Rugrats in Paris: The Movie

Rugrats in Paris: The Movie
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Stig Bergqvist Paul Demeyer
Written by	J. David Stem David N. Weiss Jill Gorey Barbara Herndon Kate Boutilier
Based on	Rugrats by Arlene Klasky Gábor Csupó Paul Germain
Produced by	Arlene Klasky Gábor Csupó
Starring	Christine Cavanaugh E. G. Daily Tara Strong Cheryl Chase Kath Soucie Dionne Quan Jack Riley Melanie Chartoff Michael Bell Tress MacNeille Julia Kato Philip Proctor Susan Sarandon John Lithgow
Edited by	John Bryant
Music by	Mark Mothersbaugh[1]
Production companies	Klasky Csupo[2] Munich Film Partners GmbH[2] Nickelodeon Movies[2] Paramount Pictures[2] Rugrats Productions KG [2]
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures[1] Nickelodeon Movies[1]
Release date	November 17, 2000 (2000-11-17) (United States) May 31, 2001 (2001-05-31) (Germany)
Running time	78 minutes[3]
Countries	Germany[1] United States[1]
Language	English
Budget	$30 million[3]
Box office	$103.3 million[3]

Rugrats in Paris: The Movie is a 2000 animated comedy film based on the Nickelodeon animated television series Rugrats and the second film in the series.^[4] 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.

The film was released in the United States on November 17, 2000, almost two years after the release of The Rugrats Movie in 1998.^[3] Rugrats in Paris: The Movie was the best-reviewed film in the series from critics and fans alike and grossed over $103 million worldwide against a production budget of $30 million.

Plot[]

After coming home from the jungle A wedding reception of Lou Pickles and his new wife Lulu, a mother-child dance during the reception saddens Chuckie Finster and his father Chas as Chuckie's mother died of a terminal illness shortly after Chuckie was born.

Tommy Pickles' father Stu is summoned to EuroReptarland, a Japanese amusement park in Paris, France, to fix a malfunctioning Reptar robot. Due to Stu being called in the early morning thanks to the time difference, he ultimately brings Tommy, Chuckie, Phil, Lil, Angelica, Dil, their dog Spike, and their parents to Paris to take a vacation at the park.

Coco LaBouche, the dastardly, cold-hearted and child-hating head of EuroReptarland, plans to succeed Mr. Yamaguchi as the president of the entire Reptar franchise and its parent company Yamaguchi Industries upon his retirement. However, Yamaguchi says that his successor has to love children to be able to do the job, so Coco lies to him by making him think that she is engaged to a man with a child. Upon the Rugrats' arrival at EuroReptarland, Angelica overhears a conversation between Coco and Yamaguchi before being caught. To save herself, Angelica reveals that Chas is looking for a second wife, prompting a delighted Coco to pound on the idea.

Coco strikes up a relationship with Chas, but her attempts to bond with Chuckie fail. The adults and babies meet Coco's overworked but kind-hearted assistant Kira Watanabe and her daughter Kimi, who hail from Japan, but are now living in France. Kira reluctantly helps LaBouche to win Chas' affections. Meanwhile, Spike gets lost in the streets of Paris and falls in love with a stray poodle named Fifi.

Kira tells the babies the origins of Reptar, explaining he was a feared monster until a princess revealed his gentler side to make the frightened humans like him. Chuckie decides the princess should be his new mother, and is aided by his friends to reach an animatronic replica of the princess in the park that they were unaware of, but they are stopped by Coco's ninja security guards. At the show's premiere, Angelica informs Coco of Chuckie's wish, so Coco sneaks backstage and takes the spotlight as the princess, luring Chuckie into her arms to make her seem wonderful with children. Chas is ecstatic, deciding she would make an excellent mother and decides on the spot to marry her.

