Meet The Rugrats

Note:

Pictures of Christine Cavanaugh & Kath Soucie are from The Ultimate Rugrats Fan Book; ©1998 Viacom. These pictures were taken at the now-former Klasky-Csupo studios on Highland & Fountain in Hollywood, CA.

Pictures of the Rugrats (except Dil & Kimi) from A Baby's Got To Grow, written by Sarah Willson & illustrated by Peter Panas, copyright © 1997 by Viacom.

Pictures of the tweenage Rugrats from Cooltoons.Com, copyright © 2001 by Viacom.

Picture of Dil from The Rugrats Movie website, copyright © 1998 by Viacom.

Picture of Kimi from the second trailer of Rugrats In Paris, courtesy of Super Yo ; ©2000 by Viacom.


Tommy Pickles

Age: 1

Sex: Male

Description: Very little hair; blue shirt; disposable diapers; bare feet; no pants

First Appearance: Tommy Pickles And The Great White Thing

First Televised Appearance: Tommy's First Birthday

Voiced By: Tami Holbrook (pilot only), E.G. Daily

Tommy Pickles is a born (no pun intended) adventurer.  He leads the other Rugrats on imaginary adventures -- to the North Pole; in the Jungle; inside Chuckie; in the Wild West; anywhere a baby's imagination would take him. He also sticks up for the Rugrats against other bullies, especially Angelica. He is also the Rugrats' contraband expert, keeping things the baby's not allowed to have in his diapers (tools, birds, CD's, even Reptar bars), as well as an expert in breaking out of the crib, using a screwdriver he always keeps hidden. He is also Dil's big brother, helping him out when he gets in trouble, and teaching him how to be a Rugrat. A leader in his own right.

Ten years from "now": He'll have a full head of purple hair, just like his dad, Stu. He'll also wear a white shirt with long, blue sleeves; jeans; and green tennis shoes. And like his dad, he'll be a whiz at science -- his pickle experiment wowed his class.

Note:

E.G. Daily.
(From  the Rugrats In Paris movie documentary, on the
Rugrats Discover America (US) / Babies On Board (Canada)
video; ©2000 by Viacom.)

Other roles (as a voice and in front of a camera) include:
TV Program / Movie Character She Plays
A Goofy Movie (movie) ???
Duckman Mambo
Eek! The Cat Wendy Elizabeth
Dutch (live-action movie) Hailey
Better Off Dead (live-action movie) herself
Streets Of Fire (live-action movie) Baby Doll
Valley Girl (live-action movie) Loryn

For more information on her voices and music, visit her web site.

In addition to doing various cartoon voices (including Tommy, of course), E.G. Daily (the "E.G." stands for "Elizabeth Guttman") is a female rock star, who, in the mid-1980s, had 2 albums released by A&M Records -- "Lace Around The Wound" & "Wild Child"; in addition to singing on those albums, she has also co-wrote and co-produced them. E.G. Daily is also the only Rugrats cast member to appear on Saturday Night Live; she was the 2nd of 2 musical guests on the May 17, 1986 episode (Level 42 was the 1st that night); newspaper columnist Jimmy Breslin was guest host.

Around this time, one of these songs she had co-written (with Harold Faltermeyer), Love In The Shadows (from her "Wild Child" album), was sung in French as Délivre-moi (Set Me Free) by Céline Dion on her Incognito album (1987).
In May 1999, Daily returned to her musical roots with a CD called Tearing Down The Walls, released by Sumthing Distribution and co-produced by Daily, along with Grammy-Award winner Brad Gilderman and Harvey Mason Jr. This CD, which has received rave reviews from fellow Daily fans, is available from Amazon.com, and at record stores everywhere. Daily also performed live on 7/18/1999 at the Phoenix, AZ stop of Sarah McLachlan's Lilith Fair, a tour that showcases the best in women's pop music.

(Cover from Amazon.Com; ©1999 E.G. Daily Productions & Sumthing Distribution.)

When she's not singing, Daily contributes her voice to cartoons, commercials and movies. For example, Daily replaced Christine Cavanaugh (Rugrats co-star) as the voice of Babe in Babe: Pig In The City, after Cavanaugh chose not to reprise the role for personal reasons (originally, there were rumors that Cavanaugh asked for more money, but a Washington Post interview with Cavanaugh debunked those rumors). On TV, Daily can also be regularly heard on Cartoon Network's Powerpuff Girls, where she plays one of them, Buttercup. She's also seen on various live-action TV programs as well, as a guest star on TV series ranging from CHiPs to Friends. Her only appearance as a regular on a live-action series was on The Righteous Apples, which was seen in the late-1970s and early-1980s on PBS and, later, the Showtime pay channel; that series was about a rock band living and practicing in an inner-city neighborhood. She also appeared in a few movies during the 1980s, her most-notable role being Dottie, Pee-Wee Herman's girlfriend in Pee-Wee's Big Adventure.


