Movie reviews, production notes, and more! - "Rugrats Go Wild!"

Movie : Rugrats Go Wild!

Notes provided by Paramount Pictures "RUGRATS GO WILD" Audiences get to hear the first words ever spoken by the Rugrats beloved dog Spike (voiced by Bruce Willis) and Tommy Pickles has the chance to meet his real life hero when the Rugrats family vacation goes awry and they suddenly find themselves on a deserted island. Hopelessly stuck in the middle of nowhere -- without cell phones or cookies! -- the Rugrats encounter lizards, leopards and bug-eating plants, not to mention the wildest discovery of all -- the Thomberrys! But poor Spike isn t having nearly as much fun. His sniffer is on the blink and his reckless Rugrats are wandering through the rainforest alone. Can Eliza Thornberry, who speaks fluent Dog and all animal languages, help the hapless rugmutt find his diapered gang before Siri the white leopard (voiced by Chrissie Hynde) turns their island adventure into a castaway s nightmare? Yes, America s most beloved babies are making their biggest growth spurt yet in their third feature film, Rugrats Go Wild, an exciting animated adventure that brings together for the first time the colorful characters from two of Nickelodeons Emmywinning TV series, Rugrats and the Humanitas Award-winning show, The Wild Thornberrys. Filled with numerous homages to classic films that adults will enjoy, and featuring Odorama -- an interactive scratch-and-sniff experience with smells as stinky as foot odor and fish and as yummy as strawberries and peanut butter-- Rugrats Go Wild is guaranteed to bring out the wild child in everyone! Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies present a Klasky Csupo Production Rugrats Go Wild. Directed by Norton Virgien and John Eng, the film is produced by Arlene Klasky and Gabor Csupo and written by Kate Boutilier. The executive producers are Albie Hecht, Julia Pistor, Eryk Casemiro and Hal Waite, and the co-producers are Tracy Kramer, Terry Thoren and Patrick Stapleton. The music is by Mark Mothersbaugh and the executive music producer is George Acogny. Paramount Pictures is part of the entertainment operations of Viacom Inc., one of the world s largest entertainment and media companies and a leader in the production, promotion and distribution of entertainment, news, sports and music. Nickelodeon Movies is the feature film development and production division of Nickelodeon, which produces movies for kids and their families in association with its sister Viacom company, Paramount Pictures. Nickelodeon Movies was created in 1993 to develop and produce several types of films, which include star-driven family event movies, kids-first movies and animated features, all of which bring extraordinary events, characters and situations into everyday contemporary life. Nickelodeon feature film releases include two Academy AwardO-nominated movies, Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius (Best Animated Feature) and The Wild Thornberrys Movie (Best Song), as well as The Rugrats Movie Snow Day and Rugrats in Paris: The Movie. Nickelodeon, Nickelodeon Movies and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom International, Inc. This film is rated PG by the MPAA for mild, crude humor. ABOUT THE STORY As castaways on a dogforsaken Polynesian island known only as Uninhabited, the boisterous babies of Rugrats fame find their mirror images in television s favorite nature-documentarian family, The Wild Thornberrys. Discovering new things about themselves as they meet their counterparts on the wild side, Tommy Pickles (voiced by E.G. Daily) and his half-pint pals have the adventure of their lives. Spike (voiced by Bruce Willis) realizes that his bark is better than his bite when he speaks to the one person who can truly understand him, Eliza Thornberry (voiced by Lacey Chabert). Tyrannical Angelica (voiced by Cheryl Chase) meets her bossy match in that angst-ridden teen-queen Debbie Thornberry (voiced by Danielle Harris). Timid Chuckie (voiced by Nancy Cartwright) discovers the brave boy inside himself when he switches clothes and personalities with wild child Donnie (voiced by Flea). The bugeating twins Phil and Lil (voiced by Kath Soucie) turn vegetabletarian after looking into the face of a real bug in the wild. And nice guy Tommy proves he s not just a backyard explorer with a diaper full of dreams when he meets someone with the same pure innocence and enthusiasm for 'sploring -- Sir Nigel Thornberry (voiced by Tim Curry). It all starts when Tommy s dad Stu Pickles (voiced by Jack Riley) takes everyone on a family cruise that hits a rough patch of water that lands them all on a deserted island. Now they re castaways in the tropics with a rare white leopard (voiced by Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders), who d just love to turn them all into her own brand of kitty kibble. Learning that if they all work together they can make it back to their own backyards, the Rugrats and the Thornberrys turn into one very big happy family! SPIKE SPEAKS UP When his babies stray, Spike knows it s no time to play. It s time to voice his concerns -- not to mention bark out opinions on everything from cats to kids. Yes, Rugrats fans around the world will finally get to hear Spike find his voice, and he does it through none other than his human counterpart, Bruce Willis. Because of his attitude and his personality, and because in my head I ve actually heard his voice when I ve heard Spike speak, Bruce Willis was our number one choice, says executive producer Albie Hecht. He has wonderful comic timing, and his roguish quality, mischievousness and playfulness are what Spike is all about. Bruce is the real deal, confirms executive producer Julia Pistor. We got so much out of Spike in this film and it s all because Bruce gave so much of himself. The father of three girls and the proud owner of a brand new yellow lab puppy named Bella, Willis says that he s very familiar with the Rugrats and The Wild Thornberrys and thinks the shows are great family entertainment. I suppose they chose me for the role of Spike because of a perceived attitude I project, says Willis. Unfortunately, I couldn t get any inspiration from Bella because she can t talk -- at least I don t think she can. But seriously, it s great to be a part of something that s fun for the whole family. Voice director Charlie Adler says that Willis previous voiceover experience with Look Who s Talking, was a big plus. Also, the fact that his own children have made him well versed in the Rugrats world, gave him an inside track to Spike s universe. Bruce was enthusiastic from the start and got the character down right away, recalls Adler. It was really astonishing how he projected himself into that personality the minute he walked into the recording room. According to co-director Norton Virgien, Spike has been a favorite character since the beginning, but always a bit of a mystery as to what he might be thinking. Bruce helped us paint in some very colorful aspects to Spike s personality, says Virgien. I think what has made Bruce so successful as a movie star is that he combines heroics, bravery and derring-do as an action hero with a tremendous amount of humor. Executive producer Eryk Casemiro muses if Willis just might have come to the project with some canine already in him. He s been so amenable and eager to please throughout making Rugrats Go Wild, it seems sort of fitting that he plays a dog, jokes Casemiro. In fact, we developed Spike s personality partly through Bruce himself. According to executive producer Hal Waite, Spike s character is representative of the movie as a whole. We were looking to show how dedication and working together toward a common goal makes everyone a winner, says Waite. In fact, just about every character in the movie -- especially Spike -- comes into his or her own by the end. As for Willis, he s glad that the film has something to say and yet still remains enjoyable for the whole family. Because I m a dad, I wanted to do something that my kids could watch, and by extension, I wanted to put something out there that was worthwhile for parents and their children everywhere. IT'S NOT JUST KID STUFF More than ever, the Rugrats third animated feature offers both children and grownups their own brand of entertainment. From farce that s fun for the kids, it was a short hop, skip and a jump to parody, which keeps parents entertained as well. There s a great tradition of parodies in all of our movies, says executive producer Albie Hecht, who is also president of Spike TV, Nick Movies and Nick Records. That s what really drives a lot of the pop humor in Rugrats Go Wild, and it s why adults enjoy watching the films themselves. Full of playful nods to current popular movies as well as classic films and television shows, Rugrats Go Wild offers multiple layers of comedy, which is what Klasky Csupo are known for in most of their projects. Klasky Csupo are geniuses at delivering satire and homages, observes executive producer Julia Pistor, who also serves as senior vice president of Nickelodeon Movies. Everything they put out is incredibly contemporary because they fill the screen with visual and spoken riffs on pop culture that people of all ages can pick up. From the moment when Angelica holds her doll Cynthia over the side of the boat and declares I m Queen of the world! in homage to Titanic, to when she discovers Cynthia washed up on shore like the Statue of Liberty in Planet of the Apes and rolls around with the doll on the beach as waves crash over them in true From Here to Eternity fashion, the movie offers nonstop spoofing. Some obvious references, such as The Perfect Storm and Gilligan s Island, are easy to spot when the Rugrats family vacation cruise goes awry and their boat goes off course. But then there are the more subtle moments that film buffs will have a lot of fun finding. Take, for example, the clever homage to The Poseidon Adventure, when the twins mom Betty DeVille (Kath Soucie) dives back into the wreckage a la Shelley Winters. Though Betty is looking for a pacifier, not trying to save someone s life, the nod back to the classic film is evident nonetheless. And no one