Western Animation / Rugrats in Paris

The Rugrats are going to Paris, and Paris will never be the same.^note Clockwise from top: Angelica Pickles, Dil Pickles, Phil DeVille, Chuckie Finster, Tommy Pickles, Kimi Watanabe, Lil DeVille, Spike, and Fifi. On bottom: Coco LaBouche.

Rugrats in Paris: The Movie is the second of three animated movies based on the Nickelodeon cartoon Rugrats, released in 2000 between the show's sixth and seventh seasons. The film was directed by Stig Bergqvist and Paul Demeyer, with a screenplay by J. David Stem, David N. Weiss, Jill Gorey, Barbara Herndon and Kate Boutilier. Topping the introduction of Tommy's brother Dil in The Rugrats Movie, three new series regulars make their debut in this film.

The plot is as follows: Chuckie Finster (Christine Cavanaugh) realizes he has an empty void in his life left by his mother Melinda's death, and he wishes he had a new mother to help him deal with his loss. Meanwhile, a Reptar robot that Stu Pickles (Jack Riley) made for EuroReptarland, a French theme park featuring Reptar, malfunctions, so he is called to come there for repairs, bringing all the kids' families with him.

Over in Paris, we meet Coco LaBouche (Susan Sarandon) and her smarmy sidekick Jean-Claude (John Lithgow). Coco is looking to be promoted to the head of Yamaguchi Industries (the parent company for the Reptar-franchise). Since Mr. Yamaguchi (Mako), the current head of the company (and Coco's boss), wants his successor to have "the heart of a child," especially since kids are the main audience for the Reptar-franchise. Learning this, Coco lies to her boss by claiming that she loves children and is even engaged to a man with a child of his own. When Coco catches Angelica Pickles (Cheryl Chase) having been eavesdropping on her, Angelica offers to help set her up with Chuckie's dad, Chas (Michael Bell). Coco then pretends to take interest in Chas and gradually wins him over but has little luck trying to bond with Chuckie (especially since she shows what's Beneath the Mask to the kids behind Chas's back). During their Parisian adventure, the Rugrats meet a girl their age, Kimi Watanabe (Dionne Quan), and her mother, Kira (Julia Kato), an assistant of Coco's, who develops a mutual romantic interest in Chas. Also, Tommy's dog Spike falls for a poodle named Fifi.

The film also stars E.G. Daily as Tommy Pickles, Tara Strong as Dil Pickles, Kath Soucie as Phil, Lil and Betty DeVille, Melanie Chartoff as Didi Pickles, Tress MacNeille as Charlotte Pickles and Phil Proctor as Howard DeVille.

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This film contains examples of:

• 2D Visuals, 3D Effects: CG is noticeably used throughout the film, particularly during the robot chase sequence.
• Accidental Misnaming: Coco leaves Chas a gift—a golden inhaler—with a note addressing him as "Chad".
• Actor Allusion: Casey Kasem cameos at the opening wedding scene as a disk jockey.
• Adaptation Dye-Job: Chas' father Marvin, who had greying black hair in the series, is depicted here with red hair like his wife, son, and grandson.
• Alone Among Families: During the wedding reception, the DJ puts on a song for all the children to dance to with their mothers. All of Chuckie's friends dance with their moms while he lingers in the corner since he doesn't have a mother.
• Amplified Animal Aptitude: Spike, normally portrayed in the show as pretty much just a dog, displays a wider range of emotions in his side plot, falling in love with Fifi in a very human-like way.
• Artistic License – Law: The passport scene, in part through Rule of Funny. More specifically, Phil & Lil would each get their own passport, Tommy and Dil would need to have a do-over (most passports require babies to have their eyes open) and Angelica would also need a do-over (the kid in question is the only one that can be in the picture).
• Award-Bait Song:
  • "When You Love." If the ethereal voice of Sinéad O'Connor doesn't get to you, the place in the movie it plays: a dance for kids and their moms, where Chuckie is all alone...
  • "I Want A Mom That Will Last Forever" by Cyndi Lauper playing in the airplane as well is very moving.
• Baby's First Words: The first word Chuckie ever says to the adults is "No!", in an attempt to stop Chas from marrying Coco. Episodes that take place after this movie have "No" being the only word Chuckie can say to the grown-ups.
• Bad Boss: Coco is a defining example of one.
• Betty and Veronica: Kira is the Betty - humble, motherly, and kind; Coco is the Veronica - selfish, spoiled, and only marrying Chas for the sake of money. Chas marries Kira over Coco at the end.
