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Nicktoons is the brand name used by
Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...
for their original
animated series An animated series, or a cartoon series, is a set of Animation, animated films with a common title, usually related to one another. These episodes typically share the same main heroes, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series ...
. All Nicktoons are produced partly at the
Nickelodeon Animation Studio Nickelodeon Animation Studio Inc. (also known as Nickelodeon Animation Studios or Nick Animation and credited as Nickelodeon Productions on-screen) is an American animation studio owned by Paramount Global through the Nickelodeon Group. It has c ...
and list Nickelodeon's parent company (
Paramount Global Paramount Global (Trade name, d/b/a Paramount) is an American multinational mass media and entertainment Conglomerate (company), conglomerate controlled by National Amusements and Headquarters, headquartered at One Astor Plaza in Times Square, ...
) in their copyright bylines. Since its launch in the late 1970s, Nickelodeon's schedule incorporated animation produced by other companies. The channel did not invest in its own original cartoon series until 1989 when producer
Vanessa Coffey Vanessa Coffey is an American television producer and co-founder of the Nickelodeon Animation Studio best known for her work on '' Rugrats'', ''The Ren & Stimpy Show'', '' Doug'', and '' Rocko's Modern Life''. Coffey has won two Daytime Emmy Aw ...
visited
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
to accept pitches from local animators.
Geraldine Laybourne Geraldine "Gerry" Laybourne (''née'' Bond; born May 19, 1947) is an American entrepreneur and former TV executive. She worked at Nickelodeon from 1980 until 1996, when she became the president of Disney-ABC Cable Networks (including Disney Ch ...
, the channel's then-president, greenlit three pitches for full series: '' Doug'', ''
Rugrats ''Rugrats'' is an American animated television series created by Arlene Klasky, Gábor Csupó, and Paul Germain for Nickelodeon. The series focuses on a group of toddlers, most prominently Tommy, Chuckie, Phil, and Lil, and their day-to-d ...
'', and ''
The Ren & Stimpy Show ''The Ren & Stimpy Show'', commonly referred to as simply ''Ren & Stimpy'', is an American animated Comedy film, comedy television series created by John Kricfalusi for Nickelodeon. The series follows the misadventures of Ren Höek, an emotion ...
''. On August 11, 1991, the three cartoons premiered as part of a 90-minute block, becoming the first branded Nicktoons. In contrast to the merchandise-based cartoons that dominated the 1980s animation industry, Vanessa Coffey and Geraldine Laybourne agreed that the Nicktoons should be creator-driven: based on original characters designed by animators. The first Nicktoons debuted to financial success, convincing Viacom to invest in original animated shows for its other network
MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...
. Until 1998, Nickelodeon's animation division operated out of a rented office complex in Studio City, California. Production moved to an individual building in nearby
Burbank Burbank may refer to: Places Australia * Burbank, Queensland, a suburb in Brisbane United States * Burbank, California, a city in Los Angeles County * Burbank, Santa Clara County, California, a census-designated place * Burbank, Illinois, ...
on March 4, 1998. Among the first shows produced at this new facility was ''
SpongeBob SquarePants ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' is an American animated television series, animated comedy television series created by marine science educator and animator Stephen Hillenburg for Nickelodeon. It first aired as a sneak peek after the 1999 Kids' C ...
'', which by 2004 had become the most profitable Nickelodeon program. In 2002, a cable channel also called
Nicktoons Nicktoons is the brand name used by Nickelodeon for their original animated series. All Nicktoons are produced partly at the Nickelodeon Animation Studio and list Nickelodeon's parent company (Paramount Global) in their copyright bylines. Since ...
was launched, followed by multiple international versions. Several original shows have premiered new episodes on the channel. In the early 2010s, Nickelodeon debuted the first two Nicktoons based on preexisting TV franchises, as opposed to new characters: ''
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' (''TMNT'') is an American media franchise created by comic book artists Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. It follows Leonardo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Leonardo, Donatello (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), D ...
'' and ''
Winx Club ''Winx Club'' is an animated television series co-produced by Rainbow S.p.A., Rainbow and, later, Nickelodeon. It was created and directed by Italian animator Iginio Straffi. It premiered on 28January 2004, becoming a ratings success in Ita ...
''. These two revamped shows were developed at Nickelodeon Animation Studio following Viacom's purchases of both properties. In 2019, Nick Animation debuted its first streaming-exclusive Nicktoon, '' Pinky Malinky'', which was released on
Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
rather than television. Several months later, the studio announced a multi-year deal to produce animated content for Netflix, including new properties and spin-offs of previous Nicktoons.