will be able to keep from grinning upon the discovery of the Rugrats and their parents waving goodbye to the smiling milk container, a true likeness of the volleyball Tom Hanks befriends in Cast Away. The most apparent nod to a television classic besides Gilligan s Island is the scene in which Donnie Thornberry mirrors Chuckie Finster s movements through a waterfall and Chuckie is convinced he's seeing his own reflection. It s just like the Harpo Marx and Lucille Ball mirror routine from a classic I Love Lucy episode, observes executive producer Eryk Casemiro. When adults see that and remember watching it on TV, they have to laugh, and for kids who don t have that reference point, it s still funny. Writer Kate Boutilier, who also wrote The Wild Thornberrys Movie and cowrote Rugrats in Paris: The Movie and the Rugrats television series, feels that putting hidden movie references into the film makes it more entertaining for adult audiences. I think it s important to engage adults just as much as kids, says Boutilier. If kids films have something in them that grownups can enjoy, the entire experience becomes that much more fun for everyone. ABOUT THE PRODUCTION As far as executive producer Albie Hecht is concerned, the Rugrats meeting The Wild Thornberrys was bound to happened sooner or later. As president of Film and TV Entertainment for Nickelodeon since 1997, Hecht had already shepherded the debuts of both cartoon clans onto the big screen with Arlene Klasky and Gabor Csupo, whom he calls one of the top animation teams in the business. After twelve years of working together spawning countless beloved characters, Hecht says they d been looking for an opportunity to cross-pollinate their successes. We re always trying to reach a step beyond where we ve been, says producer and Arlene Klasky. By combining these two wonderful sets of characters, we felt there would be numerous possibilities for a great adventure. Producer and Gabor Csupo adds that he was excited to have his creative team run with the challenge. Producing innovative children s entertainment is what we re all about, says Csupo. And we also feel that engaging adults makes our creative product that much better. With word of the Rugrats and the Thornberrys joining forces spreading throuáhout the creative atmosphere of Klasky Csupo -- where neither artists nor animated dogs are kept on a leash -- a wild idea was soon hatching. One of our artists on the Rugrats series, Craig Elliott, did a drawing of Chuckie and Donnie switching their clothes, recalls Hecht. It was an astonishing piece of art, because when we looked at those two characters, we realized that they could be each other. It was that oh-wow moment of two worlds colliding. From then on, we knew we had a crossover movie. Executive producer Eryk Casemiro remembers that magic moment very well. Something none of us had considered before was that the physical construction -- the architecture of those two characters -- was different, yet similar in a way, says Casemiro. A light went on in my head as well as in Kate Boutilier s, and we started drawing comparisons between all the characters in both shows. Writer Kate Boutilier ran with the idea, remembering the day she wrote on a legal pad: Chuckie, the scaredy-cat boy = Donnie, the wild boy; Debbie, the big brat = Angelica, the little brat. It was a natural, then, to think of Eliza, the girl who talks to animals, paired with Spike, the dog who s never talked to humans before, says Boutilier. And because Tommy Pickles watches the Thornberrys nature TV show, you instantly can see that the adventurous baby would idolize Nigel the grownup explorer. What developed then was a great opportunity for all the characters to grow. Co-director Norton Virgien agrees. Our writers have found some fascinating ways to reveal new things about the Rugrat babies and the Wild Thornberrys through their interactions with one another. Adults and kids start out the movie one way and end up changed for the better. Even Spike learns a thing or two. Worrywart Chuckie (voiced by Nancy Cartwright) switches clothes and personalities with bold Donnie, and gets to be a hero for once, declaring proudly, I saved someone instead of someone always saving me! A veteran voiceover artist, Cartwright, who also does the voice of Bart Simpson, says, Chuckie is very complicated, and one of the most challenging characters I ve ever voiced. He s intimidated by life in general, but after switching proverbial hats with Donnie, he gets his chance to do outrageous things and get away with it. There s great freedom in that, but there s also a big opportunity to get himself into trouble. Speaking of trouble, Cheryl Chase, who voices Angelica, couldn t imagine her character having a better teen diva model than Debbie Thornberry, voiced by Danielle Harris. Not that she really needs lessons in bossiness, but Angelica learns a thing or two from Debbie, observes Chase. And she just loves getting to spend quality time with an almost-grownup instead of those darn babies she s stuck with all the time. Still, she can t resist the opportunity to pull one over on Debbie, and in the process, she gets them both into a lot of deep water. Debbie is the older sister that little kids can relate to, and Angelica would do anything to be like her, observes Harris, who welcomed the opportunity to interact with the Rugrats clan. The Thornberrys are usually on their own, doing their own thing, so it s nice to end up in the middle of nowhere with a group of people that just might be even crazier than we are! Another pairing made possible by this comedy of errors happens when the intrepid Tommy seeks out his hero Nigel Strawberry to rescue them off the island. But after a bonk on the head from a coconut, the lovable Thornberry patriarch regresses back to his inner-infant and it is Tommy who ends up having to save him. That s the real fun and the ultimate crossover, laughs Tim Curry, who voices Nigel Thornberry. Basically, Nigel himself turns into a Rugrat! What s so wonderful is that it s a story about friendship and having faith in each other, says E.G. Daily, who voices Tommy. Kids can really learn something from Tommy when he realizes he has a lot more in his diapers than a bunch of dreams. Throughout this tale of friendship, the infants never seem to falter, even while their parents are arguing over how they got stuck on the island and how they plan to get back to civilization. At one point, in fact, their arguments become so heated that Betty DeVille draws a circle of chaos in the sand a clear homage to TV s Survivor and the Thornberrys accidentally mistake them for a hostile tribe. Meanwhile, as the adults continue to kvetch about their vacation not turning out as planned, they don t even notice when their babies wander off. Kath Soucie, who voices Betty as well as the bug-eating twins Phil and Lil, observes that even though the crisis appears to bring out the worst in the grownups, once they realize the babies are gone, they pull together to get them back. The adults do come to their senses pretty quickly, says Soucie. Then they work as a team and apply real ingenuity and great heart into finding the kids and figuring out how to get back home. As it turns out -- quirky as each of them is -- the Rugrat parents all end up contributing something to the final successful outcome once they begin to cooperate with one another. Most importantly, the adults come to realize why they went on a family vacation in the first place: to spend quality time together. Executive producer Julia Pistor, herself a mother of three, can certainly relate, especially since she started to have her children while making the Rugrat movies and had little time on her hands for vacations, let alone quality time with her family. We wanted to address that when families do finally have the chance to vacation together, they should really try to be together, says Pistor. There are so many holiday cruises nowadays that are supposedly for families, but what often happens is the adults go off to gamble and leave the children with babysitters or in activities designed just for kids. They might as well be on separate cruises! Writer Kate Boutilier remembers the sentiment expressed at Paramount during early meetings on the film. Sherry Lansing said she d like people to leave the theater, hug their children and feel happy that they re together, says Boutilier. Too many of us lose sight of something as simple as that. Sometimes it takes extraordinary situations to realize how much you have, confirms Albie Hecht. I think especially at this time when the world is unsettled and we are looking to find meaningful ways to reconnect to the family, this film could be a good starting point for dialogue. There s no denying the movie has a message, but it s all within the context of a very feel-good, high-comedy romp. A BROADER ADVENTURE When Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon Movies and Klasky Csupo Productions decided to send Americas most beloved babies on their third animated adventure, they wanted it to be special in more ways than one. Not only do the Rugrats get to meet the Thornberrys for the first time, but also we re introducing a wider screen format, says co-director Norton Virgien. In this way, we emphasize that the babies world is expanding, as is their level of maturity. Part of the Rugrats charm from the beginning was showing the world from a baby s point of view, including the low angles. Now, with the expansive screen format, audiences will have the feeling they re right in the scene with the characters. Tommy, who usually has little adventures in his backyard, is now challenged to have a huge adventure in the real world, and what better way to show the size of that world than to broaden the shape of the screen, explains Virgien. A lso, by putting the babies in a tropical rainforest and observing their point of view inside this imposing terrain, we can show them facing true adversity and growing from the experience. Co-director John Eng points out that the comic element is also enhanced by the wide-screen format, as is the sense of excitement audiences will feel when they experience the babies in a wild jungle with