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Reviewing The First Two Seasons Of 'Rugrats', Which You Have A Chance To Win

Back in 1991, Nickelodeon decided to do something new. Rather than airing old episodes of Mr. Wizard's World and Double Dare, they took Sunday mornings and created a new cartoon programming block called Nicktoons. The block saw the birth of three cartoon shows: Doug, Ren & Stimpy, and Rugrats. Each took off in their own ways, with R&S headed to SNICK in 1992, Doug became a weekday afternoon centerpiece for several years as he grew up, and Rugrats dominated the mornings with a double-airing when the other two moved on. But of the three, the one that's stuck with that generation of people the longest has been Rugrats, which is why it's awesome that we're finally getting the first two seasons on DVD today.

The first season of the show is basically the learning curve by which we see the animators get comfortable with their characters over a short period of time. The house, the parents, the kids, the toys—they all feel just a little extra grimy and detailed. It's an era when a lot more detail was being put into animation by certain studios before everyone started to make things all glossy and polished. Chucky's hair goes in various directions and looks like he fiddles with it a lot, Tommy's diaper has bumps to it that make you wonder when he was changed, Angelica's clothes look like they kinda fit as she's a growing kid. But the adults also appear just as weird and detailed, from the hairstyles of the mothers and the beard stubble on Stu, it all has a specific place in time in '90s animation that should be studied more often.

One of the big things people forget about the early Rugrats seasons is that episodes were divided into two parts, so you're getting two different stories in one episode. It was a nice way to capture the attentions of kids and teenagers watching who may not necessarily like the first one, but the second might bring them back if they sat through it. Part of the fun is that you're given glimpses into an adult world through a semi-intelligent infant's eyes, who gets to go on adventures and have fun with the world. As an adult, I still have fun watching the kids crawl into places they shouldn't and mess things up for the grownups. The series itself hits a few interesting chords within all of us that make it unique to watch, and it was a perfect fit for Nickelodeon at the time.

The first season of the show was simply about establishing who these people were and what they did. It's got a fair share of "that shouldn't have happened" kind of episodes like "Baby Commercial," "Momma Trauma," and "Special Delivery." More of the episodes in this season seem playful, almost as if the crew said to themselves "If we only get one season, we're going to have fun this season!" The second season is more about development. You get a lot more insight into the kids like Angelica's thoughts on boys, Tommy being kind of a nerd, the twins both working together and then fighting with each other. It's also fun to watch Grandpa get some good stories in as I personally found him to be the most interesting character in the entire series.

The first two seasons of Rugrats on DVD is awesome, but also kind of lacking. You have all the episodes presented unedited (as is not cut down to 18 minutes for later network airings), along with the appropriate stories they were originally tied to instead of being cut up and swapped around. The downside to this is that beyond having a full-screen format, there are no additional features. No commentary, no documentary pieces, no artwork, no behind-the-scenes stuff, no commercials, no promos, no nothing! It's just the episodes, which is kind of disappointing considering all the materials this show must have. The series is fun to own so you have all of these classic episodes in one set, I just wish there was more.

Would you like to own Rugrats Season 1 & 2 on DVD? Click the link below to tweet our review with the hashtag for a chance to win both seasons!

Tweet #RugRatsDVD @bleedingcool for a chance to win a copy of the game!

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