Original cast member Cheryl Chase previews the upcoming half-hour episode and discusses why the show has transcended time.
Rugrats is celebrating the holidays!
The beloved animated series has set a special half-hour holiday episode on Paramount+, which will highlight and celebrate several denominations, ET can exclusively reveal. Titled "Traditions," the upcoming installment will drop on the ViacomCBS-owned streaming service Thursday, Dec. 2 and will also air Friday, Dec. 10 at 7:30 p.m. ET/PT on Nickelodeon.
The multi-denominational special kicks off as Tommy's first Chanukah falls on Christmas Eve, and the Pickles juggle their family traditions to make sure each feels important, while also celebrating Las Posadas with Betty and her family. The episode aims to explain the various ways that the holidays are celebrated and explore how families from different cultures come together to create their own unique traditions.
Lending their voices as guest stars for the episode are Raini Rodriguez as Gabi, Swoosie Kurtz as Minka, Henry Winkler as Boris (who ad-libs the Chanukah prayer heard in the episode) and Tata Vega as Tia Esperanza.
Original Rugrats cast member Cheryl Chase, who voices Angelica, spoke to ET about the new "Traditions," which was written by executive producers Kate Boutilier and Eryk Casemiro.
"It's a wonderful story. It's very heartwarming," Chase said of the episode. "It explains the ABCs of the holidays, and it explores how families with different cultural backgrounds, they come together and they celebrate new and unique traditions." As for how Angelica plays into the story, the veteran actress said with a chuckle, "She's up to her old shenanigans and it's not the best Angelica, let's put it that way!"
This is far from the first Rugrats holiday episode the franchise has put on. The original festive special, "A Rugrats Chanukah," will be aired as part of Nickelodeon Pluto channel's 24-hour marathon of the episode starting Sunday, Nov. 28, the first night of Chanukah, at 6 a.m. ET/PT. Following the marathon, NickRewind will air the episode every night of Chanukah -- from Nov. 28 through Sunday, Dec. 5 -- at 11 p.m. ET/PT. It will also air an additional six times through Nick Pluto Flashback Friday on Dec. 3.
For Chase, her favorite Rugrats episode thus far of the new iteration is "The Two Angelicas," which dropped in May, and centers around Angelica's new lookalike talking doll. "The babies, they like the doll and she gets all upset, and she doesn't like that," she said. "The animation is so beautiful -- the designs of the show and the colors and brilliant colors and the detail that you see in the CG animation -- how they designed the characters. It's beautiful. It's a fun episode for me to see."
Chase acknowledged it's been a surreal time warp reuniting with her fellow Rugrats castmates and hearing stories from fans of the original who have families of their own, introducing the series to their kids. "It's fun to hear the original voices because it just makes you feel like... It just brings back the memories we had watching the first time around," she reminisced, adding that the responses she's gotten from viewers are "mainly with the older grownup fans that have their kids watching... [and it's just a] family experience." "I love to see that, that I'm bringing joy to the family like that. The parents are rediscovering their childhood through their kids who are learning it for the first time. So it's really so fun for me."
For more on Rugrats, watch below.
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