Preschool Daze (Episode)

"Preschool Daze" is a Rugrats first episode from Season 8, and serves as the pilot episode for Rugrats Pre-School Daze.

Characters Present

 * Angelica
 * Susie
 * Tommy
 * Chuckie
 * Phil
 * Lil
 * Kimi
 * Dil
 * Lucy
 * Charlotte
 * Harold (debut)
 * Miss Weemer (debut)
 * Johnny
 * Clark
 * Clark's Father
 * Dulce
 * Dulce's Mother
 * Home EC Teacher
 * Home Ec Student
 * Child Care Instructor
 * Fish Man
 * Lloyd

Synopsis
''Angelica and Susie begin pre-school and compete to be the bestest in the class and the favorite of their teacher Miss Weemer. When their rivalry end with a full-blown paint fight that leaves their teacher's prized coffee mug broken, will they work together to fix it before Miss Weemer notices? Maybe, but with the added nuisance of their new friend Harold, it might be harder than they think!'' - Description from Klasky Csupo

Plot
The episode begins at Susie's house, where Susie is sharpening a large amount of pencils. When Lucy walks in, she asks her if she has enough for her first day of preschool. Lucy assures her that she has enough, not just for herself, but for the entire rest of the class as well. She then asks her if she's excited about preschool, to which Susie replies that she is and can't wait. Lucy assures Susie that she will do very well, and asks her if there's anything else she'd like to take to preschool in her new backpack. Susie responds by carrying a large amount of school supplies.

Meanwhile, at Angelica's house, Angelica is excited about her first day of preschool as well. So much, that she acts it out by pretending to be a teacher, with Tommy, Chuckie, Phil, Lil, and Kimi, as well as Cynthia, as her students. Angelica tells them to sit up straight and pay attention very strictly. Tommy tells Chuckie that he is excited about Angelica going to preschool. Chuckie agrees, because with her at preschool, she won't be around to boss them around anymore. Angelica attempts to teach the babies the alphabet by singing the alphabet song off-key. Lil, Kimi, and Chuckie all complain about Angelica's singing, getting her attention. Angelica asks them if they know what happens to children who talk in class. Tommy, Chuckie, Phil, and Kimi all tell her they're not sure, and Lil tells her that she's sure she's going to tell them. Angelica tells them that children who talk in class get kicked out of preschool. Tommy, Chuckie, Phil, Lil, and Kimi, not seeing getting kicked out of preschool as much of a punishment, cheer and walk away, saying goodbye to Angelica. Angelica isn't happy with the babies quitting preschool, then notices Cynthia is her only student left, and attempts to teach her the alphabet, again, by singing off-key.

Charlotte walks in and is impressed when she sees Angelica practicing for preschool, as it is the kind of initiative that will take her straight to the top she is looking for. Just then, Charlotte's cell phone rings, and Lucy is revealed to have called her. Charlotte tells her that she and Angelica were just getting ready for the first day of preschool tomorrow. Lucy asks Charlotte if she has a busy schedule, and volunteers to take Angelica to preschool with Susie if that is the case. Charlotte assures her that she doesn't want to miss her daughter's first day of preschool. Angelica then takes Charlotte's cell phone from her and asks Lucy if she can talk to Susie. Lucy then tells Angelica that Susie's right here, and hands the phone to Susie. Susie asks Angelica if she's ready for preschool. Angelica assures her that she is, as she knows the alphabet, demonstrating by singing off-key. Susie tells Angelica there's a lot more to learn at preschool than just the alphabet. Angelica tells Susie that might be all right for her, but not everyone can be a born genius like her. She then tells her that she's going to be the best student at preschool. Susie responds by telling her that she's going to be a good preschooler as well. Angelica tells her that she doesn't care about just being a good preschooler, she cares about being the best. Susie ends the call by telling Angelica that they'll just have to wait and see.

The next morning, Lucy drops Susie off at the preschool. Susie has a flower to give to her new teacher, and is excited to be dropped off. As Lucy looks for a good parking space, Charlotte arrives with Angelica and parks her car in the spot Lucy was going to take. As Charlotte talks on her cell phone, Angelica and Susie stare angrily at each other. As Lucy walks Susie to the preschool, they pass by a bunch of dogs and their owners. Susie asks Lucy if the dogs and their owners are going to preschool as well. Lucy chuckles and tells her they aren't. The preschool that Susie will attend is part of a community center, where activities for people of different ages and species are held.

