Rugrats was one of Nickelodeon’s top-rated shows back in the 1990s, and got a spin-off series titled All Grown Up! in the early 2000s, but there was a different spin-off planned before that. Created by Arlene Klasky and Gábor Csupó, Rugrats was one of the original Nicktoons, and followed a group of toddlers (Tommy, Chuckie, Phil and Lil, and Angelica) whose day-to-day experiences were turned into extraordinary adventures thanks to their imaginations.
Rugrats became a big success and was key in building Nickelodeon’s reputation as a kid-friendly network. The characters resonated with the audience and became so popular that the series spawned three films (including a crossover with The Wild Thornberrys), comics, video games, tons of merchandise, and a spin-off series that followed the characters in their teenage years, appropriately titled All Grown Up! – but this wasn’t the first Rugrats spin-off planned by Nickelodeon.
Screen Rant’s newest video shares some of the moments that Nickelodeon and Disney, two of the biggest networks with mostly kid-friendly content, don’t want you to see (or know about). Among these is the original first spin-off planned for Rugrats, which didn’t go as far as to explore the characters as teens. Instead, the series was going to take a look at Angelica and Suzie’s pre-school days (and was literally titled Rugrats Pre-School Daze) and got a 13-episodes order. However, thanks to the success of the special episode “All Growed Up”, Nickelodeon decided to focus on the All Grown Up! spin-off and put Rugrats Pre-School Daze aside for years.
The concept of Rugrats Pre-School Daze would be a good one to explore in the planned Rugrats revival series, more so because many fans didn’t get the chance to watch the spin-off during its original run – although some episodes can be found online, along with clips from the pre-school episode from the main series.
Next: Why Did Rugrats End? Solving Nicktoons Biggest Mystery