A to Z of Animation Studios: Nickelodeon Animation Studios

(Or: The Studio That Defined Childhoods, Launched a Slime Empire, and Occasionally Made Some of the Worst Shows Imaginable)

Welcome back to Animation Anarchy, where we celebrate animation history while also roasting studios that have given us both masterpieces and crimes against humanity. If you haven’t subscribed to our YouTube channel, do it now before Nickelodeon greenlights another show about talking farts.

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🔥 N is for Nickelodeon Animation Studios

Nickelodeon didn’t just make cartoons—they built an empire out of them.

Founded in 1990, Nickelodeon Animation Studios changed television forever by creating some of the most iconic cartoons of all time and some shows that feel like they were designed to annoy parents into turning off the TV.

Nickelodeon is a rollercoaster of quality—for every Avatar: The Last Airbender, there’s a Breadwinners.

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The Greatest Hits (A.K.A. Cartoons That Were More Important Than School)

• SpongeBob SquarePants (1999-Present) – The longest-running animated fever dream in history. SpongeBob started as a weird but brilliant comedy and became a meme factory that refuses to die.

• Avatar: The Last Airbender (2005-2008) – Nickelodeon’s magnum opus. A show so perfectly written, animated, and executed that people still rewatch it religiously.

• Rugrats (1991-2004) – Babies having deep philosophical thoughts while unsupervised. The definition of a ‘90s classic.

• The Fairly OddParents (2001-2017) – Started off brilliantly clever, then descended into madness when they added a talking dog and a baby fairy.

• Danny Phantom (2004-2007) – The best teen ghost superhero ever. Deserved way more seasons.

• Hey Arnold! (1996-2004) – The most chill and emotional kids’ show ever made.

• Invader Zim (2001-2006) – Nickelodeon’s weirdest and most chaotic show. Zim had no right being this dark and funny.

• The Wild Thornberrys (1998-2004) – Nature documentary meets Tim Curry chaos.

• Rocko’s Modern Life (1993-1996) – A show about a wallaby navigating adult life that snuck in more inappropriate jokes than any parent realized.

• The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius (2002-2006) – The first time kids asked, “Why does CGI look so weird?”

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Nickelodeon’s Worst Shows (A.K.A. What Went Wrong?)

• Fanboy & Chum Chum (2009-2014) – Imagine if a sugar rush was a show. Loud, annoying, unhinged.

• Breadwinners (2014-2016) – A show about ducks delivering bread. Animated in Flash. Somehow real.

• The Mighty B! (2008-2011) – Amy Poehler voiced a girl scout on steroids. It lasted three seasons.

• Nick Studio 10 (2013) – Not animated, but worth mentioning because it was so bad it was pulled off the air within months.

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The Nickelodeon Formula™ (A.K.A. How to Print Money)

1. A simple, goofy premise. (What if a sponge worked at a fast food place?)

2. Fast-paced, exaggerated humor. (Screaming = comedy!)

3. Catchy theme song. (90% of Nick theme songs are bangers.)

4. Merchandising. (They sold Reptar Bars. They made SpongeBob MAC lipstick. Nickelodeon will slap their characters on anything.)

5. At least one live-action reboot that nobody asked for.

Nickelodeon dominated kids’ animation for decades, but eventually… they got lazy.

• They rejected Adventure Time.

• They ran SpongeBob into the ground.

• They let Cartoon Network and Disney Animation take the lead.

Nickelodeon is still around, but their golden era is over.

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🎖 Honorable Mention: Nelvana (Babar, Care Bears, the Overlooked Canadian Giants)

While Nickelodeon was making cartoons loud and chaotic, Nelvana was quietly making some of the best animated kids’ shows ever.

What Did They Make?

• Babar (1989-1991) – The most wholesome, sophisticated elephant king in animation history.

• Care Bears (1985-1988) – The show that tried to teach kids emotions through aggressively cute bears.

• Beetlejuice (1989-1991) – A surprisingly weird and fun animated adaptation of the Tim Burton movie.

• Redwall (1999-2002) – A seriously underrated fantasy series about warrior mice and medieval battles.

• Clone High (2002-Present) – Yes, the same Clone High that got revived 20 years later.

Why Nelvana Deserves More Love

• They made high-quality kids’ shows that didn’t insult your intelligence.

• Their animation was clean, unique, and well-produced.

• They rarely get the credit they deserve.

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Final Thoughts (A.K.A. Why You Should Subscribe Before Nickelodeon Reboots Your Childhood Poorly)

Nickelodeon? The kings of ‘90s and 2000s animation, even if they’ve lost their edge.

Nelvana? The underrated Canadian powerhouse that quietly shaped animation history.

Next up? O for Osamu Tezuka Productions—the studio that basically created modern anime.

(Spoiler: Astro Boy walked so all anime protagonists could run.) 🚀