History


Early efforts (1979–1988)

Nickelodeon's first original animated program, ''Video Dream Theatre'', was left unaired. It was produced over a half-year period in 1979, when the network hired its future president
Geraldine Laybourne Geraldine "Gerry" Laybourne (''née'' Bond; born May 19, 1947) is an American entrepreneur and former TV executive. She worked at Nickelodeon from 1980 until 1996, when she became the president of Disney-ABC Cable Networks (including Disney Ch ...
to make two pilots for the show. ''Video Dream Theatre'' used animation to visualize children's dreams in different styles, such as color Xerox. According to an interview with Laybourne herself, Nickelodeon did not broadcast the show because it was deemed too frightening; she commented, "the trouble with kids' dreams is they're really scary. It's a lot about abandonment, it's a lot about suffocation. They don't make very good stories." The network didn't have its own original animated series, and mainly aired animated shows from other companies, prior to the launch of the brand, two years before, the network had a compilation show titled "Looney Tunes on Nickelodeon" (which consisted of the Warner Bros. owned post-1948 Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies cartoons that would feature the cartoons melded with Nickelodeon idents and bumpers, the shorts would later move to Cartoon Network in the late 1990s), The network continued to only broadcast externally produced animation until almost a decade later, when animator
Ralph Bakshi Ralph Bakshi (; born October 29, 1938) is a Mandatory Palestine-born American retired animator and filmmaker, known for his fantastical animated films. In the 1970s, he established an alternative to mainstream animation through independent anim ...
pitched an original animated series called ''Tattertown''. In 1988, a half-hour pilot episode was produced, overseen by Debby Beece (Nickelodeon's senior vice president of programming). Nickelodeon declined to pick up a full series, and the pilot " Christmas in Tattertown" premiered on December 21, 1988, as a standalone Christmas special. The network's next attempt at an original animation was ''Nick's Thanksgiving Fest'', which was composed of two shorts. According to
Linda Simensky Linda Simensky is an American executive. She served as a creative executive for Nickelodeon Furniss, Maureen. (February 5, 2008)240 ''Art in Motion: Animation Aesthetics'' ''Indiana University Press''. Archived at Google Books. Retrieved October 1 ...
, the Thanksgiving shorts "gave Nickelodeon executives the confidence they needed to get the animation department started". During the production of ''Nick's Thanksgiving Fest'' in 1989, Geraldine Laybourne held a meeting at her house to develop a philosophy for the channel's original cartoons. She played tapes of current animated shows, which her colleagues viewed as merchandise-driven and overly commercial. The group decided that Nickelodeon should aim for the opposite of their contemporaries, producing cartoons that would keep their creators in a key creative role rather than prioritizing an efficient "assembly line" process.


Later investments and success (1988–2000)


