.svg) Logo used since 2016 | |
 The Nickelodeon Animation Studio on Olive Avenue in Burbank, California | |
| Formerly | Games Animation (1992–1998) |
|---|---|
| Company type | Subsidiary |
| Industry | Animation |
| Predecessor | Spümcø (1989–1992) |
| Founded | 1992; 33 years ago (1992) |
| Founders |
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| Headquarters |
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| Products | |
| Parent | Nickelodeon Group |
| Divisions | |
| Website | nickanimation.com |
Nickelodeon Animation Studio, Inc. (also known asNickelodeon Animation Studios andNick Animation) is an Americananimation studio owned byParamount Skydance Corporation through theNickelodeon Group. It has created manyoriginal animated television programs forNickelodeon,Nicktoons, andNick Jr., such asSpongeBob SquarePants,The Fairly OddParents,Rugrats,Avatar: The Last Airbender, andThe Loud House, among various others. Since the 2010s, the studio has also produced its own series based on preexistingIP purchased by Paramount Skydance Corporation, such asTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles andWinx Club. In November 2019, Nickelodeon Animation Studio signed a multiple-year output deal forNetflix, which will include producing content, in both new and preexisting IP, for the streaming platform, while also doing so forParamount+.[2]
The studio was founded in 1992 under the nameGames Animation Inc. as a subsidiary of a pre-existing company namedGames Productions (now known asNickelodeon Productions).[3] It oversaw the production of three animated programs for Nickelodeon:Doug,Rugrats andThe Ren & Stimpy Show. In 1992, Nickelodeon began work on Games Animation's first fully in-house series,Rocko's Modern Life. Games Animation produced much of the network's mid-1990s output in partnership with other animation companies likeKlasky Csupo. In 1998, the studio moved fromStudio City, California toBurbank with the construction of a new facility. It was renamedNickelodeon Animation Studio and laterNickelodeon Studios Burbank. In 1999, a second facility inNew York City was opened, namedNickelodeon Animation Studio New York.[4]
Nickelodeon Animation Studio's beginnings lie in the roots of the channel'sNicktoons endeavor. In 1990, Nickelodeon hiredVanessa Coffey as a creative consultant to develop Nicktoons,[3] providing her with the task of seeking out new characters and stories that would allow the channel a grand entrance into the animation business.[5] The high cost of high-quality animation had discouraged the network from developing weekly animated programming. Although most television networks at the time tended to go to large animation houses with proven track records to develop Saturday-morning series, often generally pre-sold characters from movies, toys or comics, Nickelodeon desired differently. Inspired by the early days of animation and the work ofBob Clampett,Tex Avery andChuck Jones, Nickelodeon set out to find frustrated cartoonists swallowed up by the studio system.[6] Nickelodeon presidentGeraldine Laybourne commissioned eight six-minute pilots at a cost of $100,000 each before selecting three. Seeking the most innovative talents in the field, the products of this artists' union –Doug,Rugrats andThe Ren & Stimpy Show – represented twelve years of budget-building toward that end.[5] Coffey was hired as Nickelodeon's Executive Producer of Animation between the pilots and series production.[3] The Nicktoons were produced by external studios,Jumbo Pictures,Klasky Csupo andSpümcø, with oversight from Nickelodeon. However, this method of production led to both Spümcø and Jumbo Pictures having strained relationships with the network, with only Klasky Csupo retaining a relationship with the network to the present.
In fall 1992, the studio firedJohn Kricfalusi and Spümcø fromThe Ren & Stimpy Show. Coffey asserts that John was in breach of contract for not delivering on time, creating disturbing content and going over budget.[7] Kricfalusi suspected the real reason was that the network was uncomfortable with more crude humor.[8] Nickelodeon objected to numerous proposed plotlines and new characters—includingGeorge Liquor, anArchie Bunker-ish "All-American Male". After missing several promised new-episode delivery and air dates, Nickelodeon's parent companyMTV Networks—which had purchased the rights to theRen & Stimpy characters from Kricfalusi—negotiated a settlement with him.[8] The creative tug of war was closely watched by both animators and the television industry and covered in the national press.
In response, Nickelodeon moved the series' production to its own studio, Games Animation in 1992, located in an office building inStudio City, California. It is located under Games Productions, the in-name division founded in 1987 to manage Nickelodeon.[9][10] The series was moved to Games, who hired as much personnel from Spümcø as possible and put under the creative supervision ofBob Camp, one of Kricfalusi's former writer-director partners, in order to continue producingThe Ren & Stimpy Show; this period was considered to be a great decline in quality for the series, eventually being cancelled in 1995.[8] 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 that was a near-shambles after Kricfalusi was fired.[10]
Nickelodeon's plan was to hire bright, young animators and let them do almost anything they want.[11] In 1992, animatorJoe Murray was approached by the studio with intentions of developing a new animated series for Nickelodeon. The series became Games Animation's first in-house production,Rocko's Modern Life, which premiered on the network in 1993. Games worked on the show for three years and employed over 70 people during the course of its run. Executives did not share space with the creative team.[12] The show ended in 1996 as its creator Joe Murray wanted to spend more time with his family.
