2 stars (out of 4)

Like the Drummonds and Mrs. Garrett's Eastland girls before them, the Rugrats and the Thornberrys were bound to meet on-screen.

In "Rugrats Go Wild," the third big-screen feature for Nickelodeon's wildly popular animated "Rugrats" TV series, creators Arlene Klasky and Gabor Csupo (who also created the Thornberrys) and writer Kate Boutilier (who also wrote "The Wild Thornberrys Movie") send the Rugrats and their parents on an island adventure.

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Separated from their ocean liner, shipwrecked and stranded, the two generations must work together to find a way out of this pickle.

Enter Tommy Pickles, the apparent star of the movie. I must admit that all those talking babies looked the same to me. Your kids will likely already know the characters, but for Rugrats virgins, it does take a few minutes to catch up.

Tommy's hero is nature expert/TV explorer Sir Nigel Thornberry, played by Tim Curry as a sort of bizarro Jack Hanna. Lo and behold, Tommy finds himself marooned on the exact same island where Nigel is living, looking for the notorious white leopard.

For dramatic tension, it takes a while for the two to meet. In the meantime there are a lot of babies getting lost in the jungle -- predictably, they split from their bumbling parents early on -- and a little bit of baby bathroom humor, though I was hoping for much more. (You don't see the Rugrats movie expecting an emotional journey, but you do expect a good diaper gag or two.)

But what if moviegoers need more than just wandering babies to keep them occupied? As if one gimmick wasn't enough, someone with too much time to spare came up with Oderama, an interactive scratch-and-sniff game. Every five scenes or so, a flashing number appears on the bottom-right corner of the screen. Each number corresponds to a picture/scent-in-waiting on cards given out to audience members prior to the movie. A number flashes, everybody fishes around in the dark for the card, scratches and sniffs, and allegedly this enhances the experience.

If taking your fingernail to a foot (scent No. 4) induces hunger, the Burger King advertisement on the card should give you an idea of where to eat afterward. I have yet to figure out how BK is connected to Nickelodeon, but I'm sure the answer resides somewhere in the bowels of Viacom. "Rugrats" is a Nick/Paramount Pictures release.

Paramount is part of Viacom Inc. Viacom basically rules the world. Someone knows.

While all this aromatic hoopla doesn't do much for the Rugrats, the Thornberrys do.

An eccentric family in odd circumstances, the Thornberrys are delightful. Oldest daughter Debbie, a snarky, materialistic teen longing for her parents' attention and approval, steals the show. Her parents and younger sister Eliza also amuse, as their traditional family dysfunction plays out in an environment where a pre-pubescent girl talks to animals and where a monkey gives great pedicures.

Gimmick No. 3 amongst all the bells and whistles is the Rugrats' dog Spike. After years as an apparent mute, Spike speaks. And sings. Voiced by Bruce Willis, Spike has a pretty awful duet with Siri the hunted leopard, played by musician Chrissie Hynde.

Spike has some funny one-liners, but I doubt a talking dog will impress or astonish kids.

Though the Thornberrys provide some much-needed energy, asking them to carry the movie is like expecting a sweeps-week celebrity cameo to make an entire 30-minute sitcom episode funny. As the title suggests, the Rugrats get most of the face time and hence are responsible for producing most of the laughs. Yet even with Nickelodeon's cross-pollination efforts and the dazzling Oderama concept, the 12-year-old babies just aren't funny this time.

"Rugrats Go Wild"
Directed by Norton Virgien, John Eng; written by Kate Boutilier; produced by Arlene Klasky, Gabor Csupo; music by Mark Mothersbaugh; voices directed by Charlie Adler. A Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies release; opens Friday, June 13. Running time: 1:21. MPAA rating: PG (mild crude humor).
Spike -- Bruce Willis
Siri -- Chrissie Hynde
Tommy Pickles -- E.G. Daily
Eliza Thornberry -- Lacey Chabert
Sir Nigel Thornberry -- Tim Curry
Debbie Thornberry -- Danielle Harris