Thomas Malcolm Pickles as The Regular-Human Infant

**Thomas Malcolm Pickles** is .

## Summary

Tommy’s father is Christian and his mother is Jewish, and the former born head leader of the babies. He is like twins with Angelica, and is always ready for adventure with courage to spare. Sometimes he leads the babies into trouble (usually as a result of one of Angelica's lies), but he always manages to lead them back out again. He is a loyal friend and always ready for action. Tommy is the best friend of Chuckie Finster, who is the exact opposite of him (except for the fact they are both friendly). He has a younger brother, Dil, who often gets in the way, but Tommy still loves him and is very protective of him. He is the main character in the series and appears in almost every single episode. He also appears to be the smartest of the babies.

## Character history

### Description

In the original *Rugrats* series, Tommy is almost always depicted as speaking in a soft voice and wearing only a baby blue shirt and diaper, though he wore a red orange shirt and overalls in the aired television pilot "Tommy's First Birthday" He is one year old at the beginning of the series, and has only a few strands of hair, the color of which indeterminable. He is white and through his mother, Didi, Tommy is of European Jewish heritage, with her parents being born and raised in Russia and later immigrated to the United States. At his age, he can only be understood by other babies and younger children, such as his cousin Angelica and his neighbor Susie, who are both three years old, and isn't able to communicate with his newborn brother, Dil, which frustrates him at times. But his sibling relationship with his youngest middle sister, Trixie are loving and caring at times. Though the youngest of the babies, Tommy is brave and adventurous and it comes natural for him to serve as their leader, and, in stark contrast to Angelica, who frequently serves as an antagonist, he has a strong sense of justice and is unafraid to stand up for what he believes is right.[*citation needed*] Tommy is highly inquisitive, wants to explore everything, and regularly breaks out of his crib. He often uses a plastic toy screwdriver as a tool for escaping his crib and getting into places. Because of his goodhearted nature, he is sometimes easily manipulated or lied to. He is closest to Chuckie, as Phil and Lil, being twins, spend most of their time with one another and a strong familial bond. His catchphrase is "A baby's gotta do what a baby's gotta do."

### Looks

In the original series, Tommy is only a 1-year old baby toddler, but his catchphrase to Chuckie Finster makes him call himself a toddler when he tells Chuckie not to be such a baby. He has a large, bald head with a few hairs on it, and large, round eyes, with a thin neck, round ears, and a bit of a belly on him. Tommy's outfit consists of a powder blue shirt that shows his belly-button, and a white, baggy diaper with yellow straps on it. He usually walks around barefoot and seems to be a bit pigeon-toed, as both of his feet face inwards.

In the 2021 reboot series, Tommy is still only a 1-year old baby. The only changes to his appearance are the tape straps on his diaper being a grey color rather than the typical yellow and his hair being slightly thinner and harder to see.

### Infant Thomas' Diaper

In *Rugrats*, Tommy tends to look in his diaper for things that help him and his friends out of tough situations. Usually upon reciting his catch-phrase "A baby's gotta do what a baby's gotta do," his diaper straps will come undone and his diaper will slip down, this can lead to his embarrassment as he is seen pulling it back up while holding it and blushing.

Even in the movies his diaper falls down nor his diaper-being•stretched•far-out frequently and shows his backside.

* In the first movie, as he defends Dil from Phil and Lil, his little brother grabs his diaper strap and yanks it, which causes his diaper to fall completely, showing Tommy's backside to the camera and frontside to his friends who look on in awe. As he looks down and sees his diaper has fallen, he quickly pulls it up *very* embarrassed.
* In the second movie, .
	+ On Another Part, .
* In the third movie, He Defends Himself from An Tiger, but An Tiger that Leaps And Grab on The Entire Backside of His Regular Diaper and Yanks It Stretchfully, which Causes his diaper to Stretched Entirely Out, Showing Thomas' Backside to The Entire Camera without The Entire Frontside.
	+ On Another Part, .

His most trusted tool is his screwdriver, which he calls his "Studriver" and is kept in his diaper. This is his go to tool for helping him and his pals get out of cribs, gates, and various other scenarios. Tommy is often seen checking his diaper like a pocket looking to see if his needs are met by something deep inside.

