History YMMV / Rugrats

* TastesLikeDiabetes:
** The series has been accused of this in later seasons.
** Parodied in "At the Movies" with the sickeningly sweet Dummi Bears movie, ''The Land Without Smiles''.
--->'''Grandpa Lou:''' [[OnlySaneMan I'm gonna get some candy. I'd rather rot my teeth than sit here and rot my brain.]]
** The 4-episode ''Pre-School Daze'' series, most notably thanks to its simplified art style.

** In "A Visit From Lipschitz", Didi decides that it is perfectly reasonable to leave Dr. Lipschitz, a man she just met all alone in her house, because he is famous. Unknowingly leaving Tommy and Chuckie alone with a complete stranger.[[note]]she is completely unawares that Stu and the guys didn't take Tommy and Chuckie with them to a baseball game.[[/note]] Considering the horrible stories of pedophiles that fill our world today, the idea of leaving a baby along with the doctor is horrifying; it's made even worse by the fact that he, unwittingly, [[ItMakesSenseInContext strips naked in front of them]] to take a bubble bath. There's a [[https://someordinarygamers.fandom.com/wiki/The_Truth_about_Dr._Lipschitz Creepypasta]] that goes into detail about an earlier draft of this episode, which dives into the dangers of child predators.[[note]]The story does a surprisingly good job at inserting it's subject matter into the story while still feeling in tone with the original episodes plot.[[/note]]

** In "A Visit From Lipschitz", Didi decides that it is perfectly reasonable to leave Dr. Lipschitz, a man she just met all alone in her house, because he is famous. Unknowingly leaving Tommy and Chuckie alone with a complete stranger.[[note]]she is completely unawares that Stu and the guys didn't take Tommy and Chuckie with them to a baseball game[[/note]] Considering the horrible stories of pedophiles that fill our world today, the idea of leaving a baby along with the doctor is horrifying; it's made even worse by the fact that he, unwittingly, [[ItMakesSenseInContext strips naked in front of them]] to take a bubble bath. There's a [[https://someordinarygamers.fandom.com/wiki/The_Truth_about_Dr._Lipschitz Creepypasta]] that goes into detail about an earlier draft of this episode, which dives into the dangers of child predators.[[note]]The story does a surprisingly good job at inserting it's subject matter into the story while still feeling in tone with the original episodes plot.[[/note]]

** In "A Visit From Lipschitz", Didi decides that it is perfectly reasonable to leave Dr. Lipschitz, a man she just met all alone in her house, because he is famous. Unknowingly leaving Tommy and Chuckie alone with a complete stranger[[note]]she is completely unawares that Stu and the guys didn't take Tommy and Chuckie with them to a baseball game[[/note]]. Considering the horrible stories of pedophiles that fill our world today, the idea of leaving a baby along with the doctor is horrifying; it's made even worse by the fact that he, unwittingly, [[ItMakesSenseInContext strips naked in front of them]] to take a bubble bath. There's a [[https://someordinarygamers.fandom.com/wiki/The_Truth_about_Dr._Lipschitz Creepypasta]] that goes into detail about an earlier draft of this episode, which dives into the dangers of child predators.[[note]]The story does a surprisingly good job at inserting it's subject matter into the story while still feeling in tone with the original episodes plot.[[/note]]

** In "A Visit From Lipschitz", Didi decides that it is perfectly reasonable to leave Dr. Lipschitz, a man she just met all alone in her house, because he is famous[[nite]]she is completely unawares Tommy and Chuckie are still in the house[[/note]]. Leaving Tomm6 and Chuckie in the care of a complete stranger. Considering the horrible stories of pedophiles that fill our world today, the idea of leaving a baby along with the doctor is horrifying; it's made even worse by the fact that he, unwittingly, [[ItMakesSenseInContext strips naked in front of them]] to take a bubble bath. There's a [[https://someordinarygamers.fandom.com/wiki/The_Truth_about_Dr._Lipschitz Creepypasta]] that goes into detail about an earlier draft of this episode, which dives into the dangers of child predators.[[note]]The story does a surprisingly good job at inserting it's subject matter into the story while still feeling in tone with the original episodes plot.[[/note]]