On her wedding day, Coco and her accomplice Jean-Claude kidnapped the children (including Angelica) and trapped them in a warehouse. Upon witnessing this, Kira stands up to Coco and threaten to tell Chas the truth, but Coco throws her out of her limo, leaving Kira to race to the wedding herself via bicycle. Chuckie rallies the children to crash his father's wedding at Notre Dame de Paris using the Reptar robot. They are chased by Jean-Claude, who pilots Reptar's nemesis known the Robosnail robot. The chase culminates in a fight on a bridge, and Chuckie knocks Robosnail into the Seine River.

Chuckie interrupts the wedding just in time and Jean-Claude reveals Coco's true nature and her kidnapping plot, prompting an angry Chas to call off the wedding in disgust. Angelica also exposes Coco's plan to Yamaguchi, who dismisses Coco. Angelica rips Coco's wedding dress and Coco disappears out of the church humiliated and defeated while Spike chases Jean-Claude away. Kira arrives at the church and apologizes to Chas for what Coco did to him and Chuckie. However, Chas admits that he was being blinded by the romance in Paris and apologizes to Chuckie for doubting him. But then, Chas and Kira began to fall in love after they spoke the lines from one of Chas' favorite poems, which turns out to be one of Kira's favorite.

Chas and Kira eventually get married sometime later after returning to the United States while Fifi is adopted by the Finster family. As the new family take the first dance together, they are interrupted when the whole dance floor erupts into an all out food fight instigated by the babies.

Cast[]

Main[]

• Christine Cavanaugh as Chuckie Finster
• E. G. Daily as Tommy Pickles
• Cheryl Chase as Angelica Pickles
• Kath Soucie as Phil DeVille, Lil DeVille and Betty DeVille
• Tara Strong as Dil Pickles
• Dionne Quan as Kimi Watanabe
• Jack Riley as Stu Pickles
• Melanie Chartoff as Didi Pickles
• Michael Bell as Chas Finster and Drew Pickles
• Julia Kato as Kira Watanabe
• Tress MacNeille as Charlotte Pickles
• Phil Proctor as Howard DeVille

Supporting[]

• Susan Sarandon as Coco LaBouche
• John Lithgow as Jean-Claude

Guest[]

• Joe Alaskey as Grandpa Lou Pickles
• Debbie Reynolds as Lulu Pickles
• Cree Summer as Susie Carmichael
• Mako Iwamatsu as Mr. Yamaguchi
• Marlene Mituko, Darrel Kunitomi and Goh Misawa as the villagers of the "Princess Spectacular" show
• Tim Curry as a sumo singer
• Billy West as a sumo singer
• Kevin Michael Richardson as a sumo singer
• Paul DeMeyer as the street cleaner and dog catcher
• Phillip Simon as the animatronic bus driver
• Richard Michel as the French worker
• Charlie Adler as the inspector
• Phillipe Benichou as the ninja
• Dan Castellaneta as the priest
• Lisa McClowry as the princess
• Casey Kasem as the wedding DJ
• Roger Rose as the Finster wedding DJ
• Margaret Smith as the stewardess

Soundtrack[]

Rugrats in Paris: The Movie: Music from the Motion Picture
Soundtrack album by Various Artists
Released	November 7, 2000 (2000-11-07)
Recorded	1999–2000
Genre	R&B hip hop pop
Length	50:55
Label	Nickelodeon Maverick
Rugrats soundtrack chronology
The Rugrats Movie: Music from the Motion Picture (1998) Rugrats in Paris: The Movie: Music from the Motion Picture (2000) Rugrats Go Wild: Music from the Motion Picture (2003)
Singles from Rugrats in Paris: The Movie: Music From the Motion Picture
"Who Let the Dogs Out?" Released: July 25, 2000 "My Getaway" Released: November 5, 2000 "L'Histoire d'une fée, c'est..." Released: February 27, 2001

Soundtrack

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[5]

A soundtrack for the film, titled Rugrats in Paris: The Movie: Music From the Motion Picture, was released on November 7, 2000 on Maverick Records.^[6] Like the last soundtrack, it also contains an enhanced part: the theme song to the film "Jazzy Rugrat Love" by Teena Marie.

