Nickelodeon Animation Studio

Background: Nickelodeon Animation Studios (also known as "Nicktoons Productions"), the animation unit of Nickelodeon, was established from Games Animation in 1990 to produce animated TV shows known as Nicktoons for Nickelodeon and Nicktoons Network. In 2016, the studio was simply renamed to "Nickelodeon Studios" due to the animation staff moving to a new studio complex that houses both animated and live-action productions.

1st Logo (1990-August 17, 2008)


Nicknames: "The Haystack", "The Haypile", "The Nick Haystack", "The Nick Scribble"

Logo: On a black background, we see a Nickelodeon logo, which resembles an orange haystack or scribble. Copyright info is seen below.

Copyrights:
 * 1990-April 13, 1995: "(C)(year) MTV Networks"
 * 1994-1997: "(C)(year) Nickelodeon"
 * 1995-2005: "(C)(year) VIACOM" or "(C)VIACOM (year)" (The byline was blurry in 1995 and early 1996)

Variants:
 * On Season 1 episodes of Hey Arnold!, the copyright text was in a chalk-like font.
 * On the original Rugrats pilot, the logo is darker, probably due to quality issues.
 * A variant exists in which the logo is slightly redder, as seen on season 1 episodes of Ren & Stimpy.
 * Starting in late-1997, the copyright stamp for the "Nickelodeon" variant was extended to say: "Copyright (year) Nickelodeon, a programming service of Viacom International Inc. (NAME OF SHOW) and all related titles, logos, and characters are trademarks of Nickelodeon, a programming service of Viacom International Inc."
 * A variant with no copyright info exists.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: None, or the end theme of the show.

'Music/Sounds Variants:
 * On most episodes of Rugrats and its spinoff, All Grown Up!, as well as The Wild Thornberrys, AAAHH!!! Real Monsters!, Rocket Power, and As Told by Ginger, a humorous quote from the episode is heard, though this was not present on earlier seasons.
 * On the first two seasons of AAAHH!!! Real Monsters, the tail end of the Klasky-Csupo "Graffiti" logo's theme plays over the logo.
 * On Doug, the Jumbo Pictures music carries over to this logo.
 * On the Rugrats episode "The Baby Vanishes/Farewell, My Friend", we hear an audio engineer saying (tying into how in the end credits for said episode, Tommy and Chuckie are heard arguing over whether the basement in their home is scary or not): "Gonna keep you going even longer than that next time, we'll do it one more time." This variant was often taken out of future Nickelodeon airings due to split-screen credits, but was later put back in on The '90s Are All That airings prior to rebranding as The Splat.
 * On the original pilot version of The Ren & Stimpy Show 's episode "Big House Blues", calliope music was heard during this logo since the ending theme didn't trail into the Carbunkle Cartoons and Spumco logos.
 * On a DVD release of The Amanda Show, this logo had the buzzing sounds of the 1996 Nickelodeon Productions logo.
 * On DVD and VHS releases of The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, this logo had the same audio as the next logo's variant with the show’s theme and Jimmy saying "Gotta blast!"

