No Naps

"No Naps" is a Season 6 episode of Rugrats.

Characters Present

 * Tommy
 * Angelica
 * Chuckie
 * Phil
 * Lil
 * Dil
 * Stu
 * Drew
 * Didi

Synopsis
''When Angelica tells Tommy that only "growed-up" kids can play with her brand new Magical Music Ball of Enchantment, he asks her how he can prove that he is "growed-up" enough. She offers him the challenge of being able to stay up through his "Nap Time", which might be difficult for Tommy since he's been kept awake all night by Dil's crying. '' - Description from Klasky Csupo

Plot
At Tommy’s house, his little brother, Dil is crying hysterically non-stop (and it’s never stated as to why he’s crying, although it's possibly because he's tired, and he can't sleep, or he's cranky); and we start the episode with one of the series’ trademark camera angles from inside of Dil’s mouth as he cries. We then cut to another angle to find that Dil is in his mother’s arms as she walks gently back and forth in the foyer and pats her son on the back in attempt to calm him down; we then pan downward to see that Angelica (who’s visiting) is sitting on the floor trying to color a page in a coloring book with crayons, all while trying to tolerate Dil’s loud and continuous fetching. We then see that Chuckie, Phil and Lil are also visiting and are with Tommy in the playpen, and they are all playing a game of catch with Tommy’s ball. While Chuckie, Phil and Lil are happy and having fun with the ball, Tommy on the other hand looks exhausted and barely able to keep his eyes open; and whenever the ball is bounced over to him, Tommy lets it bounce off of his head without even reacting. Chuckie asks his best friend what’s wrong, and Tommy (whilst yawning) states that he’s a little sleepy as his baby brother was crying all night long, keeping him awake. We then cut back into the foyer where Angelica is coloring; Stu and his brother Drew come in and Drew thanks his brother for watching Angelica for the afternoon. Stu states this is no problem, and that it will give Angelica a chance to try out his newest invention: A spherical and brightly colored plastic toy with a button on the top, which he calls “The Merry Magic Music Ball”. Stu hands his invention Angelica and explains: “Once you press this button [pointing to the button on the top], it becomes a gateway to enchantment.” Stu also tells Angelica to share it with the babies as well. Drew then leaves, telling his daughter to have fun; Angelica replies: “Okay daddy.” Stu then walks away, and Angelica walks over to the babies with the music ball.

Chuckie asks what it is Angelica is holding, and Angelica (not yet impressed with toy) replies “I don’t know; some ‘murky’ [really meaning ‘merry’] magic thing.” Angelica presses the toy’s button to activate it; a circular door around the button on top opens up and a tiny merry-go-round underneath is raised up and begins to spin around, and the toy plays an accompany melody. Angelica and the babies are immediately mesmerized by the toy’s enchanting action, and Phil asks everyone what they think the toy is. The toy then lowers its Merry Go Round back inside, closes the top door and stops playing the music; Angelica replies that it’s “only the bestist, neatest toy in the whole world!” Angelica, wanting the bright and enhancing toy all for herself, tells the babies that they can’t play with it; Chuckie reminds Angelica that Tommy’s father said that she has to share it with him and his friends. Angelica replies: “Well… sure.. he said that.. But-eh he forgot, it’s just for grown-up kids. See, it says so right here [pointing out a logo on the bottom of the toy that says ‘Pickles Industries’, in attempt to trick the babies].” Phil aggressively rebuttals: “I think we’re old enough to play with it Angelica!” Angelica meanly replies: “Ha, you? If you’re so ‘grown up’, then you could, um… drink out of that sippy cup over there [pointing to Tommy’s ‘Mr. Tippy’ training cup on the floor]”. Chuckie, Phil and Lil remark that they can do that easily; but Angelica then adds in (in a sinister tone): “…without the sippy top.” Chuckie, Phil and Lil then gasp with uncertainty, and Phil nervously bluffs that it can’t be that hard (and Lil and Chuckie agree). Phil then picks up the cup, pulls of its spouted top and attempts to drink the juice inside; unfortunately, Phil tips the cup too close to his face, and a little bit of juice overflows past his lips, down his face, and onto his shirt. Phil then hands the cup to his sister, who then tries to drink it without the top; but like her brother, she also tips the cup too close to her face and juice also spills on her dress. Lil then hands the cup to Chuckie, but even he tips it too close to his face and spills a little juice on himself as well. Angelica, in triumph, tells the babies in a sinister tone “Sorry, babies” and begins to walk away the toy, keeping it all for herself; but Chuckie stops her and states that he bets Tommy could do it. Chuckie, Phil and Lil then bring the training cup over to Tommy, who’s still very tired and sleepy; Phil and Lil then pull the exhausted Tommy onto his feet, and Chuckie hands him the cup. The cup however is empty except for just a teensy bit of juice left; and although Tommy falls over on his back while attempting to drink it form the cup, he of course doesn’t spill it. Chuckie excitingly points out to Angelica: “See!? See!? Tommy did it”; and Lil cheerfully adds in: “Yay! Now we can play the ‘murky’ ball.” But Angelica is still determined to keep the music ball all her herself and responds: “You think that makes you ‘grown up’? If you babies was really ‘growned up’, you could.. umm…” As Angelica attempts to think of something else, Chuckie demands: “What?” Angelica then comes up with something (seeing how tired her baby cousin is); she challenges the babies to do what she does every day: Staying awake though nap-time.