** In "A Visit From Lipschitz", Didi decides that it is perfectly reasonable to leave Tommy and Chuckie alone with a man she just met because he is famous. Considering the horrible stories of pedophiles that fill our world today, the idea of leaving a baby along with the doctor is horrifying; it's made even worse by the fact that he, unwittingly, [[ItMakesSenseInContext strips naked in front of them]] to take a bubble bath. There's a [[https://someordinarygamers.fandom.com/wiki/The_Truth_about_Dr._Lipschitz Creepypasta]] that goes into detail about an earlier draft of this episode, which dives into the dangers of child predators.[[note]]The story does a surprisingly good job at inserting it's subject matter into the story while still feeling in tone with the original episodes plot.[[/note]]

** In "A Visit From Lipschitz", Didi decides that it is perfectly reasonable to leave Tommy and Chuckie alone with a man she just met because he is famous. Considering the horrible stories of pedophiles that fill our world today, the idea of leaving a baby along with the doctor is horrifying; it's made even worse by the fact that he, unwittingly, [[ItMakesSenseInContext strips naked in front of them]] to take a bubble bath. There's a [[https://someordinarygamers.fandom.com/wiki/The_Truth_about_Dr._Lipschitz Creepypasta]] that goes into detail about an earlier draft of this episode, which dives into the dangers of child predators. [[note]]The story does a surprisingly good job at inserting it's subject matter into the story while still feeling in tone with the original episodes plot.[[note/]]

** In "A Visit From Lipschitz" Didi decides that it is perfectly reasonable to leave Tommy alone with a man she just met because he is famous. Considering the horrible stories of pedeophiles that fill our world today the idea of leaving a baby along with the doctor is horrifying, made even worse by the fact that he, unwittingly, stripes naked in front of Tommy to take a random bubble bath.

* RealityInducedHorror:
** "The Case of the Missing Rugrat" is one of times the adults ParentalNegelct isn't PlayedForLaughs. Lou accidentally leaves Tommy in the back of a stranger's car while fooling around and ends up losing him when it drives off with his baby grandson in tow. Tommy is kidnapped and nearly adopted by complete strangers as a result of this, with Lou absolutely scared out of his mind trying to find where Tommy was taken to.

** "The Santa Experience" has Chas lamenting that his childhood Christmases were never that enjoyable and he worries that it'll be the same for Chuckie. Fast forward to the ChristmasEpisode of ''WesternAnimation/AllGrownUp'' where we discover that Chuckie's Christmases are indeed miserable ''because'' of Chas. So much so that he's driven to stealing a Christmas tree.

* UncannyValley:

** Didi in Season 1 is embarrassed to admit that she's afraid of clowns. In the early '90s, the concept of the MonsterClown hadn't really taken off yet (aside from a few forerunners like the Joker and Stephen King's ''{{Literature/IT}}''). After years of evil clowns in horror movies and plenty of people on the internet sharing their coulrophobia... Didi may as well be admitting she's afraid of spiders or snakes.

* UncannyValley: Many of the characters, especially the babies, [[SuperDeformed have weird proportions when it comes to their bodies.]]

** The title bad word in "Word of the Day" is often assumed to be [[CountryMatters the C-word]], as the most obvious example of a swear that would be enough to both shock the parents and get Miss Carol fired for saying. But if you pay attention closely, Angelica's mouth forms the shape of a word beginning with F instead. This doesn't eliminate the possibility that it could be variations of both ('fucking cunts' would get [[SevenDirtyWords anyone canned from their show]]). The scene where Drew and Charlotte try to discipline her suggests it's just one word however.

