The Rugrats Movie (1998 film)

The Rugrats Movie is a 1998 American animated comedy film, based on the Rugrats TV series. The movie introduces Tommy's baby brother, Dil (who was named after Didi's cousin). From onwards, Dil appears as a regular character.

Characters Present

 * Tommy
 * Dil
 * Chuckie
 * Angelica
 * Phil
 * Lil
 * Stu
 * Didi
 * Lou
 * Drew
 * Charlotte
 * Miriam
 * Spike
 * Chas
 * Howard
 * Betty
 * Lucy
 * Susie
 * Boris
 * Minka
 * Dr. Lipschitz
 * Banana Brothers
 * Rex Pester
 * Ranger Frank
 * Ranger Margaret
 * Kalvin
 * Television Announcer
 * Edwin Carmichael
 * Air Crewman
 * United Express Driver
 * Nurse
 * Babies
 * Goat
 * Reporters
 * Monkeys
 * Scar Snout
 * Marvin
 * Circus TV Announcer
 * Male Guest
 * Serge

Guest Stars

 * David Spade as Ranger Frank
 * Whoopi Goldberg as Ranger Margaret
 * Tim Curry as Rex Pester
 * Busta Rhymes as the Reptar Wagon
 * Roger Clinton, Jr. as the air crewman
 * Margaret Cho as Lt. Klavin
 * Edie McClurg as a nurse
 * Charlie Adler as United Express Driver
 * Frank Welker as Scar Snout, and The Circus Monkeys (uncredited)
 * Lou Rawls as a baby singer
 * Iggy Pop as a baby singer
 * Fred Schneider as a baby singer
 * Kate Pierson as a baby singer
 * Cindy Wilson as a baby singer
 * Jack Angel as reporters (uncredited).

Plot
The movie starts off with a parody of the 1981 fantasy adventure film Raiders of the Lost Ark, titled Okey Dokey Jones. In a voice-over, Chuckie introduces everyone to the audience; his best friend Tommy, who he considers the bravest baby he's ever known, Phil and Lil who like to eat worms and himself, who is scared a lot of time but knows as long as Tommy is around he'll always be saved. He notes that he and his friends thought their fun and adventures would last forever, however they were wrong. The babies attempt to reach a bowl of bananas and ice cream but can't reach, and are eventually chased out of the temple by a boulder, which turns out to be a pregnant Didi, causing the babies to run away, and run straight into the sliding door window.

Didi is at her baby shower at her home, where she is pregnant with her and Stu's second child, as half believe it will be a girl but some believes it will be boy. Stu is in the basement, building a Reptar-related toy - the Reptar Wagon, for a contest held by the Reptar Corporation to win 500 dollars. Stu believes it is the perfect children's toy, and that it will make his toy company famous. Back in Tommy's room, Tommy is at first enthusiastic about having a younger sister, although Angelica warns him that once the sibling is born, Stu and Didi will forget about him.

While Tommy explains that he will not be forgotten, Angelica hears Susie sing about how good a baby is, Angelica, annoyed at this, decides to interrupt and join in, but only to sing mean and selfish things about them. Angelica yells loudly at the end, causing Didi to exclaim that the baby is on its way, or it could be a coincidence (although she was not due until next week). Everyone rushes out and goes to Dr. Lipschitz's Maternity Arts hospital.

Tommy and the rest of the gang think that his baby sister is lost, so they decided to go out and buy a new one, and go on a search to find another baby. They end up in a room with many newly born babies, who break out into song about the new world they're in. Eventually, Lou and Boris find the babies, and take them back to the waiting room.

At the hospital room, the baby is delivered by Lucy Carmichael, and to their surprise, it turns out to be a male, who they name Dylan Prescott Pickles (or "Dil" for short). Tommy and the others arrive, and Didi presents him to Dil, at first, it appears they take a liking to each other, until Dil grabs and swings Tommy's nose around. This causes Tommy to start crying, which in turn sets Dil crying as well.

Four weeks later, Dil is still crying, having barely stopped since being brought home. The babies are all tired of the constant noise by now, noting that Tommy's house is suddenly a lot less fun since Dil arrived. Lil thinks Dil is broken, but Tommy disagrees and thinks Dil is just a little loud, which doesn't explain why he's crying. Angelica, annoyed at all the noise Dil is making, sees a commercial on the TV for the Banana Brothers Monkey Circus. Wanting to go, Angelica clamors to Lou if she can go to the circus, to which he states that he thinks the house is already one.

