Nickelodeon Movies

Background
Nickelodeon Movies is the motion picture production arm of American children's cable network Nickelodeon. In 1993, Nickelodeon made a deal with 20th Century Fox to produce films based on their properties such as their original Nicktoons, but no movies were made under this deal due to the Nick/TCF contract expiring in 1995. Nickelodeon Movies was established to produce movies based on their shows, as well as other original family films. All of their movies are distributed by Paramount Pictures, except for The Loud House Movie, which is distributed by Netflix, as when Nickelodeon Movies was founded, its parent company Viacom (now ViacomCBS) had merged with Paramount Communications. Their first film was Harriet the Spy, released in 1996.

1st Logo (July 10, 1996)
Nicknames: "The Rhino", "Nick Rhino", "Not-TriStar"

Logo: A blue rhino is shown running on what appears to be clouds (in a send-up of the TriStar Pictures logo), as the camera slowly brightens. However, he repeatedly bumps, slips, and crashes into the "clouds" in the logo, which turns out to be cardboard cutouts on a movie set. The rhino trips over the Nickelodeon logo, shaped like a cloud, and crashes into the screen. The rhino pulls himself off the screen and hangs onto the Nickelodeon cloud on a black background, causing the cloud to turn into the familiar splat design. The rhino swings a bit on it and then smiles at the screen.

Variant: On 4:3 full-screen prints of Harriet the Spy, the logo is both choppier and open matte.

FX/SFX: 2D animation and 3D visual effects in a style called "Blendo". This logo was produced by Colossal Pictures in San Francisco on a Silicon Graphics computer with Softimage software.

Music/Sounds: Dramatic orchestral music that starts getting messed up as the rhino trips, along with yelping from the rhino as he bumps and stumbles around the set. The music builds up as the rhino crashes into the screen, segueing into a rap-style vocal version of the Nickelodeon jingle.

Availability: Seen only in the company's first film, Harriet the Spy. This logo also appeared as an ident in Summer 1996 to promote the film.

Editor's Note: This logo appears to be a parody of the TriStar Pictures logo. A clever and well-animated logo.

2nd Logo (July 25, 1997)
Nicknames: "Nick to Go", "Home of the Good Burger", "Who Loves Orange Soda?", "Kel's Favorite Logo"

Logo: On a black and blue gradient background, we see orange soda being dispensed into a large cup. When it is done pouring, a lid with a straw closes the top, and the cup drives around the screen like a racecar until it brakes and falls. The lid comes off, and the soda spills out, with the Nickelodeon wordmark on it.

Trivia: This logo pays homage to a Nickelodeon Productions logo from 1995.

Variants:
 * On full-screen prints of Good Burger, the logo is choppier.
 * On the trailer for Good Burger, the Paramount logo stretches into a still, lightly-colored version of this logo.
 * On The Making of Good Burger, the logo has "MOVIES" below in the same font as "NICKELODEON". This variant is also still.

FX/SFX: It's all CGI.

Music/Sounds: Soda pouring and car sounds. The brake sounds are accompanied by the jingle from the 1985 "Nick Nick Nick" bumper.

Availability: Only seen on Good Burger (1997). Also appeared as an ident on Nickelodeon in Summer 1997 to promote the film.

Editor's Note: Well-done concept, but the CGI has not aged well. The soda looks more like sludge, which may be intentional, given that slime is one of Nickelodeon's most recognizable trademarks.

3rd Logo (1997)
Nickname: "Crane Operator"

Logo: On a white background, we see an orange movie camera with "NICKELODEON" (in its well known font) and a green filmstrip with "MOVIES" on it unfolding from one of the filmreels.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: The opening theme/voiceover of the trailer.

Availability: Rare. This logo was made specifically for the first trailer for The Rugrats Movie, although it was used as a print logo from the company's inception until the premiere of the 5th logo.

