Nickelodeon and Paramount Pictures announced today a relaunch of the kids’ entertainment franchise Rugrats. A new animated-series revival featuring the characters from the ’90s cartoon has received with a 26-episode order from Nickelodeon; and Paramount Players, the new film division launched to develop projects based on properties from Viacom cable channels, has given a greenlight to a live-action film featuring CGI characters. Both the TV series and the movie will include new adventures with beloved characters Tommy, Chuckie, Phil, Lil, Susie and Angelica, and will also introduce a new world of characters.
The show’s original creators Arlene Klasky, Gábor Csupó and Paul Germain will return to the TV series as executive producers. Nickelodeon’s Rugrats will be produced in Burbank, Calif., with production already underway. Additional news of the TV series, airdate and casting will be announced in the coming months. Sarah Levy, COO of Viacom Media Networks and interim president of Nickelodeon said the following:
“Rugrats is hands-down one of the most celebrated cartoons in TV history, and we are thrilled for a whole new audience to meet these iconic characters in brand-new adventures,” Sarah Levy, COO of Viacom Media Networks and interim president of Nickelodeon. “What was true in 1991 when the original show premiered is still true today: kids are fascinated with the world of babies. We can’t wait for today’s kids to meet Tommy, Chuckie and pals.”
The Rugrats movie will be written by David Goodman and is set to be released on Nov. 13, 2020 by Paramount Players, the division of Paramount Pictures that develops and produces co-branded feature films with Viacom’s leading media networks.
“Now feels like the ideal time to reintroduce this iconic cast of characters to a whole new generation of young fans,” said Brian Robbins, president of Paramount Players. “Kids who grew up with Tommy Pickles and the Rugrats crew will now be able to share that experience with their own children.”
Hopefully Rugrats will thrive as a successful relaunch of a popular 90s favorite, though it might be hard to recapture the magic of the original since Christine Cavanaugh, who was the voice of Chuckie, and Jack Riley, who was the voice of Stu Pickles, have both sadly passed away since the end of the series in 2004.
