All Grown Up! is an American animated television series developed by Kate Boutilier, Eryk Casemiro, and Monica Piper and produced by Klasky Csupo Inc. for Nickelodeon. It serves as a sequel to Rugrats, and explores the daily lives of protagonist Tommy Pickles, his little brother Dil, and his childhood friends, now tweens/adolescents. The concept for the series was based on the Rugrats episode "All Growed Up", which served as the original series' 10th anniversary special and proved successful with audiences.
The series ran from April 12, 2003 to August 17, 2008, for a total of five seasons and 55 episodes, and featured much of the surviving cast from the original series reprising their roles. Several episodes also feature flashbacks of the kids as toddlers.
Premise The series is set ten years after the events of Rugrats. Tommy, Chuckie, Angelica, the twins Phil and Lil, Susie, Dil, and Kimi are now tweens/teens. Episodes often involve the characters dealing with common issues of preteens and teenagers.
Characters
Main Tommy Pickles (voiced by E. G. Daily) is now 11-years-old. Tommy has a full head of purple hair like his father, and is still the leader of the group. He has developed an interest in filmmaking and also inventing like his father. His friends still look up to him for advice when a certain situation gets out of control. Dil Pickles (voiced by Tara Strong) is Tommy's 10-year-old younger brother. He also shares his father's interest in inventing. He now has a full head of orange hair like his mother. Dil has unconventional habits, style, speech, interests, and beliefs. Although he is the youngest of the group, he is often the most insightful. Chuckie Finster (voiced by Nancy Cartwright) is still Tommy's 12-year-old best friend and is often shy and quite nervous. Despite often being the most serious of the group, he has developed a cheeky nature. He also has braces since he had buck teeth as shown in Rugrats which he will get off in "2.5 years", although that's never shown on the show at all. Phil DeVille (voiced by Kath Soucie) is Lil's twin brother. Phil is still very gross and mischievous, but he has shown talents in modeling and cooking. Lil DeVille (also voiced by Kath Soucie) is Phil's twin sister. The twins have developed their own unique personalities as preteens. Lil is something of a tomboy with a keen interest in and talent for soccer, although she still has more girly interests such as fashion and boys. Kimi Watanabe-Finster (voiced by Dionne Quan) is Chuckie's younger Japanese-American stepsister. Kimi is quite rebellious and also much into fashion, which she has a unique style for. She also embraces her Japanese heritage. She also has a big crush on Tommy. Angelica Pickles (voiced by Cheryl Chase) is Tommy and Dil's older cousin. Angelica starts the series as a preteen and later becomes a teenager in the season 1 episode "Lucky 13" by turning 13 years old. She is usually seen doing many typical "teen things" like getting a cell phone, pursuing boys, and keeping on top of the latest fashion trends. She is relentless in her pursuit of popularity and has still kept her original self-serving and bossy attitude towards the others, albeit much less than in the original series, as she now loves Tommy and his friends' company. Susie Carmichael (voiced by Cree Summer) is Angelica's best friend and sometimes rival. She is African-American, has developed a talent for singing and is still seen by Angelica and now her school peers as a "goody-goody" because she is working hard to achieve her perfection and is also talented at linguistics. She is also close friends with Kimi.
Recurring Harold Frumpkin (voiced by Pat Musick) is Susie and Angelica's friend since preschool. Harold is in love with Angelica and will do anything for her; although she enjoys this very much, she never shows him any romantic interest in return. Stu Pickles (voiced by Jack Riley) is Tommy and Dil's father. Stu is still a quirky inventor. Didi Pickles (voiced by Melanie Chartoff) are the boys' Mom and Stu's wife. Didi is now a child psychologist, who is very supportive of Dil's unique personality. Chas Finster (voiced by Michael Bell) is Chuckie's biological father and Kimi's legal adoptive father. Chas owns the Java Lava cybercafé, in which the kids often hangout, with his wife Kira and runs it with Betty. Kira Finster (voiced by Julia Kato) is Chas's Japanese wife, Kimi's biological mother, and Chuckie's stepmother. Betty DeVille (voiced by Kath Soucie) is the twins's mother. Betty operates the Java Lava with Chas and Kira. Howard DeVille (voiced by Philip Proctor) is the twins' father and Betty's husband. Howard is often seen as a shy house husband. Charlotte Pickles (voiced by Tress MacNeille) is a highly successful, businesswoman, Angelica's mother and Dil and Tommy's aunt. Although when Charlotte loses her job, she briefly becomes a full time housewife, before marketing a board game invented by Dil reignites her passion for business. Drew Pickles (voiced by Michael Bell) is a successful businessman, Angelica's father, Charlotte's husband, Stu's older brother and Dil and paternal Tommy's uncle. Lucy Carmichael (voiced by Hattie Winston) is a talented singer like her daughter, Susie. Lucy is still a pediatrician. Randy Carmichael (voiced by Ron Glass) is Susie's father and Lucy's husband. Randy is still a scriptwriter for the Dummi Bears. Lou Pickles (voiced by Joe Alaskey) is Tommy, Dil, and Angelica's paternal grandfather. Lou is still a big part of their childhood. His wife Lulu is mentioned, but has never been seen in the series. Boris Kropotkin (voiced by Michael Bell) is Tommy and Dil's maternal grandfather, Didi's father Boris is a Russian-Jewish immigrant to the United States. Minka Kropotkin (voiced by Melanie Chartoff) is Boris's wife, Didi's mother, and Tommy and Dil's maternal grandmother. She is also a Russian-Jewish immigrant. Estes Pangborn (voiced by Clancy Brown) is the vice-principal of the kids' school. A former pro wrestler whom the gang often runs afoul of, although he likes poetry which shows his sensitive side. Miss O'Keats (voiced by Ann Magnuson) is a troubled romantic; she is the theatre arts teacher at the kids' school who later dates Pangborn.