Lucy walks Susie to the preschool classroom, where the teacher, Miss Weemer, welcomes her and the rest of the class, telling them to say goodbye to their parents. Clark, a boy obsessed with being a superhero, tells his father to be strong. Clark's father sadly tells Clark that he doesn't want to say goodbye to him. Angelica stares at them, then at Dulce, a Hispanic girl, whose Mother tells her in Spanish, not to eat any more candy. Dulce then tells her that she doesn't have any more candy. Dulce's Mother doesn't believe Dulce, and shakes her dress, causing pieces of candy hidden in it to fly out. Dulce laughs nervously when she sees them. Lucy tells Susie to have a good first day, and Charlotte tells Angelica she's so proud of her. Angelica and Susie then glare at each other. Miss Weemer walks up to them and tells Charlotte and Lucy that their daughters must be experiencing terrible separation anxiety, but Angelica and Susie run away from them excitedly and say goodbye. Charlotte and Lucy wave goodbye to Angelica and Susie and walk away.

At the preschool, Miss Weemer nervously tries to get everything under control, telling Horace not to cry, Dulce to stop spinning on the floor, Johnny to keep his clothes on, and Clark to get down from the fire escape and tell his father to go home. Angelica is not amused when she sees this. Just then, Harold walks in and tells Miss Weemer that he got dressed all by himself this morning, revealing his shirt to be on backwards and inside out. Miss Weemer tells him he looks very nice. Harold thanks her, and after he runs away, she says to herself, "Bozo himself couldn't have done a better job.". As Harold runs, he tries over his untied shoelaces and lands in a pile of stuffed animals. Angelica has witnessed this, and is sure that she will be the best student at preschool. Susie then asks Angelica if she forgot about her. Angelica tells her to watch if she wants to see a pro in action, and pulls out a piece of paper from her backpack. She walks up to Miss Weemer and shows her what's on the piece of paper; a drawing of a flower with a smiling face on it. Miss Weemer says it's the most beautiful flower she's ever seen, but it is then revealed that she was talking about the real flower Susie has. Susie tells her that she grew it herself from a little seed. Miss Weemer, impressed, thanks Susie and tells her she has the perfect place for it. Angelica isn't impressed, and says that anybody can pour water on a seed, but then Susie points at her drawing and tells her that not anybody can color inside the lines, which irritates Angelica.

After she sets Susie's flower on the counter near the window, Miss Weemer sits down and tells the children to take a seat at circle time. Susie beats Angelica to the seat near Miss Weemer, and the two argue over it. Miss Weemer hears this, asks them if there's a problem, and if they need to use their friendship words. Angelica then lies to Miss Weemer by telling her that she gave her seat to Susie because she was crying over it like a baby. Miss Weemer, believing the story to be true, thinks Angelica was thoughtful and tells Susie to thank her. Susie then thanks Angelica with her teeth clenched. Angelica then walks up to Harold and tells him to give her his seat. Harold refuses, and Angelica walks up to Fuzzbo, the class guinea pig. She picks him up, laughs wickedly, and puts him down Harold's shirt. This causes Harold to jump out of his chair, and Angelica to take its place. Miss Weemer then asks Harold if he needs to use the bathroom, and Fuzzbo climbs out of Harold's pants and runs through the hallway. Angelica then says to Miss Weemer that Harold must not have to go after all as Harold sits in a seat away from Miss Weemer. Angelica and Harold blow raspberries at each other.

Miss Weemer introduces her students to Corky, a puppet. Except for Angelica, who is unimpressed, all the students say hello to Corky. Corky asks the students if they would like to be his friends, and all the students, except for Angelica, cheer and tell him yes. Corky then asks them what they want to be when they grow up. The students tell him what they want to be at the same time, including Dulce, who wants to be a dancer. Corky then tells each student to go one at a time, and Susie tells him that she wants to be a scientist when she grows up. Corky then tells her that scientists are the smartest people. Angelica, who is unimpressed, thinks Susie can't be smart if she talks to puppets. Harold gets out of his seat and tells Corky that he wants to be a fireman, just like his father, when he grows up, and asks him if he wants to see him wiggle his ears. As he demonstrates, Angelica walks up to Corky and calls him "Dorky". She then says that when she grows up, she wants to be the best teacher ever, just like Miss Weemer. Susie accuses Angelica of making what she just said up. Miss Weemer tells Angelica that what she said was nice, but being a teacher is a lot of responsibility. Angelica then changes her mind and tells Miss Weemer she wants to be a movie star or a singer. She tries to demonstrate the latter by singing off-key. Miss Weemer then cuts circle time short and tells the students it's time to learn about shapes.