No.	Title	Artist(s)	Length
1.	"My Getaway"	T-Boz (of TLC)	3:50
2.	"You Don't Stand a Chance"	Amanda	3:44
3.	"Life is a Party"	Aaron Carter	3:26
4.	"Who Let the Dogs Out?"	Baha Men	3:18
5.	"Final Heartbreak"	Jessica Simpson	3:42
6.	"When You Love"	Sinéad O'Connor	5:18
7.	"I'm Telling You This"	No Authority	4:08
8.	"These Boots Are Made for Walkin'"	Geri Halliwell (from Spice Girls)	3:03
9.	"Chuckie Chan (Martial Arts Expert of Reptarland)"	Isaac Hayes & Alex Brown	4:19
10.	"L'Histoire d'une fée, c'est..."	Mylène Farmer	5:12
11.	"I Want a Mom That Will Last Forever"	Cyndi Lauper	3:47
12.	"Excuse My French"	2Be3	3:03
13.	"Bad Girls"	Cheryl Chase with Tim Curry, Kevin Michael Richardson and Billy West	4:05

Bonus enhanced track on enhanced CD

No.	Title	Artist(s)	Length
14.	"Jazzy Rugrat Love" (Theme from Rugrats in Paris)	Teena Marie	5:07
Total length:			50:55

Release[]

The film was released on November 17, 2000 by Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies.

Home media[]

Paramount Home Entertainment released the film on VHS and DVD on March 27, 2001. In 2009, Paramount released the film via iTunes and the PlayStation Store.^[7][8][9]

On August 29, 2017, Rugrats in Paris was re-released on DVD.

Reception[]

Critical reception[]

On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds an approval rating of 76% based on 74 reviews and an average rating of 6.29/10. The site's critical consensus read: "When the Rugrats go to Paris, the result is Nickelodeon-style fun. The plot is effectively character-driven, and features catchy songs and great celebrity voice-acting."^[10] Metacritic gave a film a weighted average score of 62 out of 100 based, on 25 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[11] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale.^[12]

Roger Ebert gave the film three out of four stars, stating, "The point is, adults can attend this movie with a fair degree of pleasure. That's not always the case with movies for kids, as no parent needs to be reminded. There may even be some moms who insist that the kids need to see this movie. You know who you are."^[13] Common Sense Media gave the film a three out of five stars, stating, "Eighty minutes of visual surprises, clever comedy."^[14] Empire gave the film a three out of five stars, stating, "Just as good as the last outing, this is great kiddie fare with some filmic references for the adults."^[15]

Plugged In wrote, "If parents are wanting more of what they see on the Rugrats TV show (plenty of potty humor, disrespectful language and zero discipline), then this movie lives up to expectations. Never is a child scolded for making a mess or reprimanded for being rude (of course, some of this is due to the fact that many of the characters aren’t old enough to talk and only communicate with each other). The movie is cleverly written—it actually has the ability to hold adults’ attention for longer than three minutes—but it’s not funny that chaos is the norm and children get to do whatever they want whenever they want. Neither is it appropriate for a children’s film to tip its hat to such R-rated flicks as The Godfather and A Few Good Men."^[16]

Box office[]

The film grossed $76.5 million in North America and $26.8 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $103.3 million, against a $30 million budget.

In the United States, it opened at #2, grossing $22.7 million in its opening weekend for an average of $7,743 from 2,934 venues.^[17][18] In the United Kingdom, it opened at #3, behind Bridget Jones's Diary and Spy Kids.^[19]

Sequel[]

A third and last installment, entitled Rugrats Go Wild, was released on June 13, 2003, featuring the characters from The Wild Thornberrys.

References[]

External links[]

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Rugrats in Paris: The Movie

• Rugrats in Paris at the Wayback Machine (archive index)
• Rugrats in Paris: The Movie at IMDb
• Rugrats in Paris: The Movie at Box Office Mojo
• Rugrats in Paris: The Movie at Rotten Tomatoes
• Rugrats in Paris: The Movie at Metacritic