All Grown Up!

is an American animated television series developed by Kate Boutilier, Eryk Casemiro, and Monica Piper for Nickelodeon.

It serves as a sequel to Rugrats, and explores the daily lives of protagonist Tommy Pickles, his little brother Dil and his childhood friends, now tweens/adolescents.

[4] Nickelodeon president, Herb Scannell, noted that a "Surprising numbers of kids held Rugrats parties on Saturday night and watched the show in groups".

"[5] Noting the immediate popularity of the show's concept, "All Growed Up" was deemed the network's equivalent of the Super Bowl.

[8] Margie Cohn felt that Rugrats had endured prolonged success due to the "series' writing, and the appeal of the show's well developed characters to its deeply devoted audience", and argued the sequel resulted from fan support and speculation on how the characters would age.

[3] "[While] the original idea was based on my experiences with my own toddlers our audience has grown up with the show's characters, and they have said over the years they would love to see how the Rugrats grow up."

Nickelodeon ordered 13 episodes, to be created by Rugrats animation studio Klasky Csupo[9] for production in September 2002.

[9] The series premiered with its first episode, Coup DeVille, on April 12, 2003, following the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards.

[5] The show included gradual stylistic changes, with the first 13 episodes similar to the "All Growed Up" special and the original Rugrats world.

[7] "[The show's concept] meant abandoning many of the conventions and stylistic traits of the original, such as the idea that the babies can communicate with each other but not with the adults.

Tommy's voice actress, E.G. Daily, noted "It was a little harder when we were doing the first batch of episodes, when they were just coming in and trying to define everybody and how they've grown".

[6] The producers did not delve into the "characters' loss of innocence" with topics such as sex and drugs in favor of issues relevant to 9 to 11-year-olds, the show's target demographic.

[12] Executive producer Arlene Klasky stated "It was always in the back of our minds that we would love to see what these characters were like as they grew".

[8] Cyma Zarghami, Nickelodeon's executive vice president and general manager at the time, said "The tween special proved kids are ready to embrace these beloved characters in a whole new realm.

[13][9] On the evolution of Angelica, Marjorie Cohn, executive vice president for development and original programming at Nickelodeon explained: ''She's the center of the universe, and she keeps bumping up against forces that tell her she's not.

[3] In 2002, Nickelodeon aired the episode "Pre-School Daze",[16] the pilot for a series in which Angelica and Susie attend preschool.

When asked if the popularity of that episode would produce a spinoff as the characters enter teendom, Nickelodeon executives explained: "It has been talked about but said the network had no immediate plans to push the entire cast into puberty", though noted that those connected with the franchise were "eager to continue developing the characters".

[20] More than 5.2 million viewers watched the regular run, being in 2nd place behind an NFL game on ESPN, and making it the highest-rated premiere at Nickelodeon's to date.

[8] Common Sense Media felt that the show's scenarios were not as good as in the original series, commenting that they were "thoughtfully crafted" but lacked the satiric take of babies misunderstanding the adult world.

[22] The Los Angeles Times stated it was "a revolutionary idea" for a series with characters perpetually stuck in their status quo.

[25] Comic Book Resources commented "The sense of adventure and exploration of the original had been lost, those special personalities they had as babies vanished in a haze of pre-pubescent insecurities",[26] though felt it was a "fun 'what-if'".

[29] Chicago Tribune wrote that in the new series, Angelica has "become an overbearing teen, still bossing around Tommy and his chums".

Comparison in design style between Rugrats (left) and All Grown Up! (right)