• Beware the Nice Ones:
  • Chuckie, iconic Nice Guy and Lovable Coward, does battle in a freaking Reptar mech to save his dad.
  • Mr. Yamaguchi is the Benevolent Boss of Reptarland. However, when he finds out Coco duped him and an innocent lovesick man to climb the ladder in the corporation (and verbally abuses a three year old right in front of him for extra measure), he politely fires her on the spot.
• Big Bad: Coco Labouche, as she's attempting to take control of the Reptar Corporation as its new president by any means necessary, which includes lying to her boss that she loves kids when she actually hates them, and forming a relationship with Chas and attempting to marry him for the sake of the promotion, even kidnapping his son Chuckie and his friends behind his back to cover her tracks.
• Big Damn Movie: Just like its predecessor.
• Big "NO!": Chuckie lets one out when he bursts into the church to stop the wedding. Notably, this later turns into a running gag in the series - "No" is the only word he can say to the grown-ups.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Both Angelica and Coco play this trope real well as they formulated a plot for Coco to take over the Reptar corporation by getting Chas to marry her, and in return, Angelica would get her own float. However, Coco turns out to be worse as she's openly unpleasant to everyone (including the babies); she even double-crossed Angelica by revealing that she never intended to uphold her side of the bargain with her, which made Angelica feel extremely guilty and take responsibility for her actions.
• Blackmail: Angelica makes it clear to Coco that she can rat out her true intentions of courting Chas to the adults unless she's given something in return. And when it became clear that Coco has no intention of honoring her side of the deal, Angelica stays true to her word by exposing out Coco's plan to everyone.
• Book Ends:
  • The film starts with the babies playing The Bobfather (with Angelica in the role) during Lou and Lulu's wedding reception before joining in on the party; the film ends with the same thing happening at Chas and Kira's wedding reception, only Chuckie is now the Bobfather.
  • Lou and Lulu's wedding at the beginning features a mother-child dance to "When You're Lost", where Chuckie feels left out because he doesn't have a mom to dance with. Chas and Kira's wedding sees Chuckie getting to dance with his new mom to the same song, while Chas dances with Kimi.
• Bread Milk Eggs Squick: The first girl that Chas meets online, according to what he reads, likes sunsets, long walks on sandy beaches, and, for some reason, is not allowed in the state of Kentucky.
• Break the Cutie: When Chuckie realizes his dad is about to marry a total Bitch in Sheep's Clothing instead of the nice, loving mother he'd been dreaming of having, Angelica feels so guilty for her contributions to Coco's plan that she immediately tries to comfort him, and when this doesn't work and he's sadder than ever, she can't take it anymore and confesses everything she did to the babies.
• Brick Joke: When the Repatar Mecha is first introduced, Stu makes a comment about building it out of "paper clips and rubber bands". Near the end of the climax, Phil and Lil accidentally open a hatch and find binding made of paper clips and rubber bands. The 2 playing with them is what causes the Reptar mecha's head to pop off.
• Change the Uncomfortable Subject: Chas and Betty's conversation at Lou and Lulu's wedding reception makes Chas anxious.
  Betty: So Chas, buddy, you think you'll ever tie the knot again? 'Cause I got a cousin who's lookin'! Big bones, broad shoulders, ooh, and she can eat a wedge of cheese in one sitting!
  Chas: Thanks, Betty, but cheese gives me hives. (scratches himself timidly) So does dating. (Eyeing Lou and Lulu on the dance floor) Boy, Lou and Lulu sure can boogie!
• Character Focus: This film is very much Chuckie's story, to the point where it could've easily been released under the title The Chuckie Movie.
  • In fact, one of the working titles for this film was actually Chuckie's Dream.
• Child Hater: Coco LaBouche, to the point where she sends her lackey to dispose of the babies in a giant mech.
• Children as Pawns: Coco LaBouche strives to be the new president of the Reptar Corporation when Mr. Yamaguchi announces his retirement and is looking for someone to be his successor. Wanting to make a good impression on him, she lies to him that she has a husband and a child. Angelica overhears and decides to help her marry Chas so she will give her whatever she wants. Coco hates children, but pretends to care about Chas and Chuckie as part of her plan to get her promotion. However, on the day of the wedding, she is unable to keep up the act and has her assistant Jean-Claude take the babies away so they won't interfere. The babies manage to escape from Jean-Claude on the Robo Reptar and Angelica ends up exposing Coco's plan to Mr. Yamaguchi, who attends the wedding.