Games Animation also lostDoug from internal conflicts with Jumbo Pictures. After declining to produce the fifth season of the show, MTV Networks sold the intellectual property of the show toThe Walt Disney Company in 1994, forcing Games Animation andEllipse Programme to depart from the show. However, it left Games Animation with guaranteed control over all the shows they would eventually produce aside fromRugrats.[13]
Following the end ofRocko's Modern Life, Games Animation produced the pilots forHey Arnold!,The Angry Beavers andCatDog, along with the former's first 26 episodes, and the second's first 13 episodes. The latter was produced by Nickelodeon Animation Studio along with the other two by this point forward.
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In 1996,Albie Hecht, then-president of Film and TV Entertainment for Nickelodeon, met with Nickelodeon artists for a brainstorming session on the elements of their ideal studio, and, with their feedback (and some inspiration from the fabledWilly Wonka chocolate factory), created "a playful, inspirational and cutting-edge lab which will hopefully give birth to the next generation of cartoon classics." He added, "For me, this building is the physical manifestation of a personal dream, which is that when people think of cartoons, they'll say Nicktoons."[14] Nickelodeon and parent companyViacom threw a bash to celebrate the opening of the new Nicktoons animation studio on March 4, 1998. During the launch party, a gathering of union labor supporters formed a picket line to protest Nickelodeon's independent hiring practices outside the studio's iron gates.[14]
Located at 231 West Olive Avenue in Burbank, California, the 72,000-square-foot (6,700 m2) facility, designed by Los Angeles architecture firm AREA, houses 200–300 employees and up to five simultaneous productions. It also contains a miniature golf course (with a hole dedicated toWalt Disney), an indoor basketball course/screening room, an artists' gallery, a studio store, and a fountain that shoots green water into the air.[14] The Nicktoons studio houses five, project driven production units. Each has its own color and design environment and includes a living room, writer's lounge, and storyboard conference room. The studio also has afoley stage, a post-production area, sound editing and mixing rooms and an upstairs loft area with skylights for colorists.[14]
In September 1999, Nickelodeon opened a major new digital animation studio at1633 Broadway inManhattan. The New York studio primarily took over production ofNick Jr. animated properties.[15] At the same time, the Los Angeles facility animated the intro forThe Amanda Show.
It was reported in 2005 that the Burbank studio was up for sale; this was later corrected, as the owner of the building was selling it.[16]
In mid-2006,Nickelodeon announced a collaboration withDreamWorks Animation to create shows based on DWA's films. The first DWA co-production wasThe Penguins of Madagascar, which would eventually premiere in November 2008 (followed by 2011'sKung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness and 2013'sMonsters vs. Aliens).
In 2007, Nick launchedEl Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera (the first Nicktoon created inAdobe Flash) andTak and the Power of Juju (based on thevideo game series of the same name).Back at the Barnyard (a spinoff of the theatrical filmBarnyard) was released that same year. These shows showed Nickelodeon's increasing willingness to collaborate with a diverse portfolio of companies, withMexopolis andTHQ being examples.
In 2009, Nickelodeon acquired the rights toTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles from Mirage Studios.[17] In early 2011, Viacom bought 30 percent of the Italian studioRainbow SpA, the creators ofWinx Club.[18] Following both purchases, Nickelodeon Animation Studio began to produce new content for both franchises: acontinuation ofWinx Club and areboot series ofTMNT. Since they were produced by Nickelodeon Animation Studio,[19] Nickelodeon refers to both continuations as officialNicktoons.[20]
By 2013, Nickelodeon's deal with DreamWorks Animation had reached an end; according toBob Schooley, Nickelodeon Animation expressed a desire to refocus on "more Nickish shows".[21] Looking for original concepts, Nickelodeon Animation Studio created theNickelodeon Animated Shorts Program, under which it would produce new animated shorts with the potential to turn into whole shows. A select few were greenlit and premiered within the following years.
In 2016, Nickelodeon's Burbank animation facility moved into a five-story glass structure that is part of a larger studio complex. The move was intended to bring animated productions currently produced elsewhere in Southern California under a single production facility.[22] Because it houses both animated and live-action productions, the Burbank location has been renamed to simply "Nickelodeon Studios" (which is not to be confused with theoriginal Nickelodeon Studios at Universal Studios Florida, which closed in 2005).[23] The studio also houses the Nickelodeon time capsule, first buried inOrlando, Florida in 1992 at the original Nickelodeon Studios and later at theNickelodeon Suites Resort in 2006, which has moved to the new studio by the latter's closure and rebrand on June 1, 2016.[24] The capsule is set to be opened on April 30, 2042. The new studio opened on January 11, 2017.
In October 2018,Brian Robbins became president of Nickelodeon.[25] In November, he appointedRamsey Ann Naito as head of animation at Nickelodeon;[26] she was later promoted to president of Nickelodeon Animation Studio in 2020.[27] In both roles, Naito reported to Robbins. Under Robbins' presidency, Nickelodeon began to focus more on expanding some its preexisting franchises. At Nickelodeon Animation Studio, this effort encompassed continuations for legacy shows, includingRocko's Modern Life: Static Cling andInvader Zim: Enter the Florpus forNetflix and aCGI reboot ofRugrats forParamount+. The first-everSpongeBob spin-offs (Kamp Koral: SpongeBob's Under Years andThe Patrick Star Show) were also produced. The studio also collaborated with corporate siblingCBS Eye Animation Productions to produceStar Trek: Prodigy.[28] In 2021,Avatar Studios, a division of Nickelodeon Animation dedicated to producing projects from theAvatar: The Last Airbender franchise, was launched.[29] In 2023, the studio signed afirst-look deal for animated series and features with Lion Forge Entertainment.[30]
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