A few minutes later, Miss Weemer has drawn a circle, square, and triangle on the blackboard, and tells the students to draw their shapes on pieces of paper. Susie puts a lot of effort into her shapes, and as a result, Miss Weemer is impressed with how well they came out. Angelica then notices a girl student using tools to make her shapes perfectly, and puts her piece of paper over that of the girl student's. After the girl student draws the shapes, Angelica takes her paper back, and Susie tries to call her out for cheating. Angelica hands her paper to Miss Weemer, asking her if her shapes are all right. Miss Weemer is impressed, and tells her that her shapes are perfect. Susie is irritated when she hears this.

Later, Susie is building a house out of popsicle sticks, but Angelica is having trouble with her project. Angelica asks Susie what her rush is, but Susie tells her she isn't rushing, but is good at putting things together. Harold tries to make something out of popsicle sticks, but keeps dropping them. Susie offers to help him, and while they're under the table, Angelica decides to sabotage Susie's popsicle stick house. She unscrews the glue cap, and as Susie pours some more glue, it all comes out at once. Angelica tells her to go easy on the glue, to which Susie tells her that she unscrewed the glue cap on purpose. They argue with each other, until Miss Weemer breaks them up. She then tells them to go outside for recess.

Outside, while all the other children are playing on the playground, Angelica and Susie get into a jump rope competition. Susie distracts Angelica by telling her she sees ice cream. Angelica trips over her jump rope while Susie continues jumping hers. Susie ask Angelica if she's giving up so easily, and tells her she'll see her in class.

Back in class a few minutes later, all the students are making pictures. Susie is painting a picture of Miss Weemer, which Harold is impressed with. Susie thanks him and tells him she likes his picture of his fire truck. As she looks at it, Angelica sabotages Susie's picture by drawing a pair of glasses and a giant nose on it. Miss Weemer is shocked when she sees the picture. Susie tries to explain what happened, but Angelica interrupts and shows Miss Weemer her picture of them together. Miss Weemer tells her picture is lovely, and Angelica tells Miss Weemer it's easy when she has a pretty model. Miss Weemer is impressed with Angelica's compliments, as Angelica then tells her that everything about her is pretty. Angelica then notices a coffee mug on Miss Weemer's desk, and says even it is pretty. Miss Weemer then sadly tells her that her former fiancé, Roger, gave that coffee mug to her just before he left her at the altar. It's all she has left to remember him by. She then runs into the bathroom to cry. Susie then scolds Angelica for making Miss Weemer cry. Angelica then accuses Susie of making her cry, and splats her with paint. Susie is angry at Angelica for ruining her new dress, but Angelica slyly tells her she didn't mean to. Susie responds by telling Angelica she didn't mean to mess up her hair as she dunks it into a jar of red paint. Angelica and Susie fight each other, splattering yellow paint on Harold, who is impressed and asks if he can play with them. He then picks up a tube of green paint and splatters it on the other students. Eventually, all the students fight each other with paint. Susie then squirts Angelica's face with yellow paint, and Angelica pushes her, causing her to bump into Miss Weemer's desk and knock over her coffee mug, breaking it. Susie and Angelica gasp when they sees this, ending the first act.

In the second act, Angelica accuses Susie of breaking Miss Weemer's coffee mug. Susie accuses Angelica of pushing her. Angelica then tells Susie this wouldn't have happened if she let her be the best student in preschool. Susie then tells Angelica that neither of them will be the best preschooler when Miss Weemer sees her broken coffee mug. Angelica, realizing Susie is right, worries that they'll both get kicked out of preschool. Susie then worries what will happen to them once Miss Weemer finds out. Angelica decides they have to fix the coffee mug, to which Susie tells her that it'll be impossible since Angelica used up all the glue to sabotage her popsicle stick house. Angelica then tells her they'll just have to find some more. Miss Weemer opens the bathroom door, and Susie and Angelica hide the broken coffee mug under the carpet. Miss Weemer is shocked when she sees the mess her students made, but politely tells them they were certainly busy. She then opens the closet and takes out some blankets, so they can all take a nap. Clark and Dulce object, until Angelica loudly tells them to quit complaining and go to sleep. Miss Weemer pulls out a clown-shaped clock and tells all the students to be quiet until the big hand reaches the 12. If they do so, they will all have juice and cookies. As Miss Weemer gets into her desk to fall asleep, Angelica whispers to Susie, telling her to leave as soon as Miss Weemer falls asleep. Susie asks her what would happen if somebody notices they're gone, and Angelica tells her to just worry about fixing the coffee mug, and to leave the sneaky business to her.