• Comic-Book Adaptation: Besides a full-length graphic novel adaptation, the Rugrats newspaper strip did a two-week storyline tying in with this movie.
• Comedic Underwear Exposure: Coco's dress gets torn in the end, exposing her undergarments. The famous "I see London..." gag is even quoted by Jean-Claude.
• Companion Cube: Wawa, Chuckie's teddy bear. Also a Tragic Keepsake, because his biological mother, Melinda, made it for him before she died.
• Cousin Oliver: Kimi this time, since this is her introduction.
• Cruella to Animals: Coco, probably. Where do you think she got those peacock feathers?
• Culture Clash: The Reptarland theme park; a bizarre mishmash of French and Japanese culture. The adults frequently comment on it, with Chas actively pointing out the strangeness of it all and Didi and Betty talking about how they were expecting to eat traditional French cuisine as opposed to sushi.
• A Day in the Limelight: For Chuckie.
• Demoted to Extra: Susie, who misses out on the trip to Paris. Randy and Lucy would have theoretically brought the kids along, and Coco was already covering the expenses of the people who did go on the trip. Grandpa Lou and Lulu likewise only appear in the weddings at the start and the end. Grandpa Boris and Grandma Minka similarly only make non speaking cameos at those same events.
• Didn't Think This Through: When Kira's finally had enough of Coco's manipulation of Chas and abuse of Chuckie, she dramatically tells her that she's going to tell Chas the truth, and there's nothing Coco can do to stop her. How does Coco respond? By throwing Kira out of her limo and peeling out as fast as she can. Turns out telling your evil boss that you're going to sabotage their plan isn't very helpful to your cause.
• Disappeared Dad: Kimi's father doesn't show in the film, though it's implied to be the function of a divorce. An episode of All Grown Up! confirms this. It's shown though that she does see and speak to him often and he loves her dearly.
• The Dog Bites Back: On two occasions:
  • Angelica does this to Coco by exposing the latter's plot to everyone and humiliating her in revenge for her betrayal and the way she treated the babies.
  • In a more literal case following Coco's defeat, Jean-Claude gets attacked by the Pickles' dog Spike for helping Coco in kidnapping and attempting to hurt the babies; even Stu compliments this:
  Stu: (delighted to see Spike angrily chasing off Jean-Claude) Go get him, Spike!
• The Dragon: Jean-Claude is this to Coco as he follows her orders in maintaining control of EuroReptarland and helping her plot to take over the Reptar Corporation.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: Though not the end of the series, Chuckie finally has a mother and Chas is now Happily Married with Kira, and Kimi as the new addition to the family.
• Entertainment Above Their Age: The opening scene of the film parodies The Godfather, with Angelica taking on the role of the Bobfather. Discussed when her father mentions that he couldn't believe she actually had watched "that film", much to his dismay, as Angelica is only three years old, though her mother thinks it couldn't have made that strong an impression.
• Everyone Has Standards: Angelica may be a notorious bully, but even she is completely disgusted at how Coco treats the other kids. She also realizes that helping Coco trick Chas into marrying her was low even by her standards, even apologizing to the babies for her actions. She even humiliated Coco for the way she treated the babies.
• Evil-Detecting Baby: While all the babies hate Coco, none dish out more well-deserved abuse to her than Dil.
• The Fashionista: Coco, and a thematic one at that! She seems to wear a different outfit every scene she appears in, and each one has a different theme (for example, she wore an outfit covered in clocks while talking to Stu the first time).
• Foil:
  • Kira is this to Coco. Unlike Coco, she does in fact love children and has been married in the past. She also objects to Coco lying to Chas so that she can take over EuroReptarland and returns Chuckie's teddy bear to him instead of destroying it as Coco demanded. Unsurprisingly, she ends up marrying Chas instead of Coco.
  • Jean-Claude also serves as this for Coco, incidentally. Whereas Coco is a schemer who lies to get what she wants, Jean-Claude resorts to brute force instead, such as when he pilots an Escargot mecha.
  • Angelica is also something of a foil to Coco — both are bossy, demanding, and don't like the babies, but Angelica eventually realizes her actions have hurt Chuckie and apologizes, while Coco does not.
• Food Fight: Dil starts one during the final scene by pelting Angelica with Chas and Kira's wedding cake.
• Foreshadowing:
  • Phil and Lil have plush versions of Reptar and Robosnail fighting vigorously when en route to Paris.
  • Stu lets Tommy demonstrate the controls for the Reptar mecha, saying "even a child could pilot it".
