The film starts with a parody of the 1972 drama film The Godfather. (The babies call Angelica the "Bobfather" and she gives them a wish if they kiss her ring.) It is the wedding of Grandpa Lou and Grandma Lulu, but Chuckie Finster grows increasingly saddened by the presence of a mother, after his own died shortly after he was born. His own father Chaz shares Chuckie's loneliness. Tommy Pickles' father Stu is summoned to EuroReptarland, a Japanese amusement park in Paris, France to fix a malfunctioning Reptar robot which is powered by advanced motion control technology. Tommy, Chuckie, Phil and Lil, Angelica Pickles, Dil Pickles, their dog Spike, and all their parents travel to Paris to take a vacation at the park.

Coco LaBouche, EuroReptarland's mean and cold-hearted director, seeks to become the head of Reptarland's company after the current president Mr. Yamaguchi resigns but learns she will need to understand what it means to be a child to earn the job. Upon the Rugrats' arrival in EuroReptarland, Angelica overhears a conversation between Coco and Yamaguchi, before being caught. To save herself, Angelica suggests that Coco marry Chaz, offering to help in return for getting her own parade in the park. Coco strikes up a relationship with Chaz but her attempts to bond with Chuckie fall flat. The adults and babies meet Kira Watanabe and her daughter, Kimi, who originate from Japan. Kira works as Coco's assistant and helps her to win Chaz's affections. Meanwhile, Spike gets lost in the streets of Paris and falls in love with a stray poodle named Fifi.

Kira tells the babies the in-universe origins of Reptar, explaining he was a feared angry monster until a princess revealed his gentler side to make the frightened humans like him. Chuckie decides the princess should be his new mother, and is aided by his friends to reach an animatronic replica of the princess in the park, but they are stopped by Coco's ninja security guards. Angelica informs Coco of Chuckie's wish, so Coco sneaks into the stage production of Reptar and takes the stage as the princess, luring Chuckie into her arms to make it look like she is wonderful with children. Chaz is thrilled, deciding she would make an excellent mother and chooses to marry her, much to everyone's surprise.

On the wedding day, Coco shows her true colours, trapping the children (except Kimi) in a warehouse with her aid Jean Claude as their guard and fires Kira after she learns of Coco's plans. Chuckie rallies the children to crash Chaz's wedding using the Reptar robot. They are chased by Jean Claude who pilots the Robosnail robot, Reptar's nemesis, until they fight on a bridge and Chuckie knocks Robosnail into the Seine river. Chaz's wedding in Notre Dame proves to be quite horrendous, with Coco forcing Chaz to go through with the wedding despite Chuckie's absence, and rushing the Archbishop of Paris until she completely loses her temper and throws the Bible at him. Chuckie crashes the wedding, screaming "NO!" which Chaz identifies as Chuckie's first English word; since to the adults, the babies are speaking babytalk. Chaz, seeing Coco for the wicked liar she really is, angrily calls the wedding off. Angelica spills the beans to Mr. Yamaguchi about Coco, who is fired and flees the cathedral in her torn dress with Jean Claude, chased by Spike.

Chaz and Kira fall in love and get married upon returning to America, Spike and Fifi become a couple, and Chuckie now not only having a new mother but a new sister in the form of Kimi, completing one of Rugrats' longest-running storylines, The film ends the Rugrats and the grown-ups having a cake fight, parodying the 1976 film, Bugsy Malone. The camera backs up, a piece of cake is thrown at the camera, the screen fades to black and the movie ends.

During the credits, we see pictures of the family's vacation in Paris, mainly focusing on Spike and Fifi.

