FOR `RUGRATS' FANS, MOVIE OFFERS TASTY MORSEL OF BIG-SCREEN FUN.

Byline: Glenn Whipp Daily News Film Critic

If you're old enough to read this review or have no abiding interest in talking babies and their bodily functions, ``The Rugrats Movie'' probably doesn't have much to offer you. Fans of the Nickelodeon television series, though, undoubtedly will enjoy this quick-paced, brightly colored big-screen romp that takes the Rugrats out of their everyday world and plops them into a vast forest for some scary adventures and fun.

The movie's story (written by ``Rugrats'' TV series head writers David N. Weiss and J. David Stem) has a few clever touches, including spoofs of wacky birthing techniques and hospital bureaucracy. There's even a nifty homage to the opening, boulder-rolling sequence in ``Raiders of the Lost Ark.'' But mostly, ``The Rugrats Movie'' exists to give extended time to the familiar faces of Tommy, Chuckie and Angelica, the talking babies who see life from the ground up.

The big news among the babies is that they're going to have a new playmate soon. Tommy's mother, Didi Pickles, is pregnant and due to go to the ``hop-sickle'' any day now. When the baby arrives (he's named Dil, as in Dil Pickles, an example of the film's cutesy-pie tone), he gives Tommy more grief than gladness with his constant crying and cravings for attention. Maybe having a brother isn't all it's cracked up to be, Tommy thinks.

That leads Tommy and his fearful friend Chuckie and babies Phil and Lil to conclude that they need to return Baby Dil to the ``hop-sickle'' because he's too much bother, even for a brother. They put Dil in one of his father's goofball inventions, the Reptar Wagon (sort of a souped-up baby carriage), but lose their way and ultimately end up in a dark and spooky forest where they must contend with waterfalls, escaped circus monkeys and a ferocious wolf.

The bratty Angelica, with Tommy's faithful dog Spike in tow (or is it the other way around?), goes in search of the gang - not out of a sense of altruism, but because Dil took her favorite doll and she wants it back.

Kids will love all the adventure, although, at the screening I attended, a few younger tots cried during intense scenes involving the wolf. Adults, however, might find themselves checking their watches. The movie doesn't have the sophistication or smarts of a typical Disney animated film, and no attempt is made to broaden the Rugrats' appeal to the uninitiated.

All of which won't matter a whit to the youngsters who will have this movie memorized line for line once it arrives on video in a few months. For this set, there are no sour ``pickles,'' just the sweet and delicious knowledge that somebody has made a movie that they can claim as their own.

THE FACTS

The film: ``The Rugrats Movie'' (G).

Behind the scenes: Directed by Norton Virgien and Igor Kovalyvov. Screenplay by David N. Weiss and J. David Stem. Released by Paramount Pictures.

Running time: One hour, 19 minutes.

Playing: Citywide.

Our rating: Two and one half stars.

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Photo

Photo: Stu, left, Tommy and Didi Pickles welcome baby Dil into the family in ``The Rugrats Movie.''