Phil, Lil and Chuckie feel it should be easy and point out to each other that they had all done it before; Tommy however (having been kept awake all night by his baby brother’s constant fetching) is uncertain and he tries to get his friends attention before they accept Angelica’s challenge. Angelica tells them “Good luck” and walks away, laughing wickedly to herself and looking at the music ball with envy. Tommy tells Chuckie that he doesn’t think he could stay up though his upcoming nap time as he’s very tired and despite for sleep, but Chuckie tells him to just think about the toy and how much fun it will be; Tommy yawns and stretches, stutters for a moment and responds “I suppose I can try.” Just then, Didi comes in with yellow blankets and tells the babies that it’s time for their nap. Angelica, determined to win her wager and keep the magic ball for herself, comes into the scene and exaggeratingly states to her aunt (unaware of her true intentions): “Boy, the babies sure look tired aunt Didi; want me to get some extra pillows for them?” Didi then hears Dil crying loudly from upstairs; and as she walks away to tend to him, she responds to her niece: “Thank you Angelica; that’s very sweet of you.” Angelica then grabs a bunch of pillows from the sofa near the playpen; and determined that she’ll win the bet and have the toy all to herself, she chuckles sinisterly to herself and states to herself: “Sweet dreams babies.” Angelica throws the pillows into the playpen and wickedly asks the babies: “So, sleepy?” Chuckie, Phil and Lil all reply no; a sleepy Tommy shakes his head to say no and then yawns (and his tired eyes briefly shut). Chuckie then suggests that all play a game to help them stay awake. Angelica walks away frustrated, realizing that she’ll have to try harder than that; she goes into the foyer to think and states to herself that must be a way to get the babies to nap. She then sees Didi come down the stairs with a giggling Dil in her arms; Didi is also trying to get Dil to go to sleep and she points out that he’s just wide awake (despite having cried all night). Didi then states that perhaps some baby food will help Dil fall back asleep, further stating that “sometimes a full tummy is all a baby needs to fall asleep”; Angelica then decides to try this on one of the other babies. Angelica puts the magic ball toy on a desk and then walks over to the playpen; she states to the 4 babies (trying to sound innocent and cheery) as she goes inside: “Well, I guess since you babies aren’t going to take a nap, how about I get you a little something to eat while you play.” She then picks up Phil tightly and asks him “Mind giving me a hand their, Phil?” Phil, as he’s squeezed by Angelica, gruntingly replies “Sure.” Lil, not suspecting a thing, points out loud to Chuckie: “You know, she’s really much nicer to us since we grown up.”

As Didi walks out of the kitchen and back upstairs with a sleeping Dil (Didi having been right about feeding Dil to get him to sleep) in tow, we pan over to find Angelica strategically waiting until the coast is clear whilst still holding Phil and covering his mouth to ensure Didi doesn’t hear. Once Didi is out of sight, she dashes into the kitchen whilst pulling Phil along by his arm (“I’m cu- I-I’m coming”); once inside, she then states to Phil: “Hmm.. now.. What should we get for you babies?” After taking a brief look around, she spots some jars of baby food on the counter (“Say, those look good”), which were presumably used by Didi to feed Dil just a moment ago as one of them is open and has a spoon in its contents, and she goes over to retrieve them. She takes the open jar down and smells its contents; she involuntarily pulls it away and exclaims “Ugh!” (having been repulsed by the smell), but then hides her repulsion by stating: “Mmm, peas.” She brings the jar over to Phil and he begins chowing down, and he remarks to Angelica (not suspecting a thing): “Hey, you’re right Angelica; these are pretty good.” As Phil continues indulging himself, Angelica struggles to open more jars of food for Phil to consume; eventually, Phil goes though about 10 jars (and also makes a mess on the floor). Angelica begins to get impatient, stating to herself “Hmm… I thought Aunt Didi said a full tummy makes them fall asleep”; but right on cue, Phil instantly falls asleep right then and there, out like a light (Angelica: “That’s better”). Angelica then drags the heavy Phil back into the playpen where Chuckie, Lil and Tommy are playing with a ball to keep themselves awake; Lil is upset to see her brother sleeping. Tommy stands up and asks Angelica what happened; Angelica replies with a fib: “Phil just kept eating everything himself, I told him it wasn’t very nice; then he just fell asleep.” Lil, getting sadder, states whilst sobbing: “But, he never ever sleeps without me!”, and she then breaks down crying whilst grabbing her brother's swollen stomach in sorrow. Tommy notices the baby food on Phil’s lips and smears some on his finger; he states to Chuckie that something smells funny. Chuckie replies “Umm… I think its Lil”;  Tommy corrects his friend and states that he feels that Angelica is to blame, and they go to investigate (Tommy states to everyone that they’ll be right back). Angelica meanwhile is consoling a heartbroken Lil who goes on whilst sobbing: “We promised we’d never nap alone.” Angelica replies: “How sad; you know, it kinda reminds me of that story.” A sobbing Lil replies: “Story?” Angelica goes on: “Sure; the one about the little brother and sister puppies who always all asleep together.” Lil, claiming down, states to Angelica that she never heard it, unaware that Angelica is only making this up as part of her sinister plan to win her wager so she can keep the magic ball toy all for herself. Angelica replies: “Really? It’s one of my favorites”.

Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Tommy and Chuckie find the mess that Phil and Angelica left behind, and Tommy (smearing some of the peas from one of the jars on his finger) states to Chuckie: “Just as I suspended [Tommy ingests the tiny bit of peas on his finger and remarks ‘mmm’]: Mushed Peas. A couple jars of this stuff will put even the toughest baby to sleep.” Chuckie adds in “And Angelica’s the only one who could have opened this jars”; he then gasps and hastily states that they left Angelica alone with Lil. They arrive back at the playpen too late as Lil is now fast asleep as well, having apparently been put to sleep my Angelica’s made up story she told offscreen; Chuckie then states to his best friend that they’re the only one’s left. Tommy states that he doesn’t think he’ll make it; Chuckie replies “but we have to Tommy, for them [pointing to the music ball on the desk].” Meanwhile, we find that Angelica has gone into Tommy and Dil’s room to find something to put the remaining babies to sleep; after taking a brief look around, she notices a baby mobile hung on Dil’s crib that’s spinning around and playing “Rock-a-bye Baby”. Meanwhile back downstairs, we find that Tommy is about to go get his “honkey horn” from another area, so that Chuckie can honk it if Tommy starts to fall asleep, and he tells his friend that he won’t be long and he hands him a book to look at while he’s gone; as Tommy starts on his way, we see Angelica hiding strategically behind a nearly indoor plant, waiting until the coast is clear with a sinister look on her face. With Tommy out of the area, Angelica walks over to Chuckie and says hello; Chuckie screams in response to Angelica’s presence. Angelica asks Chuckie what he’s doing, and Chuckie nervously replies that he’s just “reading” the book he’s holding; Angelica replies: “That’s nice. You know what I like to do when I’m reading a book?” Chuckie replies “No”; Angelica responds “I like to.. Listen to music” as she pulls the spinning mobile form Dil’s crib out from behind her back and holds it above Chuckie. Chuckie can’t help but stare at the spinning mobile and listen the lullaby its playing (“Not.. the lullaby”). As Tommy is about to grab his “honkey horn” in the other room, he hears Chuckie call his name out loud in disputation; Tommy rushes back, but arrives too late as Chuckie has been put to sleep by the spinning mobile.

