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Rugrats Go Wild |
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It’s summer and you know what that
means: vacation time. The Pickles, Finster
and DeVille clans are all ready for a much
needed break, but this year they’re
not going to the county fair or on a camping
trip. No, sir, they’re all headed
to a tropical island on a luxury cruise! Or so
they think. Unbeknownst to everyone
else, Stu Pickles has arranged for a
more "intimate" excursion on a dilapidated
barge. Also unbeknownst to
everyone—including Stu—is the fact
that a
large storm system is moving their way. One
terrifying tempest later, the families and their tiny tots
(Tommy, Chuckie, Phil, Lil, Dil,
Kimi, Susie and the tyrannical Angelica) are
stranded on what they think is
a desert island. Yet hope is not lost; the
famous naturalist duo Nigel and Marianne
Thornberry are stalking the island, seeking
video footage of a rare leopard.
Along for the ride is their insolent teen
Debbie, the perceptive chimp Darwin,
a frenetic wild child named Donnie and
12-year-old Eliza who can talk with animals.
Will the Rugrats bump into
The
Wild Thornberrys? Do
movie studios love lots of money?
•
positive elements: Love, loyalty and
perseverance are upheld as commendable
ideals. Seeing his father get ridiculed by the
other parents, Tommy decides to try to help by
leading the other kids on a trek to find
rescuers. Stu doesn’t sit on his hands, either.
He scavenges enough materials to build a
radio that eventually saves several lives.
Though Debbie Thornberry is a bossy teen
who always demands her own way, she
ultimately longs for her parents to break from
their busy lives and spend time with the family.
Nigel and Marianne eventually realize that
exotic globetrotting can’t replace healthy
involvement in their kids’ lives. The Pickles’
family dog, Spike, heroically drags a life raft
back to shore in order to save the babies,
nearly drowning in the process. While
Angelica ridicules Tommy’s ambition to
become a famous explorer like Nigel, Tommy
refuses to abandon his dream. But he does
discover a new role model by the end of the
film: his often preoccupied but persistent and
caring father.
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spiritual content: When one husband
says he’s going to use the seven days of
vacation to buff up, his wife quips, "It could
happen. The earth was created in six." After
the children wander off, Spike proclaims, "As
dog is my witness, I’ll never lose my babies
again." Shots during the closing credits show
Nigel practicing yoga.
•
sexual content: While trying to escape
from a sinking boat, Angelica’s curvaceous
mom rips off her skirt while sultry music plays
(she’s wearing white shorts underneath).
Debbie sunbathes in a bikini top.
•
violent content: Slapstick stunts and
run-ins with wild animals that might frighten
young children are featured. A fantasy
sequence finds Tommy and the gang running
from jungle cats and a "crocogator." A
massive wave pounds a tiny boat, causing it to
sink. Angelica terrifies the babies by saying
they’ll become "mutant lobster food." A giant
carnivorous plant tries to eat a child (it’s
played for laughs). Various "creepy" jungle
creatures feast on bugs. In order to sneak
away from the Thornberry’s campsite,
Angelica pretends to be a jungle native and
says her tribe is about to sacrifice a goat.
Nigel plummets off a cliff, has his crotch
smacked by a branch and is hit in the head
with a falling coconut. A fierce leopard tries to
eat the babies, scratches Nigel’s hand and
leads the whole group on a wild chase. An
out-of-control miniature submarine crashes
through an underwater cave. The craft ends up
stranded on the ocean’s floor with no fuel and
little oxygen, leading to tense moments over
the fate of its occupants.
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crude or profane language:
Descriptors such as "dorky," "idiot," "poo,"
"jeez," "dumb" and "skanky."
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drug and alcohol content: Vacationers
on a cruise liner toast with champagne.
•
other negative elements: Scatology is
the Rugrats’ biggest downer and
there’s a lot of it. Almost anything smelly that
the body produces gets screen time.
References to and appearances of defecation
(human and animal) are common, as is talk of
eating boogers and bugs. One of the babies
devours any insect that crosses his path and
waxes eloquent about how the little critters
have nourished his young frame (his sister
eventually convinces him to abandon the habit
on the grounds that it’s cruel to the bugs). A
crucial plot point revolves around Spike
sneezing snot everywhere. Eliza talks with the
dog about "marking his territory." Later he
urinates on a leopard and tells the cat to "sniff
my butt." One tyke urinates behind a tree and
extols the benefits of going to the bathroom in
a forest. Babies converse about "daipy rash"
and "daipy creep." One saves a crusty waffle in
his diaper and shares it with his pals. A
seasick parent vomits over the side of a
wave-tossed dingy. The babies moon each
other.
Debbie and Angelica’s impolite actions
might give parents pause as well. Though
both unselfishly aid their families by movie’s
end, most of the time they’re incredibly bossy
and uncouth. Not a great example for young
eyes.
• conclusion: It
sounds like a premise straight out of a
marketing meeting: "Hey, there are these two
really popular kids’ series. Why
don’t we concoct some convoluted plot to
connect the two, make a movie and rake
in the cash? We can even throw in a really
bizarre promotion to get peoples’
attention!" (Burger King is offering free
scratch-and-sniff cards that allow
audiences to get their olfactory organs in on
the film.) It’s ironic, then,
that this mash-up of Rugrats and
The Wild Thornberrys works fairly
well. Though much of its humor is at a 5- to
6-year-old sophistication level,
clever homages to Titanic,
The
Crocodile Hunter,
The
Perfect Storm, Gilligan’s
Island, The Swiss Family
Robinson and Star
Wars mean parents won’t be pulling
their hair out from boredom halfway
through. What will have them grabbing
for graying strands is the film’s modeling
of rude behavior and its constant bathroom
humor. That’s sure to inspire little
carpet crawlers everywhere to Go
Wild.
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