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A Rugrats Chanukah

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"A Rugrats Chanukah"

"A Rugrats Chanukah," titled onscreen as simply "Chanukah" and referred to alternatively as "Rugrats Chanukah Special," is a special episode of the animated television series Rugrats. It is the first episode of the show's fourth season and the sixty-sixth overall. The plot involves a visit by the babies, accompanied by Grandpa Boris, to a synagogue. While there, they learn the story of the Jewish holiday Chanukah and imagine themselves as the main characters. Meanwhile, Boris settles his long-time feud with his arch-rival Schlomo.

The episode was written by J. David Stem and David N. Weiss and directed by Raymie Muzquiz. The idea of making a Rugrats Chanukah special was pitched to the crew in 1992, but the initial concept was revised into the Passover special "A Rugrats Passover". After production on this episode finished in 1996, the crew returned to the idea of "A Rugrats Chanukah", completing the episode soon afterwards.

Nickelodeon originally broadcast "A Rugrats Chanukah" on December 4, 1996, receiving a Nielsen Rating of 7.9 and positive reviews from television critics. In spite of this positive reception, the episode and others featuring Grandpa Boris and his wife Minka also attracted controversy when the Anti-Defamation League compared the character designs to anti-Semitic drawings in a 1930s Nazi newspaper.

Plot summary

On Chanukah, Grandma Minkus reads a book about the meaning of the holiday to Tommy, Chuckie, Phil, and Lil. The babies listen and pretend that they are the story's characters. Judah (Tommy) is outraged by King "Antonica" (Angelica), who has taken over the Jewish kingdom and forced the Greek culture upon its inhabitants. He decides to lead a war against Antonica's Seleucid Empire with his army of Jewish Maccabees. The Maccabees emerge victorious and rededicate the Holy Temple. Upon arrival they discover that there is only enough olive oil to light the eternal flame in the Temple for one day, but, miraculously, it remains lit for eight days.

Meanwhile, Grandpa Boris learns that Schlomo, an old rival from his youth in Russia, will be playing the Greek king in the Chanukah play at the local Beth Shalom Jewish Center synagogue. Boris is furious, having played the part himself in previous years, and angrier still at being cast now as Judah. The Pickles family fear that Boris's bitter rivalry with Schlomo will ruin the play. When the babies finish hearing the story, they find out about Schlomo and form the impression that he truly is the Greek king, whom they dub the "Meany of Chanukah". They go onto the stage during the play and light the Menorah, hoping to defeat the "Meany". The sentiment inadvertently leads Boris and Schlomo to remember the true meaning of Canukah and reconcile.

Production

Nickelodeon executives first pitched the idea of making a Rugrats Chanukah special in 1992. Paul Germain, co-creator of Rugrats, responded by suggesting a Passover special instead, describing it as a "funny idea".[3] In 1996, the crew successfully produced the Passover special "A Rugrats Passover";[1][4][5] the show was one of the first animated television series to produce a special for a Jewish holiday.[4] Once production closed on "A Rugrats Passover," the crew began to consider creating the Chanukah special Nickelodeon originally pitched to them.[3] J. David Stem and David N. Weiss collaborated to write the script, while Raymie Muzquiz directed it.[1] By the time he was writing the teleplay, Weiss had abandoned his belief in Christianity and converted to Judaism.[6]

Paramount Home Video finished production for home-media releases of the episode in July 1997 and assigned October of that year for the release date.[7] The official VHS entitled A Rugrats Chanukah was pushed back and released in 1998.[8][9] In 1997, Paramount released the video Nickelodeon Holiday, which featured "A Rugrats Chanukah" and other holiday specials, such as "Hey Arnold's Christmas".[10] Paramount also released a DVD entitled Rugrats Holiday Celebration on August 31, 2004, which featured several holiday-themed episodes of Rugrats, including "A Rugrats Chanukah".[2][11] The episode was adapted by author Sarah Willson into the book The Rugrats' Book of Chanukah, which was published by Simon & Schuster in 1997 and featured illustrations by Barry Goldberg.[12]

Release and reception

"The babies acting out their own version of the story is enough to entertain a child of any religious denomination, so learning the historical meaning behind latkes and dreidels is just an added bonus."
 —TV Guide[13]

"A Rugrats Chanukah" was originally broadcast on December 4, 1996 on Nickelodeon. It was repeated twice that night,[14] receiving a Nielsen Rating of 7.9 in the Kids 2–11 demographic.[15] On December 1, 2001, CBS broadcast the episode for the first time on its network at 8:30 p.m., Eastern Time, carrying a TV-Y parental rating. It followed the Rugrats Christmas special "The Santa Experience".[16] Multiple repeats of the episode continue to air on Nickelodeon during the holiday season.[17][18][19]

The episode received positive reviews from television critics and is one of the most popular episodes of Rugrats.[20] Delia O'Hera of the Chicago Sun-Times called it a "multigenerational tale".[21] Judith Pearl, in her book The chosen image: television's portrayal of Jewish themes and characters, described the episode as a "fun [treatment] of Channukah".[22] Chuck Barney of Knight Ridder and the Tribune News Service considered the episode a "hilariously imaginative take on the Chanukah legend".[23]

