The Rugrats are set to return to the big screen after more than 20 years in a new live-action/CG hybrid feature film.
The original cartoon series, which focused on a group of babies and toddlers using their imaginations as they navigated every day life, premiered on Nickelodeon in 1993 and ran for 172 episodes over the next 13 years.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, the latest take will see main characters Tommy Pickles and his friends Chuckie Finster and Phil and Lil DeVille animated and set in the real world à la Sonic the Hedgehog.
It’s unclear as yet which other characters will also be returning such as Tommy’s little brother Dil Pickles, his dog Spike, or older cousin and bully Angelica Pickles, who infamously carried a sad-looking doll called Cynthia around with her.
The Rugrats’ parents Didi and Stu Pickles, Chas Finster, Drew and Charlotte Pickles and Betty and Howard DeVille, also regularly featured in the original series.
Jason Moore, whose credits include Pitch Perfect and the Tina Fey-Amy Poeheler comedy Sisters, is set to direct the new film with a script written by Saturday Night Live actor Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidell.
Karen Rosenfelt, along with Rugrats co-creators Arlene Klasky and Gábor Csupó, are attached to produce.
Over the years Rugrats has inspired a number of theatrical films, including 1998’s The Rugrats Movie, 2000’s Rugrats in Paris and 2003’s Rugrats Go Wild, which was a crossover with another Nickelodeon animated property, The Wild Thornberrys.
A sequel TV show titled All Grown Up! which ran for 13 episodes and showed the Rugrats as pre-teens followed in 2002.
There was also a CGI Paramount+ reboot of Rugrats which aired in 2021 and featured most of the original show's voice cast, including Tara Strong who voices the character Dil.
Speaking about the change from hand drawn animation to CGI, she admitted that she was initially a “little bit nervous”.
Speaking to The Hollywood Handle, the voice actress explained: “I was a little bit nervous cause I really loved the original animation. They’ve [the production team] done such an amazing job at marrying how [the series] felt before with the newest technology and CG. And it’s a really pretty and beautiful show and it’s pretty exciting, it’s pretty great.”
E.G Daily, who voices Tommy, agreed, adding: “I’m completely floored by how beautiful it looks. Just the eyelines to the eyes of the babies and the perspectives of the babies and just every time I see it or any little clip I get to see, I’m completely blown away by it. It’s incredible.”