a leopard (Siri, voiced by Chrissie Hynde) on the loose. There s a great moment when Eliza, Spike and Darwin are running back to the beach, hoping to find Tommy and the babies before Siri does, says Eng. In the sequence, they re climbing down a mountain next to a waterfall on their way toward the shore; then we pan out to reveal Tommy and his gang leaving the beach and going up the same mountain they just came down. So the two groups just barely miss each other, and with the wide-screen format, we can show geographically that they re going in opposite directions and not realizing it. True to the Klasky Csupo tradition, as exhibited in The Wild Thornberrys Movie, the filmmakers also paid close attention to authenticity in depicting the topical drainforest, as Angelica calls it, in Rugrats Go Wild. In fact, researchers gathered extensive material on islands like Bora Bora and Fiji so that animators could capture the right look indigenous to a tropical island, complete with palms, coconuts and distinctive shapes of rocks. In addition, all the characters in the film are drawn in a very broad way, to help them stand out from the lush backgrounds and enhance their personalities as well. For example, Nigel Thomberry s head and mouth are a lot bigger than his hands and skinny legs because he is highly intelligent and has a lot to say. In fact, according to Virgien, all of the characters are meant to be exaggerations of reality, and all have a look that reflects a certain kind of personality. We put heart into every story, and if our characters were drawn in a sentimental, traditionally cute way, then we wouldn t be able to elicit the emotions we get out of our audiences, explains Virgien. In fact, I think that because our characters are odd- looking, and we combine that look with a little edgier humor, we capture the attention of a broader age group of kids, and draw in even more adults. The reason the Rugrats and the Thomberrys are so adored and work on the big screen is that they have fully fleshed out emotional characters, observes executive producer Julia Pistor. In Rugrats Go Wild, all the characters emotions are enhanced as they become heroes of sorts. Each, in his or her way, becomes just a little bit stronger as the film progresses. Executive producer Albie Hecht agrees, and gives the credit to the creative genius of the Klasky Csupo team and their Eastern European style of animation. It s distinctive, very modern and it pops off the screen, says Hecht, and the stories that go with that animation are also very contemporary. They re not fairytales or historical, and yet they definitely have something to say. ABOUT THE MUSIC What do Aerosmith, American Hi-Fi, Bruce Willis & Chrissie Hynde and Flashlight Brown have in common? They re all featured performers on the new soundtrack album for Rugrats Go Wild! Aerosmith sings a song entitled Lizard Love over the end titles of the film and the band also shot a music video for Nickelodeon. Also, Bruce Willis and Chrissie Hynde, the founding member, lead singer, songwriter and guitarist of the Pretenders, sing a duet as Spike the dog and Siri the spotted leopard. And, if that s not enough, though he doesn t sing in the film, bass player Michael Flea Balzary, does voice a character (Donnie Thornberry) in the film, and Mark Mothersbaugh, creator of the rock band Devo, lends his talents to the film by writing two songs and serving as music composer. Full of feel-good songs that kids can sing, Rugrats Go Wild has a great mix of pop music and clever lyrics, which enhance the movie and advance the story line. One of the most memorable songs, written by Alex Greggs, Bradley Daymond Ralph, Daniel O Donoghue, executive producer Eryk Casemiro and scriptwriter Kate Boutilier, is Big Bad Cat, sung by Bruce Willis as Spike, along with rock star Chrissie Hynde from the Pretenders, as Siri the leopard. Executive music producer George Acogny, who also worked on Rugrats in Paris: The Movie and The Wild Thornberrys Movie, says that the song plays up the natural antagonism between dogs and cats. It s featured at a key point in the movie when Spike admits he has lost his babies and Siri realizes the Rugrats are defenseless. The main concept is that Spike meets this leopard and treats her like a little pussycat, but she has a lot more to her than Spike realizes. According to executive producer Albie Hecht, having Chrissie Hynde do the song is another crossover of sorts, this time a generational one. Chrissie s voice is among the ones that many adults remember connecting with, Hecht points out. By having her sing in the film, kids can discover her for the first time, and adults can rediscover her along with them. For Hynde, who was born in Ohio but now lives in England, the chance to delight children around the world in an environmentally conscious movie was an altogether worthwhile endeavor. What appealed most to me about doing this film is that it shows animals in such a positive light, says Hynde. Anything that reinforces our animal kingdom is definitely worth supporting. As for Bruce Willis, he s just glad that Hynde is singing the duet with him. Chrissie has a great voice, really sultry, which fits her character perfectly, says Willis. I guess my voice fits my character, too, since I pretty much sing like a dog. Composer Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo fame, who scored the music for all the Rugrats movies and wrote the theme song for the original TV series, says that the animated Rugrats features are particularly special to him. While I ve scored films with smaller orchestras, working on the Rugrats gave me the opportunity to score a film with a 90-piece orchestra for the first time, says Mothersbaugh, who also wrote the music for two songs in Rugrats Go Wild ( Island Princess and It's A Jungle Out Here ). I've really enjoyed all the Rugrats movies. They just get better, giving audiences a chance to know these unique characters more and more in depth. Another musical highlight in Rugrats Go Wild happens as Nigel Thornberry tries to lift the babies spirits when they re trapped under the sea in the bathysphere. Tim Curry, who rose to instant fame as Dr. Frank-N-Furter in the cult rock musical The Rocky Horror Picture Show, sings a parody of the children s classic Old MacDonald in true Nigel Thornberry style, showing audiences yet another tender side of this heartwarming character. Nigel is basically singing them a lullaby in case things go terribly wrong, making them feel as secure and lulled as they possibly can be, says Curry. It s simply indicative of the quality of writing of the Klasky Csupo team. The movie confronts audiences with a lot of real-life issues and couches them in comedy and very heartwarming moments, says Hecht. To that end, the soundtrack is meant to accentuate the contemporary nature of the story. In the same way the movie parodies classic films and TV shows visually, its music will give adults plenty to enjoy along with their kids. You 11 hear a parody of The Morning After from The Poseidon Adventure, says executive music producer Acogny, as well as recognizable themes from Titantic and Gilligan s Island. And for even more laughs, Casemiro and Boutilier also wrote parody lyrics for Climax s hit song Precious and Few, in which Angelica (Cheryl Chase) sets boundaries with her fellow three-year-old, Susie Carmichael (free Summer). Clarifying that her generosity ends at cookies, our own island princess Angelica sings Dresses and shoes are the only things 111 share and puts little Susie right in line. Singer/songwriter Cree Summer, whose 1999 debut album Street Faerie got rave reviews, says that her character Susie, an African American three-year old, gets to show her spunk during Angelica s song Island Princess. While Angelica is telling one of her characteristic tall tales, trying to convince the babies that they need her protection as her royal subjects, Susie sings back that it ain t necessarily so, says Cree. It s a fun song, and even more fun because bossy Angelica has to share the limelight, if only for a moment. In another fun pairing, the most sharp-tongued of each of the shows, Angelica and Debbie Thornberry, get to whoop it up by singing along with the comvee radio. Voicing the 16-year-old Debbie, Danielle Harris says it was a thrill to meet Chase, the voice she s always heard behind her younger Rugrat counterpart Angelica. We really had a blast in the recording studio, rapping and rocking out to popular radio hits, says Harris. It was kind of cool behind that mike, pretending to be a rock star. In the end, the Rugrats and The Wild Thornberrys cast members -- along with the guest celebrities -- all had a great time belting out the rousing tunes, giving audiences young and old a reason to leave the theater singing. The Rugrats Go Wild soundtrack, released by Hollywood Records, will include the following songs: 1. American Hi-Fi -- Message in a Bottle 2. Spike (Bruce Willis) & Siri (Chrissie Hynde) -- Big Bad Cat 3. Train -- She s on Fire 4. Angelica (Cheryl Chase) featuring the Rugrats: Chuckie (Nancy Cartwright), Dil (Tara Strong), Phil & Lil (Kath Soucie) Susie (Cree Summer) and Tommy (E.G. Daily) -- Island Princess 5. Aerosmith -- Lizard Love 6. Flashlight Brown -- Ready to Roll 7. Angelica (Cheryl Chase) & Susie (Cree Summer) -- The Morning After 8. George Clinton -- Atomic Dog 9. Angelica (Cheryl Chase) & Susie (Cree Summer) -- Dresses and Shoes ( Precious and Few ) 10. The Clash -- Should I Stay or Should I Go 11. Bruce Willis -- Lust for Life 12. Nigel Thornberry (Tim Curry) featuring the Rugrats: Chuckie (Nancy Cartwright), Phil & Lil (Kath Soucie) and Tommy (E.G. Daily) -- Phil s Diapey s Hanging Low 13. The Rugrats: Chuckie (Nancy Cartwright), Dil (Tara Strong), Kimi (Dionne Quan), Phil & Lil (Kath Soucie), Susie (Cree Summer) and Tommy (E.G. Daily) -- It s a Jungle Out Here 14. E.G. Daily: Changing Faces THE SUCCESS STORY BEHIND KLASKY CSUPO Defined by twin commitments to artistic integrity and creative responsibility, Klasky Csupo, Inc. has emerged in the last decade as the leading independent animation company in the industry. A boldly eccentric and privately owned entity founded by graphic designer