In a 1999 issue of TV Guide, "A Rugrats Chanukah" was listed at number 5 in their "10 Best Classic Family Holiday Specials".[24] TV Guide later wrote that "Nickelodeon's Rugrats secured its place in television history" with the episode, opting that it could "entertain a child of any religious denomination".[13] Ted Cox of the Daily Herald commented that the special was "[n]ot quite as good as their Passover, which is among the best holiday TV specials ever produced, but still noteworthy".[25] DVD Talk reviewer Francis Rizzo III wrote that the special "has a great historical opening".[2] Michael Atkinson and Laurel Shifrin wrote in their book Flickipedia: Perfect Films for Every Occasion, Holiday, Mood, Ordeal, and Whim that the special was "A richer meal, even, for parents than for tykes".[26]

Anti-Defamation League controversy

"A Rugrats Chanukah," along with other Rugrats episodes which featured Boris and his wife Minka as characters, attracted controversy when the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) claimed that the two characters resembled anti-Semitic drawings that were featured in a 1930s Nazi newspaper. Nickelodeon's then-president Albie Hecht, himself Jewish, professed himself dumbfounded by the criticism, and called the accusation absurd.[27] The controversy resurfaced in 1998 after the ADL observed the same similarities in Boris' appearance in a Rugrats comic strip that ran in newspapers during the Jewish New Year. The organization was also offended by the character reciting the Mourner's Kaddish in the strip. Unlike Hecht, Nickelodeon's new president Herb Scannell agreed with the claims and apologized, promising never to run the character nor the strip again.[28]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "Rugrats → Episode Guide → Specials → More → Rugrats Chanukah" (Adobe Flash page). Klasky-Csupo. Retrieved 2009-10-25.
  2. ^ a b c Rizzo, Francis (2004-11-01). "Rugrats Holiday Celebration". DVD Talk. Retrieved 2009-10-25.
  3. ^ a b Swartz, Mimi (1998-10-30). "How raising the Rugrats children became as difficult as the real thing". The New Yorker. p. 62.
  4. ^ a b O'Connor, John J. (1995-04-13). "'Rugrats' Observes Passover". The New York Times. p. 16. Retrieved 2009-12-22.
  5. ^ Moore, Scott (1995-04-09). "'A Rugrats Passover'". The Washington Post. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  6. ^ Brown, Hannah (2005-05-18). "Shrek's Orthodox author". Jerusalem Post: 24.
  7. ^ Olson, Catherine Applefield (1997-07-12). "Coming Attractions: After a somewhat sleepy spring, video retailers can prepare to deck their shelves with sackfuls of third-and fourth-quarter releases that aim to satisfy entries on just about everybody's wish lists". Billboard: 60.
  8. ^ "Rave Review". Sesame Street Magazine: 31. 2001. {{cite journal}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  9. ^ Bassave, Roy (1998-12-15). "Videos, DVDs to stuff into stockings". Tribune News Service.
  10. ^ Block, Debbie Galante (1997-08-23). "Holi-disks for '97 marry Christmas to every conceivable musical genre". Billboard: 82.
  11. ^ Hicks, Chris (2004-11-06). "Small fry will enjoy new DVDs". Deseret News.
  12. ^ "The Rugrats' Book of Chanukah". Chicago Jewish Star. 1997-12-18. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  13. ^ a b "Holiday and Christmas TV Classics". TV Guide. p. 7. Retrieved 2009-10-25.
  14. ^ Ribadeneira, Diego (1996-12-05). "Rites of Chanukah reach many". The Boston Globe. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  15. ^ "Nickelodeon drives kids TV marketplace in new season Grows While Competition Declines; Outperforms Broadcasters In Key Dayparts". Press release, Viacom. 1996-12-18.
  16. ^ McDonough, Kevin (2001-12-01). "Remake of 'Brian's Song' sings without excess: ; Story of friendship, love and loss still a tear-jerker; even 30 years later". Charleston Daily Mail. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  17. ^ McGuire, Mark; Wiley, Casey (2002-11-29). "A special Christmas from the Grinch to Spongebob, the networks are offering all sorts of holiday-themed shows". Albany Times Union.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  18. ^ "Nickelodeon's 'Ha-Ha Holidays' to Spread Chuckles and Cheer, December 5–29". PR Newswire. 2005-11-08.
  19. ^ Elber, Lynn (2005-12-16). "Check out holiday TV offerings". Post-Tribune.
  20. ^ Klein, Daniel; Vuijst, Freke (2000). The Half-Jewish Book: A Celebration. Villard. p. 36. ISBN 0375503854.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  21. ^ "Holidays are a good time for family video viewing". Chicago Sun-Times. 2000-12-08.
  22. ^ Pearl, Judith (1999). The Chosen Image: Television's Portrayal of Jewish Themes and Characters. McFarland & Company. p. 39. ISBN 0786405228.
  23. ^ Barney, Chuck (2000-11-29). "Other holiday programming between now and Christmas". Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service.
  24. ^ "10 Best Classic Family Holiday Specials". TV Guide. 1999-11-27.
  25. ^ Cox, Ted (2005-12-01). "Seasonal all-stars The 12 top TV specials of Christmas – and other winter holidays". Daily Herald.
  26. ^ Atkinson, Michael; Shifrin, Laurel (2007). Flickipedia: Perfect Films for Every Occasion, Holiday, Mood, Ordeal, and Whim. Chicago Review Press. p. 12. ISBN 1556527144.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  27. ^ Goldberg, Danny (2005). How The Left Lost Teen Spirit. Akashic Books. p. 216. ISBN 0971920680.
  28. ^ Jackson, Wendy; Amidi, Amid (1998-12). "Rugrats Offends Media Watchdogs". Animation World Magazine. Retrieved 2009-12-19. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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