The twenty-first episode of the third season of Rugrats (1991).
Angelica's Worst Nightmare
When a pregnancy test for Charlotte turns out positive, Angelica has to cope with the uncertainties of having a new sibling.
The Mega Diaper Babies
The babies pretend to be the characters from The Mega Hyper Heroes.
"Angelica's Worst Nightmare" provides examples of:
- Ambiguous Ending: The episode ends on Charlotte revealing she's not having a baby after all, however the exact specifics aren't hinted at. As stated below, there are many possible reasons why she could have gotten a positive at home.
- An Aesop:
- Your parents will always love and care for you no matter what.
- Don’t lie to your child about serious situations. Pregnancy tests can be wrong.
- Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: In Angelica's nightmare, Angelica's baby brother grows to the size of a giant and eats Angelica.
- Eat the Camera: Angelica's nightmare ends this way, with the giant baby about to eat her.
- Enfante Terrible: In Angelica's nightmare, Angelica's baby brother says mean things to Angelica, steals all her stuff, turns into a giant, and eats her.
- 555: Dr. Daniel Prescott's call-in phone number is 555-5555.
- I Have This Friend: Angelica does this with Tommy after her parents tell her they'll be having another baby, causing her to worry that she won't get as much attention. Tommy's reply: "Well, at least it's happening to your friend and not to you!" Soon after, Tommy's mom knows about the news and tells Angelica about it. Tommy finds it an amazing coincidence both Angelica and her "friend"'s parents are having a baby.Angelica: Tommy, you're a dope.
- Infant Sibling Jealousy: Angelica is not happy when her parents inform her that they're going to have another baby. Most of it stems from the fact that she's used to being treated like a princess and that she doesn't like having to share anything, especially her parents' love. This leads to her having a nightmare where her parents neglect her and her baby brother is mean to her.
- It's All About Me: Angelica calls Dr. Daniel Prescott to tell him that she's worried that she won't get the same attention she used to when her new baby brother or sister is born. Dr. Prescott tells her that things don't revolve around her, and that she needs to share the spotlight every once in a while. Upon hearing this, she tosses her TV into a trash can and calls Dr. Prescott a quack.
- Mistaken for Pregnant: After taking an at-home pregnancy test (which turns out positive), Charlotte thinks that she and Drew are going to have another baby. But at the end of the episode, after having an official test done by her doctor, it turns out that Charlotte's actually not pregnant.
- New Baby Episode: A subverted example; Angelica discovers her parents are expecting another baby, and true to form, she becomes very jealous and eventually frightened by the aspect, especially after a nightmare where her new baby brother hates her to the point of trying to eat her. In the end, it is revealed that Charlotte wasn't actually pregnant, but whether it was just a false positive, a miscarriage, or even Charlotte doing the test incorrectly/misinterpreting the results is left to the viewer's imagination.
- Nightmare Sequence: Angelica has one where her parents neglect her and her baby brother is mean to her.
- Status Quo Is God: At the end of the episode, it is revealed that Charlotte isn't pregnant after all. Angelica tells her parents that she was looking forward to having a new baby brother or sister, but as soon as she leaves for her bedroom, she reveals that she is actually happy not to have a baby brother or sister.
- Vocal Dissonance: The baby brother in Angelica's nightmare has a deep man's voice, which makes it all the more scary.
"The Mega Diaper Babies" provides examples of:
- An Aesop: Don’t fear defending yourself and your friends if you are being bullied.
- Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: This line from Angelica (as Angelitron):"Now, prepare for battle! Order out my robot army, unleash my zombie warriors, release our secret weapon, and get me more cheese balls!"
- Badass in Distress: The Mega Hyper Heroes are captured by Angelitron, and it's up to the Mega Diaper Babies to save them.
- Brought to You by the Letter "S": Tommy, as Changing Baby, wears a letter "C" on the chest of his costume.
- Creative Closing Credits: The Scare Chord from this episode plays during the closing credits.
- Fartillery: Chuckie, as Stinky, uses his stench to defeat Angelitron.
- Imagine Spot: Shown when the babies pretend to be the Mega Diaper Babies and Angelica pretends to be Angelitron.
- My Friends... and Zoidberg: When confronted by Angelitron about who's going to stop her, they introduce themselves as "The Mega Diaper Babies!"... followed by Chuckie's humiliated response of "...and Stinky."
- Rooting for the Empire: An in-universe example; Angelica says Metallitron is her favorite character from The Mega Hyper Heroes, despite the babies telling her that she's evil.
- Rousing Speech: Angelica has the babies on the run with her army of flying animals. Chuckie, Phil and Lil vow to give up and play something else. Tommy's response was delivered in a fervor worthy of Braveheart or 300:Tommy: 'Play something else'? PLAY SOMETHING ELSE? I can't believe you guys!
Phil: What do you mean, Tommy?
Tommy: When Metallitron tried to steal all the water in the ocean, did the Mega Hyper Heroes 'play something else'? When the evil Germaniac tried to blow up the universe, did the Mega Hyper Heroes "play something else"?
[Chuckie, Phil and Lil are silent]
Tommy: No! Whenever the Earth needed them, they've been there. But now they need US, and I don't know about you guys, but I'm SURE not going to 'play something else'!
Lil: You're right, Tommy!
Phil: Yeah, we're with you!
Tommy: Well, Chuckie, what about you?
Chuckie Oh, just answer one thing for me, Tommy, just one thing. ...WHY DO I ALWAYS HAVE TO BE STINKY?! - Smelly Skunk: Chuckie plays Stinky, who "Smells as strong as two babies" and wears a skunk costume. He's not happy about it, at least until he's the one who defeats Angelitron.
- Superhero Episode: The babies pretend to be a team of superheroes called the Mega Diaper Babies in this episode.
- The Un-Reveal: It's not shown how the final battle happened in real life,
including Angelitron's defeat. - Visible Invisibility: Parodied; Lil, as Dotted Line Girl tries to sneak up on Angelitron, only for her to be seen because the lines are visible.Lil: But how could you see me? I'm just a dotted line!
Angelica: Any idiot can see a dotted line. - Voluntary Shapeshifting: Tommy, as Changing Baby is able to transform into whatever animal he chooses.
- What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?: Subverted with Chuckie as Stinky. He is not happy about having to smell as strong as two babies, but he turns this into Heart Is an Awesome Power by being able to defeat Angelitron when she had taken out every other character's powers. Probably played straight with Lil as Dotted Line Girl.
