Eryk Casemiro and Kate Boutilier are the executive producers of the new CG animated Rugrats reboot series. It premieres this Thursday May 27th on Paramount+. Casemiro and Boutilier are excited to return to this franchise – and hope fans do the same. They also talk about how they want to reach out to a new generation and why these characters have lasting appeal.

Jackson Murphy: Eryk, when did you know that this was the right time to bring back the iconic Rugrats brand and characters?

Eryk Casemiro: I received a call from [Nickelodeon Animation President] Ramsey Ann Naito, and she said, “It’s time.” To be honest Jackson, when Ramsey says, we jump. And it was really fun because it had been a long time since Kate and I were working on the show. It was a great return.

JM: Kate, in doing the preparation to bring back these characters, did you dive into all the episodes? What kind of prep did you do?

Kate Boutilier: I did a little dive. I think I watched a couple of the movies to remind myself. But it really was starting with doing a graph of who’s who, who needs to be updated, changed a little… all the families, how they can connect in a friends and family tree and doing the math of what age our characters would be as parents and grandparents. And then putting all those characters on the board that we wanted to start with.

JM: Eryk, did Ramsey say to you right away, “Hey, you know what? It’s time. AND this needs to be CG”?

EC: No. In fact… it was really just “It’s time”, and as Kate said we started to think about what we would do in this iteration that we may change slightly from what we learned doing it the first time. And I think it was a bit into it. We were writing for a long while before we even had a meeting with artists, and that’s when the CG idea came up. At first we were like, “Wow. That’s gonna be a big change.” To be honest, I wasn’t so sold on the idea at first. And then once we started to see designs, we were like, “Wait. This is going to really be a game changer and really be what makes it feel of today.”

JM: Wow. That’s really interesting that you were writing thinking it might be hand-drawn again and then it changed to CG. That is definitely unique. And I love the look of the characters and I think everybody will. Kate, what are some of the challenges you discovered once you were working with the CG? Any real difficulties there?

KB: Actually, if anything, I think it opened up the world. It definitely changed for me – thinking about the kind of… especially fantasy episodes we can do because that was always a hallmark of the original show and the movies. But to know that we could do an episode that would be as rich and lush in a world of a genie’s cave or space or prehistoric or inside someone’s brain… you could touch it, the colors, the glow, the lighting, the angles. Everything about it that I’ve learned… it’s opened up story ideas. So I didn’t look at it as a challenge at all. We’ve got lumpy little babies that are hand-drawn and now they have to be 3D babies… and they translate pretty well.

JM: They do. I had the chance to screen the episode “One Big Happy Family”, which was part of the Nickelodeon virtual upfront presentation in March. Eryk, how was it having this Rugrats episode be a part of that? And you’re really helping boost Paramount+ with this, too.

EC: (laughs) Your mouth to the ears of the gods and goddesses. That was a really fun episode because it’s almost a classic sitcom convention that you’ve got everyone in a house. We got to see the pristine nature of the Pickles home. It ticked off a lot of boxes, that particular episode, for sure. It was definitely a joy.

JM: And in watching the episode, there’s not only humor for this generation of kids – there’s also humor for this generation of parents who may have grown up with the original Rugrats series. Kate, how important was it for you to have humor for both kids and adults in this?

KB: It’s super important. It always was with the series because there was always a sense of social satire with the original Rugrats – the parents involved in the conventions of the day. I think we wanted to do that even more because we know we have original fans, we have young parents who might’ve grown up with the show who are going through exactly what Didi and Stu and Chas and Betty are going through raising children. So we wanted to hit all of that. We wanted to have the adult friend group resonating with parents and original fans and millennials who might be on their way to becoming parents – and of course we want to resonate with kids who never even saw Rugrats, but would still say, “Oh wow – this is talking babies with secret adventures!” We put a lot of thought into the parents and what kind of humor we could update, perhaps, in all of their characters.

JM: It definitely shows. Eryk, you talked about the CG being a surprise in the middle of this. When did Paramount+, this being the home of the show, enter the picture and be a surprise for all of you?

EC: It wasn’t that long ago. I wanna say in just the past couple of months as Paramount+ was launched. Since March. And we were delighted because we know there will be a lot of fans from the original series who will be very curious to check it out, and as we know, some of those fans may not have cable. So we’re delighted that a streamer is gonna offer it up.

JM: I think it will be a big hit. And one of the cool things about this Rugrats reboot is that you’re not only bringing back many of the original voice actors but adding in some talented new ones. Kate, can you talk a little bit about working with the cast and how it was for some of the actors who kicked off this franchise to come back into their roles?

KB: I know for Eryk and myself, to bring back the original cast to play the babies was so important and so key. And we were thrilled that they could all come back. They have stepped into their roles with such heart and love and affection. And hearing them again, it’s so inspiring. We just get goosebumps. Our new adults… we wanna be age appropriate and wanted to bring in people who would fit the characters that we might’ve changed a little, and our adult cast is fantastic. We have a new Grandpa Lou who is, as Eryk likes to say, is not a veteran of WWII. He’s a veteran of Woodstock because he’s not Grandpa Lou from the old days. He’s 69/70, maybe, and has a long Willie Nelson braid, and he’s played by Michael McKean. He’s awesome. Our other adults are all the perfect tone for what we hope captures this feel of the millennials today.

JM: Eryk, I wanna go back in time for just a little bit because when I was growing up and the [Rugrats] movies were coming out, it was a big deal for an animated series to go from the small screen to the big screen. I think we see it more as commonplace today. It happens a lot today, but back then not as much. What was it like when those Rugrats characters were going to the big screen? It felt like a big deal. Was it as big of a deal as it seemed?

EC: Oh for sure, Jackson! For sure! First, it was a time when just about two-thirds of the country had cable, so you had a third of the country who didn’t know who these babies were. So there was a challenge of sorts to make this movie for everyone – whether you had the indoctrination of watching the episodes or you were a fresh audience member. And then it was also introducing a new Rugrat, so for those fans, it was a big deal because there’s a new Rugrat in it. And it was also an uptick in the level of animation. The movie animation was much more detailed than the television animation. That too was a big step forward. And it was at a time when no one really knew if it would work. It was the little engine that could. We forget… it was the first animated movie that was not a Disney release to break $100 million at the box office. That was astounding at the time – and from a little studio in Hollywood, which was really exciting.

JM: A major accomplishment – and what a franchise.

KB: I was on the series at the time when Eryk was producing the movie, and there was such an emotional story with Tommy getting a new brother. And also Eryk brought in so much cool music talent to pepper the film that might not have been in other animated films. And the opening sequence was so unusual to do that spoof that looked so much bigger than the series looked. It went to places that the series hadn’t gone and we sort of forget what a big production that was for a 2D movie.

JM: And Kate, the original Rugrats series ran for 13 years and 172 episodes, which is pretty amazing. Are you prepared to go that distance again with this new CG Rugrats series?

KB: Well, I don’t know if I’m prepared. (laughs) But someone should be prepared! (laughs) No, I think this is timeless… we’ve got kids who are best friends [and] parents who are best friends. They all look out for each other. The babies have a secret world [and] a secret language and yet it’s so relatable to so many ages. Yeah, sure, I think it could.