Rugrats in Paris: The Movie is a 2000 American animated comedy-drama film. It is the second film in the Rugrats film series which in turn was based on the popular Nickelodeon series "Rugrats". It grossed $76.5 million in the US and Canada and $103.3 million worldwide.
It was released by Nickelodeon Movies and Paramount Pictures on November 17, 2000.
Plot
| Spoiler Warning: The following contains important plot details of the entire film. |
The film opens with a parody of The Godfather at the wedding reception of Lou Pickles and his new wife, Lulu.
A mother-child dance during the reception saddens Chuckie Finster, who realizes that he has lived over two years of his life without his mother, who died shortly after he was born. His father, Chas, shares Chuckie's loneliness.
Tommy Pickles' father, Stu, is summoned to EuroReptarland, a Japanese amusement park in Paris, France to fix a malfunctioning Reptar robot. Due to a misunderstanding, Tommy, Chuckie, Phil, Lil, Angelica, Dil, their dog Spike and all their parents travel to Paris to take a vacation at the park.
Coco LaBouche, the cold-hearted, child-hating head of EuroReptarland, yearns to be the president of the entire Reptar franchise and its parent company, Yamaguchi Industries, after her employer, Mr. Yamaguchi, reveals his plans to retire as president.
Yamaguchi says that his successor has to love children to be able to do the job, so LaBouche lies to him by claiming to be 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 wife and suggests that Coco marry him.
Coco strikes up a relationship with Chas, but her attempts to bond with Chuckie fail. The adults and babies meet Coco's overworked assistant Kira Watanabe and her daughter, Kimi, who hail from Japan, but are now living in France. Kira 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, 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 thrilled, deciding she would make an excellent mother and decides on the spot to marry her, much to everyone's surprise, including his friends.
On her wedding day, Coco, aided by her accomplice Jean-Claude, kidnaps the children and traps them in a warehouse. Chuckie rallies the children to crash his father's wedding at the Notre Dame cathedral using the Reptar robot. They are chased by Jean-Claude, who pilots Reptar's nemesis, the Robosnail robot. The chase culminates in a fight on a bridge and Chuckie knocks Robosnail into the Seine River.
Coco forces Chas to go through with the wedding despite Chuckie's absence, and rushes the Archbishop of Paris until she loses her temper and throws the Bible at him. Chuckie crashes the wedding and Coco then pretends to be happy to see Chuckie, but Jean-Claude bursts in and accidentally reveals Coco's true nature by announcing that her kidnapping plot had failed.
Chas (seeing Coco for the evil liar she truly is) angrily calls the wedding off. Angelica divulges Coco's plans to Yamaguchi, who is also in attendance, and the former president fires Coco from EuroReptarland. When Coco tries to leave, she realizes the babies are on her wedding train and angrily yanks them off in front of everyone.
Angelica angrily tells Coco that only she can do that and, as Coco leaves the church, Angelica stomps on the wedding dress, and ripped it, revealing her lingerie. Spike chases the defeated and humiliated Coco from the church with Jean-Claude in tow.
Kira arrives at the church after having been thrown out of the wedding car earlier and apologizes to Chas for what Coco did to him and Chuckie. Chas and Kira eventually fall in love and get married. Spike's new girlfriend, Fifi, is adopted by the Finster family. Chuckie gets Kira as a new mother, and Kimi as a new sister.
The film ends with a cake fight between the characters and their families.
Voice Cast
- Christine Cavanaugh as Chuckie Finster
- Michael Bell as Chas Finster
- E.G. Daily as Tommy Pickles
- Cheryl Chase as Angelica Pickles
- Kath Soucie as Phil and Lil DeVille
- Cree Summer as Susie Carmichael
- Tara Strong as Dil Pickles
- Joe Alaskey as Grandpa Lou Pickles
- Debbie Reynolds as Lulu Pickles
- Michael Bell as Drew Pickles
- Jack Riley as Stu Pickles
- Melanie Chartoff as Didi Pickles
- Tress MacNeille as Charlotte Pickles
- Kath Soucie as Betty DeVille
- Phil Proctor as Howard DeVille
- Dionne Quan as Kimi Watanabe-Finster
- Julia Kato as Kira Watanabe-Finster
- Susan Sarandon as Coco LaBouche
- John Lithgow as Jean-Claude
- Mako as Mr. Yamaguchi
- Marlene Mituko, Darrel Kunitomi and Goh Misawa as the villagers of the "Princess Spectacular" show
- Tim Curry as the sumo singer
- Billy West as the sumo singer
- Kevin M. Richardson as the 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
- Casey Kasem as the wedding DJ
- Roger Rose as the Finster wedding DJ
- Margaret Smith as the stewardess
Production
Originally, the film was supposed to be more of a musical (similar to The Rugrats Movie).
The Rugrats were set to sing "L' Chuckie Chan" and "Ooie Gooie World Theme" while Chuckie performed "I Want a Mom That Will Last Forever," though a much sillier version. While these songs remain in the film, they are performed by other artists respectfully. Only two songs ("Bad Girls" and "Packin' to So") are still sung by the characters in the movie.
During the original theatrical run, an unfinished episode of "Spongebob Squarepants" would play before the film's start. It was the episode Shanghaied and ended at a scene that would be determined almost a year later by fan votes, this version of the episode is somewhat infamous as being the original version which contained very frightening images; one scene showing the character Squidward falling through a skeleton themed background was so scary, that when it finally aired on television it was reanimated to be spaghetti instead.
"Rugrats in Paris: The Movie" was Christine Cavanaugh's final movie role as she retired from acting a year later.
Box Office
"Rugrats in Paris: The Movie" grossed $103,291,131 worldwide from a $30 million budget. In the United States, it grossed $22,718,184 in its opening weekend for an average of $7,743 from 2,934 venues.
Critical Reception
Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a 75% approval rating from critics based on 73 reviews. The critical consensus reads: "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."
Metacritic gives a film a 62% based on 25 reviews, indicating "Generally favorable reviews".
New York Post Michael Medved from the New York Post said that the film "seems more like a merchandising ploy than a successful attempt to entertain kids and their parents."
The Chicago Tribune wrote that "isn't novel entertainment, but adults who accompany kids to it are not likely to feel that it is a form of abuse for either of them."
Trailer
Rugrats in Paris The Movie Trailer