So, this week's pick for weird episodes isn't the most super weird, but the fact that this episode even happened is still hilarious nonetheless. And that's "Weaning Tommy" from season 1 of Rugrats. Rugrats was a great cartoon, being not just a fun shows from the point of view of babies, but hilarious, inventive, and at times disturbing.
Very.
VERY.
Disturbing.
Season one of Rugrats is also what I feel is the strongest season when it comes to being more visually vivid and crazy, especially in the episodes that focused primarily on Tommy Pickles. And of the two from that season I could choose, I went with Weaning Tommy over another good pick in Slumber Party. In other words, remember that episode where Tommy got weaned from his bottle and went through bad withdrawals?
We open the episode as Didi and Stu prepare to take Tommy to the dentist (or Tooth Fairy as the former puts Stu in a state of panic) as Tommy has gotten his first tooth, since if Dr. Lipschitz says it's time to go, it's damn sure time to go in Didi's mind. They treat the situation like Tommy, a one year old who has never seen a dentist before will be traumatized by the situation.
But sure enough, the experience turns out to be a bit traumatic as the dentist, Dr. Homer, tries in vain to get Tommy to open wide, It all goes well (though Stu's got a bad case of crossbite) until Dr. Homer discovers that Tommy is still on the bottle and suggests that it's time to wean him. Fearing a future of braces, Stu and Didi make the ultimate decision to start weaning Tommy.
It does not go well.
This leads into Tommy's downward spiral. First confusion and revulsion of his new "Mr. Tippy" cup. He tries to find other bottles, but still has no luck in nommin' that sweet nip. He thinks he finds a bottle in his toy box, but just finds a pacifier. He looks disgusted at the pacifier. He doesn't want a damn placebo, he needs his bottle dammit.
Tommy, reaching levels of desperation tries to bargain with Phil and Lil for their bottles, trying to give away pretty much any toy he has in order to get some of that godlike bottle action. It once again goes south as Tommy gets caught by Didi and kept away from the twins, furthering his descent into pure insanity. Made even further by his bizarre dream sequence.
Tommy dream takes him into a bizarre world where he is literally too big for his old bottle. He then gets confronted by a giant version of "Mr. Tippy", who chases Tommy, demanding for him to drink him. He corners Tommy by a chasm, where it seems like the end has come for our diapered protagonist...
Only for a giant bottle to come to his aid and straight up murder Mr. Tippy. It seems a happy ending, that is until Tommy is snapped back to reality, forced to once again live without his wonderful, wonderful bottle.
Tommy becomes defeated. Despondent. Unwilling to accept any non-bottle substitute to the point that he'd rather starve than live without that rubbery monkey on his back. But Stu and Didi try in vain to stick to their guns.
But, we get a happy ending as Stu, Didi and Grampa, realizing that it might be kind of screwed up to deprive your child of something they're attached to when they're not ready for it (ESPECIALLY in this case), and all give Tommy the bottle he desperately deserved.
So, while this episode isn't super weird, it still fits the category as it's almost amazing, nearly thirty years later that we got an episode of a cartoon about talking babies that dealt so perfectly the side affects of withdrawal. In this episode, we see Tommy go through anxiety, restlessness, Irritability, depression, social isolation, and straight up hallucinations. This is a cartoon where a one year old toddler reaches the point where he becomes tired of life itself when he doesn't get his bottle, the one vice he has in this world. It's why I think Rugrats deserves more of a fair look than it usually gets from those who haven't seen it in a long time. It perfectly managed to build up fun slice of life with adventure, and in this case, straight up crazy episode concepts that work masterfully. And with some of the other, crazier episodes to choose from down the line, I'll definitely give this show another review in due time.
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