Viacom to Produce New RUGRATS Episodes + Big-Screen Adaptation

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Viacom is bringing Rugrats back to both the big and small screens.

The media conglomerate on Monday announced that it is reviving the children's television series for a 26-episode greenlight at cable network Nickelodeon as well as a new live-action feature film featuring CGI characters for Paramount Players.

The TV series and movie will include new adventures with original characters Tommy, Chuckie, Phil, Lil, Susie and Angelica, while also introducing a new world of characters.

Original creators Arlene Klasky, Gábor Csupó and Paul Germain will return for the Nickelodeon series as executive producers. Production on the new animated series is already underway in Burbank, with casting, a premiere date and more to be announced in the coming months.

Rugrats is an American animated children's television series created by Arlene Klasky, Gábor Csupó and Paul Germain for Nickelodeon. The show focuses on a group of toddlers, most prominently Tommy, Chuckie, twins Phil and Lil, and Angelica, and their day-to-day lives, usually involving common life experiences that become adventures in the babies' imaginations. Adults in the series are almost always unaware of what the children are up to.

The series premiered on Sunday, August 11, 1991, as the second Nicktoon after Doug and preceding The Ren & Stimpy Show. Production was initially halted in 1993 after 65 episodes, with the last episode airing on May 22, 1994. From 1995 to 1996, the only new episodes broadcast were "A Rugrats Passover" and "A Rugrats Chanukah", two Jewish-themed episodes that received critical acclaim; during this time, well after the end of the show's production run, Rugrats began to receive a boost in ratings and popularity, due to constant reruns on Nickelodeon. In 1996, Klasky Csupo Animation began producing new episodes, and the show's fourth season began airing in 1997. As a result of the show's popularity, a series of theatrical filmswere released; The Rugrats Movie, which introduced Tommy's younger brother Dil, was released in 1998,Rugrats in Paris: The Movie, which introduced Kimi and Kira, released in 2000, and Rugrats Go Wild, a crossover film with fellow Klasky Csupo series The Wild Thornberrys, released in 2003. The final episode aired on August 1, 2004, bringing the series to a total of 172 episodes and nine seasons during a 13-year run, tying Rugrats with King of the Hill, American Dad!, ROBOT CHICKEN and SQUIDBILLIES as the eighth longest-running American animated television series.

Photo Credit: Nickelodeon

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