There’s a Rugrats reboot coming out from the Paramount+ streaming service and the animated children’s television series features a familiar character as a lesbian mom.
Rugrats, an original series that ran from 1991 to 2004 for Nickelodeon, featured Betty DeVille, the mother of the twins tykes Phil and Lil, who was married to Howard DeVille.
But in the reboot, she’s come out since then as a lesbian.
Rugrats reboot and the mom that came out
Queer actor Natalie Morales told The AV Club that the character Betty, who she will voice in the reboot, has since announced she’s gay.
“Anyone who watched the original show may have had an inkling Betty was a member of the alphabet mafia,” the 36-year old Morales said.
She said that she feels lucky to bring the character back, who now owns a café called Betty’s Beans and jokes about her ex-girlfriends.
“Betty is a single mom with her own business who has twins and still has time to hang out with her friends and her community,” Morales explained.
She added that, “I think it’s just so great because examples of living your life happily and healthily as an out queer person is just such a beacon for young queer people who may not have examples of that.”
LGBT representation in children’s cartoons
The queer actress pointed out the importance of having role models like Betty when watching cartoons as a kid.
She noted that “cartoons were hugely influential for me as a kid.”
She further said that if she’d been watching Rugrats and seen Betty talking about her relationships, she would feel “like things might be okay in the future.”
Before she came out, Betty– who had been voiced by actress Kath Soucie– had been seen as an unofficial gay icon.
But while Soucie won’t be voicing Betty in the reboot, she’s still voicing Betty’s children, Phil and Lil, as she did in the original
The legacy following the Rugrats reboot
Aside from Soucie, the original voice cast will also be the same for the children: EG Daily (Tommy), Nancy Cartwright (Chuckie), Cheryl Chase (Angelica), and Cree Summer (Susie).
However, new voices will feature the parents: Tony Hale will play Chuckie’s father, while Nicole Byer and Omar Miller will be Susie’s parents.
Meanwhile, Anna Chlumsky and Timothy Simons will be Angelica’s parents, and Michael McKean will be Grandpa Lou Pickles.
Speaking to Deadline, Nickelodeon President Brian Robbins said there was “an opportunity for new exciting comedic voices who grew up watching and being fans of the show and let them do cameos.”
“So we are really excited about our adult cast on Rugrats,” Robbins said.
Here’s the trailer to the new series:
