The Rugrats Movie is a 1998 American animated 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.[3] The film introduced Tommy Pickles' baby brother Dil Pickles, who appeared on the series the next year. The film features the voices of E. G. Daily, Tara Strong, Christine Cavanaugh, Kath Soucie, Cheryl Chase, Cree Summer, and Charlie Adler, along with guest stars David Spade, Whoopi Goldberg, Margaret Cho, Busta Rhymes, and Tim Curry. The events of the film take place between the fifth and sixth seasons of Rugrats.
Plans for a Rugrats film adaptation, along with Ren and Stimpy and Doug, began when Nickelodeon made a contract with 20th Century Fox to produce films between 1993 and 1995.[4] However, the contract expired with no films into production. Around the same year when the contract expired, development of the film restarted with Paramount Pictures since Nickelodeon's parent company, Viacom, purchased the studio in 1994 and production had restarted on the television series after a small hiatus.
The Rugrats Movie was released by Paramount Pictures in the United States on November 20, 1998.[1] The film received generally mixed reviews from critics, but was a box office success, grossing $141 million worldwide. It became the first non-Disney animated film to make over $100 million at the domestic box office.[5] The film is followed by two sequels: Rugrats in Paris in 2000 and Rugrats Go Wild in 2003.
