On August 11, 1991, Nickelodeon started airing an animated show titled Rugrats. The adventures of the one-year-old Tommy Pickles and his group of friends and playmates became so popular that they remained on the air for an amazing 13 years! During these 13 years, fans around the world got the opportunity to watch nine seasons in total, consisting of 322 segments spread throughout 172 episodes. The Rugrats became a pillar of 90s animation and one of Nickelodeon’s biggest shows ever which is why it should not come as a surprise that, as part of the revival craze that is currently going on in American cinema and television production, the Rugrats are back on the big screens.
Talks of a Rugrats revival began back in 2015 when media broke the story that Nickelodeon was discussing a potential revival of the series. Most of the people involved with the original series expressed their desire to return but it still took several years before a revival was officially confirmed, which happened in 2018; it was revealed that the series got a 26-episode full-season order and that it would air sometime during 2020. The premiere was later pushed back to 2021 by Nickelodeon.
In the meantime, in February 2021, it was officially revealed that the show would air on Paramount+ in the spring of 2021 and the premiere finally happened on May 27, 2021. The original voice cast returned for this revival and Paramount+ released the first five episodes (nine segments in total) on May 27, 2021. The show was now based on CGI animation instead of traditional animation, like the original.
The show is also available on Apple TV+, where it was described as follows: “A reinvention of the beloved 90s cartoon, Rugrats follows a group of adventurous babies as they discover the big world around them.” There is no doubt that fans of the original will be happy to see some familiar faces after so many years, but the show might also attract a new generation of fans, so be sure to check it out!