**Tommy Pickles, leader of our intrepid band of Rugrats, is intelligent, courageous, compassionate and articulate. He also happens to be only one year old, which gives him an endlessly interesting perspective on life. Stu and Didi Pickles do their best to coddle their oldest child. But as Tommy says, "A baby's gotta do what a baby's gotta do." Under the not so very watchful eyes of the grown-ups, he leads his Rugrat friends on expeditions to unravel the great mysteries of life -- like "Where does the light go when the refrigerator door is closed?" To Tommy Pickles, the world doesn't always make sense, but it makes an incredible amusement park. - *Rugrats* Description from Klasky Csupo.** Tommy Pickles has changed quite a bit since he was a baby. For one thing, he now has a full head of hair! Some things, however, are still the same: Tommy and Chuckie are still best friends, and Tommy is the guy all his friends turn to when they need advice or guidance. Tommy has done very well in school, getting good grades in almost every class. Still, the pressure of studying and keeping up with his pals can cause him to do strange things, like steal garden gnomes while sleepwalking around the neighborhood! Tommy has also developed a budding talent for making films, and is no doubt on his way to becoming a famous director! Just like he was as a baby, Tommy is brave, loyal, and is eager to join in on any adventure. - *All Grown Up!* Description from Klasky Csupo

### *Rugrats*

As the main protagonist of *Rugrats*, Tommy Pickles appears in the majority of episodes across the show's 13-year run, with many of the storylines centering around him and his family, and with the Pickles household often serving as the primary setting. The original unaired pilot for the series, "Tommy Pickles and the Great White Thing", revolved around Tommy breaking out of his crib to travel to the bathroom and investigate the "great white thing," which is actually a toilet. The first aired episode of *Rugrats* was "Tommy's First Birthday", which was broadcast on Nickelodeon on August 11, 1991. It centered around Tommy first birthday and his birthday party, during which he and the other children believe that eating dog food will turn them into dogs. Some of the first season episodes featured such plotlines as Tommy journeying into a neighbor's house to retrieve a lost ball, Tommy making a mess at a fancy restaurant at his dad's work function, Tommy getting lost at the school where his mother teaches, and Tommy wandering around the stadium during a baseball game, in which he ultimately ends up playing. In the episode "Weening Tommy", his mother transition Tommy away from using a baby bottle, which he resists. Other episodes involved Tommy trying to escape from the doctor's office to avoid a shot, Tommy becoming fearful after Angelica tells him his parents will give him away at a family reunion, and Tommy developing a fear of getting sucked down the bathtub drain. One of the most notable episodes was "A Rugrats Passover", in which Tommy's Grandpa Boris tells the children the Jewish story of the Exodus on Passover. This leads the children to imagining themselves as part of the story, with Tommy playing the part of Moses.

Tommy Pickles has been featured in several other *Rugrats*-related works outside of the main series. He is the protagonist of *The Rugrats Movie* (1998), the story of which is centered around the birth of Tommy's brother and sister; the twins , Dil and Trixie II. Throughout the film, Tommy struggles with the sudden change in his family's dynamic and with accepting Trixie and Dil, who, being a newborn babies, does not understand the concept of sharing, cooperating, or being nice as Tommy does, which Tommy finds to be incredibly difficult to deal with. Ultimately, Tommy comes to accept Trixie and Dil at the end of the film. Tommy Pickles is also featured in *Rugrats in Paris: The Movie* (2000), which is set in Paris and focuses primarily on the wedding of Chuckie's father, as well as Tommy's father Stu being summoned to the amusement part Reptarland to fix a malfunctioning Reptar robot. Tommy appeared as the protagonist once again in the film *Rugrats Go Wild* (2003), a crossover of *Rugrats* and the Nickelodeon animated series *The Wild Thornberrys*, in which Tommy and his family and friends become shipwrecked on a deserted island, where they meet the Thornberry family. Tommy made additional appearances in the straight-to-DVD films *Rugrats Tales from the Crib*, which were released between 2005 and 2006. In July 2018, it was announced that Tommy would appear in newly-planned *Rugrats* television series and a live-action film featuring characters rendered with computer-generated imagery. Plans for the movie were shelved in November 2019.