** Was Tommy {{the hero}}ic, assertive and fearless {{leader}} of the babies or a reckless DesignatedHero and ManipulativeBastard comparable to Angelica who coerces his friends (particularly Chuckie) into doing what ''he'' thinks they should do based on his perceptions and getting his way? The episodes "Farewell, My Friend", "Garage Sale" and "The Odd Couple" showcase the theory of him being more than a little InnocentlyInsensitive (such as continually painting Chuckie's interests as "weird" and being an overall lousy houseguest or giving away all of his parents' belongings to their immense chagrin, particularly Stu's).

** How exactly the baby talk works. Can baby talk be typical baby babbling or do the babies actually talk but they choose not to speak to or in front of the adults, further proof of this is they only seem to communicate when the adults leave the room like in the pilot. In “Angelica’s Birthday” they also informed her that babies aren’t supposed to talk to adults but never explained why.
*** It seems like the baby talk is understandable by beings with a lower level of brain function. Younger children can understand them, but so can adults who've suffered a head injury and regressed to a baby-like state (seen twice with Stu and Nigel Thornberry). Animals also seem to understand babies at least as well as they understand adults, as a parrot could imitate Tommy's speech in "The Case of the Missing Rugrat" and Spike seems to understand Tommy as well as he understands Stu and Didi, if not better.

** While nearly everyone agrees that Susie is a much-needed example of representation for Black children, the verdict on her is out: is she a refreshing, popular TeamMom who counterbalances Angelica's nastiness, or one of the most blatant examples of PositiveDiscrimination in 90's cartoons? It's notable that in her early episodes, Susie had quite a few negative traits. Her very first moment on the show was her screaming and crying that her older brother took her lollipop, and other plots showed her as being quick to anger (as seen when she blamed Angelica for stealing her tricycle without any evidence). As the seasons progressed, though, Susie gradually lost those bad qualities and became more of a saintly, wise character who could do no wrong and was generally a paragon of good to the babies. ''WesternAnimation/AllGrownUp'' went out of its way to give her some flaws (the first episode saw her get conned out of a lot of money), suggesting that the writers wanted to make a more balanced character.
*** Susie's parents also suffer from the same "needed representation versus PositiveDiscrimination" debate. Both of them are wealthy and successful in their careers (Randy is a writer for the ShowWithinAShow ''The Dummi Bears'' and Lucy an OB/GYN), which stands apart from the other parents' struggles and less glamorous jobs (Drew and Charlotte are probably in the same tax bracket, but Randy and Lucy are generally shown as being more loving and attentive to their children than them). The Carmichaels are also shown to be excellent parents who are raising ''four'' kids, including one teenager, with very little trouble. Furthermore, Randy has [[FlatCharacter very little characterization]] ''besides'' being good at his work, and in Lucy's debut, she casually rattles off a LongList of everything she's accomplished in her life (including being a professionally-trained French chef and airline pilot) that almost makes her seem like an in-universe ParodySue. Granted, there's nothing wrong with having successful Black characters in children's TV, but the issue is that unlike the other, more rounded parents on the show, Randy and Lucy are ''only'' successful and never seem to make any mistakes.

** Susie Carmichael. Some adore her, some see her as the worst case of PositiveDiscrimination ''ever''. Not helping is that she was introduced as a more realistic child - prone to [[ProneToTears crying fits]] and exaggeration, before becoming the {{Foil}} to Angelica through CharacterizationMarchesOn.

** Tommy/Chuckie. "Home Movies" has Chuckie depict Tommy as a superhero with a lush head of hair who carries Chuckie around, while "The Odd Couple" pokes fun at the adjustment period roommates -- and newly cohabitating couples -- frequetly go through.

* DesignatedVillain: In "Silent Angelica", where both Drew and Charlotte tell Angelica they'll buy her a toy if she stays quiet for a half an hour. She genuinely tries to obey them but then the babies decide to exploit this to make a mess, enraging Angelica so much she finally snaps. She ends up getting blamed for the mess the babies made and doesn't get either toy. At the same time, this could be her comeuppance for he KarmaHoudini status she had early on in the series.

