Special Delivery

Special Delivery	Gallery	Transcript

"Special Delivery" is the second segment of the eighth episode of Season 1, and the eighth Rugrats segment overall.

Characters Present []

Characters Introduced[]

Summary[]

When Stu orders a "Tina Trousers" doll from Eggbert Toys to see how it compares to his own "Patty Pants" design, Tommy think the Pickles' are getting a new baby in the mail. Hitching a ride with the mailman, Tommy ends up exploring the post office.

- Description from Klasky Csupo

Plot[]

Stu is working on his doll, Patty Pants, and he is trying to get her to say, "I need a hug", but she keeps saying "I need a new diaper" and eventually shorts out, much to his frustration. Tommy is on Spike's back and attempts to wake Spike up, but only when the mailman comes does Spike awaken, and he runs to the door, with Tommy riding on his back all the way. Tommy gets buried in letters, and attempts to push them out through the slot, but he's unsuccessful and is buried in even more mail. Spike growls, and an Eggbert catalog gets shoved in his mouth. Stu sees the mail and takes the catalog from Spike. To Stu's shock and annoyance, Eggbert Toys has released a new doll called Tina Trousers.

According to Stu, "She walks, talks, wets, and gets diaper rash." The doll is also available for immediate delivery. Stu says he's not going to make any money, but Didi tells him to order the doll to prove Tina's not as amazing as she's advertised to be. He decides to do just that, and Didi tells Tommy a new baby is coming tomorrow for him to play with. Betty brings Chuckie, Phil, and Lil over, and Tommy tells them that he's getting another baby. The twins tell him that they're getting the same thing. Chuckie asks where from, and Phil tells him a stork brings the baby, while Lil says they come from the store, causing the two to argue. Chuckie breaks them up and tells them he came from the hospital, according to his mother. Tommy says his baby is coming in the mail tomorrow and he's going to wait right here so he can meet it.

When the mail arrives the next day, Stu asks the mail carrier where the doll is. The mail carrier gets snide with Stu, due to the annoyance of putting up with guard dogs, but eventually tells Stu the package was too big to carry, and Stu needs to pick it up at the post office. While Stu is arguing with the postman, Tommy climbs into the mailbag and enjoys a comfortable ride to the post office, opening letters and reading an "American Baby" magazine. When he arrives, the mailman sets the bag down and heads into the infirmary to treat his injuries. Tommy peeks out and sees packages being loaded onto a conveyor belt. He sees the Tina Trousers doll and a vase. Mistaking the vase for the baby, he climbs out of the mailbag and climbs onto the conveyor belt.

Tommy passes through the machine and is scanned. A mechanical hand pops out and grabs Tommy by his diaper and drops him on a weighing scale. The machine declares him overweight and dumps him onto another conveyor belt going another direction. Tommy tries catching up to the vase, but a claw picks him up and carries him away from the vase, causing him to cry. As if to quiet him, the machine places a stamp on his mouth in a way similar to how pacifiers are inserted in baby's mouths, and the machine dumps him on a platform moving upward. Tommy tears the stamp away and shakes it off, only to end up sliding down a chute, giggling happily and knocking over packages that are being inspected for their weight. Tommy then sees the vase on another conveyor belt and gets to the other side by riding a dolly, although he smashes some packages in the process. He reaches the vase, and tears open the package while being scanned by an x-ray machine. Realizing it's not the baby; he knocks it over and continues as the vase falls off the conveyor belt and shatters. Tommy tries to reach the Tina Trousers package while also trying to avoid being stamped by the stamping machine. "Cancelled" is stamped on his diaper. Then, another claw grabs his diaper and lifts him to a chute where he is dumped into the dead letter office. He rides it to the end, scared about his surroundings, and almost falls into a pit of junk mail with a skeleton. He eventually runs and, by luck, pulls the switch to open the hatch, which allows him to slide out of the dead letter office via a chute and land next to the Tina Trousers package.

Tommy tears the package open and talks to the baby. Meanwhile, Stu, who spent most of his time in line at the post office, talks to the clerk about his package. He receives the package but complains about it being torn open. Regardless, he takes it home. Tommy tells the doll that home is a lot nicer than at the post office, and Stu takes the doll out and proceeds to try her out. Lou takes Tommy and sniffs him, saying the doll feels and smells like Tommy. They both laugh at the end.

Trivia[]

It is unknown why Betty brought Chuckie along with Phil and Lil, considering that Chuckie is not her child (it is a possibility that the Pickles' were babysitting all the kids and Betty picked up Chuckie from Chas in order to drop him off).
It is revealed that Stu has rivals in his toy business.
Chuckie mentions that his mother said that babies come from the hospital. This is one of several times Melinda Finster is mentioned in the "original era" episodes, although Chuckie mentioned he never had a mother in "Mother's Day", and never knew Melinda was his mom until that episode.
- It is likely that, when these early references to his mother were made, it had not yet been decided by the writers that Chuckie's mom had died.
One mailman at the Post Office was seen reading a True Mailman magazine, an innuendo parody to Playboy.
A Tina Trousers doll is shown again briefly in the episode "Weaning Tommy", where she is used in an attempt to get Tommy to open his mouth for the dentist.
At the bottom of a No Return storeroom drop, you see a skeleton of a Mailman. It might just be an old Halloween prop for the Post Office that they decided to throw down there once they were done with it.
- However, many fans believe that the skeleton of the mailman is actually the remains of a former post man who fell in by accident and remained there.
Likewise, Patty Pants shows up again in "Stu-Maker's Elves". In that episode, Patty Pants has a different appearance (presumably upgraded after Stu is able to examine Tina Trousers) and is ready to be mass produced for Mucklehoney Industries.
Tommy thinks his mother's name is "Mama" because he doesn't yet know Didi's real name.
The 'Cancelled' sign stamped on Tommy's diaper mysteriously disappears moments after it is put on it.
The title card for this episode is in boldface.
Tommy's weight on the scale is said to be 25.10 pounds.
The vase package goes through the "out" port twice when Tommy watches it leave.
When Tommy mentions to Phil, Lil and Chuckie that his mom and dad are getting another baby, they presumed they were getting another real baby, but it was a doll. His family really did get another one a lot later on: Dil.
Grandpa's line at the end "If I didn't know better, I'd say that was Tommy" is reused from "Baseball".
Tommy uses a different style of crying when he cries in this episode.