Proving, thankfully, that there is life beyond Disney, Rugrats in Paris: The Movie once again brings the beloved diaper-dependent TV rapscallions to the big screen with glee. Much grander than the first film, the jet-setting adventure balances madcap mayhem, tongue-in-cheek humor and plenty of life lessons in a story filled with imaginative riffs on pop culture and the woes of being a thumb-sucking, wobbly-walking tot.

What has always made the Rugrats so endearing (besides those adorable baby voices) is the cuteness to annoyance ratio, i.e., the babies like Tommy (E.G. Daly) and Chuckie (Christine Cavanaugh) versus nasty big girl Angelica (Cheryl Chase). For those of you adults who find Angelica utterly grating, rest assured that she is used relatively judiciously here, whenever her nefarious plotting and pouting are most appropriate. As for the other tykes, they are a delight as usual with Chuckie, not Tommy, surprisingly taking center stage in this story line.

You know you're in for a great ride from the opening credits which cross fade from the film's title to a Godfather-inspired subtitle Rugrats II. These nods to adult humor continue with a scene that features Angelica (who else?) as "The Bobfather", from whom the babies ask favors. Chuckie's wish is by far the most impossible. He wants a new mommy because his mommy is up in Heaven. One has to congratulate Klasky-Csupo for dealing with such a tough issue with grace and sensitivity. It's not handled so intensely that the little ones will be upset, but rather with enough depth to ensure that kids will understand the meaning of loss and that life goes on.

All the babies find their lives turn upside down when Tommy's dad Stu (Jack Riley) gets a late night call from France. It seems that his fantastic, metal monster Reptar has malfunctioned at Reptarland in Paris and Reptarland's slithery CEO Coco La Bouche (a deliciously nasty Susan Sarandon) is fuming mad. She wants Stu and family to come to Paris tout suite! And so, the Pickles and Deville clans pack their bags and head for gay Paris. There, Chuckie becomes even more obsessed with finding a new mommy for his dad Chas (Michael Bell), especially when he sees the lovely (but unbeknownst to him, electronic) "Princess" in the Reptarland parade. She'd be a perfect mommy. Meanwhile, Angelica is up to her scheming, having overheard that Coco stands to get a promotion if she convinces her employer that she's happily married and loves kids. Angelica, ever the saleskid, offers to set up Coco with a prime man and baby (Chas and Chuckie), in exchange for her own float in the Reptarland Parade and a slot as flowergirl at the wedding. But, it turns out that Chas only has eyes for Coco's sweet assistant Kira (Julia Kato), whose daughter Kimi (Dione Kwan) is an energetic addition to the kiddie clique.

The animation in the movie captures the festive and fantastical feel of Reptarland, while also offering the animators the chance to stretch their creative wings as in a fantasy scene where Chuckie dreams of being fearless or in the madcap Reptar set piece toward the end of the film. Suffice it to say that the good kids win and the bad French lady loses. But then, that's to be expected. As adults, life may not always bring happy endings, but as kids, life always should. This is the message that Rugrats In Paris tries to send: That through adversity, we grow stronger and, through suffering, we can find happiness. It might sound pretty deep for a kid's flick, but then again, kids are always smarter than we think they are. Klasky-Csupo knows this and they manage to entertain and educate in one Technicolor swoop.