Arlene Klasky and Hungarian-born animator Gabor Csupo, the studio is staffed by a who s who of creative and production professionals and is much more than a 21st century cartoon factory. With divisions devoted to music, film, TV, video, the Internet, publishing and commercial production, Klasky Csupo is a multi-media enterprise at the forefront of entertainment. The story behind Klasky Csupo is as fascinating and lively as the creations that have come out of this innovative pair. World-renowned animation artist Gabor Csupo was born in Budapest, Hungary. He studied music for eight years and attended art school for four years, before commencing his professional training in animation at Hungary s famed Pannonia Studios in 1971. Leaving communist Hungary (with nothing but his record collection) in 1975 for artistic opportunities in the West, Csupo and four fellow artists and musicians escaped into Austria through a darkened train tunnel. With few resources and no passport, he traveled first to West Germany, then to Denmark and ultimately to Stockholm, Sweden, where a friend employed him in an animation studio and where he helped create Sweden s first animated feature. In 1978, Csupo met and fell in love with an American graphic designer by the name of Arlene Klasky, who was vacationing in Sweden. Having learned English in order to understand the lyrics of Frank Zappa, his favorite musician, Csupo moved to Hollywood in 1979, where he and Klasky were married. In 1981, Csupo and Klasky formed their own animation company in a spare room of their apartment. Combining their respective talents in graphic design and character animation proved to be a long-lasting successful formula. During nearly 20 years of operation, Klasky Csupo has created, developed, animated and produced era-defining television programming such as Nickelodeons Rugrats, The Wild Thornberrys, Rocket Power and As Told by Ginger, along with The Simpsons, Duckman, Stressed Eric and the Lily Tomlin-voiced Edith Ann. As a natural offshoot of television, Klasky Csupo moved into feature films in 1998, making a big splash with The Rugrats Movie and following with another hit, Rugrats in Paris: The Movie, just two years later. Today, with The Wild Thomberrys Movie released last year, the company has grown to house more than 400 artists and creative workers in its state-of-the-art animation facility in the heart of Hollywood. For its many contributions to the animation industry and to quality, albeit offkilter, children s television, Klasky Csupo has received five Emmy awards and two Cable Ace trophies along with honors in commercial, art, production and humanitarian arenas too numerous to list. With respect to the community beyond its walls, Klasky Csupo is a member of the Animation Consortium for Child Rights, which produces 30-second public service announcements intended to raise awareness of children s rights. In addition, Klasky Csupo also dedicates time and energy to volunteer and charity organizations in the Hollywood community such as the Hollygrove Orphanage, Children s Hospital, Teen Canteen and LACER AfterSchool Programs. ABOUT THE CAST BRUCE WILLIS (Spike the dog) has demonstrated incredible versatility in a career that has included such diverse characterizations as the prizefighter in Quentin Tarantino s Pulp Fiction, the philandering contractor in Robert Benton s Nobody s Fool, the heroic time traveler in Terry Gilliam s 12 Monkeys, the traumatized Vietnam veteran in Norman Jewison s In Country, the compassionate child psychologist in M. Night Shyamalan s Oscar -nominated The Sixth Sense (for which he won the People s Choice Award) and his signature role, tough cop John McClane, in the Die Hard trilogy. Following studies at Montclair State Colleges prestigious theater program, the New Jersey native honed his craft in several stage plays and countless television commercials. He then landed the lead role in Sam Shepard s 1984 stage drama Fool for Love, a run which lasted for 100 performances off-Broadway. Willis achieved international stardom and garnered several acting awards (including an Emmy and a Golden Globe) for his starring role as private eye David Addison in the hit TV series Moonlighting, a role that he won over 3,000 other contenders. He made his motion picture debut opposite Kim Basinger in Blake Edwards romantic comedy Blind Date. Then, in 1988, he created the role of John McClane in the blockbuster Die Hard, a character he reprised in two sequels, Die Hard 2: Die Harder and Die Hard: With a Vengeance, 1995 s global box-office champ. Willis wide array of film roles includes collaborations with such respected filmmakers as Michael Bay (Armageddon), M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable ), Alan Rudolph ( Mortal Thoughts, Breakfast of Champions ), Walter Hill ( Last Man Standing ), Robert Benton ( Billy Bathgate, Nobody s Fool ), Rob Reiner ( The Story of Us ), Ed Zwick ( The Siege ), Luc Besson ( The Fifth Element ), Barry Levinson ( Bandits ) and Robert Zemeckis ( Death Becomes Her). His other motion picture credits include The Jackal, Mercury Rising, The Whole Nine Yards (and its upcoming sequel The Whole Ten Yards ) and Disney s The Kid. In addition, Willis voiced the character of the wise-cracking infant, Mikey, in Look Who s Talking and Look Who s Talking, Too. Behind the cameras, Willis produced The Whole Nine Yards and executive produced Breakfast of Champions, an adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut s best-selling novel. With longtime agent, and now partner, Arnold Rifkin, he co-founded Cheyenne Enterprises, LLC, a film and television production company based in Los Angeles and Jackson Hole, Wyoming. In January 2000, the partners signed a film production deal with Joe Roth s Revolution Studios. Willis also maintains a hand in the theater. In 1977, he co-founded A Company of Fools, a nonprofit theater troupe committed to developing and sustaining stage work in the Wood River Valley of Idaho and throughout the United States. He recently starred in and directed a staging of Sam Shepard s dark comedy True West at the Liberty Theater in Hailey, Idaho. The play, which depicts the troubled relationship between two brothers, was aired on Showtime and dedicated to Willis late brother Robert. An accomplished musician, Willis recorded the 1986 Motown album The Return of Bruno, which went platinum and contained the #5 Billboard hit Respect Yourself. Three years later, he recorded a second album, If It Don t Kill You, It Just Makes You Stronger. Last year, he launched a U.S. club tour with his new musical group The Accelerators. CHRISSIE HYNDE (Siri the leopard) is a founding member of the band Pretenders, as well as the group s lead singer, songwriter and guitarist. Since its inception in 1978, the band has remained hugely popular from its first album, The Pretenders (released in 1980) through all of its subsequent albums, including Pretenders II, Learning to Crawl, Get Close, Packed!, Last of the Independents, !Viva El Amor! and The Isle of View, a live acoustic concert of some of the band s best-known songs accompanied by The Duke Quartet, a classical string quartet often featured on Pretenders records. In 2002, they released their eighth studio album, Loose Screw. Throughout the last two decades, Hynde and the Pretenders have consistently created some of the best music to grace the airwaves including Brass in Pocket, Kid Talk of the Town Back on the Chain Gang Don t Get Me Wrong Night in My Veins 111 Stand by You and many more. Their two Best-Of collections, The Singles (1987) and Greatest Hits (2000) bear witness to the Pretenders immense popularity, as do their consistently sold-out concerts. E.G. DAILY (Tommy Pickles) has been voicing the intrepid leader of the band of Rugrats since the popular TV series began in 1991. She has also done voices on Problem Child, Duckman, A Goofy Movie, Quack Pack and Babe: Pig in the City, as well as The Powerpuff Girls. Under the name Elizabeth Daily, she has had roles in such movies as Valley Girl, Streets of Fire, Pee-wee s Big Adventure and Gen 13. She has also co-produced and co-written three solo albums and has recorded numerous songs for feature films. NANCY CARTWRIGHT (Chuckie Finster) is best known as the unique voice of the spiky-headed Bart Simpson, but her Emmy Award-winning work on The Simpsons isn t limited to voicing Bart, as she also voices Ralph Wiggum, Nelson Muntz, Todd Flanders and various others in the now famous town of Springfield. In addition to her work on The Simpsons, Cartwright took over the voice of Chuckie Finster in Nickelodeons Rugrats in 2001, and also voices Rufus, the naked mole rat, in Disney s new hit show Kim Possible. In fact, Cartwright has been working the mike for more than two decades, creating the unique sounds of many popular characters on such animated series as Richie Rich, Ammaniacs, Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain, The Critic, God, the Devil and Bob Mike, Lu & Og as well as Chuck Jones final work, Timber Wolf. Not camera-shy either, Cartwright has portrayed memorable roles in numerous television series and movies, including Fame, Empty Nest, Cheers, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Twilight Zone: The Movie and Godzilla, as well as the lead in the TV movie Marian Rose White. And on stage, her one-woman play, In Search of Fellini, garnered Cartwright a People s Choice Award and the DramaLogue Award. Cartwright is very active as a volunteer in the community, supporting many nonprofit organizations that focus on helping children. Through Famous Forte Friends and the Make a Wish Foundation, she has had the honor of using the familiar voice of Bart Simpson and other well-loved characters to bring some cheer into the lives of terminally-ill children. An active member of The Way to Happiness Foundation, Cartwright is also a diligent supporter of the World Literacy Crusade. KATH SOUCIE (Betty DeVille/Phil and Lil DeVille) has been a voice-over artist since 1979 s Incredible Journey of Doctor Meg Laurel. Among her many voice credits are The Real Ghostbusters, Tiny Toon Adventures, Captain Planet and the Planeteers, Sonic the Hedgehog, Aladdin, The Critic, Hey