Cut scene (only seen in television airings): At four o'clock in the morning Didi and Stu are still trying to get Dil to stop crying, they look through the Dr. Lipschitz parenting book, but fall asleep while doing so. When they fall asleep, Dr. Lipschitz rises from behind, and sings about the difficulties of raising a baby, Tommy is then crying and Dil and that they are both doing it incorrectly. Stu and Didi wake up and realize it was a dream. They both look at each other, while Dil continues to usual cry.

The Banana Brothers Monkey Circus train arrives at a station, Serge and Igor stop to have some coffee, but bicker about who should stay and watch the monkeys. They both decide to go in and have coffee, and while arguing about which place has better coffee, the unattended monkeys escape and make their way to the engine at the front of the train, where they take off with it. Serge and Igor, both shocked, rush out to try and stop it, but are too late, and watch as the train disappears in the distance. The monkeys wreak havoc in the locomotive's cab, and makes the train travel at full speed around a slow curve area, causing it to derail and tumble down into the forest.

Back at the Pickles' home, Didi is reading a bedtime story for Tommy about a wizard which grants a wish, until Stu comes in with Dil, wanting her help. Both of them sing Dil a Lullaby, while Tommy tries to get their attention, but to no avail. Dil eventually falls asleep, and a sad Tommy tucks himself in the closet, thinking that his parents have forgotten him.

The next morning, the gang see that Dil is not very nice, as he has claimed items such as Tommy's blanket for his own, and hits both Tommy and Chuckie on the head. Lil tells Tommy that he isn't using the right method for getting things from a brother, and demonstrates on Phil that the item in question has to be snatched. Tommy tries to take a teddy bear from Dil this way, and the two of them fight over it.

Meanwhile, Stu and Lou carry the completed Reptar Wagon up from the basement to the front door, ready for pick up. Later on, Drew drops Angelica off at Stu and Didi's house, as he has to work overtime, but Stu gets angry with him about a comment he made. After walking off, Stu sees Tommy and Dil, who are still fighting over the bear, and tries to stop them. At first, he decides to let Tommy have a turn with it, but changes his mind when Dil starts to cry after it is taken out of his hands, causing Tommy to start crying instead.

Stu decides to take Tommy down into the basement as he has something to show him. He gives Tommy a musical pocket watch that has a picture of Tommy and Dil inside, which he claims now gives Tommy responsibility. He talks to him about being a big brother, and the responsibility he now has. He finishes by assuring that one day, Tommy will be happy to have Dil as his little brother.

Back upstairs, Chuckie, Phil, and Lil see the Reptar Wagon, and are amazed by it. They decide to take Dil back to the hospital using it, to get Tommy's money back (as Tommy believes that by giving Lucy a chocolate coin from the baby shower, they had bought Dil) and think that Tommy will be happy again. Suddenly, Tommy comes in after learning from Stu's advice while returning from the basement, and asks what they are doing with Dil, to which Lil explains to Tommy that they are taking him back to the hospital to get his money back, but Tommy tells them that his parents want to keep him, however, this causes Phil to start arguing with Tommy.

Due to the noise, Angelica comes out telling them to stop it, as she is trying to watch TV, but when Dil sees Cynthia, he takes her away from Angelica, prompting her to try and snatch it back, only to fall into the crate. Furious, Angelica tries to go back at Dil, but is stopped by Tommy, who tells Angelica that Dil didn't mean it. Angelica, ignoring what Tommy said, throws him into the wagon, kicks it, which sends it rolling out the door, and rushes back to the TV as her show, Shirley-Lock Holmes, has come back on, but due to this, she forgets about Cynthia. The delivery truck arrives, and Lou, who is half-asleep, simply tells the man to take it away, but doesn't tell him what item exactly, which causes the goat to be taken instead.

As Spike barks as the delivery truck drives off, Angelica tells him to be quiet, as she and Cynthia are watching TV, only to realise Cynthia is missing. She dresses up in a Shirley-Lock Holmes outfit, and takes Spike to go and find them. The kids end up on a wild ride in the Reptar Wagon as it travels through the streets, down stairs, through a playground, onto a construction site, into a mattress factory, and finally ending up in the back of a mattress truck. Meanwhile, at the house, Stu and Lou realize the kids are gone, and rush out to go and find them after Stu asks Lou where are the kids and the Reptar Wagon.

Stu, along with a sleeping Lou, rush to go and find the kids using the car as Stu furiously berates Lou for not watching the kids, but due to his impatience, he cuts off the mattress truck that the kids are in, causing it to drive off the side of the road, and roll down into the woods. Stu and Lou then go to the airport, and check to see if they are on the plane where the crate is, but find out the goat is there instead.