Availability: Even though this logo has become a victim of plastering with the 2009 Nickelodeon Productions logo, it's still very common thanks to its long usage, which especially extends to home media. The MTV Networks copyright can be currently be seen on VHS tapes and DVDs of Rugrats episodes from the era, (including the pilot) and is currently seen on The '90s Are All That on TeenNick, VHS tapes and DVDs of early episodes of Rocko's Modern Life and is also seen on The '90s Are All That on TeenNick, and 1991-1994 episodes of The Ren & Stimpy Show on VHS and is again, also seen on The '90s Are All That on TeenNick, as the Seasons 1 & 2 DVD edit it out. However, it's intact on the "Seasons 3 and a Halfish" and Season 5 and Some more of 4 DVDs, and VHS tapes and DVDs of pre-1994 episodes of Doug, which is, once again, currently seen on The '90s Are All That on TeenNick. The Nickelodeon byline is rather rare as it was used for a short time along with being used concurrently with the Viacom copyright from 1995-1996 and it can be seen on VHS tapes of some Rugrats episodes from the era and is seen on The '90s Are All That on TeenNick, VHS tapes and DVDs of The Ren & Stimpy Show episodes from the era, VHS tapes of some Rocko's Modern Life episodes from this era, and season 1-3 episodes of ''AAAHH!!! Real Monsters on VHS, which was last seen in October 2011 on The '90s Are All That'' on TeenNick. It was also seen on The Angry Beavers pilot episode from 1994 called "Snowbound". The Viacom variant is super-duper common and can be seen on all Nicktoons up until 1997, when they used the logo below. At that point, only Klasky Csupo shows such as Rugrats, As Told by Ginger, and The Wild Thornberrys used this logo along with SpongeBob SquarePants (current prints of the latter use the next logo instead). The 1997 variant is rare and can only be found on late-1997 episodes of Rugrats and ''AAAHH!!! Real Monsters. The first three seasons of Rocko's Modern Life'' released through Shout! Factory have this logo intact (2011-2012). The "Big House Blues" variant is very rare, since not only does the Seasons 1 & 2 DVD edit it out as well as the other episodes but when aired the episode shares "In The Army"'s credits. This logo also appeared on the obscure Rugrats Pre-School Daze series, which can be found as a bonus feature on some Rugrats DVD releases.It was intact on MTV airings of The Ren & Stimpy Show. Strangely, some animated Nick shows did not use this logo, such as KaBlam! and Pelswick, as they used the 1996 Nickelodeon Productions logo.

Editor's Note: If one never saw this logo before, they could get confused on what the haystack is supposed to be. Nonetheless, this logo is a favorite of many.

2nd Logo (1996-July 19, 2009)


Nicknames: "Splat!", "The Orange Splat", "The Nicktoons Splat"

Logo: We see the Nickelodeon splat logo, but reading "NICKTOONS" on a black BG (although sometimes it reads "NICKELODEON" and is stretched out more). Copyright information is seen below, or sometimes not at all.

Variants:
 * There is an animated version of the Nickelodeon logo which is seen on the trailer for Harriet the Spy and on Yakkity Yak. A CGI ball appears on a black background and then forms a "NICKELODEON" splat, which resembles the Nicktoons version but with smaller text. The long version was only seen on the "Fat Files" shorts. On the latter, a copyright for Nickelodeon Australia scuttles in below in orange.
 * On some split-screen credits airings of Invader Zim, the copyright doesn't appear for a few seconds.
 * On Oh Yeah! Cartoons, the words "Produced at the Nickelodeon Animation Studios, Burbank, California" are in between the logo and copyright info.
 * On Garlic Boy, The logo is smaller and tilted to the right.

FX/SFX: Usually, it's a still logo. For the animated version, it's the ball bouncing and the splat forming.

Music/Sounds: The closing theme of the show or a soundbite of the show. Sometimes, none.

Music/Sounds Variants:
 * For the animated version, it uses the bouncing sounds followed by a splatting noise.
 * On The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, we hear the theme song's opening riff and Jimmy saying "Gotta blast!".
 * Usually for the split-screen credits, it's the same as the original credits (including Jimmy saying "Gotta blast!"). In the case of Invader Zim, however, two variants were used. One was the synth drone and electricity sparking from the start of the episode "The Nightmare Begins" (which was the most common), and the other was a modified version of Zim laughing at the end of the opening theme.
 * On multiple 2005 airings of Avatar: The Last Airbender, a glitch happened where the superimposed version showed after the split screen credits with the kids laughing audio.

