#Phil and Lil Deville | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

popculturebuffet · 2 months ago

Text

Nickmas: Rugrats Holiday Triple Feature! (Comission for WeirdKev27)

Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah and Heri Za Kwanzaa to all of you! It's once again time for the n n nickest time of the year, Nickmas! We launched it with christmas and july this year and it's back again. This year the last night of Chanukah and first night of kwanza are both on the same night and the same week as christmas. So this Holiday Convergeance calls for a matching celebration, thus i'm covering three rugrats specials on all three holidays. I'll get to the rest of the rugrats specials next year

So we can focus on the good stuff, a nice spread that not only captures three great holidays , two of which are badly underserved by holiday specials but three distinct eras of rugrats: It's early years, it's revivial era after it's surge in popularity, and it's post movies era now with Kimmie and a sprig of dil. So join me under the cut for a fun holiday trek through christmas, chanukah and kwanzaa past!

The santa experince comes to us from season 2, when the show still had it's old fashioned coloring and more wobbly deisgns. It was a good time.

The Santa Experince reminded me why I loved rugrats as a kid. As an adult the baby talk, parental neglect and what not wore on me a bit last time I checked them out.. but this episode reminds me why the series works. For adults you relate to the parents: their joy in sharing christmas with the kids, their panic at getting it together and the perils of worrying about your kid's waning belief in santa. For kids there's the joy of the babies and their unique understanding of the world, their piecing together somethign WE get and the simple holiday trials of giving gifts or being scared of santa. Combine them and you get both warm nostalgia and relatable hyjinks and a fairly good show. Still not in my top tier of nick toons but I get more what I saw in it, especailly in these early days where they experimented more.

The Santa Experience is a solid special, and befitting a special it has a lot of plots going at once: Angelica has a run in with a store santa where she pulls his beard and finds out he's a fake, and in general is angelica about it. I love Drew's misguided belief she now isn't beliving in santa.. and missing the actual crisis as Angelica starts to worry her actions have consequences after she swindles Phil and Lil out of their presents. This includes your standard scarring for life rugrats nightmare. As a kid I didn't like this specail, felt it was mean... and found out why as santa putting COAL, COAL EVERYWHERE is still creepy as hell. It's not Angelica's little brother nightmare baby terrifying but it's still unsettling. Rugrats had a knack for both nailing down childhood terrors.. and creating them.

Childhood Trauma aside the rest of the plots are slight but still good fun: Chucky is, naturally, terrified of Santa, something Chas wants to help fix and Tommy is of course optimstic about him, while Phil and Lil have a gift of the magi plot thanks to angelica's machenations, using the free toys she gets from her santa encounter to steal theirs. It... exists.. and really works best as a vehicle for Angelica. Her guilt and attempts to right things are charming, especially since the parents shuffling her or the twins around on christmas eve makes her attempts to get on the nice list near impossible and you don't feel too bad for her as it's entirely out of self intrest: she dosen't have a genuine turn towards some noble goal, she just wants her presents. It's honestly one of the better angelica plots: she still bullies the babies but isn't as harmful and her own guilt is eating at her. She could TELL the adults why, but she knows she'd be punished so she instead twists in the wind and only gets out of it by doing something kind, gifiting the gifts she grifted back. The gift of the magi thing bores me as it's been done so many times and usually makes little sense, but Angelica's part of it is great. Chucky fearing santa is a neat runner.

Naturally the adults steal the show a bit as Chaz and Drew to have santa himself show up. Chaz wants to be Santa but Drew is a dick and decides "no i'lll hire an actor because you suck at this Chaz.' Drew is the kind of guy who has valid points, he is often right that Stu struggles to support his kids doing his dream job, but is so smug about it you just want him to be proven wrong. He can't just say "Chaz I want someone who looks more like santa" he has to mock Chaz' acting talent. When he points out repeadtly Stu's unstable he has to mock his talent as an inventor which isn't in question, the 90's just wasn't friendly to self enterprise. Nowadays a man making bespoke toys out of his basement.. would probably still struggle a bit, I say that as someone who does comissions, but would probably get way more work, especially from people wanting statues or custom toys. Also a lot of realdolls but Stu is a professinal and a non judgmental guys. He'd make you that sex doll of the fish from shark tale because he is a real one. Didi would probably get a bit upset and Drew would be judgmental but Stu gets it. Sometimes you want to fuck a cartoon charcter. As long as it's not a current one his kid watches he gets you. Stu Pickles gets your kinks.

I had a point.. ah yes. Drew Pickles sucks. If he were an ice cream flavor he'd be pralines and dick. He's a great character but the smuggest of the group, that judgmental asshole you hang out with because you have to: he's Stu's brother, he's one of Chaz's only friends and Howard i'm sure has opinons, but no one cares about howard so let's move on. I could dunk on Drew all day to be honest, he's just that kind of punchable man you have to deal with. Everyone has a Drew Pickles. It's why he works so well as a character.

