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Rugrats in Paris: The Movie |
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Since its premiere on Nickelodeon in 1991,
Rugrats has become the highest rated
show on television for kids between the ages
of 2 and 11. In the second theatrical movie, the
Rugrats gang heads to Paris when Stu
Pickles has to go to EuroReptarland to fix the
mechanical dinosaur he invented. The city of
romance has its effect on the adults,
especially on Chas Finster who starts dating
again. His son, Chuckie, is excited about this
development, because he wishes he had a
new mom. Soon, Chas has not just one, but
two women vying for his affections: the
bombastic director of the park, Coco
LaBouche, and her kind assistant, Kira
Watanabe. Coco only wants to marry Chas for
selfish reasons and uses her power and
influence to trick him into a proposal. Kira has
nobler intentions, but finds it hard to get out of
Coco’s shadow.
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positive elements: The qualities of a
good mom are held in high regard. In the
beginning of the movie Chas looks at photos
of Chuckie’s mom (who passed away) and
says to his son, "Your mom was an amazing
woman. But she’s in heaven looking down on
us right now." A song about motherhood
encourages moms to "smile at, talk nice to,
tuck in, tell stories to and love" their children.
The other children encourage Chuckie on his
quest for a mom saying, "You never know until
you try." And Chuckie overcomes his fear to
save the day. Plus, true love wins out, and it’s
obvious these families love each other.
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spiritual content: Only a couple of
references to loved ones going to heaven.
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nudity and sexual content: A woman’s
torn wedding dress reveals her underwear
(the kids joke about seeing her "undies"). A
Japanese restaurant features waiters
dressed in traditional Sumo garb.
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violent content: Angelica pretends to
be the "Godfather" (she snuck in and saw a
little of the violent movie that her parents were
watching) and talks about "twisting heads and
pulling hair." A giant robot chase through Paris
produces a great deal of destruction. Chuckie
has a scary dream with black,
ghoulish-looking characters that he fights with
martial arts.
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crude or profane language: Just like
on the television show, gross humor and
Angelica’s crude mouth are featured regularly.
She calls the other children "dumb babies"
numerous times. Indeed, almost everything
out of her mouth is rude. The slang term "jeez"
is used once.
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drug and alcohol content: None.
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other negative elements: The children
are allowed to run wild. They trash their hotel
room, mess up an office, turn a wedding
reception into a food fight and, while
controlling their giant robot, destroy whole
neighborhoods in Paris. When someone
says, "Give it some gas," a baby passes gas.
And children eat lots of disgusting food. The
dog even urinates on the Eiffel Tower.
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conclusion: If parents are wanting
more of what they see on the Rugrats
TV show (plenty of potty humor, disrespectful
language and zero discipline), then this movie
lives up to expectations. Never is a child
scolded for making a mess or reprimanded
for being rude (of course, some of this is due
to the fact that many of the characters aren’t
old enough to talk and only communicate with
each other). The movie is cleverly written—it
actually has the ability to hold adults’ attention
for longer than three minutes—but it’s not
funny that chaos is the norm and children get
to do whatever they want whenever they want.
Neither is it appropriate for a children’s film to
tip its hat to such R-rated flicks as The
Godfather and A Few Good Men.
These little rugrats wipe boogers on
people, throw up and put food in dirty diapers.
Is that what you want your children to
learn on their next trip to the theater?
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