 Dylan Prescott "Dil" Pickles

Age: Up to 4 weeks old in The Rugrats Movie; 3 months old in the TV series

Given Birthdates: 11/20/1998 for theatrical release; 3/30/1999 for video release (both in US & Canada)

Sex: Male

Description: Curly (yet limited) hair, big ears, frequently wears "trap-door" pajamas.

First Appearance: The Rugrats Movie

First TV Appearance: Chuckie's Duckling

Voiced by: Tara Strong (formerly Charendoff)

Named after Didi's cousin, Dylan Prescott, Dil is Tommy's new baby brother, and the bane to the other Rugrats' existence.

Ten years from "now": He'll have a full head of curly, red hair, like his mom, Didi; he'll also wear a yello, long-sleeved shirt; jeans; and blue tennis shoes. Also, he'll be less selfish and more appreciative of Tommy and his friends.

 Note:

Tara Strong, a native of Toronto, Ontario, also is the voice of Timmy McNulty in the series.  Some of the series she appeared in include:
Show Character(s)
Super Mario Bros. Hop (Iggy), Hip (Lemmy)
Powerpuff Girls Bubbles
101 Dalmations: The Series Spot
Rupert Frances
Long Road Home (movie) Reesa
Skin Deep (movie) ???

For more information on Tara, visit her official website.

(Special thanks to Kacie Boskey)


Charles Crandall "Chuckie" Finster, Jr. (III)

Age: 2

Sex: Male

Description: Uncombed red hair; square-framed glasses; 3 freckles on each cheek; bucked teeth; blue, short-sleeved sweatshirt with a planet on the front; green shorts with green-yellow rectangles; yellow socks; eternally-untied red sneakers.

First Appearance: Tommy's First Birthday

Voiced By: Christine Cavanaugh (1991-2001), Nancy Cartwright (2002 to date)

Chuckie is a nerdy, yet cute, little boy who is always afraid to take risks, but always ends up going along with the other Rugrats on their adventures. In the outcome, Chuckie end up being very brave, willing to do things like going down slides, using the toilet, being a superhero, etc. Chuckie is also Tommy's best friend; he looks up to him for advice.

Ten years from "now": He'll still have long, uncombed hair and a planet on his shirt, though his shirt will now be a short-sleeved, collared, button-down shirt. He'll also be wearing jeans, square-framed glasses, and red teenis shows -- still untied. Most importantly, he'll have braces on his teeth, which he has to wear for about 2.5 years. He will eventually overcome all his fears. But he will have a new fear that he'll have to face -- a fear of girls.

Notes:
1. Christine Cavanaugh, the voice of Chuckie, is also the voice of Oblina on Nick's Real Monsters, as well as the voice of the title character in the award-winning picture, Babe (E.G. Daily played the role in the sequel; see above). Other famous roles include Dexter in Dexter's Laboratory and Marty Sherman in The Critic.

In 2001, Cavanaugh retired from the voice acting business, for personal reasons. Until her retirement, she was the only voice of Chuckie.

Left: Christine Cavanaugh.

Right: Together At Last: Christine and her alter ego, Chuckie, from the world premiere of The Rugrats Movie in 1998. From Hollywood.Com; © 1998 Hollywood.Com & Viacom.)

2. The only other person to voice Chuckie was Nancy Cartwright, who assumed the role in 2002. A native of Dayton, Ohio, Nancy is more well-known as the voice of Bart Simpson on Fox's hit TV series, The Simpsons. Nancy has done various voices for animated shows and movies. Also, she was no stranger to Rugrats -- previously, she was the voice of Prudence, "The Junk Food Kid", in Showdown At Teeter-Totter Gulch in 1992, and she was various minor voices in The Wild Wild West / Angelica For A Day in 1998.

She is also one of few people who not only voices cartoons, she animates them as well -- she's the founder of Happy House Productions, an animation firm.

Cartwright assumed the role after Cavanaugh's retirement, and will be the voice of Chuckie during the 2002 season, and, likely, the upcoming Rugrats / Thornberrys film.

For more on Nancy Cartwright, see her official website.

Left: Nancy Cartwright and her well-known alter ego, Bart Simpson, on the cover of her biography, My Life As A 10-Year-Old Boy; from Amazon.Com. ©2001 Nancy Cartwright and Hyperion. Bart Simpson is © Fox.



