| "A Rugrats Chanukah" | |||
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| Rugrats episode | |||
 Promotional image featuring Grandpa Boris and the Rugrats lighting theMenorah. | |||
| Episodeno. | Season 4 Episode 1 | ||
| Directed by | Raymie Muzquiz | ||
| Written by |
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| Production code | 999[1][2] | ||
| Original air date | December 4, 1996 (1996-12-04) | ||
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| List of episodes | |||
"A Rugrats Chanukah" (titled onscreen as simply "Chanukah" and sometimes called the "Rugrats Chanukah Special") is the first episode of the fourth season of the Americananimatedtelevision seriesRugrats (and the sixty-sixth episode overall). It first aired onNickelodeon in the United States on December 4, 1996. Thespecial tells the story of theJewish holidayChanukah through the eyes ofthe Rugrats, who imagine themselves as the main characters. Meanwhile,Grandpa Boris and his long-time rival, Shlomo, feud over who will play the lead in the localsynagogue's Chanukah play. While many American children's television programs haveChristmas specials, "A Rugrats Chanukah" is one of the firstChanukah specials of an American children's television series.
Raymie Muzquiz directed "A Rugrats Chanukah" from a script by J. David Stem andDavid N. Weiss. In 1992, Nickelodeon executives hadpitched the idea of a Chanukah special to the production team, but the concept was revised and became the 1995 special "A Rugrats Passover". After production of the Passover episode wrapped, the crew returned to the Chanukah idea.
In its initial airing, "A Rugrats Chanukah" received aNielsen rating of 7.9. Along with other episodes featuring Boris and his wife, the special attracted controversy when theAnti-Defamation League compared the character designs toanti-Semitic drawings from a 1930sNazi newspaper.
On Chanukah,Grandma Minka reads a book about the meaning of the holiday to the babiesTommy,Chuckie,Phil and Lil. The babies imagine that they are the story's characters;Judah (Tommy) is outraged byKing "Antonica", who has taken overthe Jewish kingdom and forcedGreek culture on its inhabitants. Judah leads an army of Jewish "Maccababies" to war against Antonica'sSeleucid Empire, emerging victorious. The story is left unfinished as Minka stops to help makelatkes in the kitchen with her daughter Didi.
Meanwhile, Grandpa Boris is furious that Shlomo, a rival from his youth in Russia, is pictured in the local newspaper for playing the Greek king in the local synagogue's Chanukah play, where Boris is portraying Judah. The babies find out about Shlomo and form the impression that he truly is the Greek king, whom they dub the "Meanie of Chanukah". At the play that night, they attempt to storm on stage to defeat the "Meanie of Chanukah", but are stopped and taken into the synagogue's nursery. Angelica is in the nursery already and, vehement in her desire to watch a Christmas special that is airing that night, convinces the babies to help her break out and steal a television set from the custodian's office.
Boris and Shlomo begin fighting on stage during the play, interrupting the production and inciting an intermission. Backstage, Shlomo, and Boris argue once more, with Boris mentioning Shlomo's dedication to his business pursuits over familial values. Shlomo informs Boris that he and his late wife were unable to bear children, making Boris feel sympathy for his rival. Angelica sprints backstage, bumping into Shlomo and inadvertently destroying the television set, causing her to cry. Shlomo unsuccessfully tries to console her, but eventually lets Boris take over. Tommy hands Shlomo the Chanukah story book Minka read to the babies earlier; Boris convinces Shlomo to read it to the children. In the conclusion of the story, the Maccabees rededicate theHoly Temple, and discover that there is only enough oil to light the Temple's eternal flame for one day; miraculously, it remains lit for eight. Shlomo's reciting dissolves both the babies' assertion of him as the "Meanie of Chanukah" and his and Boris' rivalry.