1988–1996

Geraldine Laybourne laid out a set of rules for the network's cartoons, most importantly wanting to "put the creator back, front and center." She approached her fellow executive
Vanessa Coffey Vanessa Coffey is an American television producer and co-founder of the Nickelodeon Animation Studio best known for her work on '' Rugrats'', ''The Ren & Stimpy Show'', '' Doug'', and '' Rocko's Modern Life''. Coffey has won two Daytime Emmy Aw ...
to find artists in Los Angeles interested in pitching original cartoons. Coffey had experience working in animation and was the producer for ''Nick's Thanksgiving Fest'' in 1988. Laybourne gave Coffey "pretty much free rein to look for properties". Vanessa Coffey rented an apartment in Los Angeles for two weeks and accepted hourly pitches. She mailed animators a call for submissions, which she summarized as "I'm looking for ideas, I'm looking for concepts. The less developed, the better. I want drawings, not a big pitch." As Coffey accepted pitches, she decided that she did not want a "consistent look like Disney", specifically searching for projects that had completely different styles from each other. Of the pitches she accepted, Coffey decided to approve eight six-minute pilots at a cost of $100,000 each. Laybourne would eventually select three pilots to expand into full series, meant to fill a programming block of an hour and a half. The first Nicktoon that Coffey approved was Jim Jinkins' ''Doug'', followed by
Arlene Klasky Arlene Phyllis Klasky (born May 26, 1949) is an American animator, graphic designer, Film producer, producer and co-founder of Klasky Csupo with Gábor Csupó. In 1999, she was named one of the "Top 25 Women in Animation" by ''Animation Magazine' ...
and Gabor Csupo's ''Rugrats''. The final pitch that went to series came from
John Kricfalusi Michael John Kricfalusi ( ; born September 9, 1955), known professionally as John K., is a Canadian illustrator, blogger, and former animator and voice actor. He is the creator of the animated television series ''The Ren & Stimpy Show'', which ...
, who presented a variety show titled ''Your Gang'' with a live-action host presenting different cartoons, each cartoon parodying a different genre. Ren and Stimpy were pets of one of the children in ''Your Gang''. Coffey was dissatisfied with most of the pitch but did like Ren and Stimpy, singling them out for their own series. Both Coffey and Laybourne allowed the three shows to enter development. Between the pilots and series' production, Vanessa Coffey was named Nickelodeon's Vice President of Animation. In fall 1992, Nickelodeon fired John Kricfalusi. Coffey and Laybourne asserted that Kricfalusi was in breach of contract for not delivering on time, creating inappropriate content, and going over budget. Kricfalusi suspected the real reason was that the network was uncomfortable with more crude humor. After Kricfalusi and Nickelodeon missed several promised new-episode delivery and air dates, the network—which had purchased the rights to the ''Ren & Stimpy'' characters from Kricfalusi—negotiated a settlement with him. Production on ''Ren & Stimpy'' moved to Nickelodeon's animation department, Games Animation, and the show was put under the creative supervision of Bob Camp. Coffey soon stepped down as animation vice president for Nickelodeon to pursue her own projects. She was replaced by Mary Harrington, a Nickelodeon producer who moved out from New York to help run the Nicktoons division after Kricfalusi was fired. At the time, the Nicktoons were produced primarily out-of-house at Jumbo Pictures (''Doug'') and Klasky Csupo (''Rugrats''), with Nickelodeon's executives overseeing development. Hoping to concentrate production under one roof, Nickelodeon greenlit its first fully-in-house series, ''
Rocko's Modern Life ''Rocko's Modern Life'' is an American Television comedy, comedy animated television series created by Joe Murray (animator), Joe Murray for Nickelodeon. The series centers on the surreal life of an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic Australian ...
'', in 1992. A budget freeze in 1995 at Viacom (parent company of Nickelodeon) resulted in ''Ren & Stimpy'' being canceled that same year and the network passing on the final 13 episodes of their option for ''Doug''. Jinkins sold Jumbo Pictures to
Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...
in 1996, moving ''Doug'' over to ABC and
Toon Disney Toon Disney was an American multinational pay television channel owned by Disney Branded Television, a subsidiary of Disney-ABC Television Group. The channel's target audience was children aged 7–11, and older children and adolescents aged 8 ...
as a result. Nickelodeon retained the rights to the 52 episodes produced between 1991 and 1994 as a part of the agreement. Rugrats was cancelled by the network in 1994, but would later be revived as two holiday specials about
Hanukkah Hanukkah (, ; ''Ḥănukkā'' ) is a Jewish holidays, Jewish festival commemorating the recovery of Jerusalem and subsequent rededication of the Second Temple at the beginning of the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire in the 2nd ce ...
and The Passover before being revived in 1997 and airing until 2004, after that the Nickelodeon-Klasky/Csupo relationship would later continue until the 2010s, with shows such as Aaahh! Real Monsters in 1994(which centred on monsters who constantly scare people all the time),
The Wild Thornberrys ''The Wild Thornberrys'' is an American animated series, animated television series created by Arlene Klasky, Gábor Csupó, Steve Pepoon, David Silverman, and Stephen Sustarsic for Nickelodeon. The series portrays the zany hijinks of a family o ...
in 1998(which centred around a girl who a special power where she could talk to animals), Rocket Power in 1999(which centred on four troublesome Californian kids who are talented at
Extreme sports Action sports, adventure sports or extreme sports are activities perceived as involving a high degree of risk of injury or death. These activities often involve speed, height, a high level of physical exertion and highly specialized gear. Extre ...
such as
Skateboarding Skateboarding is an extreme sport, action sport that involves riding and Skateboarding trick, performing tricks using a skateboard, as well as a recreational activity, an art form, an entertainment industry Profession, job, and a method of tr ...
and
Surfing Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suita ...
), As Told By Ginger in 2000(which centred on a teenage girl trying to be popular) and a Rugrats spinoff All Grown Up in 2003 (which featured the characters as teenagers)