Kimi Watanabe-Finster

Age: 1 1/2

Sex: Female

Description: Asian; dark hair in 3 pigtails; yellow or green jumper with a blue cat on front; diapers; cowboy boots

First Appearance: Rugrats In Paris

First TV Appearance: Finsterella (US); Angelicon (Canada)

Voiced By: Dionne Quan

Kimi will become Chuckie's new sister when Chazz, his father, marries Kira, her single mother, in the Rugrats In Paris film. Unlike her new big brother, Kimi is brave, but unlike another brave Rugrat, Tommy, she often takes action first and thinks later.

Ten years from "now": She'll have only one pigtail instead of three. Also, she'll wear a pink and yellow, short-sleeved shirt; green pants with pink and yellow triangles at the cuffs; and purple shoes.

Note:

Unlike the other Rugrats voices, Dionne Quan, the voice of Kimi, is legally blind, though she can still see, but barely -- since birth, she had a brain disorder, which was later diagnosed as hypoplasia (underdevelopment) of the optic nerve. Because of this, her sight is severely impaired -- she can only make out some colors and shapes; she can also watch Rugrats and other TV shows to the best of her ability, though to do that, she had to press her face on the picture tube.

In order to do the voice, the producers had to translate the scripts into Braille, so she could read them by feeling the bumps with her fingers.

Dionne can also be heard on The Wild Thornberrys, and other animated programs and commercials.

Formerly from in Benicia, CA, near San Francisco, she moved to Los Angeles in early 2001.

(additional material from People Weekly, 12/11/2000)

(Left: Dionne Quan, from The Asian Rugrat; original source unknown. © 2001 Viacom.)


Angelica C. Pickles

Age: 3

Sex: Female

Description: Blonde with 2 pig-tails; red-and-black-striped shirt with flared cuffs; purple jumper (a midriff-type skirt); blue tights with green dots; red socks; purple sneakers; diapers (?) (1991 episodes only).

First Appearance: Tommy's First Birthday

Voiced By: Cheryl Chase

Angelica is Drew and Charlotte's spoiled-brat daughter who always bullies around the other Rugrats. Often using her doll, Cynthia, as accomplice, Angelica often gets away with everything. If she does get caught, her parents often let Angelica go unpunished, though Stu and Didi often punish her when she's at Tommy's.

Ten years from "now": She'll have long, unbraided hair; purple shirt with long sleeves; polka-dot skirt; green earrings; and purple clog shoes. She'll also be just as bossy then as she is now.

Note:

Cheryl Chase.
(From  the Rugrats In Paris movie documentary, on the
Rugrats Discover America (US) / Babies On Board (Canada)
video; ©2000 by Viacom.)
Cheryl Chase also played various female roles:
TV Program Character She Plays
Ren & Stimpy various female roles
Addams Family Values (movie) Pubert Addams
My Neighbor Totoro (movie; Japanese import) May
The Noozles / Wondrous Koala Blinky (Japanese import; previously a Nick program) Pinky

It should also be noted that Cheryl Chase auditioned for the role of Tommy, but was passed up. When the show came to series, she was brought on board, as the voice of Angelica.


Philip "Phil" Deville
and
Lillian Marie Jill "Lil" DeVille

Sex: Phil: Male; Lil: Female

Ages: 1 1/2 (both)

Descriptions: Phil: Small bit of brown hair; pink and black-striped shirt; overalls with a polka-dotted hankerchief  on the left side and a duck on the right; blue shorts; white socks; blue shoes; no ear lobes (episodes from 1996 to early 1999 and The Rugrats Movie show Phil with ear lobes like Lil). Lil: Same as Phil with these differences: addition of pink bow; shirt sleeves more "puffed"; jumper (similar to Phil's overalls); diapers instead of pants; pink shoes; ear lobes.

First Appearances: Tommy Pickles And The Great White Thing

First Television Appearances: Tommy's First Birthday

Voiced By:  Kath Soucie (both)

Phil and Lil are fraternal twins (identical traits, but different sexes). They often play around with Tommy and the other Rugrats. They  love consuming gross stuff like worms (which they first call "Chocolate Spaghetti") and toilet water. They frequently get into arguments, often using their actual names, Plillip and Lillian. Finally, despite the above differences, their parents often get them mixed up, despite permanent differences like the ears (except in newer episodes, when both have ear lobes), as well as another, though more obvious difference that I won't be discussing here (Nick hasn't mentioned it, so I won't either).

It should be noted that Lil is Phil's older sister -- by two minutes.

