Everyone still loves the Rugrats, so it’s no surprise that people like to play into this nostalgia and re-imagine what their childhood heroes would look like today. BuzzFeed recently made waves when it posted an article titled “If The Cast Of ‘Rugrats’ Grew Up To Be Parents“.
If the cast of “Rugrats” grew up to be parents https://t.co/tWQ1byHRIN pic.twitter.com/yqucRRSubz
— BuzzFeed (@BuzzFeed) December 22, 2015
The article features the artwork of BuzzFeed Junior Staff Writer Pedro Fequiere who re-imagined the Rugrats as adults with their own set of well… rugrats. This is the latest in a long tradition of drawing the characters all growed up, however, a real Rugrats illustrator is here to set the record straight.
Eric Molinsky was a storyboard artist for Klasky Csupo from 1999 to 2002, working on shows like The Wild Thornberrys, Rocket Power, As Told By Ginger, and of course Rugrats. While Molinksky has no problems with the quality of fan art today, he does have a bone to pick with the interpretations.
“We referred to them as lumpy babies for a reason,” Molinksy wrote in an article for Studio 360, “If we ever drew the Rugrats as being too cute, our executive producer would scold us. We were supposed to emulate the style of Eastern European animators — many of whom were brought over, with their sly wit and husky voices (they took a lot of smoke breaks.)”
Millennial interpretations of the Rugrats are often too cute or too normal, “They probably grew up to be average if not slightly lumpy looking people — just like their parents,” Molinksy added. The artist even provided artwork of the Rugrats in 2015:
As you can see these Rugrats are a far cry from the the cute, hipster-y versions we normally get. Tommy looks exactly like his father and Chuckie looks like he’s slowly succumbing to the effects of a spell that turns his face into a shovel.
If you’re feeling like a Rugrats binge, you can check out every single episode on Hulu.