Development and production "All Growed Up" The idea for All Grown Up! originated in "All Growed Up", a television special which aired in 2001 to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Rugrats and portrayed the original characters 10 years into the future. The special was nominated for "Outstanding Children's Program" in the 2002 Creative Arts Emmy Awards. The special was the highest rated Rugrats episode, the highest-rated Nickelodeon program, and cable's No. 1 show for the week ending July 22, 2001, with a 7.2 rating equivalent to 12 million viewers. Approximately 70% of all kids aged 2–11 tuned in to watch the special. Nickelodeon president, Herb Scannell, noted that a "Surprising numbers of kids held Rugrats parties on Saturday night and watched the show in groups". The following day, Nickelodeon said "'We've got to make this a show,' because of the size of the audience that came to it." Noting the immediate popularity of the show's concept, "All Growed Up" was deemed the network's equivalent of the Super Bowl. Nickelodeon made a two-season order of 35 episodes.
Nick's press releases for the Rugrats' 10th anniversary noted that the "All Growed Up" special was a "one time only" special. Nickelodeon was so impressed by the high ratings, they wanted to use the show as a pilot for either a regular spinoff series or a series of occasional one-hour specials. Nickelodeon decided to commission an entire series around the teenage main characters. Arlene Klasky explained "It got enormous ratings, so Nickelodeon blessed us with another series". Margie Cohn felt that Rugrats had endured prolonged success due to the "series' writing, and the appeal of the show's well developed characters to its deeply devoted audience", and argued the sequel resulted from fan support and speculation on how the characters would age.
While Nickelodeon executives were concerned that the new series would maintain the Rugrats appeal, they acknowledged a revision to the successful franchise was necessary as the original series was beaten in the ratings by shows such as SpongeBob SquarePants and The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius. On October 16, 2001, a PC game based on the "All Growed Up" special was released. After release in the US & Canada, "All Growed Up" debuted on Canadian television by YTV, Rugrats' English broadcaster in Canada, on September 3, 2001. The French Canadian version, "Les Razmoket, Dix Ans Après", was broadcast in two parts on VRAK.TV, on December 1, 2001, and December 8, 2001. In Britain and Australia, the video was released as Older and Bolder, because a Rugrats video existed in those countries named All Growed Up. An "All Growed Up" book was also released.
Production
Nickelodeon ordered 13 episodes, to be created by Rugrats animation studio Klasky Csupo for production in September 2002. All Grown Up! was intended as the first Rugrats spinoff as others were under consideration. The series premiered with its first episode, Coup DeVille, on April 12, 2003, following the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards. By November 2003, Rugrats was no longer in production. In 2004, Rugrats and All Grown Up! were aired concurrently to highlight the characters in two stages of their lives. All Grown Up! aired twice per week.
The new episodes shifted from the 11-minute Rugrats format of two stories per episode, to a single 22-minute story. This was to allow "more time to develop and tell a story and see where the characters go with it". Each of the episodes focused on the life of a main character and usually showed the characters facing a lot of firsts for tweens and teenagers. The show included gradual stylistic changes, with the first 15 episodes similar to the "All Growed Up" special and the original Rugrats world. The second set of 10 episodes and onward had a more contemporary look, with characters being given "hipper" clothing. Over the 3 seasons of 35 episodes, the developers hoped for a gradual evolution in style to where the audience will be comfortable with the changes. The main cast recorded their parts for each episode in about one hour. By November 24, 2003, 15 episodes began airing while 10 more episodes were in the scripting stage.
Episodes
Special episodes / television films All Growed Up (2001) Interview With A Campfire (2004) Dude, Where's My Horse? (2005) R.V. Having Fun Yet? (2005)
Casting and the evolution of characterization The existing cast modified their voices for their characters' new ages. Tommy's voice actress, E.G. Daily, noted "It was a little harder when we were doing the first batch of episodes, when they were just coming in and trying to define everybody and how they've grown". Susie's character changes included having "a little more sass, a little less innocence and a little more bottom end". All Grown Up! attracted 30 million viewers a month, including a large number of 12 to 14-year-olds. The producers did not delve into the "characters' loss of innocence" with topics such as sex and drugs in favor of issues relevant to 9 to 11-year-olds, the show's target demographic. While the producers did not take the teen approach with All Grown Up!, they did with another Klasky Csupo series, As Told by Ginger.