They both rush back home, and check around the house to see if they are there, until Didi arrives back home from grocery shopping, where Lou blames Stu for losing the kids, making Didi so shocked she drops everything. The kids are seen outside of the crashed truck, along with the Reptar Wagon as they find themselves lost in the woods, but before they can find their way out, they have to change Dil's diaper. The parents call the police for help, which attracts huge media attention. Back in the woods, the gang tries to change Dil's diaper, but when Chuckie falls back because of Dil, a frog jumps on his head, which makes him even more annoyed with him. Tommy manages to change Dil's diaper, and decides to use his responsibility (the pocket watch) to help guide them out. They put Dil in the Reptar Wagon and head off.

Meanwhile, Angelica is still looking for the babies, and manages to locate the area where the truck drove off, however, Spike does not slow down, and the road is also sloped, so she and Spike are launched off the edge of the road, and smack into some branches, with Angelica also hitting her back into a tree, knocking her out for a short time. When she wakes up, she sees Spike, and tells him that not all dogs go to heaven.

Cut scene (only seen in television airings): Back in the forest, the babies pull and push the Reptar Wagon up a hill by singing an army chant-like song. While they do, Phil and Lil say nasty comments about Dil while Tommy tries to defend him and Chuckie complains during the song. When they almost reach the top, Dil squirts juice all over Phil and Lil and they let go of the wagon making it slip out of Tommy's grip and it rolls back down the hill into a bush.

Stu, Didi, and the others walk out of the Pickles home, only to be mobbed by news reporters, until a helicopter suddenly flies in. Rex Pester, another news reporter, jumps out and starts asking Didi questions. Betty gets annoyed with his attitude towards the situation, and tries to attack him, only to be held back by Stu and Lou. A few moments later, Charlotte and Drew arrive, wondering what's going on. Rex runs up to Drew and tells him his brother has lost his daughter. Drew, infuriated, tackles Stu and tries to break his arm. Rex wraps up his report by giving the names of each missing child, but mispronounces them all. Just after he finishes, Chas lets everyone know that Angelica and Spike have been seen, and they all hurry to the location, while Lou comes out wearing his uniform and joins them.

The babies continue to pull the Reptar Wagon up the hill, and are still complaining about Dil. They reach a steep drop, and are clueless as to what they should do next. The adults are seen at the area where the mattress truck drove off the road, while a detective questions if the binky found on the road is theirs. Chuckie is seen crying as he is not sure what to do, but Phil furiously blames it on Dil, and Lil joins in causing Tommy to get annoyed and yell at her. Tommy tells her that Dil is just a baby, but when he does, Dil pulls one of Tommy's diaper straps off, causing it to fall down. Tommy tries to take it positively, saying it's good to be naked as it's hot in the woods. Phil and Lil continue to argue with Tommy, but Chuckie notices a house in the distance, and Tommy thinks that a wizard might live there, meaning that they will be able to go home if they wish for it. Tommy runs back to the Reptar Wagon but trips over a large footprint, Phil notices that it is from a wolf, to which Tommy disagrees, saying that they would hear a howl, but as Tommy imitates a howl, a real one is heard. The babies panic, jump into the Reptar Wagon, and ride off the steep decline, but as they roll down the hill, Dil keeps turning the steering wheel.

Frank and Margaret are seen patrolling the forest, as Frank tells her about the dangers of the forest, suddenly, the Reptar Wagon jumps past them from behind, which makes Margaret excited to think there are dragons too. The babies continue to roll down the hill, but can't find a way to stop the wagon. Tommy presses everything, until he pulls a lever down which makes the wagon stop right on the edge of a cliff with a water below. Dil releases the brake, and they fall into the water. The Reptar Wagon changes into Aqua Reptar, giving it a float and a propeller, and they float down the water.

At the ranger house, Margaret is excited to tell headquarters about the dragon, but Frank emphasizes the courage needed to work in the forest, he looks through a telescope and also sees the Reptar Wagon, causing him to jump back in panic and scream that he saw the dragon, which gets Margaret more excited. Back at the mattress truck crash scene, Lou finds a wrapper for a Cynthia bar, and assumes Angelica is looking for the babies. Chas and Howard come running out from the woods to tell everyone that they found wheel tracks and footprints, with Stu coming to a conclusion that they must be in the Reptar Wagon. Drew scolds Stu about how stupid his inventions are, but this only gives Stu an idea. Betty sorts everything out by ordering everyone about what they should do, while Stu, Lou, and Chas get in the car and drive off.

