The tenth episode of the first season of Rugrats.
Weaning Tommy
Tropes:
- Depraved Dentist: Downplayed. Dr. Homer isn't really what one would call depraved, but he insists on Tommy being weaned at twelve months of age with only one tooth coming in. He also suggests that Stu might need braces to correct a crossbite that only he seems aware of. He does scare Tommy with a Reptar mask, though to be fair, Tommy wasn't opening his mouth before, and the mask didn't make him cry, so he wasn't harmed.
- Disney Villain Death: In Tommy's dream, a giant sippy cup who tries to get Tommy to drink from him gets squirted by an even bigger bottle and falls into a milk-filled canyon.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: When Tommy's parents attempt to wean him, after being without a bottle for a while, he gets a pouch-eyed look and desperately tries to bum one off Phil and Lil. He also hides bottles in random places, and even says, "I need a drink" at one point.
- Doting Grandparent: Grandpa Lou disapproves of the early weaning right from the beginning, claiming his brother drank from a bottle until his teen years, and never had a dental problem. He is also the first to attempt to sneak Tommy his bottle back, before running into Stu and Didi, who were doing the same thing.
- Eat the Camera: It appears in Tommy's nightmare when Tommy ends up flying into a giant Stu's open mouth as Stu abruptly asks "Crossbite?!"
- Jerkass Ball: Phil and Lil hold it in this episode after Tommy tells them of his plight. Their answer is a rather deadpan sounding "Sorry, Tommy. Wish we could help", before they continue drinking from their bottles right in front of him. In turn Tommy becomes so desperate for a bottle that he tries to steal from them.
- Look Behind You: To get a bottle from Phil and Lil, Tommy tells them there is a big, hairy monster with red eyes. He nearly succeeds in getting Lil's bottle, only for Didi to catch him in the act and stop him.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Didi and Stu feel this way when Tommy cries after they tell him they just can't give him a bottle.
- Nightmare Sequence: After going without a bottle for a while, Tommy has one, wherein Didi takes every bottle he finds away, and a giant sippy cup tries to get him to drink from him.
- Oh, Crap!: Didi seems to have a minor one when Betty asks if she verified the dentist's credentials. The episode ends with her and Stu agreeing to give Tommy back his bottle, so maybe she eventually checked.
- Slasher Smile: Dr. Homer often looks like he's giving one of these.
- Status Quo Is God: Stu and Didi try unsuccessfully to wean Tommy off his bottle. It doesn't work and Tommy is back to drinking from his bottle by the end of the episode. note
- Truth in Television: In real life, pediatricians and dentists really do recommend weaning a child at 12 months. However, this is a recommendation, not a strict guideline, as every child is different. Betty remarks that her pediatrician advises against weaning Phil and Lil until their second birthdays. Some kids will give it up before they're a year old while others will take longer. Ultimately, it comes down to following your child's schedule and trusting them to let you know when they're ready.
Incident in Aisle Seven
Tropes:
- Age-Stereotypical Food: One-year-old Tommy likes Reptar Cereal (based off of his favorite monster character). Most adults prefer Corrugated Bran Puffs, however Grandpa Lou finds Corrugated Bran Puffs yucky and Reptar Cereal more appetizing by comparison.
- Baby's First Words: Although "Reptar" was revealed to be the first word that Tommy ever said to his parents in a previous episode, "At the Movies", Tommy tries saying it to them again in an attempt to tell them that he wants Reptar Cereal. Stu believes that Tommy is saying "Rip-roar", and Didi believes that Tommy is saying "Riffraff".
- Bland-Name Product: Quite a few are shown, including Perpi cola and Nonsense & Nonsense baby powder.
- Call-Back:
- After Tommy gets launched out of his cart, he lands on a large stack of Tighties diapers, the same diapers that Phil and Lil appeared in a commercial for in "Baby Commercial".
- When Larry gets covered in milk, he says that he and Steve should have stayed at the Octoplex. Larry and Steve previously worked at the snack bar of the Octoplex theater in "At the Movies".
- Chocolate-Frosted Sugar Bombs: This episode features Reptar Cereal: "They're round, They're mean, They turn milk green!" Also in the episode, Lou goes shopping for Fudgy Ding-A-Ling Bars which are implied to be just as sugary. Finally, there's Corrugated Bran Puffs which Lou doesn't find appealing, preferring the Reptar Cereal that Tommy wants.
- Didn't Want an Adventure: While getting doused with milk from leaking cartons, Larry mentions, "I told Steve we should've stayed at the Octoplex."
- Doomed Supermarket Display: When the mother of a baby girl sees Tommy at the bottom of her cart, she screams and backs into a loose cart, which rolls into a pyramid of watermelons, knocking it down and causing the watermelons to roll away. They knock over a pyramid of baby powder, destroy a lobster tank and crash into a pyramid of soda cans.
- Early Installment Character-Design Difference: Reptar in this episode is drawn with the same large, white with a small dot pupil eyes as most of the other characters, rather than the red-orange eyes with vertical slit pupils he's drawn with the rest of the series.
- Grandparental Obliviousness: Lou spends a majority of the episode adding up the total cost of his groceries with a malfunctioning calculator, completely oblivious to the chaos around him. When he finishes, he wonders how Tommy got out of his grocery cart and complains about how messy the store is.
- Grocery Store Episode: Tommy and Lou go to Grocery World in this episode.
- New Job as the Plot Demands: Larry and Steve get jobs as employees at Grocery World.
- Sausage String Silliness: One of the things Lou gets on his shopping trip with Tommy is linked sausages. A few minutes later, as he is distracted with adding up the total cost of his groceries, Tommy uses them to lasso onto a nearby grocery cart so it will take him to the pyramid of Reptar Cereal boxes.
- Shout-Out: A sign that says "Melon Camp" can be seen atop the pile of watermelons. This is an obvious pun on the name of musician John Mellencamp.
- Sure, Let's Go with That: Used to Tommy's advantage. When Lou finds his box of Reptar Cereal in the trolley, he shrugs and buys them, noting they sound a lot better than Corrugated Bran Puffs.
- This Is Gonna Suck: Both Stu and Didi express this sentiment in different ways.Didi: I hope they come back with something besides 40 boxes of Fudgy Ding-A-Ling Bars.Stu: I hope they come back.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Both Grandpa and Tommy have one in this episode with Fudgy Ding-A-Ling Bars for the former and Reptar Cereal for the latter.
- Wedgie: On his way to the pyramid of Reptar cereal boxes, a nearby windmill carries Tommy up to the store's lighting fixtures by his diaper.
- When I Was Your Age...: As usual, Grandpa Lou makes a few of these comments in this episode when protesting the use of the calculator and remarking on how messy the grocery store is after Tommy’s destruction.Grandpa Lou: Back in my day, we did our countin' on our fingers! And for really big numbers, why, we'd use our toes as well!