Ten years from "now": They will no longer dress the same -- Phil will now wear a red, short-sleeved, collared shirt over a green t-shirt with a picture of a duck on it (just like their earlier jumpers), along with green jeans and tennis shoes; Lil will be wearing a pink sweater over a duck t-shirt (just like Phil's) with a blue skirt and pink shoes. They'll be as inseparable then as they are now.

Note:

Kath Soucie.
Kath Soucie is also the voice of Betty DeVille.

Here's a chart on Kath's other voice roles:
TV Program Character She Plays
Futurama various
Disney's Hercules: The Animated Series ???
101 Dalmations: The Animated Series Rolly, Cadpig, Anita
Hey Arnold Miriam Pataki (Helga's mother), Mrs. Vitello
Space Jam (movie) Lola Bunny (Thanks to John Merullo)
BRUNO The Kid ???
The Real Ghostbusters Janine Melnitz
Captain Planet Linka
Super Samurai Cybersquad Elizabeth
Widget Widget's Human Friends
Tiny Toons Fifi, Sneezer
Gargoyles Princess Katherine, the 3 sisters
Full Throttle (Computer Game) ??? (Plays the main character)
Earthworm Jim Princess What's-Her-Name
The Critic various (???)
Phantom 2040 ???
Sonic The Hedgehog Sally, Nicole
Hollyrock-a-bye Baby (animated TV movie) ???
Beauty and the Beast (animated Disney movie) Bimbette
Aladdin (animated Disney series) ???

For more details on Kath's voices, read her article at the Animation World site. Also visit her unofficial site, as well as the official site of her cousin, Roland Soucie.



Susie Carmichael

Age: 3 years

Sex: Female

Description: African-American; black hair; yellow dress with polka-dots.

First Apprearance: Meet The Carmichaels

Voiced By: Cree Summer Francks (credited as Cree Summer Francks in 1992; Cree Summer all other shows)); E.G. Daily (The Last Babysitter & Angelica's Birthday only)

Susie, the first (and, so far, only) black Rugrat, is, more or less, the exact opposite of Angelica (Susie is Angelica's enemy); she's always nice to others.

Ten years from "now": Shell have curly, unbraided hair, with a headband. She'll also be wearing a red and pink floral shirt (though publicity pics had the colors the usual purple and yellow); purple pants; purple shoes; and earrings similar to the ends of the braids that she had ten years earlier. She'll make a living as a babysitter. More specifically, Tommy & Dil's babysitter.

Above: The 8/5/89 edition of the Canadian TV Guide; at the time, she played Freddie Brooks on A Different World. She is the only Rugrats cast member to appear on a cover of TVG, US or Canadian. (cover © 1989 Telemedia Communications, Inc.; all rights reserved.)

Cree was born on July 7, 1969 in Los Angeles; her father is famed Canadian actor Don Francks, whose wife is dancer Lili Red Eagle, a member of the Plains Cree First Nations. Shortly after their birth, her family moved to a First Nations reservation near Battleford, Sasketchewan (245 miles NW of Regina; 242 miles east of Edmonton), as they felt she was better off growing in a native Canadian atmosphere, rather than in Hollywood. After being kicked off the reservation in 1975, her family lived on a bus, in a horse stable, in a commune and with friends before settling in Toronto, where, in 1982, she took up voice acting in cartoons, with a little help from her father. She also joined a band, where she developed her musical abilities. In 1987, after becoming 18, she moved back to LA, where she continued her musical and voice-acting career.

As with E.G. Daily, Summer also has musical talent as a sideline. Since 1986, she was featured in gigs at various clubs in the GTA (Greater Toronto Area); she was also the lead singer in a rock group, "Subject To Change", which gigged and toured with other bands in the 1990s. Her latest musical effort is a solo one -- her first album, Street Faërie, which was released on Sony's Epic Records label in April 1999. When she's not doing voices for cartoons, you can usually find her in concert, as an opening act for top acts such as Lenny Kravitz, Black Crowes and Everlast.

Above: Cover of Cree Summer's album, Street Faërie; ©1999 Sony Music.

Cree's other roles include:
TV Program / Movie: Role She Plays:
Mummies Alive Nefer-Tina
Project G.e.e.K.E.R. Lady MacBeth
Sweet Justice (live-action TV series) Reese Daulkins
Sonic The Hedgehog Dulcy
Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (live-action TV series) ???
Tiny Toon Adventures Elmyra
A Different World (live-action TV series) Freddie Brooks
The Care Bears Movie Kim
Gargoyles Hyena
The Real Ghostbusters ???
Inspector Gadget Penny (1st season only)

(Special thanks to Timothy Gueguen, Joey Mink and Matt Sittel)

On To Their Parents Back To Characters Page Back To The Home Page