In the river, the babies start to sing a sea chantey, but hit a rock shortly after, causing both Dil and Chuckie to fall to the side. Tommy decides to save Dil while Chuckie goes overboard and falls into the river, but realizes it's not very deep, as he is standing up, he pulls out a fish that got into his shorts. Phil launches a life ring, which lands perfectly over Chuckie, but Lil pushes a button that causes the wagon to speed up, taking Chuckie on a ride, until he hits the water and falls out of the life ring. Phil and Lil pull it back to the wagon, and Chuckie is seen holding onto it. When Chuckie is back on board, he questions why Tommy didn't help him, but once again, Tommy says that Dil is just a baby. Suddenly, Phil and Lil notice they are heading towards a waterfall, causing all of the babies to panic, they try to turn the wagon around, and manage to do so, but Dil pulls a lever that raises the propeller, Tommy quickly pushes it back, and they manage to escape, but spin out and crash into a tree trunk on the land, sending all of them flying. Tommy lands on a bush, which makes his pocket watch fall out, it starts to roll down to the river, and he jumps and grabs it just before it falls in.

Back at the Pickles house, Stu, Lou and Chas are attempting to get down Dactar - Stu's flying invention. However, it's too heavy, and the pulley breaks the roof, causing it to fall and nearly land on Lou, who is then seen sleeping under it.

The babies pull the Reptar Wagon up from the shore, and try to figure out where the wizard is. Once again, Tommy uses his pocket watch for directions, but ends up circling a tree for a while. Chuckie thinks there might be other babies around, while Phil and Lil vociferate at Tommy, criticizing his pocket watch; claiming it's broken, just like Dil. Tommy starts to argue back, which begins to give Chuckie a headache. While Chuckie distances himself away from the yelling, he spots a clown, and yells out. Tommy, Phil and Lil come over, and realise it's a train. Suddenly, the carriage door opens, and a mysterious figure pops out. The figure is revealed to be the circus monkeys, who then jump out and break into song, dancing and playing with the babies while they do. During the song, Chuckie's glasses fall off, and are taken by the monkeys. Soon after, Dil starts to theme cry, as he is hungry, and an annoyed Tommy goes to open some food for Dil, which happens to be banana paste.

After opening it, the smell of the bananas veers the monkeys toward it. Dil splatters the food all over himself, and Tommy throws away the empty jar, but in doing so, causes the monkeys to charge towards it. One of them snatches the diaper bag and runs off, so Tommy chases after them, while other monkeys start to lick the paste off Dil. Chuckie notices this, and rushes to help Dil, but the monkeys try to take him away. Chuckie does his best to hold onto Dil, asking Phil and Lil for their help, but they do not care, and watch as Chuckie continues to hold Dil. Dil slips out, and flies into Phil and Lil's arms; while they hold onto Dil as he is being pulled up by a monkey, they purposely let go, launching him up with the monkey. Meanwhile, Chuckie is trying to get his glasses back from another monkey, who then drops them and runs off. Chuckie searches the ground for them, but accidentally steps on them, cracking the lenses. The monkeys leave, taking Dil with them. Both Phil and Lil are happy about this, while Chuckie is horrified.

Spike continues to drag Angelica through the forest, but breaks one of her roller skates in the process. As Angelica is taking it off, a wolf named Scar Snout sneaks up behind her. Angelica thinks it's Spike who stinks, but he quickly runs off with Angelica behind once again, just as Scar Snout bites down, narrowly avoiding her. Scar Snout is reluctant to give up, and growls while Spike drags Angelica off into the distance. Back at the Pickles residence, Stu is on the roof ready to launch Dactar, which he is tying from a rope to his car for easy takeoff. He assures that it will fly as he is facing the wind. Lou asks Chas if Stu is ready, to which Chas replies that he is not, Lou, however, mishears this and thinks Chas told him to go, which he does. As Lou drives off, the rope gets caught around Stu's leg, and pulls him off the roof, Dactar starts to fall, but gets enough wind speed to stay in the air, albeit very unstably.

Back in the forest, Chuckie, Phil and Lil disguise a smaller monkey as Dil to trick Tommy into thinking Dil has turned into one. While the others are ardent to depart, Tommy insists on finishing feeding Dil, he removes the blanket, and is surprised to see that Dil has turned into a monkey. A thunderstorm approaches, and Chuckie suggests that they get going, but Tommy doesn't want to, as he can't go home with Dil being a monkey. Chuckie tells Tommy that they must get to the wizard's house, which gives Tommy an idea: to wish Dil was back to normal. However, as they will only get one wish, an argument is sparked up as they won't be able to get home if Dil gets the wish. Shortly into the argument Lil accidentally spills out the truth, admitting that the monkey is not actually Dil. Chuckie explains what happens, and Phil and Lil exclaim that they don't want to help Tommy find his brother. Tommy turns to his best friend Chuckie, asking for his help, but also gets a no from him. Chuckie explains that if Tommy were his best friend, he would help him more, and lists recent events where Tommy was too busy looking after Dil to help or care for him. Lil tells Tommy that he doesn't have any friends left, only his brother now. An upset Tommy decides to look for Dil himself. As he walks off into the distance with the diaper bag, the storm hits, and it starts to rain.