  • Kira explains to the children about the princess that realized that Reptar was lonely instead of vicious. Kimi ends up playing this role when Chuckie pilots the Reptar mecha.
• Freeze-Frame Bonus: The scene where Stu introduces Chas to online dating has a surprising amount of these. The website's URL is shown as being www.chasweddingbells.com, and the info blurb on the side claims he is 6ft2 and likes "fine wine", in addition to listing snowboarding, skydiving, and "long romantic walks" as his hobbies.
• French Accordion: Being set in the City of Love, the movie is scored with accordion music throughout, but most notably when Spike, the Pickles family's dog, has dinner behind an alleyway with a poodle. This even extends to the Rugrats theme at the beginning, with it partially orchestrated with an accordion.
• French Jerk: Coco, a child-hating Bitch in Sheep's Clothing, and her assistant/henchman Jean-Claude, both with outrageously French names and accents to match.
• Friend to All Children: Kira, in stark contrast to her boss. This is crucial to the plot.
• Gold Digger: Coco. Though not for whatever riches Chas had, she wanted to marry him so she could have the image of someone that could become president of Reptarland. Unfortunately for her, her true colors come out during the wedding and her boss sees it all and fires her.
• Global Ignorance: The babies assume that they've gone to Tokyo.
• Happily Married: Chas and Kira at the end of the movie.
• Having a Heart: When Mr. Yamaguchi says his successor "must have the heart of a child", Coco mutters how she must have one in a jar somewhere. It's unknown if she really does have one, but Angelica believes so.
• Hero Stole My Bike: Kira, during the climax.
• Horrible Judge of Character: Chas Finster, of all people, proves to be one, failing to see that Chuckie is terrified of Coco. This is justified as Coco is rather good at flirting with men despite her contempt for children. He does realize his mistake at the end though.
• Hospitality for Heroes: Coco picked up the tab on the True Companions' trip to Paris.
• Humiliation Conga:
  • Upon the Rugrats exposing Coco's plot, Chas calls off the wedding, Yamaguchi fires her, and Angelica tears her dress to expose her underpants. And then there's either one of the two Stingers where she gets unpleasant jobs.
  • Angelica is the one who plots with Coco. She ends up getting imprisoned with all the kids, then being left behind by the Reptar mech, knocked off a bridge when it crashes through it, clings for dear life on his nostril, gets sprayed with imitation boogers, gripped in his hand, tossed up the Eiffel Tower, thrown into his mouth, and swung round trying to climb a ladder. Of course, she fares much better at the end than Coco would ever get.
• Humongous Mecha: The Reptar and Robosnail^note Or "Super Escargot" as Jean-Claude calls it. robots used in the parades and plays. The babies pilot the former to escape from the warehouse. Jean-Claude chases them in the latter.
• Hypocritical Heartwarming: After her plot's been exposed, Coco screams at the babies to get off her wedding train. Angelica immediately shoots back that nobody messes with her dumb babies except her, and stomps on the train, causing the Comedic Underwear Exposure moment mentioned above.
• I Am the Noun: Coco does this after she's fired by Mr. Yamaguchi:
  "No one fires Coco LaBouche, Coco LaBouche fires others! COCO LABOUCHE IS EURO REPTAR!!"
• Idiotic Partner Confession: Jean-Claude confesses to Coco's kidnapping plot.
• Ink-Suit Actor: The DJ at Lou and Lulu's wedding is modelled and based on his voice actor Casey Kasem.
• Innocently Insensitive: The DJ at the wedding who calls for the children to dance with their mothers - not realizing there's a child present whose mother is dead.
• Iron Butt Monkey: The amusement park security guards go through some rather humiliating things while trying to get the babies, but they do manage to apprehend them and return them to Ooey Gooey World without Chas noticing they were even gone.
• Irony: Chas wanted to remarry again to give Chuckie a mother. He nearly ends up marrying Madame LaBouche, the worst possible candidate for a mother.
• It's All My Fault:
  • While imprisoned in the Reptarland garage, Chuckie apologizes to his friends by claiming that his wish for a new mom resulted in them being stuck in their predicament. However, this drove a remorseful Angelica to admit that it was her involvement with Coco that got them in the predicament; she even sincerely apologized to the babies for this.
  • At the end of the day, though he thankfully avoided a bad marriage to Coco, Chas admits to Kira that although she blames herself for not telling him the truth about Coco's true nature, nobody but him is solely responsible for getting swept up in the romance. Also, he comes to the conclusion that falling for Coco's big romantic gestures, as alluring as they were, weren't suitable substitutes for taking the time to see if his son even liked this woman and vice versa.