4th Logo (November 20, 1998)


Nicknames: "Slap T. Pooch", "Slap's Fleck", "The Nick Footprint"

Logo: We see Slap T. Pooch (a character from a pilot that aired on Oh Yeah! Cartoons) walk in out of nowhere on a black background, as he spots a blob of orange goo. It then goes to a really close zoom on his face and hand as he starts fidgeting with it. It then gets stuck to his fingers and he struggles to throw it off. Once it does, it starts bouncing off the walls and then gets stuck to his foot. He then jumps around to remove it, making more orange spots on the ground. A shadow then appears over Slap, then a giant purple monster foot stomps on Slap and the goo, turning the latter into the Nickelodeon footprint as seen on the gates to the Nicktoons Studios in Burbank, CA. The camera pans to reveal it, then Slap falls off of it.

Trivia:
 * The way the giant foot smashes Slap is a possible shout-out to Monty Python's Flying Circus, where sketches would often abruptly end by something like a giant foot or a weight coming down from the sky and crushing whatever was on the screen (for example, the giant foot is what ends the show's intro).
 * The logo was creative directed by George Evelyn, and animated by Chuck Gammage Animation based on a character (from the Oh Yeah! Cartoons pilot of the same name) created by Bill Burnett and designed by Vincent Waller.

Variants:
 * On publicity for The Rugrats Movie and Rugrats In Paris: The Movie (as well as the video game of the latter), a blue oval reading "MOVIES" in the Arial Narrow font accompanies the footprint. Note that this is not seen on Rugrats In Paris: The Movie.
 * On full-screen prints of The Rugrats Movie, the logo is choppier.

FX/SFX: Slap and the dot, Slap struggling, the foot stomping Slap, and the camera panning to show the Nickelodeon logo, produced by Colossal Pictures on a Silicon Graphics computer with Softimage software.

Music/Sounds: A cartoon soundtrack accompanied by cartoon sound effects and music cues, culminating in a hip-hop mix of the Nickelodeon theme accompanied with a tuba "wah-wah" sound effect that reverberates. The drum sample used is from "Think (About it)" by Lyn Collins, a James Brown-produced record.

Availability: It's only seen on The Rugrats Movie. Was also shown as an ID on Nickelodeon in Fall 1998 to promote the film. It can also be seen on The Rugrats Movie for the Game Boy.

Editor's Note: Back to 2D animation for this one. While it has a good concept as usual, one has to wonder why they used an obscure character from the little known anthology show Oh Yeah!, where he only appeared in one segment.

5th Logo (February 11, 2000-December 21, 2001)
Nicknames: "The Man and the House", "Nick Balls", "Three Circles"

Logo: Here are the logo variants used:
 * Snow Day: A man shovels the snow off the walk to his house and his dog is watching him, sitting down on the snow. Then, a giant snowball falls onto his house and completely destroys it in a very graphic manner. The dog runs off barking in a panic and the man does a double take. The snow falls off the snowball revealing a large orange ball with the word "NICKELODEON" on it. The background turns black and the ball then bounces to the middle-left of the screen, with a small orange ball and a blue ball with "movies" on it following, and then it fades out.
 * Rugrats in Paris: The Movie: There is a special Parisian variant which is nearly the same, except the regular man is replaced with a stereotypical French man raking leaves in front of his house in the autumn season, and the Eiffel Tower can be seen in the background not too far from his house. The ball smashing the house is now just the big orange ball with "NICKELODEON" on it, then the logo resumes like normally, and the live-action dog appears on the bottom-right of the screen, barking at the logo once before it fades out.
 * Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius: We start with the orange Nickelodeon ball bouncing to the middle-left of the screen alongside the smaller orange ball. Then Goddard runs into screen with a synthesized bark. He looks at the logo and whimpers, knowing it's incomplete. He activates a laser beam on his back and creates the blue "movies" ball. He puts away the laser and looks at the audience.

Variant: On the ID version of the Snow Day and Rugrats in Paris logos, the logo plays as normal, but the "movies" ball is removed.

FX/SFX: Depends on the variant.

Music/Sounds:
 * The Snow Day version has a light whistling tune that abruptly stops when the house gets destroyed by the snowball, and then changes to either a tuba/whistling version of the Nickelodeon theme, or a short rock tune with a choir singing at one point.
 * The Rugrats in Paris version has an accordion playing the light whistling tune, followed by an accordion/tuba version of the Nickelodeon theme and a "bark" from the dog.
 * The Jimmy Neutron version has a funny sounding version of the Nickelodeon theme with a trombone, cartoon sound effects, and the noises that Goddard makes.

