Photo: Paramount+
Like with any reboot, it’s not uncommon to see changes made to the updated iteration. For the new Paramount+Rugratsseries, which premiered Thursday, Phil and Lil’s mother, Betty DeVille, is now openly gay.
“Anyone who watched the original show may have had an inkling Betty was a member of the alphabet mafia,” actressNatalie Morales, who voices Betty in the new series, toldThe A.V. Clubin an interview published Wednesday.
“Betty is a single mom with her own business who has twins and still has time to hang out with her friends and her community,” Morales, whocame out as queerin 2017, said to the outlet. “And I think it’s just so great because examples of living your life happily and healthily as an out queer person is just such a beacon for young queer people who may not have examples of that.”
“I don’t know about you but as someone who watched Betty in the original, this makes sense,” one usertweeted, while a second account holderwrote, “Betty is a part of the LGBT in theRugratsreboot!!!! FINALLY CONFIRMATION ON WHAT WE ALWAY KNEW!!!”
As someonepointed outthat Betty “mentioned an ex-girlfriend” in the reboot and took that to mean that “she has finally come out of the closet after 30 years,” another usersaid: “I was today years old when I learned that Betty fromRugratswasn’t always gay.”
Reps for Nickelodeon and Paramount+ did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
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In her interview with The A.V. Club, Morales, 36, explained that “Betty is a fictional cartoon, but even cartoons were hugely influential for me as a kid and if I’d been watchingRugratsand seen Betty casually talking about her ex-girlfriend, I think at least a part of me would have felt like things might be okay in the future.”
The originalRugratsfirst premiered on Nickelodeon in 1991 and wrapped in 2004 after nine seasons. The animated show’s success spawned a spinoff series,All Grown Up!, that ran for five seasons from 2003 to 2008. There were also threeRugratsfilms:The Rugrats Movie(1998),Rugrats in Paris: The Movie(2000) andRugrats Go Wild(2003).
Viacom announced in 2018 that it wasrebootingRugratsand developing a new live-action film featuring CGI characters. While the film was laterdroppedthe following year, the new show features the original series' iconic voice cast.
Rugratsis now streaming on Paramount+.
source: people.com