• Jerkass Realization: Chas has one after seeing Coco's true nature. It dawns on him that he almost got himself into a loveless marriage, and given Chuckie a terrible stepmom by getting so caught up in the romantic atmosphere of Paris, he didn't bother to learn about the woman in front of him.
  Chas: (angry to learn that Coco tried to kidnap Chuckie and the other babies) Coco, the wedding is off!! You are NOT the woman I thought you were!!
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Angelica, sort of. This is one of the few times we see her actually feel remorseful for her actions, even apologizing to Chuckie for what she did. That's right, Angelica sincerely apologized; she even took responsibility by rightfully exposing Coco's plan to everyone and embarrassing Coco for her draconian treatment towards the kids.
• Kick the Dog: Coco attempts to wrench Chuckie's teddy bear out of his hands, causing a tug-of-war which the other babies get involved in. But that's nothing compared to when Coco orders Kira to take the bear and burn it after ordering Jean-Claude to have Angelica and the babies locked away from the wedding.
• Kids Play Matchmaker: Played with. Under the impression that the Princess of Reptarland could be a real person, the babies are intent on setting her up to be Chuckie's new mom.
• Laser-Guided Karma: After all the horrible things Coco did, it's very satisfying seeing her lose her job and then be humiliated after Angelica rips her dress and everyone outside starts taking pictures.
• Late-Arrival Spoiler: If you haven't seen the movie already, then hopefully you haven't also seen the episodes of the show that came after it, which would spoil that Kira marries Chuckie's dad, and Chuckie and Kimi become stepsiblings.
• The Legend of Chekhov: Played with, as it's not the legend that was true, but came true. Twice in the movie, during the parade and the stage show, Chuckie hears and watches a fairy tale about everyone fearing and fleeing from a rampaging Reptar, only for the beautiful Princess to stay, show no fear, and promise to protect Reptar, who is Not Evil, Just Misunderstood. Chuckie dreams he could have the Princess as his new stepmother, but of course, she isn't real. At the end of the movie, Chuckie hijacks the giant Reptar mecha and before getting used to the controls, he accidentally razes a building with a day-care center in it. Everyone runs in fear... except for Kimi, who loves Reptar and stays, waving and shouting hello. So Chuckie does get his princess after all, except instead of a stepmother, the princess is his stepsister.
• Let's Get Dangerous!: When Chuckie realizes it's up to him and his friends to save his dad from marrying Coco. From that moment on, the Lovable Coward goes full Cowardly Lion, with an emphasis on the 'lion' part.
• Lighter and Softer: When compared to the Darker and Edgier tone of The Rugrats Movie, this movie is much lighter and more in tone with the series, though it actually features a main human villain instead of wild animals and a Jerkass reporter.
• McNinja: The park uses ninjas as security guards. More justified than most examples because the park is run by Japanese people. They don't seem all that competent, however, if a pack of babies can outsmart them. Though they do manage to get the babies back to Ooey Gooey World without Chas noticing they were missing.
• Meaningful Echo: The first time Kira says a poem about caring for children is "One of [her] favorites", it's relayed unceremoniously through Coco to look endearing to Chas. The second time she says so, it's to Chas in person, marking the heartwarming instance where they not only fall in love, but Chas recognizes her as a loving parent like himself.
• Medium Blending: One of those rare South Korean/North American instances (Grimsaem and Rhythm & Hues in this case).
• Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal:
  • Angelica was in cahoots with Coco until the latter revealed that she was never going to go through with her promises to her and has her locked up with the rest of the kids.
  • Also, Kira is an interesting inversion of this trope; Coco treats her...marginally less horribly than most people, but Kira eventually turns on her upon seeing how badly Coco treats other people (especially children).
• The Mole: While working under Coco, Angelica informs her that Chuckie is interested in getting a princess for a mom. This gives Coco the idea to disguise herself as the princess in the Reptar play to fool Chuckie and impress Chas.
• Monumental Damage: Downplayed, considering the chaos and carnage the babies wreak through Paris while fleeing from Jean-Claude, it's quite fortunate that no landmarks took that much damage. The worst that happens is that Robo-Snail gets stuck in the Arc de Triomphe.
• Motive Rant: Angelica delivers a pretty big one to the babies when Chuckie reveals to her he wants his dad to marry a princess on the day of the parade, under the belief that she'll receive her own float from Coco.