• Christine Cavanaugh as Chuckie Finster. The most cowardly of the Rugrats, his goal is to find a new mother, after his real mother passed away when he was younger.
• Elizabeth Daily as Tommy Pickles, the main character of the Rugrats franchise. Chuckie's best friend; He is the courageous and adventurous leader of the Rugrats.
• Michael Bell as Chaz Finster. He is Chuckie's father.
• Kath Soucie as Phil and Lil DeVille, the twin brother and sister Rugrats.
• Cheryl Chase as Angelica Pickles, Tommy and Dil's bratty cousin.
• Dionne Quan as Kimi Finster, Kira's naive and fearless daughter, she becomes Chuckie's stepsister at the end of the film.
• Tara Strong as Dil Pickles, Tommy's younger brother.
• Susan Sarandon as Coco Labouche, a cruel and child-hating director at EuroReptarland in Paris. She only wants to marry Chaz, so that she can get a promotion.
• John Lithgow as Jean-Claude, Coco's partner
• Jack Riley as Stu Pickles, Tommy and Dil's inventor father, He was called down to Paris to fix his Reptar robot.
• Melanie Chartoff as Didi Pickles, Tommy and Dil's mother and Stu's wife.
• Julia Kato as Kira Watanabe, Coco's assistant, She marries Chaz at the end of the film and becomes Chuckie's stepmother.
• Kath Soucie as Betty DeVille, Phil and Lil's mother.
• Cree Summer as Susie Carmichael, One of Angelica's friends.
• Tress MacNeille as Charlotte Pickles, Angelica's workaholic mother.
• Michael Bell as Drew Pickles, Angelica's father and Stu's older brother.
• Phil Proctor as Howard DeVille, Betty's nervous husband Phil and Lil's father
• Joe Alaskey as Grandpa Lou Pickles, Tommy, Dil and Angelica's grandfather and Stu and Drew's father.
• Casey Kasem as DJ.
• Mako as Mr. Yamaguchi, Coco's boss.
• Tim Curry as Sumo Wrestler/Singer.
• Kevin Michael Richardson as Sumo Wrestler/Singer.
• Billy West as Sumo Wrestler/Singer.
• Debbie Reynolds as Lulu Pickles, Grandpa Lou's second wife.
• Dan Castellaneta as Archbishop Jean-Marie Lustiger of Paris
• Roger Rose as the Finster Wedding DJ
• Lisa McClowry as The Princess.

A soundtrack for the film was released on November 7, 2000 from Maverick Records. Like the last soundtrack, it also contains an enhanced port. One of the songs on this album is a cover of "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'", sung by Geri Halliwell of Spice Girls.

Track list

1. "My Getaway" – T-Boz (3:50)
2. "You Don't Stand a Chance" – Amanda (3:44)
3. "Life Is a Party" – Aaron Carter (3:26)
4. "Who Let the Dogs Out?" – Baha Men (3:18)
5. "Final Heartbreak" – Jessica Simpson (3:42)
6. "When You Love" – Sinéad O'Connor (5:18)
7. "I'm Telling You This" – No Authority (4:08)
8. "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" – Geri Halliwell (3:03)
9. "Chuckie Chan (Martial Arts Expert of Reptarland)" – Isaac Hayes & Alex Brown (4:19)
10. "L'Histoire d'une fée, c'est..." – Mylène Farmer (5:12)
11. "I Want a Mom That Will Last Forever" – Cyndi Lauper (3:47)
12. "Excuse My French" – 2Be3 (3:03)
13. "Bad Girls" – Angelica & The Sumos (4:05)

The film was a large commercial success: it grossed $103,291,131 worldwide out of its $30 million budget, tripling the budget in box office results. This film was released on November 17, 2000 to $22,718,184 for an average of $7,743 from 2,934 venues. On film review website Rotten Tomatoes, the film earned 75% favorability by critics, higher than its predecessor, which received only 59%, and Rugrats Go Wild, making this film the most critically acclaimed Rugrats film to date.

Paramount released the film on VHS and DVD on March 27, 2001, almost two years post the home release of The Rugrats Movie. In 2009, Paramount put the film in iTunes and the PlayStation Store.

On March 15, 2011, Rugrats in Paris as well as The Rugrats Movie and Rugrats Go Wild was re-released on a 3-disc trilogy collection. It is unknown if there will be a Blu-ray version in the near future.