Availability: Seen on Snow Day, Rugrats in Paris: The Movie, and Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, with each film having their respective variants of the logo. The Snow Day and Rugrats in Paris versions were also used as IDs for Nickelodeon to help promote the respective movies.

Editor's Note: First logo to utilize live action, a concept which many of the 2000s logos followed up on. It is also the first of their several logos to have a similar theme that changes each movie.

6th Logo (June 28, 2002-June 13, 2003, November 10, 2006-2013)


Nicknames: "The Big Sneeze", "Nick Balls II", "2002: A Nick Odyssey", "Three Circles II"

Logo: On a black background, a faint black crescent sphere (representing the moon) moves to the bottom of the screen, causing a crescent Earth, the sun, and a moving starfield to appear; this part of the logo parodies the opening of 2001: A Space Odyssey. As the moon moves off-screen at the bottom, the Earth starts to wiggle and "sneezes", crashing into the camera. This causes the moon to bounce back onto the screen, revealing itself to be an orange ball with the Nickelodeon wordmark on it. The starfield suddenly transitions to a plain black background as the Earth becomes a spinning blue ball with "movies" on it, and the sun becomes a smaller orange ball. The small ball flies around the screen before stopping in between the bigger balls. The blue ball then "sneezes" again, causing the orange balls to briefly pop out. The blue ball then straightens itself out to finish the logo.

Variants:
 * A shorter version of the logo starts with the balls zooming out from the middle of the screen. Theme 1 is used and it starts off a bit delayed and as a result, part of the logo at the beginning is silent.
 * On Rugrats Go Wild, the logo is slightly darker and cuts to black instead of fading out.

FX/SFX: CGI animation.

Music/Sounds:
 * Theme 1: A dramatic 4-note fanfare somewhat reminiscent of Also Sprach Zarathustra, the opening theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey. During the last part of the fanfare, we hear a loud sneeze, followed by a hip-hop version of the Nickelodeon theme.
 * Theme 2: Space ambience followed by a different-sounding sneeze and an electronic version of the Nickelodeon theme.

Availability: The long version is seen only on ''Hey Arnold! The Movie (with Theme 1) and Rugrats Go Wild'' (with Theme 2). The short version appeared during Nickelodeon's airings of The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie between 2006 and 2013, despite the fact that the movie never used this logo at all originally.

Editor's Note: The logo has some pretty impressive animation for its time.

7th Logo (December 20, 2002)


Nicknames: "The Dog Spot", "The Dog's Nose", "Nick Dog", "Three Circles III"

Logo: We see a forest on a sunny day, as if it was seen in the grass. Then, the curious nose of a white dog with brown splotches appears sniffing the screen, and then he sees the Nickelodeon Movie logo made by frisbees on the grass. We cut back to the dog, who licks the screen, turning it black.

Variants:
 * This was also used as a network ID, but with a few differences; the "movies" ball and the small orange ball are removed and the Nickelodeon ball is moved to the middle.
 * An open matte version of this logo exists on full-screen prints of The Wild Thornberrys Movie. Early full-screen prints has this logo cropped to 4:3.

FX/SFX: A mix of stop-motion and computer animation created by Charged Animation and 2/8/0-Design, both in New York City.

Music/Sounds: Before the dog appears, we hear the sounds of children playing, followed by sniffing and grunting sounds from the dog. When the company logo appears, we hear a "country" version of the famous Nickelodeon theme.

Availability: Rare. Only seen on The Wild Thornberrys Movie. It was also seen on a TV spot for Yours, Mine and Ours and was used as an ID in December 2002 and January 2003 to help promote The Wild Thornberrys Movie.

Editor's Note: Another nicely-animated logo.