  Angelica: (screaming furiously) Listen up, you dumb babies! I'm supposed to have my very own float in the parade with ponies and carnations AND YOU BETTER NOT MESS IT UP FOR ME!!! (storms off in a huff)

• Mundane Solution: After being told that his Reptar robot has a serious mechanical error that causes its head to launch off, Stu fixes it easily by securing it with paper clips and rubber bands. This surprisingly works and holds up for a while, until they get pulled and snapped in the climax.
• Music for Courage: "Chuckie Chan".
• My God, What Have I Done?:
  • Angelica's reaction when realizing the consequences of her helping Coco through the whole movie. She even admits that it was the lowest thing she had ever done and laments how at times she just can't stop herself from being a huge Alpha Bitch.
    Angelica: (after confessing her misdeeds) I know it was bad... even for me. But sometimes, I just can't help myself. (sadly) I'm sorry, Chuckie.
  • Chas counts as this after he realizes how much of a jerk Coco is and what horrors he put the babies through.
    Chas: It's my fault, Kira. I guess I got caught up in the romance of Paris. I'm sorry, little guy.
• Never Trust a Trailer: The theatrical trailer includes a bit where Angelica demands to know which of the babies put a pooped diaper in her suitcase, falls over due to her platform shoes, and Phil comments that "someone got up on the wrong side of the bread". There is no such scene in the movie, although Phil's line pops up on a different scene (referring to a mean stewardess, rather than Angelica). Also, the shot of Spike urinating on the Eiffel Tower and the Rugrats using the Reptar bot is shown happening in daylight rather than nighttime and dusk as in the actual film. Chuckie also doesn't wear the helmet to pilot the Reptar bot like in the trailer; Tommy instead wears it and sits on Chuckie's shoulders.
• No OSHA Compliance: Subverted on the flight to Paris, when the plane's stewardess refuses to pick Robosnail up off of the floor. It's not like picking up a plush toy is strenuous, and she's in fine health. She's just mean and rude.
  Stewardess: Oh, look. A toy that was already broken. Unfortunately, the Union forbids me from picking it up. That's a job for your mommy.
  Phil: (annoyed) Somebody got up on the wrong side of the bread.
• Noodle Incident: Before seeing the babies trash her office, Coco informs Jean-Claude to take care of something as long as he leaves no fingerprints.
• Obviously Evil: Coco LaBouche: with her dark eye shadow, triangular brows, and devilish outfits. Even the babies are quick to notice how Coco LaBouche means big trouble. Chas, on the other hand, doesn't notice this blindingly obvious fact. Hell, even Dil notices how obviously evil Coco is, as he promptly whacks her with his rattle upon first meeting her.
  Lil: She's not a very nice lady. She's too "pointy."
• Oh, Crap!: Coco when she realizes her boss was at her wedding and saw everything. She knows that Angelica will reveal the truth and that the jig is up.
• Parental Bonus: Not that many small children are going to get the references to The Godfather, which are clearly there for the parents/older siblings in the audience. For example, the (rocking) horse head Phil and Lil found in their crib.
• Peacock Girl: Coco's wedding dress.
• Percussive Maintenance: Right before the wedding starts, Howard is seen smacking his camcorder, trying to get it to work.
• Playing Cyrano: Kira instructs Coco on how to take care of children through Coco's earring, and at one point Coco relays Kira's favorite poem to Chas in hopes of winning him over.
• Police Are Useless: During the big chase between Reptar and Robo-Snail. A justified case, however, as they clearly aren't equipped to deal with this kind of situation.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Thoroughly subverted with Coco; played straight with Mr. Yamaguchi, who immediately fires her when she is exposed for the deceitful person she is.
• Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves: Angelica was the one to provide Coco with the information she needed to marry Chaz. Toward the climax of the film, Coco has her locked up with the rest of the kids.
• Sequel Goes Foreign: The first of the Rugrats movies to do this as the second would be in Africa.
• Shout-Out:
  • The opening scene mimics The Godfather, complete with a stylized Rugrats II title card. This is a rare example of a Shout-Out being justified In-Universe, through an exchange between Drew and Charlotte that essentially confirms Angelica was up all night watching The Godfather on the eve of Lou and Lulu's wedding.
    Drew: I can't believe Angelica saw that movie last night!
    Charlotte: I can't mother and merger at the same time! Besides, she only saw a scene or two, it couldn't have made an impression.
