'Rugrats In Paris' Turns 20!: Six Fun Facts About The Film

This month marks the 20th Anniversary of Rugrats In Paris, the second of three films based on Nickelodeon's popular animated series Rugrats.

Like the first film, which introduces a new member to the family in the form of Tommy's baby brother, Dil, Rugrats In Paris chronicles Chuckie Finster's search for a new Mother. While on a trip to the Euro-Reptarland theme park in Paris, Chuckie sets his sights on the beautiful Princess who cares for his idol, Reptar. However, Chuckie and the Rugrats must fend off the Park's evil boss, Coco Labouche, who wants to marry Chuckie's Father for her own selfish reasons.

Here are some fun facts about the much-loved Nickelodeon film.

1. Dionne Quan, the voice of Kimi, is legally blind

Rugrats In Paris introduces the character of Kimi, who becomes Chuckie's stepsister by the end of the film. Producers auditioned over two hundred hopefuls before settling on newcomer Dionne Quan. Aged just 22 when she won the role, Quan became the youngest member of the Rugrats voice cast. Quan also suffers from Hypoplasia of the optic nerve, rendering her legally blind.

The production team had to make some minor adjustments to accommodate for the actress's disability, such as avoiding last minute dialogue changes for Kimi, and re-positioning her microphone to avoid picking up the sound of her fingers on the braille script when she was recording. Quan continued to voice Kimi through the final three seasons of Rugrats, and it's spin-off, All Grown Up. She also voiced the role of Trixie Tang in another Nickelodeon series, Fairly Odd Parents.

2.'Rugrats In Paris' was originally intended to have more musical numbers sung by the Rugrats

The first Rugrats Movie is considered a musical, with a few songs sung by the characters throughout the film. The original plan for Rugrats In Paris was to do something similar. Chuckie was to sing 'I Want A Mom Who Will Last Forever', while the 'Ooey Gooey World' song would have been a group number from the Rugrats. Eventually these plans were scrapped, leaving 'Packin' To Go', and Angelica's rendition of 'Bad Girls' as the only songs performed by the Rugrats.

'I Want A Mom', as performed by Cyndi Lauper, still made it into the film during the plane trip sequence, and 'Oooey Gooey World' Is used as background music when the babies visit it with Coco and Chas.

3. It is the only 'Rugrats' movie to feature human antagonists

Of the three Rugrats films, Rugrats In Paris is, notably, the only one to feature a human villain. The movie's antagonist is Coco Labouche, the child-hating Head of Euro-Reptarland. Coco wants to marry Chuckie's single Father, Chas, in the hope it will give her the family-friendly image needed to secure a promotion. Having a human villain makes sense, this being the only one of the three movies to take place in an urban setting.

The other two movies are set in more nature based locations, so the main antagonists are animals. The villain of The Rugrats Movie is a wolf, while the memorable antagonist of Rugrats Go Wild is Siri, a Clouded Leopard voiced by The Pretenders' Chrissie Hynde.

4. The Movie marks Susan Sarandon's only role in a G-Rated film, and John Lithgow's first appearance in an animated film.

Coco Labouche is voiced by the much-loved actress Susan Sarandon. Rugrats In Paris remains, to date, Sarandon's only G-Rated film, with all other movies she has appeared in rated PG or higher.

Meanwhile, John-Lithgow, voices Coco's assistant Jean-Claude, a character best remembered for controlling the mechanical Robo-Snail against the babies' Reptar. Jean-Claude was Lithgow's first ever role in an animated film, but he would follow it up with an iconic turn as Shrek villain Lord Farquaad in 2001.

5. Tim Curry appears in all three 'Rugrats' films

In The Rugrats Movie, Tim Curry voices the overzealous news reporter, Rex Pester. His role in Rugrats In Paris is a small cameo, as one of the three Sumo Singers Angelica sings Karaoke with.

Curry's biggest role is in the third film, the crossover Rugrats Go Wild, where he reprises his Wild Thornberries character, Sir Nigel Thornberry.

6. 'Rugrats In Paris' is Christine Cavanaugh's final feature film role.

Christine Cavanaugh was one of the most beloved voice actors of the 80s and nineties, voicing roles such as Gosalyn Mallard in Darkwing Duck, Dexter in Dexter's Laboratory, and of course, Chuckie in Rugrats. Cavanaugh voiced Chuckie for seven and a half seasons and two feature films, before retiring from voice acting in 2001. Nancy Cartwright, best known as Bart in The Simpsons, took over as Chuckie after Cavanaugh's retirement, voicing the character through the remainder of the series, the final film, and the spin-off.

Cavanaugh died of undisclosed causes in 2014 without ever returning to work. This leaves Rugrats In Paris as her final performance in a feature film.

Rest in Peace, Christine Cavanaugh, and Happy 20th Anniversary to Rugrats In Paris.