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"Spike Runs Away" is a Season 3 episode of Rugrats.
Characters Present[]
Characters Mentioned[]
Characters Introduced[]
Synopsis[]
Spike gets loose from his doghouse and runs away. Will Stu and Didi ever be able to find a suitable replacement for Tommy?
- Description from Klasky Csupo
Plot[]
One evening, Spike chases an insect out of the Pickles' garden; upon losing it, he runs off down the road. Once realizing Spike is missing, Stu searches the streets by foot, however, he fails to find Spike. Tommy and Chuckie (who is staying with the Pickles while Chas his father is at a conference) hear that Spike has run away. Tommy, however, isn't concerned, thinking positive that Spike will be back soon.
Days go by as Didi drives Tommy and Chuckie around town to look for Spike. Tommy sees a dog, that looks like Spike, rummaging through a garbage can. When Didi pulls up, they find that the dog is a stray who growls fiercely at them, much to their dismay. They also pin up flyers but receive no word. Stu and Didi go to the dog pound to report Spike missing, but the warden doesn't give them much hope. Tommy realizes that Spike might never come back and starts crying. Chuckie comforts Tommy.
After seeing Tommy and Chuckie sitting by Spike's empty doghouse looking thoroughly depressed, Didi decides that it's time to move on and get a new pet to replace Spike so that the babies won't feel lonely anymore. Lou objects to this, knowing that Stu won't approve. Didi admits that it will be hard on everyone at first, but she thinks it's for the best.
Didi brings home a poodle named Cuddles. Although Cuddles seems to like Didi, she hates Stu and the babies, taking and wrecking their toys, eating their cookies, constantly barking (and in Stu's case, biting) at them, and refusing to share Didi. Because it's obviously not going to work out, Didi returns Cuddles to the man she bought her from (she reports that he was promptly bitten by Cuddles once she got through the door).
Stu suggests that they get a boa constrictor, because he had one as a kid and it almost ate Drew once. Didi refuses to allow a snake in the house, knowing it might eat Tommy. Didi suggest a parrot, but Stu said that he heard parrots live to be over a 100 and they don't want something that old in the house besides Lou, who is looking for his truss. Stu goes to a pet store with a different idea in mind: turtles. The salesman discourages Stu from getting a turtle because of the horror stories he's heard about them. Stu asks if he has anything he can recommend.
Stu, to Didi's horror, comes home with a tarantula. Stu insists the tarantula is friendly, and he even had him de-fanged so he can't bite. Stu named the spider Terry and asks Didi if she wants to pet him. Didi quickly replies, "maybe later", so Terry is introduced to Tommy and Chuckie. They let Terry out of his container to try and have him play with them, but instead, the spider wanders the house. It eventually ends up in Lou's room, and on his bed, where he's currently sleeping, but soon wakes. Back in the kitchen, Stu has just revealed Terry cost $50.00 when they hear Lou scream upstairs. Moments later, he walks into the kitchen with a wad of tissues. He explains there was a huge spider in his room, but it's okay because he "got him" as he throws the tissue and the dead spider in the trash.
The next pets are a pair of gerbils named Tanya and Rupert. Stu purchased an elaborate habitat for the gerbils, which Didi finds impressive, though she doubts their ability to turn on their jacuzzi. Tommy and Chuckie watch the gerbils and decide to let them out of their habitat. The gerbils run out and promptly vanish, and nobody can find them. Two weeks later, the grownups know the gerbils haven't left, because they keep finding their "presents" all over the house. Tommy and Chuckie decide to try and find gerbil presents and are disappointed when they find out it's actually gerbil poop. They hear a noise coming from the basement door; thinking that the real presents are downstairs, they open the door. "The floor is moving!" Chuckie exclaims. Stu finds them moments later and also looks downstairs. It turns out the gerbils have been reproducing in mass numbers!
Sometime later, Tommy and Chuckie are in bed, and missing Spike. Tommy hopes that Spike is happy on Jupiter, because according to Chuckie, dogs love it there. Downstairs, Didi and Stu are talking about how they haven't had any luck with new pets. It looks like Spike will never come back. Just as they're thinking about how awful it must be out on the streets for Spike, the doorbell rings, to their surprise. At the door is a very wealthy-looking man, who explains he had recently found a well-bred Siberian tiger hound. He says that he intended to keep the dog and breed him, but upon seeing the Pickles' ad in the paper, he decided to return him.
The Siberian tiger hound turns out to be none other than Spike! Stu wants to wake up Tommy right away and show him. Didi says they ought to wait until morning since it's late, but Spike rushes upstairs on his own and jumps into the crib. Tommy and Spike are both overjoyed to be back together again, and he giggled around Spike licks his face.
Trivia[]
- When Tommy tells Chuckie, "Chuckie, I knew Spike! Spike was a friend of mine! And let me tell you something, that poople is no Spike!", his dialogue is a reference to a remark made during the 1988 United States vice-presidential debate by Democratic presidential candidate ' vice-presidential running mate Senator to Republican vice-presidential candidate Senator . ("Senator, I served with . I knew Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. .")
- This episode reveals Spike's breed to be Siberian tiger hound. The writers evidently came up with this breed, because Spike does not resemble any possible real-life breed of dog, although he appears to be somewhat of a bloodhound mix.
- While in the pet store, the salesman says turtles are a bad idea and that he's heard horror stories about turtles. This is likely a reference to the real-life ban of turtles as pets in the United States because turtles (and other reptiles) can often carry , which is easily spread.
- This episode is similar to "Dino Disappears" from ', the ' movie "", "Tiger, Tiger!" from , "Pluto Runs Away" from ', "Have You Seen This Snail?" from ', the ' movie "Arthur's Missing Pal", "Oh, There You Are Perry" from ', "Abner Come Home" from ' and "Dog of Death" from The Simpsons.
- Winston St. George is voiced by the late Tony Jay.
- At the pet shop, if you read closely near the outside door, it's says that there are "Wombles" available. are fictional pointy-nosed, furry creatures that live in burrows, where they aim to help the environment by collecting and recycling rubbish in creative ways. Wombles were created by author , and originally appeared in a series of children's novels from 1968.
- The "presents" are actually gerbil poop.
- This episode shows that Didi loves poodles.
- This was the last speaking appearance of Grandpa Lou until Chanukah a few years later.
- It is revealed that Lou hates spiders.
- It is unknown how Stu and Didi got rid of Tanya, Rupert, and their babies.
- For some reason, Chuckie wasn't at the dog pound with the Pickles, although he was staying with them while his father is away.
- It is also revealed that Stu had an eight-foot boa constrictor when he was a kid.
- According to the Rugrats timeline, the episode takes place in April 1991, before "Tommy's First Birthday".
- Didi is seen reading ' by .
- Moral: Make sure your home is secure and locked so your pets won't run off.
- This is an episode that Tommy laughing re-used from "Let There Be Light", "Reptar on Ice", "Angelica the Magnificent", "Twins Pique", "Home Movies", "Circus Angelicus" and Tommy and the Secret Club"
Animals For Sale At "Waldo's"[]
- Elephant
- Giant Mantis
- Giant Snail
- Lion
- Blue Gorilla
- Shark
- A Mad Coyote
- Black Cats
- Snakes
Video Clips[]
How Many Times Did Tommy Pickles Cry? - Part 5 - Spike Runs Away
Revisiting Rugrats as an Adult