Five minutes later, Angelica and Susie leave, leaving dolls that look like them under their blankets. Harold wakes up and decides to follow them. Angelica and Susie run across the hallway with the broken coffee mug, looking for more glue. Along the way, Susie sees a class filled with contortionists doing yoga, and Angelica sees a class filled with people grooming their dogs. Susie then sees a class filled with people typing on the computer. Eventually, Angelica reaches the janitor's closet, which is filled with glue. She tells Susie to come over, and Susie is proud of her, telling her she really is good at being sneaky. Angelica then tells Susie that since she's so good at boring stuff, she can spend her time fixing the broken coffee mug. Susie thanks Angelica, then isn't sure if what she just said was a good thing. As they walk towards the janitor's closet, Fuzzbo passes by them. Susie then hears footsteps, and warns Angelica that someone is coming. They hide behind a potted plant, which Harold peers behind as he says hello to them. Angelica asks Harold what he's doing here, as he's supposed to be back in the classroom, sleeping. Harold tells them he thought they might be doing something fun. Angelica clamps her hand over his mouth, and Susie tells Harold to go back to the classroom. Harold sadly tries to do so, but Angelica stops him and tells Susie that if Harold does go back to class, he'll wake everybody up and blow their cover. Angelica tells Harold to stay in the halls and not move. Harold, however, stands on one foot, and loses his balance. He trips over and closes the door to the janitor's closet, locking it. Angelica angrily tells Harold he'd better have the key to the door. Harold assures her that he doesn't have any key. Angelica then tells Harold to find her and Susie some glue immediately. At first, Harold refuses, but after Angelica growls angrily at him, Harold agrees to find some more glue.

Some time later, Harold returns to Angelica and Susie, the former asking where the glue is. Harold tells her that while he didn't find any glue, he found some tape instead, and drags Angelica along. Susie follows them as Harold leads them to a room filled with women and their babies, who are dressed only in diapers held up by tapes. Without being noticed, Angelica, Susie, and Harold sneak into the room and rip the tapes off all the babies' diapers. After they sneak out, the teacher tells the mothers to put all the babies on their feet. They do so, but without the tapes to hold them up, the diapers fall off the babies, leaving them completely naked.

Almost a quarter to 12:00, Angelica and Susie tape the broken coffee mug together with the tapes from the babies' diapers. Susie tells Angelica the coffee mug doesn't look very sturdy, but Angelica tells her the important thing is to get the coffee mug back to Miss Weemer in one piece. Just then, the coffee mug falls to the floor and breaks some more. Harold tells Angelica she broke the coffee mug again, and Angelica sighs in frustration. She looks at the clock, and finds out she and Susie only have fifteen minutes to get the mug fixed and get back to class. They walk over to a classroom where the teacher is teaching the students to make caramel apples. Angelica, Susie, and Harold sneak into the classroom and under a table, where one student has some runoff caramel from her apple. Susie tells Angelica that the caramel should work due to how sticky it is, to which Angelica agrees, as Harold pulls some of the caramel out of her hair. As Susie fixes the coffee mug with the caramel, Fuzzbo sneaks in. After Susie tells Angelica and Harold the coffee mug is fixed, Fuzzbo crawls up to the student and scares her. The caramel is still attached to her apple, and as she runs away, it launches the mug out of Susie's hands, and out an open window, where it lands in a bush, and breaks yet again. Angelica, realizing there's no way to avoid getting out of trouble now, gives up and tells Susie to pack for the circus. Susie agrees, telling Angelica they'll never be "productive membranes of society". Just then, Harold stops to tie his shoe, and Angelica and Susie bump into him. Angelica tries to tell Harold to watch where he's going, until she looks in an office and sees a coffee mug identical to the one she and Susie broke. As they sneak into the office, the office worker asks, "Hey, how'd you little guys get in here?". They all stop, but is then revealed that she was talking about some new guppies in her fish tank. While she is distracted with them, Angelica takes the mug and Susie follows her. They both leave Harold, who is tying his shoe, behind.

As they run through the halls, Susie tells Angelica they'll give Miss Weemer the coffee mug as soon as everyone else wakes up. She then looks up at the clock and sees that time is running out. Angelica then tells Susie that she has a feeling that they forgot something. They both realize they left Harold behind.

