How Rugrats Taught Me The Meaning of Chanukah (VIDEO SCRIPT)

Hey Readers. Remember Rugrats?

/It was a Spongebob Squarepants level popular animated show on Nickelodeon during the 90’s and 2000’s about 4 to 6 babies with overactive imaginations getting into various hijinks./

They could talk, but only amongst themselves; all the adults could hear was goo-goo gaga.

The only ones that could hear them and communicate back were the older kids that were regular characters.

Angelica -- Tommy’s cousin and the poster child of white women spoiled in their privilege

And Susie Carmichael -- the one who constantly and appropriately puts Angelica in her fucking place.

However, outside of the imagination playscapes the babies always placed themselves in when they were going on adventures, one of the things I enjoyed about Rugrats most of all were the Holiday specials for one particular reason.

You see, I grew up in a relatively Christian household; my mom is Christan and my dad was an atheist with certain Christian traditions embedded in him growing up.

So as you’d imagine, the main winter Holiday that was celebrated in the Readus household was Christmas. And there was SO MUCH Christmas stuff on TV

Frosty the Snowman, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, the Hanna-Barbara Christmas specials and and specials on various OTHER animated shows for kids on cable television.

Combined with how the media marketed the holiday, there was such an abundance of specials and the like aimed at Christmas and Christmas only growing up in the 90’s that it was hard to think that there were even OTHER holidays that took place in December outside of it and New Years.

/And while OF COURSE Rugrats had their own Christmas special, they also had another one on the first episode of its fourth season. This one however, was on the Jewish holiday Hanukkah./

(You gotta CHHH when you say it)

Now I’m not just gonna lie and say that the Rugrats Hanukkah special was the first time I heard about the holiday.

I DID learn about it in Elementary School, along with Kwanzaa, which Rugrats ALSO had a holiday special for in 2001. But it was taught to me by my 2nd Grade teacher in a way that didn’t allow me to digest it properly in order to understand it.

Which says a lot, actually. Because I was able to understand Passover and the concept of it secondhand due to the fact that the story of Passover is also part of the story of Moses, and as I’ve stated in my Prince of Egypt Film Friday, I LOVED the story of Moses growing up.

/So when I saw the Rugrats Hanukkah special when it premiered in 1996 at 8 years old, not only was it the first non-Christmas holiday special I’ve ever seen growing up, but it was also what helped me digest and understand the meaning of the holiday/

Of course, now that I’m an adult who regularly analyzes media to the point where I might as well have a degree in it, I can see a few things about the special that I’ve missed when I first watched this.

Things like how the special never EVER says the words Jew or Jewish throughout it.

/Despite referencing iconic Old Testament stories that make up the Torah, the very MENTIONING the Torah (pause), and stating the difference between a church and a synagogue (pause). The special does pretty much everything BUT mention the Jewish and Hebrew people outright, and instead vouching for the “my people” and “my heritage” angle./

Also the story of Boris and Shlomo being misunderstood rivals and how that execution was handled in the second half of the episode was brilliant looking at it with the eyes of a storyteller.

/I admit; I wasn’t quite there to understand the full dynamics of that exchange they had behind the curtain when I watched it with my 8 year old brain. But I’m sure others around my age at the time definitely were; especially if they had older parents or relatives that understood Shlomo’s plight and explained it to them./

And then of course, there’s Angelica.

/The one who represents the All-American -- mostly -- white individual who seeks their own gratification first and foremost and cares NOTHING about the holiday, its traditions or what it means to the people celebrating it, unless it gets in the way of what they want./

(The Devil Wears Prada: Oh no, that wasn’t a question)

Ever since then, more non-Christmas holiday specials started popping up in other popular children’s programming, and I’m definitely glad that’s the case

One that immediately comes to mind is Disney’s Pepper-Ann. She, like Tommy, is also part of an interfaith household. But because her parents are divorced, she celebrates Hanukkah with her mom and Christmas with her dad and is being pressured to state which holiday is the best one.

I haven’t seen it in FOREVER though, so I don’t know if it still holds up.

/But while I’m absolutely sure they weren’t the FIRST to do it, Rugrats not only helped show that the holidays mean more things to more people than just Christmas, but also acted as a tool to proper educate those who didn’t know. It definitely worked for me./

So with that being said Readers, YOUR homework assignment for the day:

Write in the comment section below if you remember the Rugrats Hanukkah special.

Or, if you feel like sharing with the rest of the class, a special associated with an animated series that taught you the meaning of a holiday or a tradition you yourself don’t really celebrate or practice.

Whichever you decide to answer, I’d love to know your thoughts.