| Season 5 Episode 12 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| The Family Tree | |
| Original Airdate | September 19, 1998 |
| DVD release | Season 5 |
| Previous Episode | A Very McNulty Birthday |
| Next Episode | Chuckie's Duckling |
The Family Tree is the 23rd episode of Rugrats from Season 5. It is served as a prequel for the movie released in November 20, 1998, The Rugrats Movie.
Characters Present
- Tommy
- Chuckie
- Angelica
- Phil
- Lil
- Didi
- Stu
- Lou
- Boris Kropotkin
- Minka Kropotkin
- Drew
- Charlotte
Summary
Chaz and his parents babysit Tommy and Chuckie while Stu and Didi on a cruise to Mexico on their 5th anniversary.
Recap
Chaz creates a family tree while Tommy and Chuckie decide to become "brothers", since they have the same interests and must have come from the same "Family Tree." When Tommy is looking for a ball that Angelica tossed in the bushes, Chaz and his parents take notice of Tommy and pamper him. Meanwhile, Stu and Didi celebrate their 5th anniversary by going on a cruise to Mexico but chaos reigns when Didi gets seasick. Later, she finds out that she's pregnant.
Synopsis
As Chas starts the Pickles' family tree, Tommy and Chuckie decide that they're brothers. Meanwhile, we learn that a new branch of the family is on its way when Didi announces that she is pregnant. - Description from Klasky Csupo.
Trivia
- This episode marked the first appearance of Chuckie's grandparents (and of course, Chaz's parents), Shirley and Marvin.
- This is a 30-minute episode.
- The title card sequence is used twice in this episode -- once after the opening credits, where the title card says, "The Family Tree Part I", and again after the first commercial break, where it says "The Family Tree Part II". Also, the music in the second title card is different than the regular fanfare used in the first title.
- Throughout their anniversary cruise vacation, Didi becomes ill, assuming it's seasickness. Stu and Didi must have had conception within days of boarding the ship. Morning sickness happens during the first trimester which starts during the first couple weeks of pregnancy and ends after a month of being pregnant. So this is a medical error regarding pregnancy, if unbeknownst to both that she was not experiencing seasickness. In addition, Didi does not get seasick while they are on a boat in Rugrats Go Wild, so unless this was her first trip on a cruise, she should know she doesn't experience seasickness. Their puzzling reaction and confusion to her being pregnant seems unrealistic.
- Have you noticed that we never actually see Didi throw up? Well, in these newer episodes, the scene shifts to something else when someone throws up. In the classic episodes, there were 2 instances that we actually get to see barfing in action -- when Tommy threw up on Angelica in Slumber Party, and when Angelica threw up on Drew in Chuckie Loses His Glasses. Apparently, tastefulness is not the problem here, as Nick continues to show those 2 episodes, uncensored. On the other hand, one of the creators, Arlene Klasky, doesn't go for that sort of thing, according to a recent article in The New Yorker.
- One of Angelica's "bad" tactics was to have Chuckie spray water from a gardening hose onto Tommy. However, water was sprayed everywhere in the room that Tommy was in, and in that room was the computer that held the family tree. For some reason, the computer escaped the watery mess.
- This episode also served as a sort of pilot to The Rugrats Movie, which was released in theaters on 11/20/1998. However, the only link between this episode and the movie is at the very end, when it's revealed that Didi is pregnant. Other than that, it's, more or less, a normal Rugrats episode.
- What Tommy, Chuckie, and Angelica don't know is they aren't and never will be brothers or sisters (Unless one of there parents get a divorce). Plus, they don't realize or know that they have different parents.
- This is the last episode to use the 1991 Klasky Csupo logo after the credits.
- This is the last episode until Angelicon in which Dil wasn't seen.
Quotes
- Angelica: Sometimes I wish I could be you, just so I can be friends with me!