Eventually Tommy finds Dil and they find shelter underneath a tree. Tommy tries to look after Dil, but finally reaches his breaking point when Dil selfishly drinks all of their milk and refuses to share the big blanket with Tommy in the cold weather. Tommy snaps at Dil, angry with him for losing him his friends and his parents, and is ready to abandon him for the monkeys to take him away, but when Tommy sees how scared Dil is and sees a reflection of his own angry face, he comes to his senses and apologizes to his brother. They both turn over a new leaf, with Dil willingly sharing the torn blanket with Tommy who promises to never abandon his brother. Meanwhile, Chuckie and the twins are trying to find their own way through the storm. Chuckie wants to go back for Tommy and Dil. The twins selfishly say no and voice how they think Tommy only cares about Dil now which is why they let the monkeys take Dil. The next morning after the thunderstorm is over, Tommy and Dil are attacked by the monkeys but are saved by Phil and Lil. Chuckie then scares off the monkeys with the Reptar Wagon, and Tommy leaves to help him.

With that, the babies are all friends again and are eventually reunited with Angelica and Spike. Tommy leads them to the bridge where on the other side they spot what they think is the Lizard's house (in reality a ranger station) and look forward to being sent back home, but once they reach the bridge, so do the monkeys. To make things worse, both groups get attacked by a stray wolf who has been stalking them throughout the film. The children start to panic while the monkeys run away in fear of the wolf, but Spike bravely engages in a fight with the wolf, ending with the two dogs falling off the bridge to their apparent deaths leaving Angelica and the babies heartbroken. Just then, Stu, searching for the babies on his "Dactar" glider, spots the babies on the bridge and accidentally crashes into the ranger station.

Tommy believes his father in the wrecked glider to be the Lizard Man, and instead of wishing to be sent home he instead wishes for Spike to be brought back to life. Stu falls through the bridge, where he finds Spike alive and well. The other parents suddenly arrive and are reunited with their children just as the Banana Brothers find their monkeys and take them back. Charlotte throws away her phone, finally putting Angelica before her job, Stu and Drew apologize to each other, and Dil finally shares his bottle of milk with Tommy, now happy to have each other as a brother.

Back home, the babies go on another Okey Dokey Jones adventure but this time with Dil, having fully accepted him into the group. Now with an extra member, the babies are able to reach the bowl as Chuckie's voice over tells the audience that things never did go back to the way they were... with Dil around, things got even better.

In a Post Credits Scene, Boris goat Kicks Stu's Reptar Wagon that kicked off the plot with Grandpa Lou asleep in it. and The Reptar wagon with Lou Asleep rolls down the street, Leaving Grandpa Lou Presumbably missing and the search starts all over again.

Scenes

 * In the opening scene, the babies failed to reach the bowl, and had a giant boulder (which in reality, it is Didi's pregnant belly) scared them away.
 * In the ending scene, Dil reached the bowl.

Reception
The Rugrats Movie was released on November 20, 1998, and opened at #1 at the box office with a gross of $27,321,470 in 2,782 theaters averaging to about $9,821 per theater, ahead of Enemy of the State, and became the first animated movie not made by Disney to gross $100 million in the United States and Canada.

The film was followed by Rugrats in Paris: The Movie and Rugrats Go Wild. It grossed in worldwide results, $140,894,675, making it a box office success, considering its modest $24 million budget. Even though the movie a commercial success, the film earned mainly mixed reviews. It currently has a rating of 59% on the Rotten Tomatoes website. It also remained the highest grossing animated film based on a TV show until 2007 when it was out-grossed by The Simpsons Movie with a worldwide total of $527.9 million, although the film remained the highest-grossing Nicktoons film until the release of The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water  in 2015. The film was released on VHS, Laserdisc, and DVD on March 30, 1999. The film will be released on Blu-ray on March 8, 2022 through The Rugrats Trilogy Movie Collection. It is also available on the iTunes store in high-definition.