Tommy sees and Angelica with the mobile and exclaims at her angrily: “Angelica! You did this!” Angelica replies (tossing the mobile aside): “So what if I help him along a little; it’s not my fault you’re just a bunch of sleepy babies; that is, except for you Tommy.” Tommy, sensing another one of her tricks, responds with a mad look on his face: “Well you’re not gonna put me to sleep Angelica.” Angelica however continues to try and trick her cousin into falling asleep though modesty and goes on: “You’re right Tommy; I guess my little ticks won’t work on you. Well, why don’t we just sit down together and just wait ‘till nap-time’s over.” Tommy isn’t fooled and replies: “Umm.. That’s ok, I-I-I’ll just stand up.” Angelica then makes another attempt by suggesting they rest their heads on pillows; he replies “I’m fine.” Angelica spots a blanket on the sofa and grabs it (revealing Tommy’s pet dog, Spike, who was sleeping underneath before being awoken by the blanket being removed), and she then suggests that he and Angelica wrap themselves in to so that they stay nice and warm while they wait for nap time to end; Tommy again isn’t fooled and replies: “Um, blanky? I don’t need a blankey.” Angelica grunts in frustration, but then gets an idea; she looks at a sleepy Spike who yawns, and this makes her yawn herself, and she feels that she could perhaps “yawn” Tommy to sleep. Angelica walks over to Tommy and states “Yeah Tommy, you won’t be much longer now”, and she then pretends to yawn a big yawn an stretch sleepily. This seems to work on Tommy who can’t help but yawn himself whilst seeing Angelica yawn. Angelica then pretend-yawn’s again, and Tommy yawns for real again; Tommy begins to feel really sleepy and states “Um.. Maybe I’ll just sit down on the floor.” Angelica yawn’s again (this time, getting a tad more convincing) and states “Yeah, just for a minute”. Tommy rests his head on a pillow, and Angelica, wanting to make sure she successfully “yawns” her cousin to sleep to win the wager, does the same with her own pillow, yawns again and sleepingly states “Does it mean, you’ll fall asleep?” Tommy and Angelica, snuggled up on the floor whilst cutely resting their heads in their pillows, then look at each other as Tommy eyes being to close and Angelica (so close to victory) begins to slowly close her eyes to coax her cousin into closing his eyes and falling asleep. Just as Tommy’s eyes are fully shut, Angelica’s seemingly successful tactic backfires on herself and she falls asleep for real (having made herself sleepy by just pretending and seeing Tommy sleepy); Tommy however manages to not fall completely asleep and opens his eyes to find that Angelica fell asleep for real. Tommy states “Goodnight Angelica” to his sleeping cousin and then crawls over to the desk to retrieve the magic ball toy; Tommy retrieves the toy and brings it onto the floor (falling onto his behind whilst doing so). He then presses the toy’s button on top to activate it, and like before, the toy opens the door on top, it raises the merry-go-round inside, and it begins to spin it and play the accompanying melody. Tommy however is so tired and sleepy that the toy’s soothing melody instantly puts him to sleep before it even finishes playing. We then pan out for one last view of everyone (except Dil) sleeping in the living room as the toy finishes playing and lowers its merry-go-round back inside, leaving the house completely quiet.

We then fast forward to much later on after everyone is awake again, sans Angelica who’s still asleep; even though the babies lost Angelica’s wager, it doesn’t make any difference as Angelica can’t hoard the toy from them whilst sleeping. We find Tommy, Chuckie, Phil and Lil in the playpen, playing with the music ball toy; Lil, amazed with Tommy’s triumph over Angelica, asks how him he did it. Tommy (no longer sleepy) replies: “Well, I almost didn’t make it; but I guess, in the end, Angelica yawned just a little too big.” We cut to a quick view of Angelica still sleeping on the floor and then pan over to see Stu and Didi bringing Dil (wide awake again, but no longer fetching) over to the playpen to join the others; they sit him down next to the toy, and he’s instantly mesmerized by its enhancing action. Stu remarks to Didi that he was going to give his invention to Angelica is she liked it, but he assumes incorrectly that it only put her to sleep; Didi tells her slightly though falsely disappointed husband not to worry as she’s certain Angelica will like his next toy. As the episode ends, we get one last look at Angelica sleeping and sucking on her thumb, who will soon learn the hard way that, if she had not tried to hoard the toy all for herself and shared it in the first place, she would have been given the toy to call her very own anyway, unless she could explain it didn't put her to sleep.

Trivia

 * It's scientifically proven that yawns are contagious.
 * Dil was not in his crib where Angelica went to get a baby mobile to put babies to sleep, and Dil was sleeping, because Didi took him away.
 * Other episodes where characters are seen sleeping are "Accidents Happen" (Tommy, Chuckie, Phil, Lil, Stu, Didi and Dil), "Grandpa's Bad Bug" (Grandpa Lou), "In the Dreamtime" (all babies and Chas ), "Sweet Dreams" (Chuckie and Chas), "Let There Be Light" (all babies), "Chuckie vs. The Potty" (Stu, Didi, Chuckie, Tommy, and Angelica ), "Incredible Shrinking Babies" (Tommy, Chuckie, Phil, Lil,  and Dil), "Angelica's Worst Nightmare" (Angelica, Drew, and Charlotte ), "Slumber Party" (Tommy and Angelica), "Potty Training Spike" (Spike), "Weaning Tommy" (Tommy), "Angelica for a Day" (Angelica, Chuckie and Tommy), "The Odd Couple" (Tommy and Chuckie), "Under Chuckie's Bed" (Chuckie and Tommy), "Angelica Nose Best" (Angelica), "Babysitting Fluffy" (Fluffy), "Spike the Wonder Dog" (Spike), "Man of the House" (Tommy, Chuckie, and Stu), "Ghost Story" (Tommy, Chuckie, Dil, Phil, and Lil), "The Inside Story" (Chuckie), "Planting Dil" (all babies), and "Pickles vs. Pickles" (Angelica, Drew, and Charlotte).