** The idea that Melinda, Chuckie's mother, died of an illness. While she is confirmed to have died in the hospital, she may have been gravely injured instead, but the general consensus among fanfiction writers is that it was an illness. Many fan works specify the illness as cancer, due to it being [[TheTopicOfCancer the go-to serious illness in fiction]].

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic
** Drew and Charlotte might come off as this to some viewers in "Word of the Day". The audience is supposed to see their reactions to Angelica's use of the offensive word as appropriate, yet considering that Angelica genuinely had no idea that the phrase she was repeating contained an offensive word, coupled with their refusal to even ''tell'' her what the word was, some viewers find their behavior to be insensitive and unreasonable.

** Chuckie is the prime example; he's a shy and tenderhearted NiceGuy [[{{Meganekko}} with glasses]].

* SeasonalRot:
** After the second movie and Kimi became a regular, the BabyTalk was somehow dumbed down. The writers also randomly retconned things such as Tommy, Chuckie's, Phil, and Lil's first meeting, and Angelica's first walk. It didn't help that the show began [[RecycledPremise recycling plots]]. For example, despite having several holiday specials in previous years (including in the first season which dealt with the babies' first Halloween), after Kimi becomes part of the babies, the Halloween special is treated like the ''first'' with none of the babies nor Angelica remembering what had happened a year ago.
** There are some fans who believe the show started to go bad after the 1997 revival, some after the first movie, some after the second movie, some after ''WesternAnimation/AllGrownUp'', and the rest who either believe the show was sweet mana from above or jumped the shark from the beginning.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: The first three seasons are chock full of [[TheNineties nineties]] pop-culture references, such as ''Series/SiskelAndEbert'', and Charlotte's cell phone a). being big enough to see and b). only making phone calls. Part of the show's humor was that the babies can escape from their drop-side cribs which were banned in the United States in 2010. The "Vacation" episode shows UsefulNotes/LasVegas as being a family-friendly vacation destination. It was somewhat like this back in TheNineties, but has since [[RuderAndCruder gotten more raunchy and adult-only]]. Not to mention the Heimlich & Bob performance which was an obvious reference to the Siegfried & Roy show at the time before they had to cancel their show following Roy's near-fatal injury in 2003.

* SeasonalRot: After the second movie and Kimi became a regular. Her presence did ''[[TheScrappy not]]'' ruin the show, however, it was the fact the BabyTalk was dumbed down. They dumbed down ''baby talk''.
** However, after Kimi's introduction they ''did'' begin basically [[RecycledPremise recycling plots]] to shoehorn her in. For example, despite ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'' having several holiday specials in previous years (including in the first season which dealt with the babies' first Halloween), after Kimi becomes part of the babies, the Halloween special is treated like the ''first'' with none of the babies nor Angelica remembering what had happened a 'year' ago.
** Not to mention randomly retconning things: such as Tommy, Chuckie's, Phil, and Lil's first meeting, Angelica's first walk, etc. It was almost like the old writers had never seen the earlier series.

** It's difficult to imagine a show with a character like Angelica, who is [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold a bully but is sometimes depicted sympathetically]], airing in TheNewTens when an increasing awareness of the negative effects of bullying, especially when a ''twelve-year-old'' [[TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior tries taking]] [[DrivenToSuicide extreme measures]] to escape it, has led to Angelica's more heinous behavior, especially in Season 1, coming off as HarsherInHindsight. It doesn't help that she's overall a ''[[KidsAreCruel very]]'' [[EnfantTerrible unflattering]] [[SpoiledBrat depiction of]] [[BrattyHalfPint a three-year-old]] ''and'' that she was originally intended to be a KarmaHoudini.
** Minor example. Didi in Season 1 is embarrassed to admit that she's afraid of clowns. In the early '90s, the concept of the MonsterClown hadn't really taken off yet (aside from a few forerunners like the Joker and Stephen King's ''{{Literature/IT}}''). After years of evil clowns in horror movies and plenty of people on the internet sharing their coulrophobia... Didi may as well be admitting she's afraid of spiders or snakes.