1996–2000

In 1996, Albie Hecht, then-president of Film and TV Entertainment for Nickelodeon, met with Nickelodeon artists to brainstorm an idea for a new Nicktoons studio. Nickelodeon's new facility, named Nickelodeon Animation Studio, would eventually open on March 4, 1998; Hecht said, "For me, this building is the physical manifestation of a personal dream, which is that when people think of cartoons, they'll say Nicktoons." In June 1997, Nickelodeon began a five-year, $350 million investment into original animation. As part of this effort, the company doubled its animation staff and produced many new pilots, including one for ''SpongeBob SquarePants''. Before commissioning ''
SpongeBob SquarePants ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' is an American animated television series, animated comedy television series created by marine science educator and animator Stephen Hillenburg for Nickelodeon. It first aired as a sneak peek after the 1999 Kids' C ...
'' as a full series, Nickelodeon executives insisted that it would not be popular unless the main character was a child who went to school, with his teacher as a main character. The show's creator, Stephen Hillenburg, recalled in 2012 that Nickelodeon told him, "Our winning formula is animation about kids in school... We want you to put SpongeBob in school." Hillenburg was ready to "walk out" on Nickelodeon and abandon the series, since he wanted SpongeBob to be an adult character. He eventually compromised by adding a new character to the main cast, Mrs. Puff, who is a boat-driving teacher. Hillenburg was happy with the compromise and said, "A positive thing for me that came out of it was ow it broughtin a new character, Mrs. Puff, who I love." According to Nickelodeon writer Micah Wright, the series pickups for both ''SpongeBob'' and '' CatDog'' were announced on the same day in 1997. Nickelodeon's senior vice president,
Kevin Kay Kevin Kay is an American television executive. A native of New Jersey, he began his career at NBC's Rockefeller Center studios in New York City working on ''Jeopardy!'' and ''The Tonight Show'' before joining ''Saturday Night Live'' and ultimat ...
, confirmed to the animation studio's creative team that it had greenlit 100 episodes (200 individual segments) of ''CatDog'' and six episodes (twelve segments) of ''SpongeBob''. Nickelodeon believed ''CatDog'' had the potential to be its next breakout hit, and their order represented an investment of $50 million into the series alone. Stephen Hillenburg was doubtful that his show would last, and he stated in 2009: "I was thinking if we could make a pilot, then we'd have one episode and have accomplished that. Then I thought if it did go to a full season that we'd get twelve chances to write stories and that might be it... that we'd make twelve shows and get canceled." In 1998, Nickelodeon premiered '' Oh Yeah! Cartoons'', which was intended as a "character laboratory" to test out cartoon characters. Creator
Fred Seibert Frederick G. Seibert is an American television producer and media proprietor. Seibert began his professional career as a jazz and blues record producer and audio engineer in the 1970s. He co-founded the record label Oblivion Records by 1972 an ...
described the show as an experiment into a seven-minute format that Nickelodeon generally avoided; he said, "they were very willing to try an experiment to see how it would work." The series eventually yielded three half-hour spin-offs based on segments from the show: ''
The Fairly OddParents ''The Fairly OddParents'' is an American animated television series created by Butch Hartman for Nickelodeon. The series follows the adventures of Timmy Turner, a 10-year-old boy with two Fairy godmother, fairy godparents named List of The Fai ...
'', '' ChalkZone'', and '' My Life as a Teenage Robot''. 1998 also marked the release of the first feature film based on a Nicktoon: '' The Rugrats Movie'', which became the first non-Disney animated film to gross over $100 million at the North American box office. On December 8, Nickelodeon's movie division greenlit theatrical adaptations of ''
Hey Arnold! ''Hey Arnold!'' is an American animated sitcom created by Craig Bartlett for Nickelodeon. It originally aired from October 7, 1996, to June 8, 2004. The show centers on fourth grader Arnold Shortman, who lives with his grandparents in an inner ...
'' and ''
The Wild Thornberrys ''The Wild Thornberrys'' is an American animated series, animated television series created by Arlene Klasky, Gábor Csupó, Steve Pepoon, David Silverman, and Stephen Sustarsic for Nickelodeon. The series portrays the zany hijinks of a family o ...
'', less than a month after ''Rugrats'' opened in theaters.


