“The Rugrats’: revisiting Angelica Pickles

During COVID, many people are sharing that they are rediscovering favorite television shows on Retro television stations. One program that I am enjoying all over again is Rugrats. This is an American animated children's television series that was created in 1989 by Arlene Klasky, Gábor Csupó, and Paul Germain for Nickelodeon. The programs focuses on a group of toddlers and their day-to-day activities which always seems to involve their life experiences that turn into wonderful adventures in the imaginations of the children.

Just last night I caught an episode where the children were playing in the snow in one of their back yards. The scene evolved into the kids climbing up a snow-covered mountain and walking through deep drifts. In this episode as with a number of others, the four youngest children have great adventures alone. In others they are joined by Angelica Charlotte Pickles who is the oldest child in the animated series. She is only three years old yet presents herself, as much older and wiser than “the dumb babies.” The younger children look up to her and hang on to her every word until they find out she has been lying.

Angelica is truly, a spoiled brat, who gaslights the younger kids every chance she gets. She feeds them wild conspiracies which they readily believe, but by the end of each episode they see through the charade and someone will call her on the carpet. This is done when they say her name long loud, and slow, An——gel..,,,,,,I-ca ! This is one of my favorite moments when I see Miss Pickles exposed. Over the years she has cheated the babies out of treats, snacks, and toys. She has gotten away with breaking items and letting the dog outside by blaming her younger associates.

The original Rugrats episodes are the ones I find most charming. They ran on Nickelodeon from 1991 until 2000. They can now can be seen in multiple episodes on the network each night. Fans of 90s programming also get to view several other of their favorite series on this channel. I can recall my mother taping the Rugrats on those old 6 hour VHS tapes. I would allow the cartoons to play all night by rewinding and allowing them to play over and over. My 2 youngest children and I would curl up in one of their bedrooms or in the living room and binge on these cartoons.

My grandchildren also enjoy the reruns and talking about how mean Angelica is and how her plots against the younger children usually backfire. Angrlica’s parents are Dru and Charlotte Pickles. Dru’s brother Stu and his wife Dee Dee have a son, Tommy who is Angelica’s cousin. In later episodes Tommy had a baby brother named Dill. Their neighbors have twins Phil snd Lil and another neighbor’s son is red-headed Chucky Finster. In 2002, TV Guide ranked Angelica as number 7t in their list of "Top 50 Greatest Cartoon Characters of All Time".

Angelica has a Barbie-like doll named Cynthia that she treats as if she is human. Cynthia owns a sports car, a doll dream house and all the accessories the Barbie doll has. One of the things I enjoy about Angelica is that although she is often playing tricks on Tommy, Chucky, Phil and Lil she is protective of them. If anyone else seems about to do something harmful to the children, Miss Pickles will say something to the effect of: “Nobody gets away with that with my dumb babies. I’m the only one allowed to mess with my dumb babies.”

One of the most fascinating things about the Rugrats is that the 4 smaller children will often get away from Angelica and the adults and enjoy adventures all on their own. They get into all sorts of mischief before someone finds them. During one Halloween episodes Stu Pickles set up a haunted house inside of his home. The babies got inside without anyone knowing and Angelica and her grandpa were terrified. They thought all the noises, sounds, and sights in the dark were caused by real ghosts.

No one believed Lu Pickles and his granddaughter and when Angelic cried in her grandpa’s arms it let you know she is still a vulnerable child after all. Throughout the run of the series, Angelica remained the only one of the children who did not have a sibling. Perhaps that’s why she never changed from being bratty. The Rugrats ruled the 90’s and now they are back for their fans and also a whole new generation. Check your local listings to find out when this series airs on Nickelodeon in your area. You might also want to check and see if it’s available on any streaming services.