Toys in the Attic

"Toys in the Attic" is a Season 2 episode of Rugrats.

Character Present

 * Tommy
 * Angelica
 * Boris
 * Minka
 * Stu
 * Drew
 * Didi
 * Chuckie (mentioned)
 * Charlotte (mentioned)

Synopsis
''The Pickles leave Angelica and Tommy over at Boris and Minka's while they go on vacation. While there, the babies discover the attic at their grandparent's house, which they first taught was haunted, is filled with boxes and boxes full of old toys.''

- Description from Klasky Csupo

Plot
Stu, Didi, and Drew drop off Tommy and Angelica at the Kropotkins' house so they can spend the weekend at a resort in the Bahamas while Boris and Minka, Didi's parents can watch Tommy and Angelica. Tommy is glad about this, but Angelica is reluctant at first, complaining that "they don't even have cable [TV]!" However, noticing Boris and Minka's belongings, she thinks that it won't be so boring after all. After their parents leave, Boris complains about the excessive amount of baby stuff while Tommy and Angelica make a mess of things, breaking relics that they mistake for toys. After feeling faint for a few minutes, Boris and Minka recover to put their things out of reach so the kids can't play with them for a white. Wondering what to do, Boris first suggests that the kids can watch "the sesame seed", but both Boris and Minka argue over who is going to turn it on for them. However, feeling tired, Boris then suggests they all take a nap.

Near the way to the attic, Tommy wonders what's up there. Angelica teases Tommy, saying that there's ghosts up there. Boris finds the parts to Didi's crib so Tommy can rest on it, but falls and "hurts his shmegegge". As Boris fell, a ball bounces from the attic, and Tommy and Angelica are pretty thrilled. After Boris gets back up, he puts together the crib before he carries it downstairs.

After Boris and Minka take the kids to Didi's old bedroom so they can take a nap, Boris says "don't let the dybbuks bite!" to them, a reference to malicious spirits of Jewish mythology. However, they aren't feeling very sleepy, and Tommy asks Angelica what a dybbuk is. She replies, "It's kinda like a ghost, only scarier, and it lives in your bed," mixing the notions of dybbuks and bedbugs into one idea. Tommy jumps up in horror, and Angelica suggests that since they're not tired, they should go to the attic to find the toys. Tommy wonders "Where's Chuckie when you need him?"

As the cousins go up the attic, Minka checks Didi's bedroom to check on "her little dumplings", but finds that they've gone missing. As the Kropotkins find their neighbors' children by mistake, Tommy and Angelica explore the attic, finding Minka's old dresses, Didi's baby pictures and some dusty boxes. Finally, they find the toys. Angelica hands Tommy one of Didi's old rubber balls, but it bounces too far that it turns off the lights. At that moment, the attic became dark, and everything around the Pickles cousins seems scary. Their running around also switches on an old gramophone, and the weird old music on the record sounds like ghost music to Tommy. Their screaming seems to make Boris look in the attic, but he becomes covered in a white sheet blown onto him by the wind. Tommy fights off this "ghost" to protect Angelica.

Luckily, Minka turns on the light after hearing Angelica scream, and she finds the kids safe and sound. Also, they find Didi's old toys, Minka's dressmaker dummy and a photo album of when they were younger. The four of them sit together, and Boris and Minka share the album with Tommy and Angelica, telling them the stories behind each picture.

A few days later, Stu, Didi, Drew and Charlotte return from their trip to pick up the kids. When they arrive, Drew is very surprised to find that Angelica has really enjoyed her time there, and hasn't minded the lack of cable TV at all.

Quotes
Minka: "Boris! The dumplings are gone!"

Boris: "No, Minka, they're in the icebox."

Minka: "Not those dumplings! The children!"

Boris: "Oh! The dumplings!"

Minka: Boris, did you find the crib?

Boris: It's under all these big boxes!

Minka: Well, don't hurt yourself! Those things is very heavy!

Boris: Don't worry, I got insurance! (he falls under the weight of the boxes) AH!

Minka: You okay? Did you hurt your shmegege?

Boris: No, I think I'm okay. Just find the policy!

Boris: Ay-yi-yi! What is all these things? I don't know. In the old country, we never had all this fokackte stuff. If you wanted to take the babies to town, you just threw them in the wagon and hitched up the goats.

Minka: I know, I know. These kids today think they invented the kinderlach. All it takes is a little common-- (sees Angelica whirling around on a globe) YAHH!

Boris: A little common "YAHH"? YAHH!

Trivia

 * One of the photos of Boris and Minka's childhood in Russia is in World War 2 and has a Russian flag, even though it was under Soviet control from 1922 until Christmas Day 1991.
 * "Toys in the Attic" is probably a reference to the and  of the same name.
 * Minka sarcastically calls Boris "Mr. Columbo", a reference to the crime drama and its.
 * A show Boris wanted to put on for the kids called Sesame Seed is likely to be a parody of .
 * Klasky Csupo's description of the episode says "the babies" when Angelica is already three.
 * Tommy finds a baby photo of Didi.
 * This is the first and only time Didi is shown as a child.
 * This is the second time Tommy pulled Didi's earrings. The first time was in "Tommy's First Birthday".
 * Chuckie does not appear in this episode, but he is mentioned by Tommy.
 * Charlotte does not appear in this episode, but she is mentioned by Drew. So, it's possible that she was waiting for Stu, Didi and Drew in the car while they walk Tommy and Angelica to Boris and Minka's house and she and Didi could have been waiting for Stu and Drew in the car in the end of the episode while they returned to pick up Tommy and Angelica.
 * This is the first time Didi didn't kiss Tommy goodbye.
 * Drew says to Angelica, "Didn't you miss not having cable?". The correct grammar would be, "Didn't you miss having cable?" or "Did you miss not having cable?".
 * In this episode, Didi wears her bell earrings instead of her regular earrings.
 * For some reason the Pickles did not think of the Finsters, DeVils, or the Carmichaels to watch the kids. It's also unknown why Lou couldn't watch them.