I Remember Melville | Gallery | Transcript |
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"I Remember Melville" is an episode of Rugrats from Season 3.
Characters Present[]
Character Mentioned[]
Character Introduced[]
Synopsis[]
When Chuckie's pet bug passes away while in the care of the other Rugrats, they try to find a way to break the news to him - Description from Klasky Csupo
Plot[]
Chuckie shows up one day at Tommy's house with a pet of his very own: Melville, a pillbug. Chuckie is happy with his pet, and spends a lot of time having fun with Melville.
One day, Chuckie asks Tommy, Phil, and Lil to watch Melville while he searches for a special kind of leaf for the bug. They notice that Melville isn't doing anything. Tommy is confused, but Phil and Lil recognize Melville as being dead. The twins explain death to Tommy, who realizes Chuckie is going to be devastated. He tries to replace Melville with a snail.
Chuckie returns with the leaf and becomes angry when he sees the snail. He yells that a snail is not a bug (which Phil had already stated) and demands to see Melville. Tommy and the twins explain that Melville is dead. Chuckie refuses to believe this and continues to play with Melville as if he were alive, despite the fact the bug is not responding to anything. Eventually, Chuckie is forced to accept Melville is dead. He breaks down sobbing, saying that he'll never be happy again.
The next day, Tommy and the twins agree to be extra nice to Chuckie and decide not to do anything that could remind Chuckie of Melville. When Chuckie comes over, he appears to be normal, however Tommy, Phil and Lil go overboard in trying to be nice to him and trying not to bring up Melville. Chuckie realizes what's going on and tries assuring his friends he's moved on from Melville. But, when they go to eat chocolate pudding, Chuckie starts crying again, as remembers how he used to eat chocolate pudding with Melville. When Tommy says they'll find something else to eat so Chuckie can forget about Melville, Chuckie tells his friends he doesn't want to forget Melville; he feels sad because he never got to say goodbye.
In order to give him closure, a funeral is held for Melville in the backyard. Phil and Lil mention all of the things Chuckie used to do with Melville and begin to tear up. Their sadness turns to outrage when Chuckie bursts into laughter. Chuckie explains that he feels happy remembering these things, and says from now on, when he remembers Melville, he'll laugh instead of cry. This causes Phil and Lil to cry, which surprises Tommy and Chuckie.
Trivia[]
- This is Kath Soucie's favorite episode.
- This is the first and only appearance of Melville.
- Melville is later mentioned in the episode "Share and Share a Spike".
- Though the species of Melville is never mentioned, it is obvious that he is a pillbug.
- A pillbug's lifespan is between two and five years.
- This is the only episode of the original series where the main characters (Tommy, Chuckie, Phil, and Lil) appear without Didi, Stu, Chas, Charlotte, Drew, Betty, Howard, Lou or Angelica appearing.
- However, Chas is mentioned by Tommy.
- Chas's fur allergy is first mentioned, which would play a more prominent role in "Babysitting Fluffy".
- Even though this episode has no problem with saying the words "dead", "death", and "died" aloud, in the newer episodes, these words are never used, particularly when talking about Melinda Finster.
- Chuckie is shown going through the Five Stages of Grief (a.k.a. the Kübler-Ross model) when Melville dies. This includes denial (Chuckie first keeps denying Melville is dead and desperately tries to awaken him), anger (Chuckie is angered when the others try to tell him Melville is dead, and that the "replacement bug" is really a snail), bargaining (Chuckie attempts to show that Melville is fine by having him perform in a "circus"), depression (Chuckie finally realizes Melville is truly dead and cries over it), and finally acceptance (Chuckie starts laughing at Melville's funeral, remembering all the good times he had with Melville, and shows he has now accepted his pet bug's death). But at one point, Chuckie goes back to denial (Chuckie attempts to show a good face and forget all about Melville).
- Morals:
- It's always sad when you lose a pet.
- Friends are there to mend a broken heart.
Goofs[]
- When Tommy realizes he's being insensitive about the death of Melville when mentioning playing "bugs in the rug", he puts his hands over his mouth. However, in the next shot, his hands are at his sides, and in the shot after that, one hand is on his mouth and the other is near his chest.