Back in the office, the office worker shuts the door, locking Harold in. Harold greets Angelica, who pulls on the knob, but since the door is locked, it won't open. Angelica tells Susie to save themselves and leave Harold behind, but Susie refuses to leave Harold behind. Angelica decides to help her save Harold, but needs to figure out how. They both look up at the open window above the door, and pull out the fire hose nearby. Angelica tosses it through the open window, and Susie tells Harold to tie the hose around his waist so she and Angelica can pull him out. Harold tries to tell Susie he's not good at tying, but Angelica yells at him to tie it. Harold ties the hose around himself, then tells Angelica and Susie he's ready. Angelica and Susie pull on the hose, causing Harold to dangle from it. He has a lot of fun riding the hose, thinking he can fly. Harold then pushes the doorknob with his foot, opening the door. Angelica and Susie then realize they could have saved themselves a lot of trouble if they just told Harold to unlock the door. Harold falls to the floor, and as Angelica and Susie walk up to him, he tells them he had a lot of fun. He asks them if he can ride on the hose again, and they both tell him, "No!". With less than five minutes to get back to class, Susie tells Angelica and Harold they can still make it back if they run, so they all run back to the classroom.

As they make it back to the classroom, Angelica and Susie shush Harold. Angelica puts the new coffee mug on Miss Weemer's desk just as the clock reaches 12:00, setting off its alarm. Miss Weemer wakes up and asks Angelica what she's doing, to which Angelica tells her that she was just admiring her coffee mug. Miss Weemer tells Angelica that the coffee mug doesn't belong to her. While that is technically true, Angelica points out how the coffee mug looks exactly like the one Roger left her. Miss Weemer then tells her that the coffee mug belongs to the past. As long as she still has her health, work, and looks, she doesn't need the coffee mug anymore, and is ready to move on. She drops the coffee mug into the trash can, shattering it. As Miss Weemer tells the other students to wake up, Angelica and Susie look into the trash can, realizing they went through all the trouble to attempt to fix, and later replace Miss Weemer's coffee mug for nothing. Harold walks up to them and tells them to look on the bright side. Susie then asks him if they won't get kicked out of preschool, but Harold tells them no, then that he flew. He walks around the classroom, with his arms folded out like airplane wings, as Miss Weemer pours the juice. She calls the students over to the snack table for juice and cookies, and all the students run over excitedly, except for Angelica and Susie, who go over together as Angelica tells Susie she never thought they'd make a good team. Susie tells Angelica that they're both the best preschoolers. They both sit in one chair together, and Miss Weemer walks up to them, with a plate with the last cookie on it. Miss Weemer tells them that they both seem to be getting along together, she hopes they don't mind sharing the last cookie together. Angelica and Susie tell her they don't, but she and Susie soon start arguing over who gets to split it in half.

Later that day, at Tommy's house, Tommy, Chuckie, Phil, Lil, Dil, and Kimi are all watching a Reptar movie and eating cookies. Chuckie tells the other babies that it was nice not to have Angelica bossing them around all day. Lil agrees, saying that she had a wonderful day. Just then, Angelica returns, telling the babies that she's back. She then tells them that they probably missed her, but it is something they'll have to get used to, as now that she is in preschool, they won't get to see her as often as before. Tommy asks her if she's going back to preschool tomorrow, and she tells him she is, and pretty much every day after that. When the babies find out that Angelica will be in preschool almost every day, they all cheer in delight as the episode ends.

Trivia

 * Susie wants to be a scientist when she grows up, while Angelica wants to be a movie star or singer.
 * This is the first appearance of Harold Frumpkin.
 * This is one of the few episodes where Charlotte appears without Drew.
 * This is the fourteenth half-an-hour episode of the series after "Tommy's First Birthday", "The Santa Experience", "Passover", "Chanukah", "Mother's Day", "Vacation", "The Turkey Who Came to Dinner", "The Family Tree", "No Place Like Home", "Be My Valentine", "Discover America", "Finsterella", and "A Rugrats Kwanzaa".
 * This is one of the few episodes that contains an innuendo: Angelica drawing a pair of glasses and a big long nose on Susie's drawing of Miss Weemer resembles a male body part.

Quotes
(Angelica attempts to teach the babies the alphabet.)

Angelica (singing off-key): "A B C D E F G, H I K, Elephants go pee!"

Phil: "Wow. They must need a giant diapie."

Angelica (doing jump-rope): Ice cream soda, cherry on top, Who's the bestest pre-schooler? I forgot! Angelica Pickles! Pickles! Pickles! Susie (also doing jump-rope): Susie Carmichael! Carmichael! Carmichael!

Gallery
The gallery for this episode can be found here