Nickelodeon executives firstpitched the idea of making a Chanukah special to theRugrats production team in 1992.Paul Germain, the show's co-creator, responded with the concept of aPassover special instead, as he considered it to be a "funny idea"[3] and of "historical interest".[4] "A Rugrats Passover" was completed in 1995;[1][5][6] the show was one of the first animated television series to produce a special for a Jewish holiday.[5] After production wrapped on "A Rugrats Passover", the crew considered creating the Chanukah special that Nickelodeon had originally pitched.[3] The episode was written byDavid Stem andDavid Weiss, and directed by Raymie Muzquiz.[1] By the time Weiss came to write the teleplay, he had abandonedChristianity and converted toJudaism.[7]
The special was featured on the VHS tape "A Rugrats Chanukah", which was released on October 7, 1997, by Nickelodeon and Paramount Home Video.[8][9][10][11][12] On August 31, 2004, Paramount also released aDVD compilation titledRugrats Holiday Celebration, which featured several holiday-themed episodes ofRugrats, including "A Rugrats Chanukah".[2][13] On September 23, 2011, "A Rugrats Chanukah" was released on theRugrats: Season 4 DVD byAmazon.com.[14] On February 6, 2018, "A Rugrats Chanukah" was released on theRugrats: Season 4 DVD byParamount Home Media Distribution.[15] Sarah Willson adapted the episode into the book,The Rugrats' Book of Chanukah, illustrated by Barry Goldberg and published bySimon & Schuster in 1997.[16]
| "The babies acting out their own version of the story is enough to entertain a child of any religious denomination, so learning the historical meaning behind latkes and dreidels is just an added bonus." |
| —TV Guide[17] |
"A Rugrats Chanukah" was originally broadcast on December 4,1996, on Nickelodeon. It was repeated twice that same night,[18] the episode received aNielsen rating of 7.9 in the show's target demographic of children aged 2–11.[19] On December 1,2001,CBS broadcast the episode for the first time on its network, at 8:30 p.m.Eastern Time. Carrying aTV-Y parental rating, it followed theRugratsChristmas special, "The Santa Experience".[20] Nickelodeon has aired the episode throughout subsequent holiday seasons.[21][22][23]
"A Rugrats Chanukah" became one of the most popular episodes ofRugrats.[24] Delia O'Hera of theChicago Sun-Times called it a "multigenerational tale".[25] Judith Pearl, in her bookThe Chosen Image: Television's Portrayal of Jewish Themes and Characters, described the episode as a "fun [treatment] of Chanukah".[26] Chuck Barney ofKnight Ridder and theTribune News Service considered the episode a "hilariously imaginative take on the Chanukah legend".[27]
In a 1999 issue ofTV Guide, "A Rugrats Chanukah" was listed at number 5 in their "10 Best Classic Family Holiday Specials".[28]TV Guide later wrote that "Nickelodeon'sRugrats secured its place in television history" with the episode, opining that it could "entertain a child of any religious denomination".[17] Ted Cox of theDaily Herald said that although the episode was not as good as the show's Passover special—which he considered "among the best holiday TV specials ever produced"—it was "still noteworthy".[29]DVD Talk reviewer Francis Rizzo III wrote that the special "has a great historical opening".[2] InFlickipedia: Perfect Films for Every Occasion, Holiday, Mood, Ordeal, and Whim, Michael Atkinson and Laurel Shifrin said that the special was "... a richer meal, even, for parents than for tykes".[30]
"A Rugrats Chanukah", along with otherRugrats episodes featuring Boris and his wife, Minka, attracted controversy when theAnti-Defamation League (ADL) charged that the two characters resembledantisemitic drawings that were featured in a 1930sNazi newspaper. Nickelodeon's then-president,Albie Hecht (himself Jewish), professed bewilderment and called the accusation absurd.[31] The controversy resurfaced in 1998 after the ADL made the same claims about Boris' appearance in aRugratscomic strip that ran in newspapers during theJewish New Year. The organization was also offended by the character's recitation of theMourner's Kaddish in the strip. Unlike Hecht, Nickelodeon's new president,Herb Scannell, agreed with the criticism and apologized, promising never to run the character or the strip again.[32]
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| Maccabean Revolt |
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