8th Logo (November 19, 2004)


Nicknames: "The Bubbles", "Underwater Bubbles", "Nickelodeon Acid Trip", "Three Circles IV"

Logo: On a black background, an explosion occurs. A blue-colored ball emerges from the explosion as several yellow streaks form in it. We zoom through the ball as the background fades to a kaleidoscopic sky. An orange rose grows, and dissipates into pillow or sheet-like objects, etc, as an orange zeppelin flies through it. The sky background then ripples, before fading into a kaleidoscopic view of several fish swimming. The logo then transforms into an orange bubble, which floats outward and spawns two more bubbles that form the Nickelodeon Movies logo. The finished product is in an orange underwater environment.

Trivia: The blue ball seen at the beginning of the logo is a possible callback to Nickelodeon's early silver ball logo, and the zeppelin that appears out of the rose later in the logo is quite similar to the Nickelodeon blimp, which the channel still uses as a model for their Kids Choice Awards trophies.

Variant: There is a shortened version on the video game version of The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie on the PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube and Xbox that starts when the Nickelodeon Movies logo forms.

FX/SFX: Extraordinary CGI created by Brand New School (which also created Cartoon Network's 2010 logo and bumpers).

Music/Sounds: A bouncy wind fanfare with drums, along with sounds including explosions, ripples, etc.

Music/Sounds Variant: On the video game versions of The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie and Barnyard, some bubble noises are heard.

Availability: Only seen on The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, its game counterpart for PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube, and Xbox, and the teaser trailer and video game counterpart for Barnyard.

Editor's Note: A fantastic logo that's a favorite of many. It's a shame that this was used for only one film, as this logo just oozes creativity, heart, and passion all around, but that arguably just makes it more special.

9th Logo (December 17, 2004-December 15, 2006)


Nicknames: "Nick Planets", "A Boring Nickelodeon Movie", "Not-Universal", "Three Circles V"

Logo: On a space background, we see a blue tinted Saturn-like planet with a shadow of the text "NICKELODEON" casted on it. The camera moves away from the ringed planet as the 3D text "NICKELODEON" zooms out from the bottom of the screen as the camera pans to reveal an orange moon (which resembles Venus), which the text settles in front of it. As this happening, a smaller blue moon appears from behind the orange moon and settles on the right. In contrast, an even smaller moon zooms out as the moons form the familiar logo. The word "movies" spins in around the orange moon to complete the logo, and the camera pans down to start the movie.

Variants:
 * There is a shortened variant on Yours, Mine and Ours that starts when the "NICKELODEON" text settles in front of the orange moon, and the logo does not pan down.
 * On the Game Boy Advance version of The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, it is a still logo in print form.

FX/SFX: Once again, well-rendered CGI animation.

Music/Sounds: The movie's opening theme.

Music/Sounds Variant: On Mad Hot Ballroom, the logo is silent.

Availability: Can be seen on such films as Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, Mad Hot Ballroom, Barnyard, Charlotte's Web, and Yours, Mine & Ours. Also seen on the Hotel for Dogs game on Wii and The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie on Microsoft Windows and Game Boy Advance.

Editor's Note: This is not a terrible logo, but many logo fans do not like it for not being as creative as the others (especially the last one, which should have gotten more usage) and its similarities to the Universal Studios logo.

10th Logo (June 16, 2006)


Nicknames: "Boxing Bell", "Three Circles VI"

Logo: We begin by zooming across a long brown oblong shape. As the rest of the screen is gradually lit up, it's revealing that it's one of the ropes of a wrestling ring. The background shows an audience rapidly taking photographs. The camera zooms down to the bottom rope once it reaches the end of the previous one and zooms past it in a similar manner. After this, the camera takes a 180 degree turn to reveal the bottom of the ring, where we see the Nickelodeon Movies circle logo as a boxing bell. The "NICKELODEON" ball is the bell, the "movies" ball is the clanger, and the dot is the screw keeping the clanger in place, all in their usual colors (with the rest of the bell being gray). The bell rings twice and the logo fades out.

FX/SFX: The zooming, the flashes of the pictures taken in the background, the bell clanging.

