NOTE: This is a reissue from a blog post 5 years ago.
On this day, Nickelodeon debuted their first three Nicktoons: Rugrats, Doug, and Ren and Stimpy. Each one had creative freedom and did whatever they wanted without restrictions of the shows like Hanna-Barbera of DIC.
Nicktoons is of extreme importance as the cartoons would help bring back animation big time along side The Simpsons, Disney, and some WB shows. Gone would be shows like The Smurfs and was replaced by shows now deemed towards a general audience (even though they were also grabbing kids attention).
Nickelodeon was just a mere kids channel for cable since the late 70's having to acquire licenses for other shows like Inspector Gadget. Once Looney Tunes went on the air, they knew they had a winner with their ratings and thought that they could create toons of their own because once the Looney Tunes license has ended...that's it (it ran for 11 years by the way).
Each of the 3 shows was different. Ren and Stimpy was based on exaggeration. Doug had more subtlety. Rugrats was more adventurous (albeit baby adventures). Ren and Stimpy lasted a good long while and had a few reboots I think for Spike TV to get away with more raunchy stuff. Doug ended up being acquired by Disney for a brief time and gave him his own movie. Eventually though, Doug would truly be split in two. The Nickelodeon originals stream on Paramount + and Nick channels while the Disney era would end up on Disney +. Rugrats outlasted them all with 9 seasons, 3 movies, a spinoff series All Grown Up, another failed spinoff series, and a reboot in 2021.
After the first three, the 90's were indeed "All That". Rocko's Modern Life, Hey Arnold, Aaahhh Real Monsters, and Catdog are to name a few. Even the late 90's spawned Rocket Power, Wild Thornberrys, and a little known show called Spongebob Squarepants.
The 2000's gave us Fairly Oddparents, Jimmy Neutron, and an attempt to recreate anime with Avatar the Last Airbender. This is when Spongebob became a hit. Underrated shows from that era include Invador Zim, Chalkzone, As Told by Ginger, My Life as a Teenage Robot, and The Mighty B, By 2009 however, Nickelodeon suffered a downhill spiral. The focus was more on live action shows like iCarly and others related to it. Sure, Spongebob got a successful 2nd and 3rd movie, but some of the decisions include buying the rights to Teenage Mutaint Ninja Turtles (very creative...NOT) and acquiring shows that became hits once again such as Alvin and the Chipmunks and Miraculous Ladybug.
Back in 2016 for Nicktoons' 25th, I wrote the following:
"If Nickelodeon was smart enough, Nicktoons could come back. Now they are rethinking what they've done and wish to reboot their older series. I wish they'd go back to creating new great products for themselves instead of rehashing the old ones, make not so good ones, or not paying attention to the newer ones at all. Especially with cartoons flourishing again, every studio is doing something new and creative except Nick."
Back in 2016 for Nicktoons' 25th, I wrote the following:
"If Nickelodeon was smart enough, Nicktoons could come back. Now they are rethinking what they've done and wish to reboot their older series. I wish they'd go back to creating new great products for themselves instead of rehashing the old ones, make not so good ones, or not paying attention to the newer ones at all. Especially with cartoons flourishing again, every studio is doing something new and creative except Nick."
Little did I know, that same year, a show was going on that was doing just that.
The late 2010's saw a slight reassurance of good Nicktoons returning. In 2016, The Loud House debuted and quickly became popular. So much so that it now has two movies (one animated one live action), shorts, novels and comic books, and a spinoff series called The Casagrandes. And just as Nickelodeon the channel was more Spongebob focused, the rise of streaming gave way to a new era of content consumption. Soon, all the Nicktoons became available for streaming including CBS All Access which became Paramount + in 2021.
All this stems to the millenial generation who grew up watching the original Nicktoons. By the 2010's, the old shows became the talk of the town and it encouraged reruns on some Nick channels including on Pluto TV and Paramount + as well as reboots. The Rugrats returned with much fanfare in 2021. There also was Kamp Koral and The Patrick Star Show which were spin offs of Spongebob.
All this stems to the millenial generation who grew up watching the original Nicktoons. By the 2010's, the old shows became the talk of the town and it encouraged reruns on some Nick channels including on Pluto TV and Paramount + as well as reboots. The Rugrats returned with much fanfare in 2021. There also was Kamp Koral and The Patrick Star Show which were spin offs of Spongebob.
The Nickelodeon of 30 years ago certainly was much different compared to today. Nowadays, corporate management has caused Spongebob to be the face of Nick, but one thing's for sure, Nickelodeon paved way to a great era of cartoons and memorable characters that we can identify with. So bring out the cake and some extra slime. Play the birthday song and PLAY IT LOUD!!!!!! Happy 30th Nicktoons!!!
