Rugrats means a lot to kids of a certain. The beloved Nickelodeon series ran from 1991 to 2004, and encompassed multiple movies as well as a teen spinoff/sequel. The characters are iconic, but as the title suggests, they are all babies.
The limitations of real life toddlers is not going to stop Paramount from rebooting Rugrats, however. The studio has announced plans to launch a "live-action" Rugrats film in the near future. "Live-action" is a bit of a misnomer, as Variety confirms the film will incorporate lots of CGI.
Rugrats will be be directed by Jason Moore
All the titular Rugrats will be animated, much in the way that Sonic the Hedgehog or Chip & Dale were in their recent big screen reboots. It's not the most original concept, but it does, mercifully, have a few talented people working on it behind the scenes.
Jason Moore is tapped to direct the film, and he's perhaps best known for his surprise comedy success Pitch Perfect in 2012. Moore didn't return for the sequels, but it was his command of different tones (musical/comedy) that laid the groundwork for Pitch Perfect as a franchise.
Rugrats will also boast a screenplay from Streeter Seidell and Saturday Night Live cast member Mikey Day. The latter has actually served as a writer on two previous releases, the 2016 comedy Brother Nature and the 2021 sequel Home Sweet Home Alone.
SNL's Mikey Day will co-write the screenplay
Tonally, it makes sense that Home Sweet Home Alone would serve as a more of a template for what Paramount wants to do with the Rugrats film. The former is a sequel to a beloved kids film, Home Alone, and tries to update the references and story beats while maintaining the baseline appeal.
The Rugrats reboot is going to generate lots of attention. Whether it will work, of course, is another story altogether. It depends on how well the CGI is integrated with the live-action elements. Sure, it has worked with Sonic, but Paramount is going to have to have a delicate hand when it comes to animated human babies.
If done wrong, that could easily lead to nightmare fuel for kids all over the world.