Music/Sounds: The sounds of the cheering audience and pictures being taken (which actually start over the Paramount Pictures logo, it is not the opening "theme" of the movie as the real theme begins when the logo fades out), page turning-like sounds for the zooming of the ropes (quieter on the second rope), a swoosh for zooming to the lower rope and to the back of the ring, and the bell clanging.

Availability: This was a custom variant used for Nacho Libre, and as such only appeared on that movie.

Editor's Note: None.

11th Logo (2006) (unused)
Nicknames: "Birds", "Three Circles VII"

Logo: We see a group of blue birds flying to the right against a blue daytime sky with clouds. As the blue birds start grouping together towards the right of the screen in the distance, a group of orange birds fly to the left as both groups of birds form the Nickelodeon Movies logo. The birds eventually scatter as the camera pans down, seguing into the opening credits of the movie.

FX/SFX: The birds flying, forming the logo, and scattering.

Music/Sounds: The opening theme of the movie.

Availability: This was intended to appear on Charlotte's Web, but it was scrapped and the 9th logo was used instead. The only way you can see this logo now is online.

Editor's Note: None.

12th Logo (February 14, 2008-June 12, 2009)


Nicknames: "The Splat", "Nick Paintball"

Logo: Against a black background, some orange fluid-like slime swirls out from the distance toward the viewer. The camera pans around and the slime forms the Nickelodeon logo with "movies" flying out letter-by-letter on its right.

Trivia: This was the last Nickelodeon Movies logo to utilize Nick's famous splat logo, and one of only three that did, period (with the first two logos being the other two).

FX/SFX: CGI animation done by Picture Mill.

Music/Sounds: Slime sounds, and the opening theme of the movie.

Music/Sounds Variant: There is a variant that uses slime sounds and a quirky orchestral tune, ending with a majestic finish (which sounds similar to the first six notes of the Nickelodeon jingle), created by Musikvergnuegen. This version seems to have never appeared in any movies or video games, but it can be heard [here].

Availability: First seen on The Spiderwick Chronicles. Also appears on Hotel for Dogs (the Wii video game uses the 9th logo), Imagine That, and Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging.

Editor's Note: This is a pretty nice logo with some cool CGI, and is a fitting finale to Nickelodeon's splat era.

13th Logo (February 21, 2010-March 15, 2019)
Nickname: "New Nick"

Logo: We zoom out under an orange drop facing the camera, which is falling down against a white background. As the camera pans out and rotates so that the orange drop is viewed from a side perspective, the orange drop falls off-screen, and shortly afterwards splashes on top of something, which the camera reveals to be the "i" in the current Nickelodeon logo. The orange drop splashes on the "i" upon impact, with the splash quickly forming the dot. As the camera zooms out to fully reveal the finished logo, "MOVIES" in purple fades in, followed by a small TM trademark bug fading in to the right of the logo.

Variants:
 * An earlier version of the logo, used in 2010, has the Nickelodeon logo zooming out on a black background, followed by "MOVIES" in purple appearing letter-by-letter as some purple rays shine behind them. This version was used on the Nick@Nite promo for Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging, trailers and promos for The Last Airbender, and the first trailer for Rango.
 * Starting with The Adventures of Tintin, both the drop and the logo are in a more orange color, the drop looks sleeker, "MOVIES" is in a red color, and the logo's background is brighter. The camera also zooms out at a further distance to show the finished logo.
 * A variant was used on Nickelodeon USA airings of The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie. On a white background, the camera pans down to reveal the Nickelodeon logo and the word "MOVIES" in green. This was only used when Nickelodeon used their infamous last-scene-of-the-show credits from 2013 until sometime in 2016, as now most current airings have no logos at all. But it did come back one more time when Nick aired the movie on February 21, 2017, seven years after the logo debuted.
 * A short version was used on Monster Trucks, which starts with the Nickelodeon logo already being in place.
 * On two trailers for Wonder Park, the word "MOVIES" (set in Galano Grotesque) is in orange and is fully 3D (similar to the next logo). The film uses the normal variant instead.
 * On the video game version of The Last Airbender, the logo is still and in print form.

FX/SFX: The orange drop, the Nickelodeon logo zooming out, and "MOVIES" fading in. All CGI animation by DevaStudios, who also animated the 2011 Paramount logo. It's not badly animated at all, and it's far better-looking than its television counterpart.

