At the Movies (Rugrats)

"At the Movies"
Rugrats episode
Episode no.	Season 1 Episode 3a
Directed by	Dan Thompson
Written by	Craig Bartlett Paul Germain
Production code	003A[1]
Original air date	August 25, 1991 (1991-08-25)
Episode chronology
← Previous "Waiter, There's a Baby in My Soup" Next → "Slumber Party"
List of episodes

"At the Movies" is the first segment of the third episode of the animated television series Rugrats. It originally aired on the television network Nickelodeon on August 25, 1991, during the series' first season. In the episode, The Rugrats go to a movie theatre to see The Dummi Bears and the Land Without Smiles, but Tommy is infatuated with seeing a monster movie, Reptar!. He and the babies sneak out of the theater room to catch a showing of Reptar! while leaving a wake of accidental mayhem and destruction as they do.

"At the Movies" was written by Craig Bartlett and series co-creator Paul Germain and directed by Dan Thompson. The episode introduced the characters of the Dummi Bears and Reptar. The Dummi Bears were inspired by non-violent children's characters such as the Care Bears and Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears, whereas Reptar was heavily inspired by the Japanese monster Godzilla and satirized the ever growing domination of Japanese culture into children's society. The character appeared in countless media tie-ins for the series, including a cereal brand, t-shirts, and video games, and would be reused in several other episodes of the series throughout its run.

Author Jan Susina gave a generally positive review of "At the Movies" in the book, The Japanification of Children's Popular Culture: From Godzilla to Miyazaki. In 1997, it became available on the VHS Rugrats: Return of Reptar, which was nominated for Video Software Dealers Association's Home Entertainment Award in the "Outstanding Marketing Campaign for a Major Direct-to-Video Release" category in 2000.