Get ready 90s kids, Rugrats is back. Oh, and Phil and Lil’s mum is officially out of the closet, just in time for pride month.
A new, CG-animated revival series of Rugrats premiered on Paramount+ on Thursday. The reboot was announced way back in 2018, but just this week we’ve been blessed with an exciting announcement.
The iconic Betty of Rugrats has finally come out of the closet. The new voice of Betty in the 2021 series confirmed on Wednesday that Betty is a queer, single mum, and the news has delighted many Rugrats fans.
Despite being apparently married to the largely off-screen Howard, I’m sure we’ve all had an inkling that Betty was gay.
Clad in her famous violet, female symbol jumper, she was an absolutely legendary mum raising Phil and Lil without a husband in sight.
Betty DeVille is queer in the Rugrats reboot and it is giving me LIFE 🌈
— Mandy 🌈 (@mandykdv) May 28, 2021
Betty will be voiced by queer actor Natalie Morales, who recently spoke about the significance of including an LGBTQI+ character in the show.
“Betty is a fictional cartoon, but even cartoons were hugely influential for me as a kid and if I’d been watching Rugrats and 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,” Morales said.
Another thing to congratulate Betty on this month, is her opening her new café Betty’s Beans! In the 1991 series, you Betty might remember Betty working at the Java Lava Coffee House. But Betty’s gone on to greater things.
Morales announced that the single mum is now a small-business owner. This successful queer woman is an important role model for young ones watching the show. As Morales stated:
“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, 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.”
The new Rugrats comes three decades after the original which premiered in 1991. The series follows babies who embark on imaginative adventures in their day-to-lives.
Ingrained in the memory of 90s kids, it was the longest-running show on Nickelodeon before being overtaken by SpongeBob Squarepants. Rugrats was so beloved, it even inspired several video games on Nintendo, Game Boy and PlayStation.
Shoutout to the new rugrats for letting Betty (Phil & lil mom) live her truth 👏🏾 🌈
— Gangstalicious 💁🏾♂️🧢 (@Biigugly) May 30, 2021
