20 Things You Didn't Know About Rugrats

Mems.

1. Rugrats was created in 1989 by Gábor Csupó and Arlene Klasky, who were animators for The Simpsons at the time. The based the show's concepts off of their observations of their own children and submitted it to Nickelodeon, which had just announced their own line of animated shows called Nicktoons. "Tommy Picks and the Great White Thing", the original, unaired pilot only featured Tommy, Phil, and Lil. Chuckie and Angelica were added as characters when the show debuted in 1991.
2. The show debuted alongside Doug and The Ren & Stimpy Show, making it one of three original Nicktoons. Rugrats is the only one of the bunch not to have eventually gone to another network; Doug was aquired by Disney and a raunchier version of Ren & Stimpy made its way to MTV.
3. Klasky often felt that the Angelica character was too mean and that the babies acted too old for their age, which created tension between her and the series writers. Csupó often acted a mediator, but the writers usually won out. Klasky would often call upon child psychologists to work on the show. The writers mocked her actions by introducing Dr. Lipschitz, whom the parent characters often refer to.
4. Steven Spielberg called Rugrats "sort of a TV Peanuts of our time," citing it as one of the best animated programs of all time.
5. The series is a four-time Emmy winner and a five-time nominee.
6. In 1994, after 65 episodes, Rugrats was effectively canceled. Two specials aired between 1995 and 1996, "Passover" and "A Rugrats Chanukah", both of which received critical acclaim. This prompted Nickelodeon to renew the series and commission the first film. Rugrats returned to television in 1997 and The Rugrats Movie was released the following year.
7. Reptar, a dinosaur character who appears in various forms throughout the series and its films, was introduced in part as a social commentary of the increasing influence of Japanese pop culture in children's entertainment. 
8. There's a popular internet conspiracy theory that states the baby characters are all figments of Angelica's imagination. According to the theory, Tommy was a stillborn, and Stu now spends all his time in the basement, designing toys for the kid he never had. Chuckie died along with his mother, which is why Chaz is such a mess. Betty had a miscarriage; Angelica wasn't sure if the baby was going to be a boy or a girl, so she made both Phil and Lil.
9. Early episodes imply that Chuckie's mother is alive. It isn't until the 1997 Mother's Day episode that it's established she died.
10. The Rugrats never age, but over the course of the show, they celebrate 3 Christmases, 1 Chanukah, 1 Kwanza, 2 Halloweens, 1 Thanksgiving, and 1 Valentine's Day.
11. Though All Grown Up is the only spin-off that made it to air, there were actually two others planned. The first was one that would follow the family of Susie Carmichael as they move to Atlanta #slightracism, but it was never picked up. The second, Preschool Daze, focused on Angelica and Susie's (you guessed it!) preschool days. Four episodes were produced in a notably different animation style, but the series was eventually shelved. The episodes were eventually released on DVD.
12. Dionne Kwan, who voices Kimi Finster, is legally blind, and thus her scripts were written in Braille.
13. In the series, it is stated that Tommy was born early.
14. Chuckie's appearance is based on Mark Mothersbaugh, who composed the music for the series.
15. Amanda Bynes had a recurring role in the later episodes of the series as Taffy, the babysitter.
16. Rugrats Go Wild, the third film and cross-over with The Wild Thornberries, was originally going to be a three-part TV special, but it was shelved and redeveloped as a feature film.
17. Rugrats aired its 172nd and final episode on June 8, 2004, making it the longest running Nicktoon until SpongeBob SquarePants aired its 173rd episode. #nothereforthat
18. In 2002, TV Guide ranked Angelica as the seventh best cartoon character of all time, putting her above the likes of Bart Simpson and Mickey Mouse.
19. Rugrats is the first and so far only Nickelodeon series to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
20. From 1997 to 2001, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade featured a Rugrats balloon of Tommy and Chuckie mounted on Spike. It was the first balloon in parade history to feature three characters, as well as Nickelodeon's first balloon in the parade.