Trivia

 * Numerous changes were made before the film was released, many of which can be seen in the trailer. These include:
 * When Tommy and Dil are introduced, Dil grabs Tommy's nose. In the trailer, there's some kind of "plop" sound effect when Dil grabs Tommy's nose, and Tommy cries instantly. In the film, there's no sound effect, and Tommy doesn't cry until a couple of seconds after Dil grabs Tommy's nose. However, in the trailer, his crying sound was different than in the actual movie, while in the actual movie, he uses his signature crying sound from "Touchdown Tommy".
 * In a scene where Grandpa and Stu realize that the kids are gone, after Grandpa said "They were here a minute ago," Stu screams immediately in the trailer, but he never screamed in the film.
 * In one scene, a "Big Action News" reporter (not Rex Pester) says, "Do you know where your children are?" It was heard in the trailer when Stu and Didi are surrounded by people after they found out their kids were missing.
 * In the trailer, Tommy and Dil begin fighting over the teddy in a game of tug-of-war, but in this particular scene, Phil and Lil are sitting on the couch as the fight starts. Tommy and Dil's eyes are closed because of the strain. The teddy bear doesn't rip. In the background, we see a playpen that looks a lot like the one we see in "Moose Country". That playpen was never seen in The Rugrats Movie.
 * In the part where people are asking Stu and Didi questions, the people and arrangements they are in differ from both the trailer and movie.
 * In the trailer, when Angelica and Spike fall towards the forest, Angelica pulls Spike with her and we see Angelica (back-side view, not front view) with the leash and falling backwards. Spike is pulled literally forward. In the movie, however, this is not seen.
 * In the trailer, when Tommy uses his jump rope to pull Chuckie through the Angelica-like stone mouth, he whips to his left and had his eyes open and his mouth closed, but in the movie, however, he closes his eyes for a second or two and does open his mouth as he whips.
 * When Tommy says, "No! You can't do that!" to Phil and Lil, the scene is slightly different in the movie trailer. In the trailer, the background is darker, Tommy's motions are a little different, and he's further away than in the movie.
 * When Tommy and Dil start the tug-of-war, Tommy starts it, but the way they react is much different: Tommy bares his gums, reaches with 1 hand, and grabs the leg. They begin pulling. The way their faces are differ in the movie.
 * The scene during Dil being pushed out by Didi is different. The trailer included a leaves-and-forest-like scene background at the start of the trailer, but this wasn't used in the film.
 * In one scene in the trailer, we see a cameraman running with a camera into a yellow van. This scene wasn't used in the movie.
 * In one scene, Tommy is smiling and lifting his right hand up and saying "We're just having an adventure, that's all." In the background we see Chuckie & Lil, however, this is never seen in the film.
 * In the trailer as Phil says "I've seen feetprints like that in our story book. A woof made 'em! And then he ate that little red riding girl." Also, the camera quickly zooms in on the wolf's footprint, unlike in the film itself.
 * In the trailer, the sequence where the light europes from darkness only has palm leaves seen. But in the movie, they aren't the only ones seen. A group of planets, a school of fish mingling in aquatic plantlife, dinosaurs, dolphins and monkeys, stonehenge, the sphinx, and atoms appear as well.
 * In the trailer when Phil says "And then he ate that little red riding girl", we see Angelica and Spike being chased by Scar Snout. However, this was never seen in the film.
 * Two songs were cut from the film during production. The first sequence revolved around Stu and Didi in a nightmare sequence where Dr. Lipschitz berates their parenting through song. The other sequence occurs as the Rugrats are pushing the Reptar Wagon through the woods, debating what to do about Dil in army chant style. These two scenes were cut from the theatrical version, the VHS and DVD releases, and TeenNick airings of the movie (Yet like "Angelica the Divine" early VHS tapes, The Rugrats Movie's early VHS tapes also had the deleted scenes). However, they were already animated at the time, and the scenes are shown on CBS and Nickelodeon TV airings of the film as the uncut version is only available on TV. These scenes were present in the print novelization.
 * The more recent airings of the movie on Nickelodeon have removed the deleted scenes thus making the uncut version completely gone from TV. As of right now, they can only be seen on early recordings of the film.
 * In the scene where the Rugrats were running out of the mountain cave being chased by a giant rock and the floor opens itself in front of them, when Chuckie yells "Tommy", the audio is taken from "Piggy's Pizza Palace".
 * In the scene where Chuckie, Phil and Lil first saw the Reptar Wagon, when Lil says "Wow" with Phil, the audio is taken from "Send in the Clouds".
 * Shirley-Lock Holmes is a parody of Sherlock Holmes.
 * Okey Dokey Jones is a parody of Indiana Jones.
 * This is the first piece of Rugrats media to use digital ink and paint instead of cel animation. The main series would not switch to digital ink and paint until "Acorn Nuts & Diapey Butts".
 * In the ending credits, "Take the Train" is the only song not to show any screenshots of Angelica as the song plays.
 * Unlike the TV series, Angelica's Cynthia doll has darker skin and her dress is turquoise and blue as opposed to orange and red and her shoes are pink instead of red. However, the group artwork on the poster and home media covers uses Cynthia's color scheme from the TV series.
 * The Reptar doll which Phil and Lil fight over with has white eyes instead of orange for unknown reasons.
 * The Reptar Wagon's gear stick's knob is purple in the movie and on the left-hand side of the steering wheel, but red in the cast artwork for the poster and home media covers and on the other side of the steering wheel.
 * Tommy and Dil are the only two kids whose clothes do not rip holes during their adventure in the woods before all their parents finally rescue them.
 * In this movie, Dil's outfit is purple, but in the TV series, his outfit is changed to yellow.
 * In a promotional advert for the film, the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center are renamed Phil and Lil with the North Tower getting a bow.
 * This is the first movie to use the 1998 Klasky-Csupo logo.
 * This is the only Rugrats film to not feature Kimi Finster or Kira Watanbe-Finster as they don't appear until the next film, Rugrats in Paris: The Movie.
 * The engine on the train is an 0-6-0 or an American type steam locomotive. These types of engines of this most common wheel arrangement were used most common on American railroads during the 1800s and 1830s until 1928.
 * During the scene with Rex Pester, a reporter asks Stu and Didi "Is it true that a Dingo ate your baby?". which is a reference to the Azaria Chamberlain case.
 * In a demo tape of Phil and Lil Double Trouble, the movie was originally supposed to be released in 1997, but this ended up getting pushed back to Thanksgiving 1998.
 * Hattie Winston takes over as the voice of Dr. Lucy Carmichael beginning with this movie, she wouldn't provide the character's voice again until the episode "Junior Prom".
 * When the babies try to look for Dil for Tommy in the hospital nursery they call "the baby store", it is possible the babies once misheard what many believe is actually the stork that babies are thought to come from.
 * This is the second time Stu and Drew are shown as kids after "Sour Pickles".
 * This is the only Rugrats film where Grandpa Lou plays more of a major role as he only has minor roles in the next two films Rugrats in Paris: The Movie and Rugrats Go Wild.
 * The atoms that are shown CGI-made graphic representation resemble the ones from the Jimmy Neutron franchise.

