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Louise Thomas
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Nickelodeon’s classic Rugrats cartoon is receiving the live-action treatment.
From Pitch Perfect director Jason Moore, the new feature adaptation of the Nineties show about the day-to-day lives of a group of toddlers will reportedly see the characters in a CGI hybrid form (similar to the titular bear in the Paddington film series).
Saturday Night Live star Mikey Dave and comedian Streeter Seidell co-wrote the script, Deadline reports.
However, early reactions on social media have not been the most welcoming as fans express concern over the CGI babies.
“All the rugrats bout to look like this,” one person wrote on X/Twitter alongside the meme-famous animatronic baby, Chuckesmee, that was axed from the Twilight film saga.
“The whole charm and draw of Rugrats is the animation and the art style. Who wants this. No one. No one wants this. I’m actually agitated,” another angry fan added.
“I can think of very few film premises as horrifying as a live-action Rugrats movie with CGI babies,” a third wrote.
Rugrats originally aired for three seasons beginning in 1991 before it was rebooted for an additional six seasons from 1996 to 2003. It became one of the network’s most popular series.
It starred Cheryl Chase as the voice of Angelika, EG Daily as Tommy, Nancy Cartwright as Chuckie, Cree Summer as Susie, and Kath Soucie as twins Phil and Lil.
The series, created by Arlene Klasky, Gábor Csupó and Paul Germain, also spawned a trio of movie spin-offs: The Rugrats Movie (1998), Rugrats In Paris (2000) and Rugrats Go Wild (2003).
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A Paramount+ revival in 2021, which welcomed back the original voice cast, received similar criticisms to the new live-action remake over its use of CGI.
Earlier this year, the series was removed from Paramount+ as part of a “strategic decision to focus on content with mass global appeal.”
Rugrats fans recently remembered the “saddest” scene from the show on Mother’s Day.
Season four, episode two guest starred Sex and the City actor Kim Cattrall as Chuckie’s late mother Melinda.
At the end of the episode, it’s revealed that Melinda died of a terminal illness. Chuckie’s father Chaz sits down with his son and shares memories of his late wife, recalling her love of gardening and reading a poem she wrote for Chuckie while in the hospital.
“This is not only the saddest Rugrats moment, but also the saddest moment in Nickelodeon history,” one person wrote on Twitter alongside the scene from the 1997 episode.
Responding to the viral tweet, Cattrall said: “Such a great pleasure voicing Chucky’s Mum.”
The forthcoming live-action Rugrats movie joins a host of other recently released and announced live-action adaptations.
Last year, Greta Gerwig’s movie Barbie, a live-action adaptation of the iconic Barbie doll, became the highest-grossing movie of the year.
Barbie star and producer Margot Robbie has since announced her production company LuckyChap will produce a live-action Monopoly movie based on the popular board game.
