Monday, January 28, 2019

Melanie Chartoff and Cree Summer Set to Reprise Their Roles in 'Rugrats' Revival

Ever since Nickelodeon and Paramount Pictures announced last year that they were relaunching Nickelodeon's beloved '90s animated series Rugrats with a 26-episode new season from Nickelodeon and a live-action film featuring CGI characters from Paramount Players, fans have been wondering whether the original voice actors would be coming back on board to voice their respective characters. We now have confirmation that at least two actors from the original voice cast will be returning for the new series!


Melanie Chartoff has confirmed that she will be returning to voice Didi Pickles, the mother of Tommy and devoted follower of Dr. Lipschitz, as well as in the reboot, as well as the voice of Didi's mother, Minka!

Additionally, Cree Summer, the voice of Susie Carmichael, has also confirmed that she'll be part of the show's relaunch!

The news follows Cheryl Chase, the voice of Angelica Pickles, Tommy's older cousin, revealing last year soon after the news was announced that Nickelodeon had already reached out to her, and that she's obviously down to reprise her role!


Rugrats focuses on a group of toddlers, Tommy Pickles, Chuckie Finster, twins Phil and Lil DeVille, and Angelica Pickles, and their day-to-day lives that became adventures in their imaginations. The original Rugrats series launched in August of 1991 and instantly became a groundbreaking phenomenon, spawning consumer products, three hit theatrical releases, various video games and cementing its place in pop culture history through its iconic characters, storytelling and unique visual style. Rugrats was in production for nine seasons over the course of 13 years, and also spawned three spin-off series, All Grown Up!, Angelica and Susie's School Daze and Rugrats: Tales from the Crib. The series earned four Daytime Emmy Awards, six Kids' Choice Awards and its own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Through its full run, Rugrats occupied several main voice actors. E.G. Daily provided the voice of Tommy Pickles, except in the unaired pilot where Tami Holbrook provided the voice; Christine Cavanaugh was the original voice of Chuckie Finster, but left the show for personal reasons and was subsequently replaced by Nancy Cartwright (The Simpsons) in 2002. The fraternal twins, Phil and Lil (as well as their mother, Betty) were voiced by Kath Soucie; Dil Pickles and Timmy McNulty were voiced by Tara Strong (Fairly OddParents). Cheryl Chase initially auditioned for the role of Tommy, but was passed up. When the show came to series, she was brought on board to be cast as the voice of Angelica Pickles. Dionne Quan was the voice of Kimi Finster. Susie was primarily voiced by Cree Summer, though in two episodes where she could not be in attendance E.G. Daily filled in. Other regular voice actors included Melanie Chartoff as Didi Pickles, Jack Riley as Stu Pickles, Tress MacNeille as Charlotte Pickles, Michael Bell as Drew Pickles and Chas Finster, and Amanda Bynes as Taffy. David Doyle provided the voice of Grandpa Lou Pickles until his death in 1997, when Joe Alaskey took over until the end of the series. In 2000, Debbie Reynolds joined the cast as Lulu Pickles, Lou's second wife, and remained until the series' end.

For the revival, original creators Arlene Klasky, Gábor Csupó and Paul Germain are returning to the TV series as executive producers. Nickelodeon’s Rugrats is currently produced in Burbank, Calif. Additional news of the TV series, airdate and casting--and Reptar sightings--will be announced in the coming months.

The Rugrats movie will be written by David Goodman and is set to be released on November 13th, 2020 by Paramount Players, the division of Paramount Pictures that develops and produces co-branded feature films with Viacom’s leading media networks. Rugrats is the seventh film title announced in connection with this cross-company initiative.

Rugrats joins the recently announced return of Blue’s Clues (as Blue’s Clues & You) as the latest classic original series Nickelodeon is bringing back for today’s generation of kids and families. Nickelodeon produced and aired an all-new Hey Arnold! special in 2017, and has announced the return of two more beloved titles as forthcoming specials: Rocko’s Modern Life: Static Cling and Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus.

More Nick: Nickelodeon and Paramount to Bring 'Rugrats' Back for the Next Generation of Kids with an All-New TV Series and Feature Film!

Originally published: Sunday, January 27, 2019.

H/T: Huge thanks to Mikey Salinas for the news!; Additional source: Wikipedia.
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