Arnold!, Dexter s Laboratory, Space Jam, Pepper Ann and Toonsylvania. Soucie has been voicing Betty and her 15-month-old twins, who frequently visit their neighbors, the Pickles. CHERYL CHASE (Angelica Pickles) has been the voice of the tyrannical threeyear-old Angelica since the Rugrats TV series began. She has also done voices on The Ren and Stimpy Show and on the feature films Addams Family Values (as the voice of Pubert) and Baby Boom (as the voice of Baby Elizabeth). Upcoming for Chase is the animated series Pigs Next Door. TARA STRONG (Dil Pickles) has been the voice behind Dil, Tommy Pickles three-month-old baby brother, since he was conceived. She has also done voices on the animated series Batman, 101 Dalmatians and The Powerpuff Girls, as well as the animated feature film sequel to The Little Mermaid. Among her credits as an actress is the television movie Sabrina Goes to Rome, as well as guest roles on Party of Five, Maybe This Time and Kung Fu: The Legend Continues. Strong also appeared in the feature film National Lampoon s Senior Trip. MELANIE CHARTOFF (Didi Pickles), the voice behind the slightly overprotective mother of Tommy and Dil Pickles, began her entertainment career in 1976 when she appeared as a nurse on the popular soap opera Search for Tomorrow. She next appeared in the feature film American Hot Wax, and has been a character actor on the big or small screen ever since, appearing in such movies as Doin Time and Plato s Run. In 1996, Chartoff was a featured voice in Jumanji, the TV series. Among her notable TV appearances in front of the camera are roles in Ally McBeal, Fridays, Having It All, Newhart, Take Five, St. Elsewhere, Weird Science and Seinfeld, in which she reprised her role of Robin on the show s final episode. JACK RILEY (Stu Pickles) has voiced the absentminded, loving father of Tommy and Dil Pickles since the beginning of the Rugrats series. A favorite in director Robert Altman s films, Riley has had the distinction of playing himself in Altman s Michael Tolkin-scripted film The Player, and has appeared in numerous additional Altman movies such as McCabe & Mrs. Miller, The Long Goodbye and California Split. Some of his other feature films include Days of Wine and Roses, High Anxiety, Frances, Spaceballs and Boogie Nights. On TV, Riley has been featured in Happy Days, Hogan s Heroes, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Drew Carey Show, Touched by an Angel and Seinfeld, among many others. He is perhaps most recognized, however, for having created the character Mr. Carlin on the classic sitcom The Bob Newhart Show. TRESS MACNEILLE (Charlotte Pickles), in addition to voicing Angelica s busy working mother, provides numerous voices on the award-winning animated series The Simpsons, as well as several voices on Matt Groening s other animated series Futurama. MacNeille s varied career also has ventured into voicing radio and television commercials, narrations, promos, trailers, jingles, music videos, CD-ROMs, Internet programming and sound recordings for such artists as Van Halen, Aerosmith and Weird Al Yankovic. She can also be heard but not seen in a number of live-action television shows as well as many animated series, videos and features. A former member of the renowned improvisational comedy troupe, The Groundlings, MacNeille has a growing list of voice-over credits which includes Batman Beyond: The Movie, Johnny Bravo, House of Mouse, Lilo & Stitch, Kingdom Hearts, Cinderella II: Dreams Come True and As Told by Ginger. In addition, she is known for providing the classic voices of Chip n Dale, Daisy Duck, Queen of Hearts, Kanga in Winnie the Pooh: Seasons of Giving and Wilma in The Flintstones: On the Rocks. MICHAEL BELL (Chas Finster/Drew Pickles) wears many hats in the vocal animation world besides voicing Chuckie Finster s hard-working, well-meaning dad and Angelica s father Drew Pickles. In addition, Bell has voiced Stokey in Homeward Bound II: Lost in San Francisco, as well as multiple characters in other series such as Voltron: The Third Dimension. Bell has worked extensively behind and in front of the camera, not to mention in the classroom, coaching others in voice animation. There, he shares the skills he learned lending his voice to over 25 projects that include such classic animation television series as The Smurfs, Speed Buggy, Superfriends, Tom and Jerry and G.I. Joe. Bell can also be seen, as well as heard, through guest-starring rolls in several live-action television shows such as Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Dallas, M*A*S*H and Three s Company. DIONNE QUAN (Kimi) has been the voice of the newest Rugrat, Kimi Watanabe-Finster, since her creation in 2001. Besides giving voice to that spunky twoyear old, Quan has been the guest voice on a wide range of television animation projects including Captain Planet and the Planeteers, The Wild Thornberrys, I Am My Lifetime and the PBS production, The Book of Virtues. Quan also firmly embraces the digital age by providing her voice animation talent to several CD-ROM projects including Treasure Mountain, The Clue Finder and Rockett s. Her accomplishments are made even more remarkable because she is blind. CREE SUMMER (Susie Carmichael) was drafted into the field of voice animation when she was 12. She was accompanying her father to one of his voice auditions and was asked to audition on the spot. She got the role and started a career that has since included voice animations in the popular Care Bears, Ghostbusters, Inspector Gadget, Tiny Toon Adventures and Gargoyles films. She also enjoyed success in front of the camera as Freddie Brooks on NBC stop-rated A Different World for five years. Summer is also an accomplished singer and musician. She has been voicing the African American three-year old Rugrat since the series inception. LACEY CHABERT (Eliza Thornberry), who took her role as the girl who can talk with animals to the big screen in The Wild Thornberrys Movie in 2002, is fast becoming one of the best young actresses of her generation. Born in Purvis, Mississippi, she began her career in entertainment doing drama and music performances in and around her hometown, and was a finalist in Star Search 91. She got her big break on the Broadway stage playing young Cosette in Les Miserables, after which she became best known as Claudia on the hit television series Party of Five. In 1998, Chabert made her feature film debut as Penny Robinson in Lost in Space and has gone on to appear in Balto II: Wolf Quest, Not Another Teen Movie, Hometown Legend and The Scoundrel s Wife. She recently starred in Steve Carr s Daddy Day Care with Eddie Murphy and Anjelica Huston. On the small screen, Chabert has appeared as Bianca in All My Children as well as in several made-for-TV movies including Gypsy, starring Bette Midler, and A Little Piece of Heaven, with Kirk Cameron and Cloris Leachman. She also starred in the 1996 After School Special Educating Mom. The voice behind numerous animated films and TV shows, Chabert not only originated the role of Eliza in The Wild Thornberrys, but she has also lent her voice to the popular TV series Hey Arnold! and Stories from My Childhood, as well as such films as An American Tale: The Treasure of Manhattan Island, The Lion King II: Simba s Pride, Babes in Toyland, Redux Riding Hood and Anastasia. TIM CURRY (Sir Nigel Thornberry), who also starred in The Wild Thornberrys Movie as the TV nature-documentarian father, studied drama and English at Cambridge and at Birmingham University. His success began on the London stage in Hair, followed by numerous performances for the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Glasgow Civic Repertory Company and the Royal Court Theater, where he created the role of Dr. Frank-N-Furter in The Rocky Horror Show. He later recreated the role in the Los Angeles and Broadway productions of the play and starred in the screen version entitled The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Curry s theatrical career continued to flourish on the New York and London stages with starring roles in Travesties, Amadeus, The Pirates of Penzance, The Rivals, Love for Love. Dalliance, The Three-Penny Opera, The Art of Success and My Favorite Year. He also starred in the U.S. tour of Me and My Girl. He has received two Tony Award nominations for Best Actor and won the Royal Variety Club Award for Stage Actor of the Year. On screen, Curry has developed an impressive filmography, portraying a wide range of comedic characters in such films as Annie, Clue, Pass the Ammo, Oscar, Passed Away, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, National Lampoons Loaded Weapon 1 and Scary Movie 2. Showing a flair for drama and action films as well, Curry has appeared in The Shout, The Ploughman s Lunch, The Hunt for Red October, The Three Musketeers, Congo and The Scoundrel s Wife. His distinctive voice has lent itself to playing the demon in Ridley Scott s Legend, and it has served him well in numerous animation voice-over projects including the pilot and the series for The Wild Thornberrys, Peter Pan and the Pirates, which won him an Emmy, The Little Mermaid, The Rugrats Movie, Rugrats in Paris: The Movie and numerous other film and television classics. A composer and singer, Curry toured the United States and Europe with his own band and released four albums for A&M Records. In addition, he is a sought-after actor for CD-ROM productions and audio books. DANIELLE HARRIS (Debbie Thornberry) also played Eliza s sister, that model of teen angst, in The Wild Thornberrys Movie. Although only in her twenties, she is practically a veteran in film and television, having starred in over 20 movies and having made numerous television guest appearances. She began acting in 1985, and just two years later landed the part of series regular Sami Garretson on the hit soap One Life to Live. She then moved on to star in such horror movies as Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers and Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers, roles that got her the moniker of scream queen of the 80s when she was only 11 years old. In 1991, Harris got rave reviews for her performance in the black comedy Don