Momma Trauma

"Momma Trauma" is the second segment of the seventh episode of season 1, and the seventh segment of Rugrats overall.

Characters Present

 * Tommy
 * Didi
 * Stu
 * Drew (mentioned)
 * Dr. Lepetomaine
 * Mrs. Chesapeake
 * Lawyer 1
 * Lawyer 2

Summary
''After Tommy is found drawing on walls at the Pickles' house, Stu and Didi take him to a psychiatrist name Dr. Lepetomaine. When Tommy breaks free and has an adventure around the medical office building, Stu ends up being the one psychoanalyzed.''


 * - Description from Klasky Csupo

Plot
Didi catches Tommy drawing on the walls! She becomes concerned about his behavior, and makes an appointment to meet with a psychologist downtown in order to discuss Tommy's potential problems with him drawing on the walls.

At the psychiatrist's office, Didi begins to talk about Tommy to the psychologist (while the psychologist secretly ignores her). When Stu makes it clear that he believes this is a waste of time, the psychologist encourages Stu to talk about his own childhood problems. Stu begins to talk, and since no one is looking, Tommy leaves the office to explore the rest of the building.

Tommy first enrages a woman who has had her portrait painted (though not completely accurately) by stepping on a tube of black paint that spatters on the canvas in a way that looks like she's been painted with a mustache! Then he secretly joins a group of kids that gather with their parents in a different office.

These children, it turns out, are used to gauge the potential success of would-be new toys. This time they're going to play with "Super Blasto Man", a toy robot the children find thoroughly uninteresting, especially after the company reps tell them they're not allowed to go "crazy" with the toy. Tommy pulls the rubber ball out of the center of the toy's chest and begins to play with it instead. The other children catch on and start to play with the rubber balls of their toys, too. This horrifies the representatives, more so when Tommy's bounces out of the office, and he chases after it.

Tommy chases the rubber ball all over the place before finally returning back to the psychologist's office. Stu has cried over all the times Drew bullied him, and is now beginning to talk about how he was an ugly duckling who was also a late bloomer when the psychologist's timer goes off. He wakes up says that's all the time they have for today...but they can schedule another appointment next week for Stu.

Stu feels much better now, while Didi is unsure about the meeting being worth the money. She notices Tommy's new ball and asks where it came from. Stu says he gave that to him ages ago. Unknown to them, the toy company representatives are freaking out about the missing rubber ball.

Trivia

 * Interestingly enough, there is no mention of Dr. Lipschitz, whom Didi is typically obsessed with consulting.
 * Infants and toddlers drawing on walls is extremely common and maybe very important. There was no need for them to send Tommy to a psychologist because of this. It is done out of boredom and a child wanting to expand and express their creative mind. It's so common that during the time this episode came out, companies started to manufacture markers/crayons/pens and paint that allow for children to write and draw on the wall, but can very easily be washed and removed. Also, they have come out with markers and pens that do simply the opposite of that. They have some that can only be used on special paper, and do not work on anything but that.
 * Only one of the main characters (in this case, Tommy) appears in this episode.
 * This is the first time Stu cries in the series.
 * This is the first time Didi screams in the series.
 * When the minor character parents and their children are on their way to the Snow, Steele and Trickim Agency for the Super Blasto Man lecture, you can hear one of the children sing the famous Nickelodeon jingle (first heard in 1984).
 * The names "Dr Hyde" and "Sigmund Freud" can be seen on the doors to some of the other doctors' offices.
 * Older TV Fans: When Stu expresses himself to Dr. Lepetomaine, does it remind you of anything? Jack Riley, the voice of Stu, was also Elliot Carlin, who expresses himself almost every week to Dr. Hartley (Bob Newhart) on The Bob Newhart Show, which was on CBS from 1972 to 1978. Unlike Dr. Lepetomaine, however, Dr. Hartley says much more than a meer "I see".
 * The voice of Dr. Lepetomaine and the advertising agent is Dan Gilvezan; the voice of Bumblebee on the 1980s Transformers cartoon series, and Cooler from the 1980s Pound Puppies series.
 * The name of the doctor, Lepetomaine, is likely a reference to famed flatulist (professional farter) Joseph Pujol, better known as Le Pétomane, which roughly means “fartomaniac”.

Goofs

 * Bandicam 2020-08-27 19-39-51-875.jpg the man is about to give Tommy a toy of "Super Blasto Man", the upper screen has a shade of lime green for a split second; this appears to be a jump/cut in the animation when this happens, implying there are deleted frames.