The eighteenth episode of the second season of Rugrats (1991).
Meet The Carmichaels
A new family moves in across the street from the Pickles, and Tommy tries to help Susie, their youngest daughter, find her room.
The Box
Stu tries to build a really complex toy for Tommy and his friends, but they're more interested in the box it came in.
"Meet the Carmichaels" provides examples of:
- The Ace: Lucy Carmichael. On top of raising four kids, she earned her flight wings, studied at the Cordon Bleu, created a replica Tiffany lamp (that impressed even the Tiffany company), and is also really good at making artistic Jell-O molds.
- An Aesop: If you are lost in a new home after moving into it, don’t panic.
- Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!: Susie cries about a missing lollipop when we first see her. The moment she sees Tommy, she immediately stops and excitedly introduces herself.
- Indian Burial Ground: When the Carmichaels move into the Peytons' house, Betty tells Didi that the house is cursed due to being built on an ancient Indian burial ground, which Didi thinks is just a myth. At the end of the episode, Randy jokingly wonders if "that ancient Indian curse" their realtor warned them about has manifested in their next door neighbor, Stu.
- Iris Out: This episode ends with one, where the iris closes in on Tommy as he waves good-bye to Susie.
- Noodle Incident: Whatever happened to the Peytons, the family that used to live in Susie's house. Betty attributes it to the house being built on an ancient Indian burial ground and alludes to something having happened to them.
- Not Now, Kiddo: Susie can't find her room because her stuff hasn't been moved in yet. She tries complaining to her mom, but she won't listen. It doesn't help that earlier, she had been crying because her siblings stole her lollipop, and her mom tells her crying doesn't help.Tommy: What about your sucker?
Susie: Sucker? Oh yeah, that's not important right now. - The Reveal: Randy Carmichael, Lucy's husband and the father of Susie and her three older siblings, is the executive writer for The Dummi Bears.
"The Box" provides examples of:
- An Aesop:
- If your child favors an empty box or a toy that they really like, don’t take it away from them.
- Don't keep something from someone else just because you yourself can't enjoy it.
- Everyone has an imagination. What really matters is how it's used.
- Bread, Eggs, Breaded Eggs: When Phil and Lil find Stu's empty box, Phil wants to pretend the box is a house, while Lil wants to pretend the box is a cave. They argue with each other for a while, until they settle on pretending the box is a house and a cave.
- Creative Closing Credits: Tribal chanting plays during the closing credits.
- Imagine Spot: Shown when the babies pretend the box is whatever they want it to be.
- Kids Prefer Boxes: This episode involves the babies pretending the box for Stu's Kiddie Carnival (which he never did get finished) is many different things, including a race car, a rocket ship, and a house (that's half-cave). Averted with Angelica, who can't understand what the babies see in an empty box. At the end of the episode, Stu decides to market a line of cardboard boxes for kids to play with.
- The Killjoy: When the babies take the torn pieces of the Kiddie Karnival box and begin playing around them, Angelica snatches them in anger and shouts out, "You dumb babies! Stop having fun! It's just a stupid box!"