t Tell Mom the Babysitter s Dead, opposite Christina Applegate, and The Last Boy Scout, starring Bruce Willis. She then went on to guest star in many well-known television shows, including Eerie, Indiana, Roseanne and Boy Meets World. In between, she landed roles in such feature films as the family hit Free Willy, the thriller Daylight and the comedy Wish Upon a Star. Since then, Harris career highlights include guest roles in the highly-rated series Charmed and Brooklyn South, as well as in the smash horror hit Urban Legend. Her additional films include the indie Em & Me, Killer Bud and Poor White Trash. TOM KANE (Darwin), who also played Eliza s chimpanzee sidekick in The Wild Thornberrys Movie, has been doing voice-overs professionally for over 20 years. Born in Kansas City, he did his first commercial at age 16 for The American Cancer Society and has done well over 10,000 commercials, cartoons, TV promos and movie trailers to date. A graduate of the University of Kansas with a degree in Film and Television, Kane not only originated the voice of Darwin in The Wild Thornberrys but he has also portrayed numerous other characters in the series. In addition, Kane has lent his voice to numerous other hit television series including The Powerpuff Girls, The Angry Beavers, Iron Man, Duckman, Spider-Man and The Incredible Hulk. Kane is the voice behind several characters (including C-3P0 and Jedi Master Yoda) in several video games based on Star Wars. MICHAEL BALZARY (AKA FLEA) (Donnie Thornberry) also played the Thornberrys wild child in The Wild Thornberrys Movie. Born in Melbourne, Australia, he is best known as a bass player for a popular band, although he has become increasingly active as an actor. Amidst his busy recording and touring schedule, he has found time to work in many popular films with notable directors such as Gus Van Sant s Psycho and My Own Private Idaho, Terry Gilliam s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Joel Coen s The Big Lebowski and Robert Zemeckis Back to the Future Part II and Part III, just to name a few. As a composer and/or musician, his work has appeared in such films as Traffic, Orange County, Private Parts, Beavis and Butt-head Do America, Twister, The Basketball Diaries, Coneheads, Wayne s World, Pretty Woman, Say Anything and Less Than Zero. JODI CARLISLE (Marianne Thornberry), who also played the mother behind the camera in The Wild Thornberrys Movie, was born in Joliet, Illinois. She began her career in the entertainment industry in 1982 doing voice-over work in the TV series PacMan and has since been the voice behind numerous characters including the original Marianne on The Wild Thornberrys pilot and subsequent series, as well as several voices on Rock n Wrestling, Tale Spin, Duckman, Bonkers, Raw Toonage and Wild West Cowboys from Moo Mesa. In front of the camera, Carlisle has made several guest appearances on such shows as Night Court, Mad About You, 7th Heaven, Judging Amy and Malcolm in the Middle. In addition, she played Aphrodite in the television movie Medusa: Dare to be Truthful and Debbie Dallas in National Lampoon s Attack of the 5 Ft. 2 Women. In 1994, Carlisle appeared in her first feature film, Speechless, directed by Ron Underwood and starring Michael Keaton, Geena Davis, Christopher Reeve and Bonnie B edelia. ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS NORTON VIRGIEN (Co-director) began his animation career as a creative producer with his own small Los Angeles studio, creating the CBS Prime Time Special Faeries in 1981. He followed that success in 1980 with an animation/live-action sequence for the hit comedy 9 to 5, in which cartoon birds and critters helped Lily Tomlin imagine doing away with her boss. In the early 80s, Virgien joined an all-star U.S. animation team that went to Japan to collaborate with Hayao Miyazaki and other Anime luminaries on what was meant to be a grand meeting of East and West for the feature Little Nemo. Trading in his producers hat for a director s pencils, Virgien traveled next to New York, crafting commercials for Mark Zander Productions, and in the late 80s, he developed and directed the Nicktoon short The Weasel Patrol for Nickelodeon. Then, coming full circle, Virgien returned to Los Angeles in 1990 as part of the original directing team for Nickelodeons Rugrats. A two-time Emmy winner for that series, Virgien also directed episodes of the critically acclaimed Duckman and the CBS series Santo Bugito before joining Igor Kovolyov to direct 1998's The Rugrats Movie, which became the first non-Disney animated film to gross more than $100 million. After a brief stint at DreamWorks Animation, Virgien returned to Klasky Csupo as Vice President, Feature Creative Affairs. There, he has served as co-producer on the Klasky Csupo/Nickelodeon/Paramount Pictures features Rugrats in Paris: The Movie and The Wild Thornberrys Movie. Rugrats Go Wild marks the fourth Klasky Csupo feature that Virgien has either co-directed or co-produced. JOHN ENG (Co-director), a native New Yorker, received a summer scholarship to study at the Brooklyn Museum Art School while still attending high school. After majoring in film and illustration at the School of Visual Arts, he was hired to design and art direct at Image Factory, a design and animation production company that produced commercials, promos, logos and show openings. In the early 1980s, Eng relocated to Los Angeles and formed Icon R&D Inc., where he produced and directed commercials, logos and special effects, including sequences in the Showscan and Imax format. Later, his interest as a filmmaker led him to produce three live-action feature films. In addition, he worked as second unit director, director of photography, production designer and special visual effects supervisor on several other feature films. After this stint, he returned to animation and worked as conceptual graphic designer on the The Max Headroom Show through Klasky Csupo, before directing several episodes of Duckman. As a creative producer at Hannah Barbera, Eng oversaw the production of 28 episodes of The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest. This award-winning series included Computer Generated Imagery (CGI) as well as traditional animation. Following this, Eng created and directed Microcop, Enchanted Adventures and Protecto 5000 for Nickelodeons pilot series Oh Yeah! Cartoons and for Globehunters, a direct-tovideo feature, also for Nickelodeon. Returning to Klasky Csupo, Eng worked as sequence director on Rugrats in Paris: The Movie before being asked to co-direct the third Rugrats feature, Rugrats Go Wild. ARLENE KLASKY (Producer) is one of the television industry s leading advocates for quality animated programming that entertains children. In 1999, she was named one of the Top 25 Women in Animation by the industry s leading publication, Animation Magazine. Klasky and her partner, Gabor Csupo, formed Klasky Csupo, Inc. in 1981. Combining their respective talents in graphic design and character animation proved to be a long-lasting successful formula. The creative force behind the box-office hits The Rugrats Movie, Rugrats in Paris: The Movie, and The Wild Thornberrys Movie, Klasky continues to work on new project development for television and features, and she oversees the studio s projects in broad strokes on a daily basis along with Csupo. Playing a major role as executive producer on the Emmy Award-winning Rugrats, Klasky designed several of the series major characters. In addition, her vision has inspired other distinctive productions, including Aaahh! ! ! Real Monsters, Santo Bugito, Rocket Power and The Wild Thornberrys. Klasky s diverse career shares common origins with the special effects/film graphics industry. A graduate of California s Chouinard Art Institute (Now California Institute of the Arts), Klasky gained her first professional experience as a designer of signage and logos for architectural projects. She entered the music industry as a designer for major record labels such as A&M Records. After stints as a magazine and advertising art director, she made the transition into film, joining the legendary Robert Label & Associates where she did special effects and graphics for movies. That experience under her belt, she quickly moved up to do freelance title design for New World Pictures, Marks & Marks and then for California Film, another company she co-founded, for which she designed on-air promos, station ID s and graphic titles. Today, Klasky s main goal continues to be to produce television and feature film projects, which engage and entertain young people and adults. GABOR CSUPO (Producer) is a world-renowned animation artist and the chairman and co-founder of Klasky Csupo Studios, the entertainment industry s leading independent animation company. A fiercely independent artist, Csupo is a Renaissance man who, in addition to his film, TV and commercial animation career, is an acclaimed musician, the founder of two record labels, a noted restaurateur, a devoted father and an engaged member of the arts community in Los Angeles. Born in Budapest, Hungary, Csupo studied music and art for many years, before commencing his professional training in animation at Hungary s famed Pannonia Studios. Leaving Communist Hungary in 1975 for artistic opportunities in the West, Csupo and four fellow artists and musicians escaped into Austria through a train tunnel. With few resources and no passport, he traveled first to West Germany, then to Denmark and ultimately to Stockholm, where he was employed in the animation studio of a friend and contributed to the production of Sweden s first animated feature. In 1978, Csupo met an American graphic designer by the name of Arlene Klasky. Having learned to speak English in order to understand the lyrics of Frank Zappa, his favorite musician, Csupo moved to Hollywood in 1979 where he married Klasky and became an animator at Hanna Barbera Studios. In 1981, the couple formed their own animation company, Klasky Csupo, Inc. and he presided over all aspects of the studio s business, designing, supervising and animating commercials, company logos, TV station promos, motion picture trailers, onair network promotions