Interviews With The Cast of RUGRATS on Paramount+!

Pictured: The cast of the Paramount+ series RUGRATS. Photo Cr: Nickelodeon/Paramount+ Ā©2021, All Rights Reserved.

Hey All!

Last week I had the amazing opportunity to attend the virtual junket for the amazing new imagining of Nickelodeon’s RUGRATS! Thanks to the folks at Paramount+ and Nickelodeon for inviting me! This new rendition of the show is premiering is premiering on Paramount+ and it’s so awesome that the RUGRATS are back! I grew up watching the show and I’m thrilled to share this new updated series with my own family.

At the junket I had the amazing opportunity to interview some of the RUGRATS cast including Tommy Dewey (Stu Pickles), Ashley Rae Spillers (Didi Pickles), E.G. Daily (Tommy Pickles), Cheryl Chase (Angelica Pickles), Cree Summer (Susie Carmichael), Kath Soucie (Phil and Lil DeVille) and Nancy Cartwright (Chuckie). It was a day full of nostalgia and fun!

Pictured: The cast of the Paramount+ series RUGRATS.

Here is what I chatted with the cast about. First up was Tommy Dewey (Stu Pickles) and Ashley Rae Spillers (Didi Pickles). They were both taking over the rolls from other actors. I wanted to know what was their process like to find the voices of these characters.

TOMMY:
Well, first things first shout out to the great Jack Riley as the original Stu.Ā  I watched the show and was a fan of the show, but I did not go back and rewatch to try to copy the voice. I think it’s real peril for an actor to mimic, then it starts to feel kind of half-baked and not organic to the thing. So I had a sense of the character and then was kind of given free range to just you know, swing for the fence in my own voice.

ASHLEY RAE:
I definitely think we’re not imitating who they once were because like he said, they were so brilliant Melanie. It’s like, nobody can do that. I am not going to try to do that. But it’s just leaning into the things that you like. I really lean into Didi’s kind of nerd nervousness around things and like worrying and caring and that sort of brings out this new path flavor. I don’t flavor. What am I saying?

Pictured: The cast of the Paramount+ series RUGRATS.

Next up was E.G. Daily (Tommy Pickles) and Cheryl Chase (Angelica Pickles). They both have been voicing these amazing characters for so long. I grew up watching them. So many of us have! I wanted to know what about this version of RUGRATS feels different for them and excites them to reprise the roles once again.

Cheryl Chase:
Well, what feels different for me is watching it in CG, in three dimension, because everything is so much more vivid. You want to reach into the screen and touch them because they look like the babies. You want to just eat them up, you know, and, and the colors are so vibrant and it adds to the CG animation, It allows the emotions to come through more than the original series.

E.G. Daily:

Yeah. I agree. Totally. The animation is incredible. Like if you see the carpet it looks so vibrant and mud looks like mud, you know.They got the mud look to look like mud and the water to look like water. It’s just looks like a really rich and beautiful like giant Pixar feature or something, you know! It just looks incredible, but also the adventures and everything are great. Tommy gets so much more of an expansive point of view. You can see a scene in the window of the scene. You’re seeing a gloomy day and rain hitting the window and everything is just so tasteful and beautiful, but also, just the characters are just a little bit more defined without losing any character. They brought everything back from the olden days and today they’re bringing them all back only now you’re just getting to know them even deeper and the adventures can go even crazier with the new animation. So it’s pretty much just like over the top incredible this time around.

Pictured: The cast of the Paramount+ series RUGRATS.

Lastly we chatted with Cree Summer (Susie Carmichael), Kath Soucie (Phil and Lil DeVille) and Nancy Cartwright (Chuckie and Bart Simpson). Nancy is a legend in my book! They all have created so many amazing characters over the years. I wanted to know was it a challenge to create these characters? What do they draw inspiration from when they are creating these amazing legendary characters?

Cree Summer:
Well, listen, these two ladies with me have done hundreds and hundreds of characters.Ā  I think everybody has a way of getting into the character. One thing we get when we’re auditioning is if you’re lucky, you get a picture of the character that’ll give you some insight, you know? Those are the little things I use sometimes. They’ll tell you that the character has a speech impediment or the character is, you know, not a very courageous or confident character or they are a bold character. Those are all the little notes that you put in the bowl and mixed together to decide what these babies are going to sound like or any character that you have the pleasure of being.

Pictured: The cast of the Paramount+ series RUGRATS.

Nancy Cartwright:
I don’t know. I think it’s the kids out there that inspire me. It’s like we have an opportunity because they brought RUGRATS back and it’s now in this time period. They’ve made it current. It’s great to say hat we are contributing to giving parents and kids something safe, something secure. It’s kind of like a warm, fuzzy blanket. If we tune in the RUGRATS tonight, we’re going to learn something from it and we’re going to be inspired by it. I love being able to do that! Maybe I speak for you gals too, who wouldn’t want to do that? It’s a pleasure.

Pictured: The cast of the Paramount+ series RUGRATS.

The new show is amazing! I had the amazing opportunity to see a few advanced episodes and I promise you’re going to love it!

Pictured: The cast of the Paramount+ series RUGRATS. Photo Cr: Nickelodeon/Paramount+ Ā©2021, All Rights Reserved.

The new Rugrats follows the ā€œeven bigger adventures born from the color imaginations of Tommy, Chuckie, Phil, Lil, Susie and Angelica.ā€ In the one-hour premiere, appropriately titled ā€œSecond Time Around,ā€ Tommy leads the babies on a daring adventure to help Chuckie after his big attempt to be brave goes horribly wrong. It’s classic RUGRATS fun!

Tune into RUGRATS on Paramount+ Thursday, May 27th! It’s fun for the whole family!

 

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