Goofs

 * It's not possible that real baby girls can pee in the air. At the end of the song "This World is Something New to Me", the newborn baby girls pee in the air to make a fountain along with the newborn baby boys.
 * On the bridge when the babies see Spike attacking the wolf, Cynthia is seen in Angelica's hand. However, when Tommy asks the lizard they want Spike back the camera zooms on the babies, Cynthia is not in Angelica's hands.
 * When Stu & Grandpa go to the airport control tower and check to see if the kids are on the plane where the crate is, but find out the goat is there instead. This makes no sense; There's no possible way the goat would've made it on to the plane, as x-ray scanners at Airport Security would've detected it. However, given the fact that this movie was from 1998 (fans speculate that in the timeline the year this happened was 1991) Airport Security wasn't as strict at the time since Security at Airports were more strict since the September 11, 2001 attacks.
 * How did Angelica know about the lizard?
 * The amount of cars on the circus train constantly change.
 * When Phil said, "man overboard", he sounded like Lil.
 * When Chuckie said, "Where are we?", he sounded like Phil.
 * When Tommy drops his watch he looks down but the sponsatility was still on his neck when he dropped it.
 * Although the overall group of monkeys consists of 20-23, only 10 total continue to be seen after they kidnap Dil. When they herd past Angelica while chasing Chuckie, only 8 of these 10 are shown, with multiple identical-looking monkeys chasing along. When the monkeys are reunited with their trainers, 2 of them (the lead monkey and the blue male monkey) are absent after running away at the sight of Scar Snout.
 * After Angelica unsuccessfully attempts to retrieve her Cynthia doll from Dil after she accidentally gave it to him, she pulls off both of the shoes, and then later finds one of the shoes on the doormat. However, later in the movie when she finally discovers Cynthia and attempts once again to retrieve it until the monkey picks it up and she starts dragging on the monkey's tail, one of the shoes is still on Cynthia, and in subsequent scenes the shoe switches from left foot to right foot and vice-versa in between shots.
 * When one of the monkeys tries to make off with Cynthia, this is the gray-browed monkey. In the next scene, it is the reddish orange lead monkey who is stealing Cynthia.
 * When Tommy, Chuckie, Phil, and Lil crash into the back door and then collapse backward, the door and area around from the outside are bare. Yet in the next few seconds, after Didi picks up Tommy with Betty assisting due to Didi being pregnant and then head outside, the ribbons appear on the door and its surroundings as the baby shower is being held.
 * After Tommy falls into the mud and gets coated with mud, he then smears some mud on Dil when he decided to admit Phil and Lil were correct earlier on about Dil's personality. While Tommy remains coated with mud, Dil appears clean again for the remainder of the time Tommy is muddy; and then later after all the parents finally retrieve their kids, the muddy stains reappear on Dil in the shot where he and Tommy take turns drinking milk while being held by Didi.
 * When Phil launches a life preserver to Chuckie, the lever is seen in the backseat of the Reptar Wagon. This is clearly an error as the control panel is supposed to be in the cockpit of the vehicle.
 * In the ending credits, the shot of Grandpa Lou searching for the missing kids in Stu and Didi Pickles' house is mirrored for unknown reasons.
 * When Angelica turns up the volume to full-volume on the TV for the Banana Brothers Monkey Circus commercial, the speakers don't blare at all. This is ironic, as a loud to full-volume can actually cause the speakers to blare out wildly and wear down from their former state, and cause people in the surroundings to develop hearing loss.
 * Straight before Tommy and his three pals enter the nursery, Tommy pulls the Chocolate Coin (which he saved from Didi's baby shower) out of his diaper with his right hand. Yet, in the next shot in close-up and then zooming out, it is in his left hand instead.
