The eighth episode of the fourth season of Rugrats.
Faire Play
At a medieval-themed fair, the babies hope to get a wish from a frog.
"Faire Play" provides examples of:
- Ash Face: Stu gets a faceful of soot when he starts up the mechanical dragon he built.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: Phil makes a wish on a toy frog that he and his friends could go to Fairy Tale Land, despite Chuckie's objections. The babies go to a medieval-themed fair, and at first they find it fun, but they soon mistake Stu climbing into the mechanical dragon he built for being eaten by the dragon and try to find a way to defeat it.
- Behemoth Battle: Of sorts. Seeing that Stu’s mechanical dragon has gotten out of hand (again), the fair’s manager calls a “professional” - an entertainer that dresses in a Reptar suit. He takes on the robot dragon and is the only one to stop it.
- Cartoon Juggling: One juggler at the medieval fair is seen doing the shower variant.
- Correlation/Causation Gag:
- Phil kisses a toy frog while the babies are on a car ride and wishes to go to “Fairy Tale Land.” They soon arrive at a renaissance fair which, unbeknownst to the babies, was their destination all along.
- This happens again with Phil as he kisses a real frog this time and wishes that Reptar would come to defeat the dragon just as a man in a Reptar costume comes to the medieval fair, having been called by the manager to stop Stu’s destruction.
- Not in Front of the Kid: This episode begins with Grandpa Lou telling the babies a story about a knight battling a dragon. When Didi overhears him telling the part where the knight slays the dragon with his sword, she reminds him that he promised not to tell the babies any scary stories, so he modifies the ending so that the knight kisses a frog and wishes for happiness and the dragon flies away. Lou is not happy with this new ending, but Didi is.
- Not What It Looks Like: The babies mistake Stu getting into the mechanical dragon as Tommy’s dad getting eaten by a real dragon. To be fair, he was getting in via the mouth.
- Parental Obliviousness: As usual, the Pickles parents are less than observant. The babies literally run right behind Didi as she’s distracted in the stained glass tent.
- Person of Mass Destruction: Unsurprisingly, Stu has lost control of one of his inventions yet again. His mechanical dragon destroys the fair and puts numerous people in danger. Luckily the manager of the fair isn’t too mad at him since it put on such a good show.
- Renaissance Fair: The babies are taken to one when Stu is asked to build a mechanical dragon for it.
- Scared of What's Behind You: Tommy reassures Chuckie that there won’t be a dragon in the “Fairy Tale Land” because if there was, they would’ve seen one already. Cue the sheet flying off the huge mechanical dragon that the Pickles are towing behind their car.
- Squirrels in My Pants: Subverted, Tommy briefly has a frog hidden inside his diaper, but doesn't react.
- Use Your Head: The babies break out of the Ye Olde Daycare through a hole in the wood fence that Tommy made with his knight helmet.Tommy: All fences have a good place for climbing out, you just gotta use your head!
- Watch Out for That Tree!: Stu repeatedly crashes his mechanical dragon into a tree.
- What the Hell, Hero?: When the babies believe the mechanical dragon that Stu built to have eaten him, Lil calls Phil out for making his wish.
- Ye Olde Butcherede Englishe: As would be expected at a renaissance fair.Didi: Oh, uh... Raiseth thy gate, good sir, that I might droppeth off my k... Kids-eth.
Employee: Yeah, whatever, lady!
The Smell of Success
Chuckie gets cured of his congestion (at least for a while).
"The Smell of Success" provides examples of:
- Absent Animal Companion: After finding out that the effects of the Noserator are temporary, Chuckie gets to keep a rat named Cheddar as a pet, but Cheddar isn't seen in later episodes.
- Ant Assault: After Chuckie sneezes the Bully into an anthill, the ants climb into the Bully's pants and bite him.
- The Bet: Chuckie makes a bet with the bully that if he can guess everything he ate for lunch then he has to leave them alone, but if he can’t then the bully can have Cynthia and all the babies’ snacks.
- Comically Missing the Point: Dr. Brander gives her lab rat, Cheddar, to Chuckie as a present when she finds out that the effects of the Noserator are temporary, and Cheddar is back to being stuffed-up. When Chuckie tells Tommy that Dr. Brander said he and Cheddar belong together, Tommy tells Chuckie that he is way too big to fit in Cheddar's cage.
- Cowardly Lion: When Chuckie's sinuses are cleared thanks to the Noserator, he gains the confidence to stand up to a bully who tries to take Cynthia from Angelica. Unfortunately, when Chuckie finds out the effects of the machine are only temporary, he loses his confidence.
- Funny Background Event: When Chuckie stands up to the bully, Stu can be seen chasing his malfunctioning solar-powered lawn mower in the background.
- I Will Only Slow You Down: Chuckie tells Tommy to go on without him when his stuffed up nose comes back as they're running from the bully.
- Kids Hate Vegetables: When Chuckie finds out that the bully ate broccoli as part of his lunch, Angelica, Phil, and Lil tease him for it. The bully tells Chuckie that he doesn't like broccoli, and he only eats it because his mom makes him do it.
- The Lab Rat: Cheddar - the rat, not the cheese - was the subject of the first test of the Noserator.
- Losing a Shoe in the Struggle: When Chuckie chases Spike and grabs him by his tail, his pants fall off.
- Mouth Cam: As Chuckie is sniffing the inside of the bully’s mouth to try to guess what he had for lunch.
- Nerdy Nasalness: Chuckie has a nasal voice due to a perpetually congested nose. In this episode, Chuckie is given a treatment that cures his condition, which Tommy is quick to notice when he hears Chuckie talking to him. However, since the effects are only temporary, Chuckie regains his nasal voice by the end of the episode.
- No Name Given: The bully's name is never revealed, and he is referred to as "Bully" in the closing credits.
- Save the Villain: Despite how much Angelica is a bully to them, the babies stand up for her against the anonymous sandbox bully.
- Single Tear: Chas sheds a single tear when Dr. Brander reveals that the effects of the Noserator are only temporary.
- Sneeze of Doom: When Chuckie's stuffiness comes back, he sneezes at the bully, and the force of his sneeze blows the bully into an anthill, where ants climb into his pants and bite him.
- Status Quo Is God: Dr. Brander invents the Noserator, a machine designed to unplug a stuffy nose, giving Chuckie the ability to smell. Unfortunately, the effects of the machine are only temporary, meaning that Chuckie ends up just as stuffed-up as he was before.
- Thing-O-Matic: Dr. Brander’s Noserator
- Tickle Torture: Tommy tickles the bully's armpit to get him to let go of Cheddar's cage.
- The Triple: Chaz says he’s tried everything to cure Chuckie’s congestion: “decongestants, herbal remedies, chanting.”
- Whole-Plot Reference: The episode is loosely based on the short story "Flowers for Algernon".