Building new brands (2000–2009)

At the turn of the millennium, Nickelodeon noticed that a new competitor,
Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...
, was attracting some of its 11–15 year old demographic. Desiring a cartoon suited for older viewers, Nickelodeon producer Mary Harrington contacted Jhonen Vasquez for a series pitch after reading his '' Squee!'' comic books. Vasquez pitched ''
Invader Zim ''Invader Zim'' is an American animated science fiction horror comedy television series created by comic book writer and cartoonist Jhonen Vasquez for Nickelodeon. The series centers on the titular character Zim (voiced by Richard Steven Ho ...
'', which satisfied Nickelodeon's requests for "something 'edgy'." Nickelodeon also sought out a new action-adventure cartoon after commissioning several
anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...
-inspired pilots that "didn't go anywhere", according to a ''
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' article. By 2002, Nickelodeon had rejected multiple Japanese series, considering them derivative or too mature for the channel's target audience. In response, Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino pitched '' Avatar: The Last Airbender'', and Nickelodeon ordered six episodes of the show. ''Avatar'' premiered in February 2005 to high ratings, after which Nickelodeon increased its order to 13 episodes and again to 20. In the early 2000s, Nickelodeon briefly continued its strategy of adapting Nicktoon franchises into theatrical features. Executives at the company's movie division decided to reconsider this approach after several films ('' Hey Arnold!: The Movie'' and '' Rugrats Go Wild'') were met with poor financial and critical reception. According to the ''
Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...
'', Nickelodeon believed the ''Hey Arnold!'' movie "didn't just fail but actually tarnished one of the company's best selling points: its trustworthy brand name." Aside from ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' films, Nickelodeon Movies stopped producing animated theatrical features based on their shows. In February 2005, high ratings from Butch Hartman's two Nicktoons (''
The Fairly OddParents ''The Fairly OddParents'' is an American animated television series created by Butch Hartman for Nickelodeon. The series follows the adventures of Timmy Turner, a 10-year-old boy with two Fairy godmother, fairy godparents named List of The Fai ...
'' and '' Danny Phantom'') convinced the network to sign a multi-year deal with Hartman. As part of the agreement, Hartman developed original animated and live-action concepts for Nickelodeon and its sister channel, Noggin. In a statement, Hartman said, "Working with everyone at Nickelodeon over the past several years has been hugely satisfying and I look forward to forging the same kind of terrific creative alliances with the folks at Noggin". In October 2006,
DreamWorks Animation DreamWorks Animation LLC (DWA, also known as DreamWorks Animation Studios or simply DreamWorks) is an American animation studio, owned by Comcast's NBCUniversal as part of Universal Pictures, a division of Universal Studios, Inc, Universal Stud ...
(who was then in a distribution deal with Nickelodeon's corporate sister
Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...
) announced that it would partner to co-produce animated shows with the channel. The partnership resulted in three CGI-animated shows based on DreamWorks' character library: ''
The Penguins of Madagascar ''The Penguins of Madagascar'' is an American animated television series produced by DreamWorks Animation in collaboration with Nickelodeon Animation Studio. It stars nine characters from DreamWorks' animated film ''Madagascar'': the penguin ...
'', '' Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness'', and ''
Monsters vs. Aliens ''Monsters vs. Aliens'' is a 2009 American animated science fiction comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Paramount Pictures. The film was directed by Conrad Vernon and Rob Letterman from a screenplay written by Let ...
''.


Rebranding (2009–2017)