Availability: Was very common in its own time, but it's now rare, as Nickelodeon is deleting pre-2009 logos on television, and is replacing them with the 2009 Nickelodeon Productions logo. However, some prints keep this logo intact. First seen on the trailer for Harriet the Spy. The "Nicktoons" variant appeared on every new Nicktoon starting with The Angry Beavers, and was also used on CatDog, ChalkZone, and recent prints of SpongeBob SquarePants episodes from the era, plastering the "Scribble", among others, excluding all Klasky-Csupo/Nick shows, up until Tak and the Power of Juju. But, the 2009 Nickelodeon Productions logo usually plasters over this on reruns in an very annoying manner. Even The Splat on TeenNick is updating this logo and the 1st one with the same logo during split-screen credits (Angry Beavers is one show that still retains this logo because there is no split screen credits at the end). So, your best option is Nick On Demand. Hey Arnold has this logo plastered by the one of the 2017 Nickelodeon Productions logos on NickSplat, but On Demand prints retain it (season 1 episodes have the 1st logo). CatDog and Angry Beavers also retain this On Demand. The "Nickelodeon" variant is seen on Jimmy Neutron, Catscratch, non-US airings of early El Tigre episodes, early episodes of Random Cartoons!, 2007 episodes of SpongeBob SquarePants, My Life as a Teenage Robot, and the final season of Chalkzone. It's also superimposed over the closing credits of Avatar: The Last Airbender. The main logo still appears on new episodes of shows that debuted prior to 2007, such as SpongeBob SquarePants, up until 2008. The version without the copyright info was seen on Charlotte's Web 2 - Wilbur's Great Adventure and the teaser trailer for The Rugrats Movie. It is retained on Amazon Instant Video prints of SpongeBob SquarePants. At the time from 2001-2006, this logo was seen on certain Nicktoons after split-screen credits on Nickelodeon replacing "The Weird Object". This includes Jimmy Neutron, the Frederator Nicktoons (Oh Yeah! Cartoons, The Fairly OddParents [the latter alternated with "The Weird Object"], ChalkZone, and My Life as a Teenage Robot), Danny Phantom, and Invader Zim, which kept their respective logos while all of the other Nicktoons used the regular Nickelodeon logo. Along with "The Weird Object", this has been extinct on television since 2006 and can only be found on VHS recordings or encodes online. Also seen on the Jimmy Neutron pilot from 1998 and the SpongeBob SquarePants pilot from 1997. The last cartoon to premiere with this logo was El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera, while the last to use it was on the SpongeBob SquarePants episode Goo Goo Gas. It could also be seen on the three super-deformed shorts of Avatar: The Last Airbender , which are preserved on the season 2 DVD release.

Editor's Note: If this logo has been shown after Nickelodeon USA's split-screen credits, sometimes the name of the show in the copyright notice is very horribly shortened down. (e.g,My Life as a Teenage Robot becomes Teen Age Robot, and Oh Yeah! Cartoons becomes Oh Yeah!)

3rd Logo (1999-2006?)
Nicknames: "Basic Splat", "Trampoline Splat", "The Bouncing Splat"

Logo: On a white background, an orange ball of slime bounces on a trampoline (which has a sky blue pad, grey supports, and orange rimming) 3 times, with each bounce producing 3 orange pulses. The camera shifts around it as well, showing a blue "sky" briefly. After the 3rd bounce, the blob flies towards the screen as the "NICKELODEON" appears on it and the blob continues to wave, as "A" and "PRODUCTION" appear letter by letter in orange. In the lower right corner, 4 translucent orange rings pulse out as the blob stops waving, becomes 2D, and changes shape before cutting to the show.

Variant: There is a variant seen on international airings of Rocket Power which just has the Nickelodeon logo.

FX/SFX: CGI animation of the ball and the trampoline.

Music/Sounds: Three bouncing sounds, followed by the first seven notes of the Nickelodeon theme being played on an off-key glockenspiel.

Availability: Rare; can be seen on Spanish prints of Nickelodeon shows, such as episodes of Pistas de Blue (the Spanish dub of Blue's Clues) on Nick on Demand En Español. In Brazil, it is seen some season 3 episodes of SpongeBob SquarePants, the first season of Dora The Explorer, on some episodes of Blue's Clues, As Told By Ginger, The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, and Rocket Power.