Extinct Attractions – Rugrats Magic Adventure

Welcome to Extinct Attractions. This week, we’ll be looking back at a uniquely magical Universal Studios Hollywood attraction.

Via Vogue

Rugrats first aired on August 11, 1991 as the second Nicktoon ever after Doug. The show did pretty well in its first couple of years before the ratings began to falter in its third season that aired in 1993. It seemed like the show was done, with production halted except for a couple of episodes in1995. These new episodes received a lot of critical acclaim and with successful reruns Nickelodeon decided to bring back Rugrats for a few more seasons starting in 1996.

Via Amazon

As the show continued to grow in popularity, they decided to bring that success to the movies, with The Rugrats Movie releasing on November 20, 1998. The movie did well enough at the box office that plans for a second film, Rugrats in Paris: The Movie, were put into motion. Between the television show’s continued success and the films, Universal Studios Hollywood decided to get rid of its Totally Nickelodeon show and replace it with a new show, Rugrats Magic Adventure.

Via Fandom

Opening on June 9, 2000, Rugrats Magic Adventure was based on the second season episode “Angelica the Magnificent,” where Angelica gets the chance to show off her magic skills to the other toddlers. The show utilized illusions crafted by Jim Steinmeyer, who helped create illusions for people like David Copperfield and Siegfried and Roy.

It was pretty awesome that they brought such an established illusionist in to work on a theme park show based on a children’s show. That touch helped the show take it up a notch and differentiate itself from a typical theme park show.

For some reason, the only video footage of the show that I could find used Spanish audio, but if you mute the video, you can use this English audio, and it syncs up well.

Via Inside Universal

I actually thought that this show was really fun. I never really watched Rugrats as a kid, so I didn’t have a huge connection to this show, but I thought this show did a nice job representing the television show. Though the story was a bit weak, the effects in the show were pretty fun. It helped set the show apart from your everyday run of the mill theme park show by exchanging musical numbers for magical numbers.

However, Nickelodeon was beginning to lose its presence in the Universal parks by this point, so even though Rugrats were going strong, the attraction closed in September 2001. I’m sure that the effects of September 11 on tourism also helped lead to its demise as it was one of the easiest attractions to get rid of and not upset people. In its place, Shrek 4-D debuted and held court in the spot for many years as Universal transitioned from Nickelodeon as its cartoon representation of choice to Dreamworks.

Well, that’s all for today. Rugrats Magic Adventure had a nice, albeit unheralded run in the park and is generally seen in that same regard today. Here’s what we’ll be talking about next week.

Via Popsugar

Thanks for reading and have a magical day!