Rugrats Go Wild

''Rugrats Go Wild'' is a 2003 American animated crossover adventure film based on the Nickelodeon animated television series ''Rugrats'' and ''The Wild Thornberrys''. It is the final installment of both the ''Rugrats'' and ''The Wild Thornberrys'' film series and serves as the sequel to both '' Rugrats in Paris: The Movie'' and ''The Wild Thornberrys Movie''. The film was the first to feature Nancy Cartwright as the voice of Chuckie Finster following original voice actress Christine Cavanaugh's retirement in 2001. The film follows the Rugrats and their families as they prepare for their planned vacation, but eventually get stranded on an uncharted island in the Pacific, where they meet the Thornberry family.

The film was produced by Klasky Csupo and released in theaters on June 13, 2003. ''Rugrats Go Wild'' grossed $55.4 million worldwide and unlike its predecessors, it received unfavorable reviews from critics. The film used "Odorama", which allowed the audience to smell aromas from the film using scratch and sniff cards.

Plot

The Rugrats go on an imaginary safari: Tommy impersonates Nigel Thornberry, who is his role model, and spoofs his nature show. The babies and their families are about to go on vacation on a tropical cruise ship, courtesy of Tommy's father, Stu. Upon arriving at the pier to depart, they discover that he has instead rented a ramshackle boat as their real vacation. The families are angered that Stu did not consult them on his plans, and during their journey, the boat is flipped over by a rogue wave during a tropical storm. Everyone is forced to abandon the ship and board a life raft as the ship sinks, and the group blames Stu.

The next morning, they arrive on a small, seemingly uninhabited island in the South China Sea. On the opposite side of the island is the famous globe-trotting family, the Thornberrys, out to film a clouded leopard. The kids, except for Angelica, set off to find Nigel to get his help to get them home, as they suspect he is somewhere on the island. Along the way, Chuckie gets lost and runs into Donnie Thornberry, who steals his clothes, forcing Chuckie to wear Donnie's shorts.

Meanwhile, Eliza Thornberry is exploring the jungle with Darwin, her chimpanzee companion, and runs into Spike, the Pickles' dog. Since Eliza can talk to animals, Spike is heard speaking; he informs her that his babies are lost somewhere on the island. Under the impression that Spike means he is looking for puppies, Eliza and a reluctant Darwin agree to help him find them. Following a close encounter with Siri, an angry clouded leopard, they learn that he meant human babies.

Simultaneously, Nigel finds the lost babies. He heads in their direction but ends up tumbling down a hill and suffers amnesia after a coconut falls on his head, which reverts him to his three year-old self. They encounter Siri, but Donnie fends her off; Chuckie finds him and they swap back their clothes. After escaping from Siri on a high-speed pram, the gang lands in a crater. Angelica runs into Debbie Thornberry, and takes off with Debbie in the Thornberry's all-purpose mobile communication vehicle (commvee). To get back more quickly, Angelica steals the Thornberry's bathysphere and accidentally sinks the commvee in her attempt to pilot it. She manages to find and retrieve the babies and Nigel.

Meanwhile, Stu has managed to create a working coconut radio. He and the other parents run into Donnie. After chasing him down the beach, they run into Marianne Thornberry. Stu's coconut radio picks up the babies, as Angelica accidentally turned on the bathysphere's radio. Angelica and Susie, while fighting for control, crash the bathysphere at the bottom of the ocean. Nigel hits his head in the crash and reverts back to his normal self. Stu comes up with a plan to raise the commvee, and Marianne then uses the automatic-retrieval system to rescue Nigel and the babies just as the air runs out.

The babies and Nigel are reunited with their respective families, with Stu being thanked and forgiven, and everyone gets on board the cruise they had wanted originally. The Thornberrys join them, too, deciding that they should take a vacation, much to Debbie's delight, and Spike vows never to lose his babies again.