Thankfully for me his plan fails as his santa calls to say he can't make it while lounging on the couch. And look man I get it: their at a cabin, they rented a cabin btw, it's nice and christmassy moving on, it's christmas eve you don't want to work and your job is probably not plesant. I don't want to work on christmas eve eve. But as a professional if I can't do something I tell my clients; if i'm sick or my works backed up I tell them, I give them their money, or I tell them it'll be delayed. I'm trying to get THREE reviews done today that piled up while I was sick son. I'm trying to avoid working on christmas eve but I will if I gotta because i'm a fucking professoinal. Have some respect fictoinal santa actor. Have some damn respect.

So the REAL santa shows up, gives everyone present.. and in my faviorite bit of the episode leaves some Coal in angelica's malibu synthia mojo dojo casa house as a reminder that she was good enough to get a present.. but he's watching. And he'll send the OTHER santa next time

All in all a decent episode. Not a new holiday faviorite but i'm glad I revisited it. Way better than I remembered once I got past my Coal Trauma.

Now to put on your yammukah for Rugrats Channukah. I'm not jewish, but this special was a yearly treat for me as a kid and taught me what Channukah even was and is the gold standard for covering the holidy for me. I grant there aren't a ton of Channukah specials: off the top of my head we have the excellent Ghost and Molly McGee episode I covered last year, occasional mentions in Christmas specials, and that holiday classic 8 Crazy Nights.

There's some good sitcom episodes, see the Goldbergs and Friends, which also tackle how hard is with Christmas encroacing, but there should be more hannkuah specials. Get on it peanuts, your active again. Make one.

Still this isn't just the best by lack of choice: RC treats the holiday with holy reverence, holiday fun and helps teach kids about it without stopping for several minutes. It organically threads everything: the story of hannkuah and the religious opression and the candle that burned 7 days thanks to god are all threaded in naturally. Didi makes Latkes. They go to a Hannkuah Festival at a temple.

Not only that but i'ts clear Didi's faith means a lot to her: She enjoys celebrating it and makes sure it's as important as christmas to her kids, with the babies, both Tommy and his gentle buddies, all enjoying it. Except Angelica but angelica sucks so she's the perfect "who gives a shit about hannkukah" kid. She just wants to watch her Cynthia special. She does not for some reason want to watch it's lead in santa vs the alien. That's right Santa's fighting Xenomorphs people!

Disney pay me to make that movie... or just take the idea but put the trans subplot back in Win or Loose and no one gets hurt. Specifically Pluto. He's the only one of your precious sensational six I'll dare harm.

The Pickles are all going to the Hannkukah Pagent at the temple, hence the festival, centering on Grandpa Boris. Grandpa Boris is a character i've grown to appricate over the years. The biggest reason is that he's an immigrant... and that fact's fully present and never hidden or fully laughed at. He brings up "the old country" a bunch sure and speaks with an accent.. but they mostly stay away from "HE'S FOREIGN" jokes. He's just Tommy's weirder grandpa and most of the humor comes from his arguments with his wife Inka, which themselves are just refeshingly "old married couple" and not "MARRIAGE IS A SINK HOLE FROM WHICH THERE'S NO ESCAPE".. something really common in rugrats. The major marriages all seem to be happy apart from Betty steamrolling over howard, and even then they seem happy. Granted it could just be that their mutual beards given the revival but they still seem to get along. Borris is just an old man with at thick yiddish accent who comes from russia.

It's also what makes the story work as he has a petty rivarly with his costar Schlomo, which Didi brushes off as "oh their just friends".. which they aren't: Schlomo is egotistical and Boris is resentful and they've hated each other since before they came to this country.

This in turn sets up our fun misunderstanding: The kids search for the "meaning of hannukah".. and see schlomo as the "meanie of hannukah" and want to protect him. It's honestly adorable as is the fact Tommy loves both his grandpas. His bond with Lou's more apparent, but he eagerly jumps in to defend boris as does everyone else.

Sadly the pagent ends up a mess: Schlomo and Boris end up getting worked into a shoot as Schlomo is playing king herrod and the two end up fighting for real, while the babies attacking Schlomo only gets them sent ot daycare. Focusing on that... while I like Didi sometimes... she really is far from the best parent when it comes to reading her children as she's utterly baffled. Deed, A bunch of kids attack a mean man who was attacking someone they clearly like. It's not rocket science. This is why your kids always escape. It's not because of neglect or plot convience, it's because you overanylize simple shit. Which i'll grant is my job 5 days a week, but but your not getting paid for it Didi.

Angelica also got thrown in as she pissed off a dredle she stepped on earlier. I shan't elaborate further. So she tricks the babies into stealing the tv then fights with them over it till it ends up breaking in front of scholomo, whose backstage while a random actor stalls because Stu is struggling to get the menora there on time with Lou. Oh Stu has a b-plot about a massive gaudy menora he made for the play that he had to fix. Only really notable because it's plot relevant and there's a great gag of him and Lou getting stuck in a parade by accident.