and industrial films. In 1988, director James L. Brooks asked Klasky Csupo to animate a cartoon strip called The Simpsons that was to be shown on The Tracy Ullman Show. The enormous success of those early episodes led to Klasky Csupo s work on the series, which the studio animated for the first three years of distribution, earning Klasky Csupo worldwide recognition and two Emmys. Continuing to break new ground, Klasky Csupo developed, produced and animated the phenomenally successful Rugrats series, one of the most popular children s shows in the United States, as well as Duckman, Aaahh! ! ! Real Monsters, Santo Bugito and As Told by Ginger. Tireless and inventive, Csupo has expanded Klasky Csupo s product offerings to all areas of entertainment media, launching Klasky Csupo Publishing, CLASS-KEY CHEW-PO COMMERCIALS and the Global Tantrum web-entertainment division. In 1998, Csupo, along with Arlene Klasky, produced the company s first venture into feature filmmaking, the enormously successful The Rugrats Movie, (the first nonDisney animated film to gross over $100 million) as well as its hit sequel, Rugrats in Paris: The Movie. In 2002, they produced the Academy Award O-nominated The Wild Thornberrys Movie. As an expression of his lifelong passion for music, he founded the record labels Tone Casualties and Casual Tonalities in 1994. Both are dedicated to discovering new artists within the genre of ambient electronica and to exploring the convergence of technology, electronics and music. His involvement with the music division is allencompassing, ranging from artist relations and recording to jacket design and marketing. Csupo himself has released two CDs on the Tone Casualties label. In addition, Csupo s artwork is featured on the cover of his idol and friend Frank Zappa s album The Lost Episodes. KATE BOUTILIER (Writer) wrote the Oscar-nominated feature film The Wild Thornberrys Movie released in December 2002 through Paramount Pictures. Prior to that, she was a co-writer on Rugrats in Paris: The Movie, and currently she is writing two live-action features for Nickelodeon Movies. Boutilier has been involved in a variety of projects at Klasky Csupo animation studio, including functioning as the co-writer/producer of the Rugrats 10th Anniversary Television Special, The Rugrats: All Growed Up, which has spawned a series and garnered her an Emmy nomination. In addition, she has been one of the creative forces behind the success of The Wild Thornberrys, another Klasky Csupo series airing on Nickelodeon, serving as story editor on the first 40 episodes and co-producing 43. In fact, episodes produced under her guidance have won an Environmental Media Award as well as The Ark Trust s Genesis Award for story lines devoted to environmental and animal rights issues. The series was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award in 2001. As writer of the pilot for As Told by Ginger, Boutilier continued to be a producer on this project as it developed into a television series that premiered on Nickelodeon in 2000. She was also nominated for an Emmy for Best Animated Series. Prior to this, she was co-producer on a season of Rugrats, which yielded another Emmy nomination in the Best Children s Series category. Boutilier has been story editor on series such as Lois and Clark, Growing Pains and Just the Ten of Us for Warner Bros/ABC. Other television writing credits include Family Ties, Northern Exposure and Disney s The Famous Jett Jackson. Originally from Windham, Maine, Boutilier graduated from Emerson College in Boston with a bachelors degree in communications. ALBIE HECHT (Executive Producer) has recently taken on the role of President, Spike TV, Nick Movies and Nick Records. Early this year, the 86 millionsubscriber basic cable network, TNN, embarked on a new positioning, becoming television s first entertainment network for men, building upon its existing predominately male audience composition. The network, now known as Spike TV, is dedicated to superserving men with an emphasis on original, brand-defining programming from a broad spectrum of genres including animation, video games, men s health, finance and reality programming. In addition, Hecht oversees the day-to-day operations and artist relations for Nickelodeon s record business, Nick Records, a partnership between Nickelodeon and Jive Records. In his new title, Hecht continues to be responsible for leading feature films through Nickelodeon Movies, based at Paramount Pictures: Under Hecht s leadership, Nickelodeon Movies has released an impressive slate of live-action and animation projects, achieving the divisions goals of creating star-driven family movies and animated features that bring extraordinary characters and situations to everyday contemporary life. Hecht is currently developing a feature film version of the best-selling book series, A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket (Holiday 2004). Produced by Nick Movies and DreamWorks and directed by Brad Silberling, the film will star Jim Carrey as the evil Count Olaf. Hecht served as producer on the December 2001 release of the Academy Award-nominated Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, and as executive producer on the live-action sci-fi adventure Clockstoppers, the animated adventure Rugrats in Paris: The Movie and the mega-hit The Rugrats Movie. Hecht also served as producer on the successful family comedy, Snow Day. In 1997 he built Nickelodeon Animation Studios -- the first TV animation studio in Burbank in 35 years and the only digital animation studio in New York. He has presided over an original animation renaissance with shows such as The Wild Thornberrys, Hey Arnold!, CatDog, Rocket Power, ChalkZone, Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius and The Fairly Oddparents. Hecht has been responsible for bringing major entertainment talent to Nickelodeon film and television projects, including Rosie O Donnell, Whoopi Goldberg, Jim Carrey, Will Smith, Paul Simon and Adam Sandler. His live-action studios became a hit factory that has introduced some of the brightest young stars in entertainment, on shows such as All That, The Secret World of Alex Mack, Kenan & Kel, The Amanda Show, The Brothers Garcia and The Nick Cannon Show. JULIA PISTOR (Executive Producer) is Senior Vice President of Nickelodeon Movies, a position she has held since 1994. In this capacity, she oversees development and production for Nickelodeons feature films based at Paramount Pictures. Pistor is currently developing a feature-film version of the best-selling book series, A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket (Holiday 2004) produced by Nick Movies and DreamWorks with Brad Silberling to direct. Most recently, she served as executive producer for The Wild Thornberrys Movie and also for the December 2001 release of the Academy Award-nominated Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, which has grossed more than $100 million to date. Pistor served as executive producer for Nickelodeon and Paramount s Rugrats in Paris: The Movie, which grossed more than $100 million worldwide and was a producer for Nick and Paramount s sci-fi adventure Clockstoppers and the live-action hit Snow Day. Additionally, she co-produced the their first animated feature in 1998, The Rugrats Movie, which grossed more than $150 million worldwide. ERYK CASEMIRO (Executive Producer) began his career in the entertainment industry while working in game show development and production. He joined Lorne Michael s Broadway Video in 1988 as a director of development and went on to participate in the development and production of Paramount Pictures highly popular comedy Wayne s World. In 1991, Casemiro was transferred to Broadway Video s New York headquarters where he focused on the company s television division, working on such projects as Frosty Returns as well as a Lassie retrospective that coincided with the 40th anniversary of the much-loved series. Throughout the mid 90s, Casemiro served as a production executive on Kids in the Hall, a Toronto-based production, and he also developed and produced a holiday television special for children s entertainers Sharon, Lois and Brain. The premiere of CBS Candles, Snow and Mistletoe garnered the highest rating in three years for its time slot and went on to receive a Genesis Award nomination as Best Children s Series or Special. The soundtrack, for which he served as producer, was certified with gold status by the Canadian recording industry. In 1996, Casemiro joined Klasky Csupo as vice president of creative affairs to oversee all television and feature film development and production. Since that time, he has executive produced 90 episodes of Rugrats and has developed and produced 91 episodes of The Wild Thornberrys, 65 episodes of Rocket Power and 5 episodes of As Told by Ginger. As a writer, he has penned multiple episodes of As Told by Ginger and co-authored The Rugrats: All Growed Up, the Rugrats 10th Anniversary Special, and he has shared numerous Emmy nominations for Rugrats and The Wild Thornberrys. In features, Casemiro has developed and co-produced The Rugrats Movie and executive produced Rugrats in Paris: The Movie. Most recently, he executive produced The Wild Thornberrys Movie. A native of Boston, Casemiro is at the forefront of Klasky Csupo s continued success and brings his humor and keen creative instincts to help usher in original, smart and character-driven projects to the studio. HAL WAITE (Executive Producer) is senior vice president of feature animation at Klasky Csupo. He joined the company in 1996 and is credited with setting up their feature-film division. During his tenure, Waite has co-produced The Rugrats Movie and executive produced Rugrats in Paris: The Movie, The Wild Thornberrys Movie and, most recently Rugrats Go Wild. Waite began his animation career in 1984 with Filmation Studios, where he was involved with the financing of syndicated TV such as He-Man and the Masters of the Universe and Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids, as well as low-cost feature-film projects such as Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night and Happily Ever After. In 