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A popular television makes the leap to the big screen, and the limitations of the medium become greatly apparent. What makes the television show so enjoyable in more digestible form becomes bloated, and the adage that television is merely “a movie, but longer” is proven false. Sitcoms tend to make the bumpiest transition, and cartoons tend to feel merely like three-to-six episodes thrown together where the spots for commercials or edits to separate them for the eventual syndicated airings as individual episodes.
Case in point: The Rugrats Movie, which finds these imaginative children in an adventure involving a newborn brother, a group of circus monkeys, a Reptar Wagon that would make James Bond proud, musical interludes (complete with head scratching but awesome cameos from alternative rock icons), and a general sense of a franchise taking on too much. The cartoon was a joy for its naivety and ramshackle imagination. These babies had vivid imaginings, but they were still delightfully lo-fi. The movie throws that out and shoves CGI in its place, and some of the charm has worn off.
That’s the major problem here, the charm of the franchise is dimmed under pyrotechnics and fancy movie star appearances. The Rugrats Movie’s story didn’t need to be a movie, and this could have easily been an extended/special episode and chopped off much of the flabbiness that keeps things just going and going and going. There’s also an odd choice to try and “edge” up the franchise with a barrage of 90s musical styles and bits of brash humor. The best part of the Rugrats show was its sense of innocence, rapid-fire wordplay and malapropism, and sense of gleeful curiosity about the world and discovering its dangers and beauty. That spark hasn’t gone out with The Rugrats Movie, but it has been buried under a “more is more” aesthetic to justify its existence on the big screen.
Well, at least there’s still the sight of the B-52’s, Beck, Patti Smith, Iggy Pop, the Violent Femmes’ Gordan Gano, Lenny Kravitz, and Laurie Anderson as newborns singing a song about the world being new and wonderful. It’s as strange as it sounds, and proof that the soundtrack populated with contemporary New Wave acts of Devo’s Mark Mothersbaugh, musical director for the show and movie, is much better. Not only do you get that ensemble, but Devo’s twisted take on “Witch Doctor,” Elvis Costello’s duet with No Doubt on “I Throw My Toys Around,” and a bratty toddler version of Blondie’s “One Way or Another.” The soundtrack keeps the weird that the rest of the movie seems a little shy of embracing.