    [Smash Cut to Phil and Lil in the Bobfather's office showing her a "severed" wooden horse head]
  • Since Reptar is already an Expy for Godzilla, a Japanese creation, it was only natural that the Reptarland park had heavy Japanese influence. And to hammer it home, the climax features Stu's giant Reptar robot (controlled by the babies) battling Robo-Snail (controlled by Jean-Claude).
  • Euro Reptarland is something of a cross between this and a Take That! to Euro Disneyland. The name makes it clearly a shout out, but the fact that Euro Disneyland is a French Theme park with a wildly out of cultural step theming was part of the reason the park had a troubled launch and the financial troubles it caused to the other parks were just starting to be felt at the time this film debuted.
  • The scene where Reptar has Angelica in his hand while hanging high up on the Eiffel Tower mirrors King Kong.
  • And of course, Chuckie's dream sequence about becoming Chuckie Chan.
  • The scene where Spike and Fifi are eating a pizza together is one to Lady and the Tramp.
  • During the wedding in the climax, everyone is alerted to the Reptar robot approaching by a pool of water rippling.
  • Angelica stomping on the trail of Coco's wedding dress, exposing her underwear while crowds of people take pictures is similar to the ending of It Takes Two (1995).
• Siding with the Suffering: Downplayed with Kira, as she's already very nice, though she remains obedient to her boss Coco (who treats her slightly better than she treats her other employees) up until she finds out that Coco only wants to marry Chas so that Mr. Yamaguchi will give her a promotion and that she hates children. Kira then turns against Coco and does everything in her power to stop her from marrying Chas.
• Single Woman Seeks Good Man: Inverted. Chas is looking to remarry and give Chuckie a mother. All he wants out of his future second wife is someone who will love his son as much as he does. He initially mistakes Coco for one such candidate. It's only when she excludes Chuckie from seeing the wedding ceremony (and displays her impatience) that Chas calls off the wedding. And soon after, he falls in love with Kira when he realizes she cares for children just as much as he does.
• Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Peace: "NOOOOOOOOO!"
• Spell My Name With An S: Press releases for the film spelled Kimi's name with two Ms.
• Spit Take:
  • Angelica does this in the beginning when Tommy explains that his wish is for Dil to have a new binkie.
  • Dil does a variation of this with his pacifier when he's witness to Coco's reveal in the Reptar play as the Princess.
• Squirrels in My Pants: Downplayed. When the babies are caught playing in a pond section in Coco's office, Tommy notices a fish that's wriggling around the backside of his diaper. Tommy doesn't give much of a reaction aside from meager curiosity.
• Standard Snippet: The first four bars of "La Marseillaise", the French national anthem, is heard when the Rugrats' plane lands in Paris.
• The Stinger: Not in the movie itself, but the DVD contains two different bonus clips showing what probably happened to Coco and Jean-Claude (which is being stuck either loading passengers into the "Ooey Gooey World" ride or testing underarm deodorants).
• Stripping Snag: Angelica steps on the trail of Coco's dress, ripping part of it off and exposing her undergarments.
• Symbolism: When Chas is about to get married to Coco, Didi and Betty reflect his Super Ego and Id (respectively). Didi (Super Ego) warns that marriage is a big step and he may wnat to reconsider tying the knot with Coco so quickly, while Betty (ID) throws caution to the wind and supports the idea of Chas marrying on the fly.
  • Wa-Wa signifies Chuckie's love. He keeps it from Coco when he can help it, reflecting how he doesn't like her in the slightest. He only gives Wa-wa to her when he mistakes her for the Princess, reflecting how Coco manipulated poor Chuckie into showing affection he wouldn't have shown her otherwise. And when she later snatches it forcibly from Chuckie (only to order Kira to burn it) shows she does not care about Chuckie's feelings outside of looking like a good mother to Mr. Yamaguchi. In contrast, Kira not only treats Wa-wa gently (and returns him to Chuckie later) shows he's a worthy mother who cares about the feelings of children.
• Take That!:
  • The "Ooey Gooey World" ride seems to be a parody of "It's a Small World." Coco even complains about its Ear Worm song.
  • The Reptar stage show may have been one for the Disney renaissance or for musicals in general, since Phil comments, "I hate when they sing."
• Tempting Fate: Coco says this gem after Angelica rips her dress off. Coco backs away trying to hide her exposed undies from the church people...only to turn around and see tourists taking snapshots of her undies.
  Coco: Well, take a picture! This is the last time you will see Coco or her underpants!
  (Turns around to see tourists taking pics of her underwear; Coco runs off sobbing)
• Toilet Humor: Angelica assumes that Dil is speaking French already.