In October 2009 and September 2010, respectively, Viacom brought ''
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' (''TMNT'') is an American media franchise created by comic book artists Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. It follows Leonardo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Leonardo, Donatello (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), D ...
'' and ''
Winx Club ''Winx Club'' is an animated television series co-produced by Rainbow S.p.A., Rainbow and, later, Nickelodeon. It was created and directed by Italian animator Iginio Straffi. It premiered on 28January 2004, becoming a ratings success in Ita ...
'' into the Nickelodeon family by purchasing both franchises. Nickelodeon Animation Studio produced a new CGI-animated ''Turtles'' series and new seasons of ''Winx Club'' with CGI sequences. ''TMNT'' and ''Winx'' were both inducted into the Nicktoons franchise after Nickelodeon launched them. The two productions comprised Nickelodeon's strategy to reboot two established brands for new viewers: ''TMNT'' was intended to reach an audience of boys aged 6 to 11, and ''Winx'' was aimed at the same age group of girls. In February 2011, Viacom bought out a third of Rainbow SpA, the Italian animation studio that introduced ''Winx Club''. The purchase was valued at 62 million euros (US$83 million) and led to new shows being co-developed by Rainbow and Nickelodeon, including '' Club 57'' and a pilot for the Nickelodeon Animated Shorts Program called "Crazy Block". In the early 2010s, Nickelodeon executives searched for independent animations on the Internet, looking for original ideas. Chris Viscardi, who would later become Nickelodeon Animation's senior vice president, stated that the studio desired to " etback to more creator-driven things." Nickelodeon eventually came across two animations they enjoyed: ''The Forest City Rockers'' (a short series by Jay Howell and Jim Dirschberger) and ''Breadwinners'' (a stand-alone short by Gary DiRaffaele and Steve Borst). Howell and Dirschberger were recruited to develop '' Sanjay and Craig'' while DiRaffaele and Borst were asked to expand their ''Breadwinners'' short into a full series. ''Sanjay and Craig'' premiered first, on May 25, 2013. After its debut, ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'' critic Robert Lloyd optimistically compared the show to the Nicktoons of the 1990s, writing that "the goofy and delightful series ... represents a positive step back for the network to where it once belonged." In the late 2010s, Nickelodeon revived three existing Nicktoons IP as one-off movies, including '' Hey Arnold!: The Jungle Movie'', '' Rocko's Modern Life: Static Cling'', and '' Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus''. The first aired on the Nickelodeon channel in November 2017, while the latter two premiered in August 2019 on Netflix. Jhonen Vasquez, the creator of ''Invader Zim'', stated in 2019 that the studio's support for the revival films waned due to a shift in management: "We had an immense amount of support throughout most of the production. Things just turn on a dime, people get axed, new people come in."


Expanding beyond cable (2018–present)

In 2018, Nickelodeon began to shift from focusing only on cable broadcasting to what it describes as a "studio model" that provides content for third-party companies. The decision was made based on the sharp decline of cable viewership due to the rise of
streaming services A streaming media service (also simply called a streaming service) is an online platform that allows users to watch or listen to content, such as film, movies, Television show, TV shows, music, or podcasts, over the internet. Instead of downloadi ...
. As part of this strategy, Nickelodeon announced that the series '' Pinky Malinky'' would release on
Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
as "the first straight-to-Netflix Nicktoon". The series premiered on the platform on January 1, 2019. On November 13, 2019, Nickelodeon expanded their relationship with Netflix with the announcement of a multi-year output deal, under which Nickelodeon Animation Studio will produce "original animated feature films and TV series based on both new and existing IP". On February 21, 2020, Nickelodeon's '' Glitch Techs'' premiered on Netflix, becoming the second Nicktoon to receive a digital-only release.


List of Nicktoons

Note: Animated series made for Nickelodeon's other brands (namely Nick Jr. and
Nick at Nite Nick at Nite (stylized as nick@nite since 2009) is an American nighttime programming block on Nickelodeon. List of programs broadcast by Nick at Nite, The block's programming broadcasts from prime time to Late-night television, late night, with ...
) are not included in this list.


Precursors


Full series


Mini series


Upcoming


See also

* List of programs broadcast by Nickelodeon *
Nicktoons (American TV channel) Nicktoons (formerly Nicktoons TV and Nicktoons Network, currently on air as NickSpongeBob) is an American pay television television channel, channel and sister service to Nickelodeon. It was launched in 2002, and is named after Nicktoons, which ...
*
Cartoon Cartoons Cartoon Cartoons is a collective name used by Cartoon Network for their original animated television series from July 14, 1997, to June 14, 2004, and produced primarily by Hanna-Barbera and later Cartoon Network Studios. The first Cartoon Cartoon ...
- a collective brand used for
Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...
* The Disney Afternoon - a syndicated block of
Disney Channel Disney Channel is an American pay television television channel, channel that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company ...
cartoons


Notes


References


Bibliography

* {{Portal bar, Animation, Television, United States, Cartoon Nickelodeon Nickelodeon programming blocks Television programming blocks Paramount Global franchises