Angelica Charlotte Pickles is a fictional character who appears in the Nickelodeon shows Rugrats, All Grown Up!, and Rugrats Pre-School Daze, and is one of the series' original characters. At three years old in Rugrats, Angelica is, as some children of her age, a spoiled brat, the cousin of Tommy, and Dil Pickles, the niece of Stu and his wife Didi, the daughter of Drew and Charlotte Pickles, and the co-founder of Mirvac Sweethearts with her boyfriend Tuck Carbunkle. ^[1] In 2002, TV Guide ranked her 7th in their list of "Top 50 Greatest Cartoon Characters of All Time". ^[2] American publication Paste later ranked Pickles 46th on their "50 Best Cartoon Characters of All Time" list in 2024. ^[3]

In Rugrats

Angelica Pickles is Tommy and Dil’s spoiled, blonde-haired, three-year-old cousin, who frequently bullies or manipulates the babies for her own gain, earning a perception as the "mean girl" character. ^[4] Angelica maintains a rivalry with Susie Carmichael, Tommy's neighbor, who tries to convince the babies that Angelica is dishonest and manipulative. Angelica's parents, Drew and Charlotte, are wealthy and often preoccupied with their jobs, resulting in her aunt Didi and uncle Stu often babysitting her. ^[5] Angelica is hardly ever disciplined by her parents, who usually scold her instead of threatening her with punishment for her bad behavior, so Stu and Didi are left to punish or discipline her. As a result of her parent's wealth, Angelica has become spoiled, and her parents pander to her every need or want. She whines, cries, and throws tantrums to get what she wants, and her parents, particularly her father, often give in. Until Susie Carmichael is introduced, Angelica is the only main baby character who can properly talk to grown-ups, and as such, acts nicely towards the adults and is mean to the other babies by lying and distorting their view of the world.

Angelica's spoiled behavior can be traced to some characteristics of her own parents, specifically her mother Charlotte. Charlotte, who Angelica aspires to be in some ways, is spoiled through means of her work, and tries to teach Angelica to be strong, dominating, and not take "no" for an answer "in a male-dominated society."^{[ citation needed]} However, because of this, she unintentionally distorts Angelica's ideas on how to be with others. Charlotte is the CEO of a major corporation throughout the series' run, and in a realistic dream sequence, she said that the only thing she liked better than corporate domination was corporate domination with her daughter. Angelica's father Drew, on the other hand, is more responsible and reasonable with his daughter. He is often the one who worries about Angelica becoming too spoiled, but when he discusses this with Charlotte, she usually disagrees. Angelica has a pet cat named Fluffy and a doll named Cynthia, which she considers her most prized possession and a favorite toy. She dreams of being star singer and believes she is talented, but when ever she does sing it comes out loud and off key becoming a running joke as the series goes on, this shows she is not as talented as she believes herself to be since none of the grownups tell her she's not good. Angelica usually expresses her thankfulness on being an only child, but she expressed the desire to have a brother or sister (most notably in "The Stork" and "Sister Act").

Development

Arlene Klasky did not like the cruelty in Angelica in the earlier seasons and often had disputes with the writers about it. By the time the new seasons appeared, Klasky had a more positive reception to the softened Angelica. ^[6]

In All Grown Up!

In All Grown Up!, Angelica has gained maturity in her tastes and interests average for a girl her age, becoming less sadistic and more sarcastic. Angelica is still spoiled by her parents, but to a lesser degree and in an altered fashion from the previous series. She still habitually dominates her younger cousins and acquaintances and maintains her materialistic and selfish personality. Angelica also continues to envy Susie Carmichael (her best friend/occasional rival) for her amazing singing voice and various other talents, although she is much nicer than in the original series. The series shows that she has her own talents as well, such as being a champion debater and a well-known advice columnist. Angelica treats Tommy, Dil and their friends like dirt and still pushes them around, but still loves them. Angelica's goals and priorities also matured to fit her age, and she strives to acquire a position amongst popular cliques at her school or impress boys, albeit still aided by the geeky, redheaded Harold, a preschool classmate from the original series.

References