1991, Waite joined Steven Spielberg s Amblimation, Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment s former London-based feature animation studio, as the production manager on We re Back! A Dinosaurs Story. Waite went on to serve as associate producer for Nickelodeon s The Ren and Stimpy Show in 1993. Committed to producing films that entertain and convey responsible social messages, Waite has earned master s degrees in both business administration and psychology. He is active in the community, volunteering as a counselor at the Hollywood YMCA and Le Conte Middle School, and is also a member of Teenline s Community Counsel, a youth help hotline based at Cedars-Sinai Hospital. TRACY KRAMER (Co-producer), who was also co-producer of The Wild Thornberrys Movie, serves as president of Toltec Artists, a multifaceted talent and literary management company that was founded in 1992. In that capacity, he is responsible for managing the careers of an eclectic group of artists, writers, producers and animation companies. Toltec Artists represents Klasky Csupo and numerous talented artists, including Peter Hannan, the creator of Nickelodeons series CatDog, Todd Kessler, the co-creator and executive producer of Nickelodeons Blues Clues, and Jhonen Vasquez, the creator of the animated series Invader Zim on Nickelodeon and three comic-book series, Johnny the Homicidal Maniac, Squee and I Feel Sick. Toltec Artists literary clients include best-selling author Carlos Castaneda and his colleagues Florinda Donner-Grau and Taisha Abelar. Dr. Castaneda is the author of more than 13 books, all of which have tremendous success in worldwide publication. Kramer also represents actor/comedian/producer Chris Tucker, who most recently co-starred with Jackie Chan in the smash hit comedy Rush Hour 2. Additional films he has worked on include Rush Hour, Friday, Dead Presidents, Jackson Brown, The Fifth Element and Money Talks. Prior to forming Toltec Artists, Kramer started his career at The William Morris Agency and served as an agent at Triad, where his primary focus was in television packaging. TERRY THOREN (Co-producer), recognized by the Los Angeles Times as one of the most important figures in the marketing and promotion of independent animated films in the United States, has served as CEO/President of Klasky Csupo since 1994. During his tenure, the company has grown and diversified into a full-service entertainment and media entity. Klasky Csupo, Inc. was the first to produce the TV series The Simpsons, Aaahh! ! ! Real Monsters and Duckman, and is cultivating the skyrocketing success of the Rugrats characters across all media venues. The Klasky Csupo television division is currently in production on a slate of top-rated series for Nickelodeon, including The Wild Thornberrys, the Emmy-nominated As Told by Ginger, Rocket Power and two Rugrats spin-offs: All Grow d Up and Pre School Daze. As CEO of Klasky Csupo, Thoren has overseen the growth of the movie division responsible for the development and production of two blockbuster animated features: The Rugrats Movie and The Rugrats in Paris: The Movie. The Rugrats Movie marked the first time a non-Disney-animated feature grossed more than $100 million. Most recently, he was co-producer of The Wild Thornberrys Movie, released in 2002. Simultaneously, Thoren is overseeing the extraordinary growth of Klasky Csupo s two global commercials divisions and the successful new broadcast design division responsible for producing the title sequences for 10 new TV series, including The Osbournes, The Anna Nicole Smith Show and The Wayne Brady Show. He has also provided vision, direction and financial oversight for Klasky Csupo s two specialized record labels (Tone Casualties and Casual Tonalities), guided the creation of an artoriented publishing division and skillfully exploited the many merchandising opportunities that present themselves to the makers of America s most beloved children s programming. As he directs Klasky Csupo s move into live-action feature production and presides over the consolidation of all Klasky Csupo operations into one state-of-the-art facility in the center of Hollywood, Thoren balances his leadership role within the animation industry against the day-to-day demands of challenging and developing Klasky Csupo s crack team of creative professionals. PATRICK STAPLETON (Co-producer) began his career in entertainment right out of high school, working at Sullivan/Bluth in production on the features All Dogs Go to Heaven and Rock-a-Doodle. He then joined Academy Award O-nominated director Bill Kroyer and producer Peter Faiman to work on the animated feature FemGully: The Last Rain Forest as animation production manager, after which he was recruited by producer Britt Allcroft, who created the Thomas the Tank Engine series, to work on her new series The Magic Adventures of Mumfie, in Toronto, Canada, for two years serving as unit production manager. Once back in Los Angeles, Stapleton was immediately scouted by the Lightspan Partnership, joining them as producer for all live-action and animated projects, fulfilling the mandate of CEO John Kernan to bring Hollywood-proven producers and creative minds to children s entertainment. He left Lightspan to produce the critically acclaimed children s CD ROM series, The Wanna-Be Series, for Cloud 9 Interactive. The popular series taught kids about different careers through a fun and educational, interactive roleplaying game. After being with Cloud 9 for three years, Stapleton was recruited by Sean Lurie and Hal Waite to join Klasky Csupo where he initially served as supervising production coordinator on The Rugrats Movie. He then served as unit production manager on Rugrats in Paris: The Movie before becoming a co-producer on Rugrats Go Wild. MARK MOTHERSBAUGH (Composer) was an international success after creating the seminal new-wave rock group Devo. He moved into television when he scored Pee-wee s Playhouse. For Klasky Csupo, Inc. he has been musical director on the Rugrats series, Santo Bugito and Edith Ann: A Few Pieces of the Puzzle. His other television credits include MTV s Liquid Television, Beakman s World, Clifford the Big Red Dog, The Mr. Potato Head Show and the primetime shows Dawson s Creek, Grosse Pointe and The Mind of the Married Man, among others. Mothersbaugh has scored numerous feature films, including the previous Rugrats movies and The Royal Tenenbaums, Rushmore, The New Age and Happy Gilmore. His studio, Mutato Muzika, is a leader in the interactive entertainment field, creating music for various Playstation games including the award-winning Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex game series. Advertising agencies have continued to enlist Mothersbaugh s services as well, and he counts Old Navy, Wendy s, Mattel, Volkswagen, Toshiba, Toyota, The Learning Channel and Nestle s among his many clients. In 2000, Mothersbaugh s studio produced tracks for South Park, produced a song for The Powerpuff Girls album on the Cartoon Network, an album for Rocket Power on Tone Casualty Records and created the Christmas release Joyeux Mutato. In addition to numerous animated credits, Mothersbaugh s filmography also includes, Rocky and Bullwinkle, Bottle Rocket, 200 Cigarettes and Drop Dead Gorgeous. GEORGE ACOGNY (Executive Music Producer) began blending his musical talents with a career in the entertainment industry when he produced the score and was the composer for the 1986 Bob and Harvey Weinstein comedy Playing for Keeps. He then went on to build an impressive filmography, producing and writing songs for such films as Street Fighter, Virtuosity, Judge Dredd, Crossworlds and Save the Last Dance. Later, he served as music supervisor, executive music producer or music consultant on numerous films, including The Ghost and the Darkness, The Crow: City of Angels, Jungle 2 Jungle, The Saint, Spawn, City of Angels, Under Suspicion, I Dreamed of Africa, The Bone Collector, Big Momma s House and Rugrats in Paris: The Movie. Most recently, Acogny served as executive music producer for the Academy Award@- nominated The Wild Thornberrys Movie and on the hit French film Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra. He was also the music supervisor on the Phillip Noyce film Rabbit-Proof Fence. CHARLIE ADLER (Voice Director), who was voice director of The Wild Thornberrys Movie, is among the hottest and most sought-after voice directors in the entertainment business and a two-time Annie Award nominee. Named one of the top 13 all-time voice-over artists by Animation Magazine, Adler was also deemed the Voice of the Decade by Animation World News. Connected with multiple Emmy-winning/nominated shows as either actor or director, Adler has voice-directed over 100 episodes of The Wild Thornberrys, four seasons of Rocket Power, four seasons of the Rugrats TV series, two Rugrats features, Rugrats Live at Radio City Music Hall, 100 Deeds for Eddie McDowd and many pilots, videos and CD Rom games. He has starred in the Cow and Chicken show as the voice of Cow, Chicken and The Red Guy. As a regular, he has voiced roles in more than 80 series including the role of Buster Bunny in Tiny Toon Adventures: How I Spent My Vacation, Ickis in Aaahh! ! ! Real Monsters and Ed and Bev Bighead in Rocko s Modern Life, to name a few. As a stage actor, Adler starred on Broadway and in the first national tour of Torch Song Trilogy, earning him a Helen Hayes Award Nomination as Best Actor. In addition, he has starred in many off-Broadway and regional theater productions, including a role opposite Imogene Coca and Rita Rudner in Once Upon a Mattress. On television, Adler was a regular on the Redd Foxx Show, assumed the roles of three generations of sons in Then and Now and played an obsessive photographer in First & Ten. He has also been a familiar face in over 100 commercials: for Coca-Cola, McDonalds, IBM, G.E. Big RedGum and Safeguard Soap. Winner of a DramaLogue Award for his one-man show There Used to be Fireflies, which he co-wrote, Adler is currently racking up awards and accolades for his short film No Prom for Cindy, which he directed, co-wrote and stars in. 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