• Took a Level in Badass: Parodied with Chuckie's dream. "Here comes Chuckie Chan!!" Later done for real with Chuckie's Let's Get Dangerous! moments.
• Tragic Keepsake: Chuckie's Wawa teddy bear. His mother made it for him before she died, and when Chas gives it to Chuckie, it becomes his most treasured possession. Coco orders Kira to burn it, but Kira, seeing how much it means to Chuckie, ensures it gets back to him.
• Trailers Always Spoil:
  • Quote Don LaFontaine in the theatrical trailer: "And introducing the newest Rugrat, Kimi!"
  • The fact that Chuckie gets a mother. Although trailers and TV spots implied it was Coco, which isn't really a spoiler.
• Tranquil Fury: Yamaguchi is clearly pissed when Angelica reveals Coco's plot to him, and he fires her on the spot without even raising his voice.
• Truth in Television: The scene with the babies screaming once the plane takes off is quite normal due to the air pressure changes. If you take a close look, you can see Tommy holding his hands up to his ears.
• Two Lines, No Waiting: The movie cuts back and forth between Chuckie's plot and Spike and Fifi's romance.
• Unseen No More: Coco's boss, Mr. Yamaguchi, had previously been mentioned several times in the main series as a regular business client of Angelica's mom, Charlotte, before appearing in person here.
• Unusually Uninteresting Sight: Despite taking the same path as the babies do in the giant Reptar robot, Kira seems rather oblivious to it as well as the damage they and Jean-Claude caused on the way.
• Urine Trouble: While roaming the streets of Paris, Spike urinates on the Eiffel Tower.
• Video Full of Film Clips: "Who Let the Dogs Out?", "My Getaway", and "When You Love". Notably, only "Who Let The Dogs Out?" achieved the crossover popularity the producers were striving for.
• Villain: Exit, Stage Left: After Chas calls off the wedding and Coco is fired, Coco insults everyone present and tries to walk away with dignity, until Angelica rips her dress.
• Vomit Discretion Shot: Done when Dil vomits on Coco after she attempts bouncing him, though we see the puke on Coco's chest after Dil had already vomited.
• Wedding Finale: The film ends with Chas and Kira's wedding reception.
• Wedding Smashers: The babies literally ruin Coco's wedding with the giant Reptar mech.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: The subplot concerning Yamaguchi's replacement. While Yamaguchi himself is more of a minor character, the subplot is pretty important to the story due to being what drives Coco to pursue Chas and Chuckie. After Coco's defeat, this subplot is dropped in favor of concluding the main plot of the movie, which is Chuckie finding a new mother; thus, we never find out what became of Yamaguchi or who replaced him. However, given that Yamaguchi had considered Coco as one of the "many" employees considered for the job, it is likely that he would have passed down his job to one of them following Coco's dismissal.
• What You Are in the Dark:
  • On the day Chas and Coco are to marry, while she's preparing for said wedding, the audience gets a full view of her nastiness at its worst. With none of their parents (especially Chas) around to witness it, Coco (in company of Jean Claude) disparages the collective babies for how they disgust her, steals Chuckie's Wawa because she wants it burned, and orders Jean Claude to have them locked up in a warehouse somewhere. And for good measure, she rescinds her promise to Angelica to let her attend the wedding as her flower girl.
  • Played with, however, as one parent was witness to this atrocious behavior: Kira. However, since Coco regards her as nothing but a lowly assistant who obeys her, so in her mind, she doesn't count. Regardless, Kira seeing her unadulterated nastiness towards the babies is what inspires her to turn on her boss.
• Wise Beyond Their Years: As in all other Rugrats, but this time up to eleven. The babies manage to operate a giant robot dinosaur that would be difficult even for an adult, with only some difficulty. They also manage to fight off Jean Claude and stop the wedding and get payback against Coco.
• Would Hurt a Child: Coco and Jean-Claude have no qualms about hurting or threatening kids. Jean-Claude is even willing to use a giant mecha to stop the children near the end of the movie, not caring at all if they (or anyone else) get hurt or even killed. He did, however, overlook the chances of them retaliating with their own giant mecha. Coco herself also mutters under her breath that she must have "the heart of a child" in a jar somewhere which... does not sound so theoretical.
• You Have Failed Me: Coco wasn't happy to learn from Jean-Claude that the babies got away when he was supposed to be guarding them.
  Coco: You bumbling idiot! YOU DISGUST ME!!

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