is also a satire of suburban life in the early 1980s, involving topics such as divorce, abortion, adultery, alcoholism, racial stereotypes, foot fetishism, and the religious right.
The Rugrats Movie is a 1998 American comedy film based on the Nickelodeon animated television series Rugrats. It was directed by Igor Kovalyov and Norton Virgien and was written by David N. Weiss & J. David Stem. The film features the voices of E. G. Daily, Tara Strong, Christine Cavanaugh, Kath Soucie, Cheryl Chase, Cree Summer, Jack Riley, Melanie Chartoff, Michael Bell and Joe Alaskey, along with guest stars David Spade, Whoopi Goldberg, Margaret Cho, Busta Rhymes, and Tim Curry. The film takes place between the events of the series' fifth and sixth seasons, and it follows Tommy Pickles as he and the rest of the Rugrats along with his new baby brother, Dil, eventually get lost into the deep wilderness after taking a high-speed ride on the Reptar Wagon, and embark on an adventure to find their way home in the forest while being pursued by circus monkeys and a predatory wolf along the way. The Rugrats Movie is the first feature film based on a Nicktoon and the first installment in the Rugrats film series.
Rugrats in Paris: The Movie is a 2000 animated comedy film based on the Nickelodeon animated television series Rugrats. It is the second installment in the Rugrats film series and the sequel to The Rugrats Movie (1998). This film marks the first appearance of Kimi Watanabe and her mother, Kira. The film also marks the appearance of the first significant villains in the Rugrats franchise, the child-hating Coco LaBouche and her accomplice, Jean-Claude. The events of the film take place before the series' seventh season, and it focuses on Chuckie Finster as he and the rest of the Rugrats embark on an adventure in Paris, France while he is searching for a new mother.
Reptar is a fictional character from the American animated television series Rugrats. It is a green T. rex with rounded, blue spike-like appendages on its back, which intentionally causes it to resemble and spoof Godzilla. Outside of Rugrats-related films, Reptar appears as a playable character in the Nickelodeon Kart Racers and Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl video game series.
Thomas Malcolm "Tommy" Pickles is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the animated children's television series Rugrats, the reboot, and its spinoff series All Grown Up!. He is also the protagonist of The Rugrats Movie (1998) and Rugrats Go Wild (2003), and a major character in Rugrats in Paris: The Movie (2000), as well as other various Rugrats-related media.
Scratch and sniff technology is the application of a fragrant coating to items such as stickers or paperboard, so that when the coating is scratched it releases an odor that is normally related to the image displayed under the coating. The technology has been used on a variety of surfaces from stickers to compact discs. Gale W. Matson accidentally invented the technology while working for 3M in the 1960s. He was attempting to create a new method for making carbonless copy paper using microencapsulation. The technology to infuse microcapsules and paper was submitted to the US patent office on November 18, 1969, and the patent was granted on June 23, 1970. Despite the technology being invented by Matson in the 60's and its subsequent success in the 70's, the first patent for a translucent fragrance releasing version of microcapsules wasn't issued until January 15, 1985, to the 3M corporation.
"All Growed Up" is a special episode of Rugrats and the pilot episode to the spin-off series All Grown Up! that aired on July 21, 2001, on Nickelodeon, to celebrate the series' tenth anniversary. The special serves as the 13th and 14th episodes of the seventh season of Rugrats, and the 143rd and 144th episodes of the series overall. The episode's premise was to focus on what the babies' lives would be like if they were ten years older. The episode proved to be popular enough for a series based on it to be made.
Rugrats: Scavenger Hunt is a 1999 party video game developed by Realtime Associates and published by THQ for the Nintendo 64. The game is based on the Nickelodeon animated television series Rugrats. It features the original voices from the Rugrats cast reprising their roles as Tommy Pickles, Chuckie Finster, and Phil and Lil DeVille as well as supporting characters Grandpa Lou, Didi and Stu Pickles, Susie Carmichael, Reptar, and series antagonist Angelica Pickles.
Rugrats: Royal Ransom is an action-adventure game developed by Avalanche Software and published by THQ for the PlayStation 2 and GameCube. The game was released on November 26, 2002, and is based on the Rugrats television series, which aired from 1991 to 2004 on Nickelodeon. The game's plot is loosely based on Rugrats: Castle Capers.
Since the 1990s, Nickelodeon, a worldwide children's television network and franchise, owned by Paramount Global, has had an involvement in the creation and theming of amusement parks rides.
"Runaway Reptar" is a TV movie initially released as the 24th and 25th episodes of the sixth season of the animated television series Rugrats, and the 118th and 119th episodes of the series overall. It originally aired on the television network Nickelodeon on November 27, 1999. The plot follows the babies watching a Reptar movie and imagining themselves as part of the story. It was directed by John Holmquist and Jim Duffy, and was the first two-part episode in the series.
The Rugrats film series is a series of animated comedy-adventure films based on the popular Nickelodeon animated series, Rugrats, created by Arlene Klasky, Gábor Csupó, and Paul Germain. The three films were released in 1998, 2000, and 2003. The first and third films received mixed reviews, while the second received generally positive reviews. The series also experienced declining commercial success with each film.
Rugrats is a Nickelodeon media franchise created by Klasky Csupo consisting of television shows, films, video games, and other entries. It commenced in 1991 with the premiere of the television series of the same name. The franchise revolves around the adventures of a group of toddler friends who learn about the world and their relationship to it.
"Mother's Day", also known as the "Rugrats Mother's Day Special" or "Rugrats Mother's Day", is the second episode of the fourth season of the American animated television series Rugrats and the show's 67th episode overall. It revolves around the holiday from the perspective of a group of babies—Tommy Pickles, Chuckie Finster, and Phil and Lil Deville. Tommy, Phil, and Lil attempt to find the perfect mother for Chuckie while sharing their favorite memories about their moms. At the end of the episode, Chuckie's mother is revealed to have died of a terminal illness. It concludes with Chuckie and Chas looking through a box of her belongings, including a poem she had written for her son. Meanwhile, Didi Pickles tries to plan the perfect Mother's Day with her mom Minka, while Betty DeVille helps Stu Pickles with his invention to help mothers.
Rugrats Adventure Game is an educational adventure point and click video game based on the Rugrats television series released for Microsoft Windows and Macintosh on September 30, 1998. It was developed and published by Broderbund. The game follows Tommy Pickles and friends Chuckie, Phil, and Lil as they try to rescue Tommy's beloved toy Reptar from being thrown out as garbage. The game incorporates point and click gameplay, with characters and objects appearing in different locations even after the player has visited them once. Angelica, the series' main antagonist, appears in the game to help further the story and ultimately become the game's main villain.