 * Also, in that scene, the Chocolate Coin is shown to reflect lighting like any real coin would, but anything as edible as what Tommy was saving would not in any way be able to reflect lighting. Later, when he gives it to Dr. Lucy Carmichael, it makes a sound a real coin would make when it lands, but anything edible like that would actually have a muffled sound effect.
 * When the door to the TV room is first shown when Angelica can't stand Dil's constant crying after being brought home from the hospital, the frame is perfectly fit with the shape of the door. However, when it is shown again in a later scene after Angelica kicks the Reptar wagon with the babies and sending them out of the house, the TV room's door frame has a semi-circle gap above where the door's height extends.
 * When the babies ride the Reptar wagon for the first time, Tommy switches between the front and back seats and vice-versa in between shots during their ride before end up in a mattress truck.
 * How did the kids know how to change Dil's diper? it is possible that they watched their parents change theirs.
 * When Angelica and Spike enter the forest, the mattress truck is seen being towed. However, in the previous scene of Dil's diaper change, the truck was still there.
 * When Tommy and his friends are about to head up the hill after loading Dil in the Reptar wagon, Dil was still wearing only his diaper. Later, when they are walking up the hill with the Reptar wagon handy, Dil has his sleeper on. However, in the similar but deleted scene, Dil was still wearing only his diaper as how it would have happened before they had any time to don Dil's sleeper.
 * In the scene where Stu is building the Reptar wagon, when a blaze of fire erupts from the structure of the vehicle, when Drew dodges from the blaze, none of the fire hits his clothes. However, in the next shot when Stu is extiguishing the fire, a quarter of Drew's shirt and vest are burned off.
 * Also, in the same incident, after two shots of fire land on Grandpa Lou's shirt, when he puts out the flames with his bare hands, the areas of his shirt which the fires landed on do not burn or rip holes.
 * After Stu, Chas, and Grandpa Lou lift down Dactar from the ceiling, when it lands hard on the floor after the ceiling collapses, it is badly mangled. However, in a later scene where Stu has the Dactar ready to go and is on the roof of his and Didi's house before Grandpa Lou drives off, it is fixed up within a few hours after the incident. This is considered a plot hole, as it would actually have to take several days to repair those types of aircraft before they're ready to use once they're damaged.
 * When Chuckie accidentally steps on his glasses breaking the lenses, his right leg is in front when he's facing the screen. In the next shot in his POV, his left foot is out instead before he retracts that step and puts on his glasses.
 * Also, since the aftermath is in Chuckie's POV as he puts on his glasses, the angle is supposed to be blurry instead of clear since he has poor eyesight without his glasses on.
 * At the beginning of the movie, when the babies are running from Didi, Lil's socks are blue instead of pink.
 * One of the newborn babies during "This World is Something New to Me" has an earring.
 * When Angelica says to Spike that she hopes that he turns into a frog she drops the leash in front of Spike, but in the next scene when she says "I'll find Cynthia myself", the leash is gone.
 * When the babies run into Boris's goat and the goat bleats, Boris responds "He's saying 'hello'!" The goat, however, is female, as she sports a prominent udder, and Boris and Minka brought her as a baby shower gift in order to supply goat's milk.
 * When Didi's labor begins, the colors on Susie's dress change.
 * When Drew and Howard attempt to push the Jeep that Margaret is driving out of the muddy crevice, Drew is first shown wearing his usual clothes. In the next shot in close-up, Drew is wearing Stu's shirt.
 * While the Rugrats run away from Didi (in which was actually a boulder in their imaginations), Didi slightly disappears while the scene pans to the Rugrats.
 * Betty wears the wrong clothes like the purple and blue striped leggings instead of blue jeans while Didi is in labor.