Nigel Thornberry in *Rugrats Go Wild*.[*citation needed*] A few episodes have been made around this fact; "Truth or Consequences" revealed he made his first film at the age of 37 months, then making a negative film about his siblings and friends. The main storyline of "Brother, Can You Spare The Time?" opened with him mentioning recently winning a young filmmaker's award; and one storyline in the episode "Bad Aptitude" was about Tommy's sudden early retirement from filmmaking after making a flop and receiving an unfavorable (for his filmmaking aspirations) result on his career aptitude exam. However, he has not been seen with his camcorder since "The Big Score", when he was filming Lil at the soccer field.

## Conception

Tommy Pickles was one of several characters inspired by the real-life children of the writers and creators of *Rugrats* at the time the show was conceived. Accounts have differed as to who originally created Tommy Pickles. *Rugrats* co-creators Paul Germain and Arlene Klasky have both claimed to have created the character, with both saying he was based upon their real-life sons. Both, however, say the character was named after Germain's son, Tommy Germain, who was one year old when *Rugrats* was created. Tommy Pickles was temporarily named "Ollie" during the show's creation phase before being renamed Tommy. The last name "Pickles" was a name that Germain said "just occurred to me".

According to Klasky, Tommy Pickles was first illustrated by Gábor Csupó, *Rugrats* co-creator and Klasky's husband at the time. The character and was drawn to look Brandon Csupó, the young son of Klasky and Csupó, who Klasky described as "pigeon-toed, skinny legs, big head, no hair". Csupó has described Tommy as "a spoof on all little balding babies". After Tommy was first conceived and illustrated, Klasky said the Tommy Pickles character was further developed by Germain in his capacity as the story editor, along with his writing staff. Writer Steve Viksten portrayed Tommy as more adventurous than the other characters, and partially modeled the character after the actor John Wayne. Viksten wrote the line: "A baby’s gotta do what a baby's gotta do", which became synonymous with the character. As the series progressed, Klasky inserted more elements of her personal life into Tommy's character, such as being part of an interfaith family and being of Russian Jewish descent.[*citation needed*] Tommy Pickles has been used in various *Rugrats* episodes to highlight and explore irrational childhood fears, such an episode in which he avoids using the bathtub for fear that he will be sucked down the drain.

## Portrayal

Tommy Pickles was voiced by actress E. G. Daily (1991-2008). The voice Daily conceived for Tommy was one of a child character she had been developing since she her youth, and regularly performed to amuse her friends throughout her life. She described as "just a little boy character that kind of lives in me [that] wasn't derived from anything in particular." Immediately upon first seeing claymation of Tommy Pickles, she felt that voice was the correct fit for the character, describing it as "the first voice that came out of me" and "the right kind of voice for that look". Daily said of the character:

> The spirit of Tommy Pickles is definitely my own. I think that was my contribution — my version of my little boy Tommy. I just understood him. He’s genuinely concerned about people. He’s genuinely empathic and definitely has a little fighter’s spirit — a little leader’s spirit. He was just sweet, and I love that I was able to bring that part to him. The part I related to was just wanting people to feel safe. He has noble friend characteristics that I think are beautiful.
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Cheryl Chase had also auditioned for the part of Tommy Pickles and did not get it, but later became the voice actress for the character Angelica Pickles. *Rugrats* was one of the first voice-over auditions in which Daily participated. She almost did not attend because she was having carpet fitted in her apartment and didn't want to leave the workers alone, but her agent encouraged her to go. She replaced a different actress used in the pilot episode, and re-dubbed the first few episodes with her own performance. Daily was pregnant and went into labor during the recording of one of her *Rugrats* episodes. She was having contractions between takes of dialogue, and delivered the baby not long afterward. Daily voiced Tommy for the entire 13-year run of the *Rugrats* television show, and returned to portray the character in the *Rugrats* films and the *All Grown Up!* series. Daily said it was initially a challenge adjusting to an older voice for Tommy in the first episodes of *All Grown Up!*, particularly when the voice cast was "just coming in and trying to define everybody and how they’ve grown".