The ending is just.. the sweetest thing though: Angelica's tv breaks, so she breaks down and Schlomo has no idea how to calm her.. but Boris does, having them both sit and Scholomo read them the story of hannukah.. and thus when Stu arrives it rises on both rivals having set aside their diffrences to help the kids, all reading peacefully together. It's a touching tribute to the meaning of hannkuah, together and a wonderful capper to the specail as a whole and it's various segments of the babies acting out the story of hannkuah. Which includes tommy leading a fucking army. The reboot have better of had tommy as aragorn in some sort of lord of the rings parody.. or chuckie as bilbo int he hobbit. Jus tsomething tolkien with a lot of death.

This special is truly excellent: touching, informative for us gentiles, sweet and really funny: Angelica's subplot is nice and hilarious and relatable to any kid dragged to church when they'd rather watch holiday specails, and Stu's exists but has that one good gag and pays off real well. Easily the best of the three today.

Rugrats Kwanzaa comes to us late in the series. Santa Experince was early and while I didn't really talk about it in that seciond, Channkuah comes from the early days of the second production run, with slightly smotoher animation, digtial coloring etc by popular demand. BOth at least early enough to have played a ton. In Contrast Kwanzaa is from that era I barely watched the show and Rugrats, while still an instution, was no longer THE show for Nick but just A show for nick. It'd gotten them two great movies, would net them a third movie that's eh later, it'd kinda run it's course.

That being said it still could put out a good episode and a Rugrats Kwanzaa is solid. Admitely part of my love for it is who it focuses on: the Carmicheals, Susie's family. I forget about them as the show rarely used them compared to it's core families: They used Susie plenty but it took till the reboot for them to mingle more actively, and I feel it's a wasted opporunity as Susie's family is one of the most unique. Not just for the obvious reasons of "she's the only black character int he main cast", but that she's the only rugrat with older siblings. Phil and Lil are twins, Chuckie is barely older than Kimmi, but Susie has two older brothers both kids, and a teenage sister. It's a dynamic we don't really see. I ssupect her sibs didn't get as much focus as they can't understand the babies, but it's still neat.

It also drives the episode: Her Aunt T is visiting.. but her jerky older brother Buster, the sportier one and the asshole (Edwin, the geeky slightly older than susie sibling is my faviorite), says she dosen't have talent, something her sister Alisa backs up. So Susie spends the episode in self doubt not helpd that her gift from Aunt T is a scrapbook.. not getting it's signifigance.

Aunt T herself is great, a vivacious woman whose eager to celebrate Kwanzaa with her family, snarks at her nephews and nieces and is generally a hoot deciding to the Kramu, the celebratory dinner, early to bring the family together as the kids are too distracted with their own stuff: Alisa's new phone, Buster being a dick, Edwin.. edwin did no wrong. Edwin is a precious bean. I also love her snarking with Randy, whose career as a children's tv writer she dosen't get, as I forgot how prentetious randy could be. Like don't get me wrong, writing for a children's show is important, but he's a bit pompus about it.

The episode isn't as throught about Kwanzaa but hammers in the important parts of it: it's about your roots, family and what you can do.. and thus poor Susie thinking she has no talent as her sibs all have trophies tries to find one. She is pretty good at hair, having a new hair styling kit she uses on chucky. Chucky rocks those fucking bows. Also the other kids are here, but the focus is Squarley on Susie, something I don't remember the show doing often. She had spotlights and a really good episode at her house with tommy early on, but didn't have a ton of episodes that didn't involve angelica. here she's just.. a kid trying to find herself.

Aunt T Comforting her is touching as you'd expect, explaning it's about family as a whole not being specail and that even if it was.. Susie is. We also get some REALLY fantastic flashbacks over the history to show why susie's mom, Lucy, loves her aunt so much. While we're just meeting Aunt T it dosen't feel forced, everyone has relatives who live out of town, and shows why: It shows her and her husband meeting dr king, aunt t encouraging Lucy to sing in a choir and my faviorite... Aunt T giving LUcy the money to go to harvard. It's a smallt hing but it shows how that shit can be tough. That T was there for her and got her the life she has now. It's a sweet episode.. not much ot talk about honestly and not nearly as personal as Channkuah felt, but still a deeply sweet episode that both shows off it's holiday well and let's susie have an actual showcase, let's her be a character and the others just support. Let's Her family as a whole be the center. I"m honestly shocked their spinoff didn't take off as I think it woudl've been great.

So with that I bid you all a happy holidays. i still have one christmas treat left in the bag, but whatever you celebrate, enjoy it and remember i'm pulling for you we're all in this together.

#christmas #channukah #kwanzaa #rugrats #nickelodeon #the 9os #tommy pickles #chucky finster #phil deville #lil deville #susie carmichael #stu pickles #dru pickles #animation #holiday season #festive

8 notes · View notes