Voice cast

Characters from ''Rugrats''

* Tommy Pickles: E. G. Daily
* Chuckie Finster: Nancy Cartwright
* Betty DeVille, Phil DeVille and Lil DeVille: Kath Soucie
* Kimi Watanabe-Finster: Dionne Quan
* Angelica Pickles: Cheryl Chase
* Dil Pickles: Tara Strong
* Susie Carmichael: Cree Summer
* Spike: Bruce Willis
* Stu Pickles: Jack Riley
* Didi Pickles: Melanie Chartoff
* Chaz Finster and Drew Pickles: Michael Bell
* Charlotte Pickles: Tress MacNeille
* Kira Watanabe-Finster: Julia Kato
* Howard DeVille: Philip Proctor
* Grandpa Lou Pickles: Joe Alaskey
* Dr. Werner P. Lipschitz: Tony Jay (This was Jay's final film appearance before his death in August 2006.)

Characters from ''The Wild Thornberrys''

* Eliza Thornberry: Lacey Chabert
* Darwin Thornberry: Tom Kane
* Debbie Thornberry: Danielle Harris
* Donnie Thornberry: Flea
* Nigel Thornberry: Tim Curry
* Marianne Thornberry: Jodi Carlisle

New characters

* Siri the Clouded Leopard: Chrissie Hynde
* Toa the Loris: Ethan Phillips

Release

During its initial theatrical run, ''Rugrats Go Wild'' was presented in "Smell-O-Vision". During certain scenes in the movie, an icon would pop up on screen with an item inside of it (example: a smelly shoe). When this happened, audience members would smell a scratch-and-sniff card (which were handed out at the box office) with the corresponding image.

Marketing

Among the biggest promotion the film received was Bruce Willis voicing Spike, and the use of "Odorama" cards to enhance the viewing experience, Burger King and Blockbuster released a scratch and sniff piece of cardboard that was to be scratched and sniffed during the run of the movie. The cards would later be released with the DVD release of the movie.

Controversy

There were some complaints with the Odorama cards, including the claim that the cards only smelled like cardboard. The Odorama card was considered an homage to John Waters' 1981 film ''Polyester''. Waters felt he was ripped off and realized that New Line Cinema, the studio that released ''Polyester'', did not renew the copyright for Odorama. He later said that "a cheque would have been an homage".

Home media

''Rugrats Go Wild'' was released on VHS and DVD on December 16, 2003, by Paramount Home Entertainment. Most VHS copies included a "Smell-O-Vision" scratch-and-sniff card, as did most initial run DVDs. Later copies of the DVD did not include additional cards, but did retain the option to view the film with the scratch-and-sniff icons on.

On March 15, 2011, along with '' The Rugrats Movie'' and '' Rugrats in Paris: The Movie'', the film was re-released in a three-disc movie trilogy collection DVD set, in honor of ''Rugrats 20th anniversary. On August 29, 2017, ''Rugrats Go Wild'' was re-released on DVD. On March 8, 2022, along with ''The Rugrats Movie'' and ''Rugrats in Paris: The Movie'', the film was released on Blu-ray as part of the trilogy movie collection.

Reception

Box office

The film grossed $39 million in the United States and $16 million internationally for a worldwide total of $55 million against a production budget of $25 million. The film opened at #4 behind ''Finding Nemo'', '' 2 Fast 2 Furious'', and '' Bruce Almighty''.

Critical response

Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.

Neil Smith at the BBC gave the film 2 out of 5. Film4 stated the film was not as bad as other reviews suggested but "it just doesn't hold a candle to 2002's charming and superior ''The Wild Thornberrys Movie''".

Soundtrack

An original soundtrack was released on June 10, 2003, from Hollywood Records.

The following is a list of songs that appear on the ''Rugrats Go Wild'' soundtrack.

References

External links

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{{Paramount theatrical animated features

2003 films
2003 American animated films
2003 children's films
2003 directorial debut films
2000s children's animated films
2000s English-language films
American children's animated adventure films
American children's animated musical films
American sequel films
Animated films about animals
Animated films based on animated series
American crossover films
Animated crossover films
Films about dysfunctional families
Films about animals
Films about missing people
Films about vacationing
Films scored by Mark Mothersbaugh
Films set in Asia
Films set on islands
Nickelodeon animated films
Nickelodeon Movies films
Paramount Pictures animated films
Paramount Pictures films
Rugrats (film series)
The Wild Thornberrys
Films directed by Norton Virgien
2000s American television series finales
Films produced by Arlene Klasky
Films produced by Gábor Csupó
Crossover films