The Rugrats Movie
The first theatrical film from the popular Nickelodeon TV  series  became the surprise hit of the 1998 holiday box-office crunch,  trouncing the highly competitive kids market. The key ingredient to the Rugrats' success is the writing. Venturing into their first theatrical movie, the pals--including the intrepid diaper-wearing Tommy Pickles, the nervous Chuckie, the twins Lil and Phil, and the  wonderfully prissy Angelica--garble English into funny prose ("I want those  fugitives back in custard-y!") and use movie references in their fantasy life.  The opening here is a dead-on spoof ofRaiders of the Lost Ark.The big news for the movie is that Tommy gets a new baby brother, named Dylan (or Dil for short). The rest of the film has no real plot but is  a series of adventures as the clan gets lost in the forest riding an  inventive Reptar wagon that is the '90s equivalent of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Parents search for the kids, the kids learn new lessons, everyone goes home happy.The Rugrats Movieis not as wildly appealing asA Bug's Lifebut is far goofier and wackier with  its animation. There's also a tremendous sense of joy that is often missing from cartoons these days, and thesongsused in the film-- from such diverse musicians as Busta Rhymes, Iggy Pop, Lisa Loeb, Lou Rawls, Beck, and Devo--add to the fun. It's an acquired taste, but the creators' first  efforts to take the 10-minute TV sketches into an 80-minute feature pay off.The video contains a short (Winslow Doc) from Nickelodeon's  seriesCatDog. Although the animation is similar, one can only hope the series does not reach the popularity ofRugrats.--Doug Thomas