Music/Sounds: None or the opening theme of the movie.

Availability: Common. It's seen on recent films produced by the company, such as The Last Airbender, Rango, The Adventures of Tintin, Fun Size, and made its final appearance on Wonder Park. Was first seen on the Nick@Nite promo for Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging. It was also last seen on the trailers of The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run.

Editor's Note: Like the 9th logo, it's not a huge favorite of many for its simplicity; that said, it's still a decent logo, and it's definitely better than the TV version.

14th Logo (August 9-November 8, 2019)
Nickname: "Big Screen Nick"

Logo: On a white background, we see the current Nickelodeon logo from multiple rapidly-cutting angles appearing letter-by-letter in different ways, in a somewhat similar fashion to the 2017 Nickelodeon Productions logo. We cut to the finished logo, but then the orange word "MOVIES" in Galano Grotesque (the font used for the current Nickelodeon branding), making the letters in the Nickelodeon logo bounce for a second before settling back in their positions. The entire logo slowly zooms out and then fades to black.

Trivia: This logo was made to fit with Nickelodeon's 2017 refresh by Superestudio. However, it looks similar to the 13th logo that was seen on two trailers for Wonder Park, but this is probably a finalized version.

Variant: On Playing with Fire, the logo is brighter.

FX/SFX: CGI animation.

Music/Sounds: The beginning of the 2009 Nickelodeon Productions theme with a bombastic orchestral redux of the final five notes, composed by John Debney and Germaine Franco.

Availability: Very rare, due to its short lifespan. It was only seen on Dora and the Lost City of Gold and Playing With Fire.

Editor's Note: The rapid cutting of the letters (combined with the sudden shift to a more orchestral version of the music) is pretty jarring in a cinema logo format, but it's a pretty nice take on the 2009 Nickelodeon logo. Too bad this wasn't used long enough though.

15th Logo (August 14, 2020-)


Nicknames: "The Green Slime", "I'm Ready!"

Logo: In a studio, we see SpongeBob SquarePants' hand. He grabs a lever and tries to pull it, but struggles at first, even putting his foot on it, causing some of Nick's trademark green slime to start flowing through a tube while electric sparks fly. The lights turn on, illuminating the Nickelodeon logo in several shots. The walls, ceiling and stairs drop to reveal a Hollywood-type area (with five palm trees on it, á la the 20th Century Studios logo) at sunrise while the Nickelodeon blimp approaches and "movies" is drawn in a grungy font. The blimp takes off toward the screen right before the logo cuts out.

Trivia: During the scene of the lever, you can see a sign which reads "Bikini Bottom Electric Co." (referring to the main location of SpongeBob SquarePants) and Nathan Love's name on it, along with a pineapple keychain (a nod to SpongeBob's house).

Variants:
 * On the international printings of The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run on Netflix, the logo is faster and starts as SpongeBob starts trying to pull the lever.
 * The logo is still at the end of The Loud House Movie (the animated logo is used to open the movie up).

FX/SFX: Amazing CGI animation for SpongeBob (not unlike the style seen in the movie it precedes) and the background, with the lightning and the "MOVIES" text being done in similarly stunning 2D animation. This logo was done by Nathan Love.

Music/Sounds: SpongeBob (voiced by Tom Kenny) yelling "I'm ready!", followed by grunts from him pulling the lever, then electrical noises as the slime flows, and finally, a dramatic recreation of the last five notes of the Nickelodeon jingle with SpongeBob singing, ending with a ding noise. Composed by Explosion Robinson (best known for composing the music for the current Nickelodeon rebranding since 2017). Starting with some dubs of The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run, SpongeBob's line and singing is omitted.

Music/Sounds Variants:
 * The blasting electric sound effect (while the lights turn on) is absent on the international printings to The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run on Netflix. However, only eight light clicks are heard, instead of eleven.
 * None for the still version.
 * In other cases, none or the opening theme of the movie.

Availability: Brand new, and current. It first appeared on The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run (also the first film to use the new Paramount Animation logo. It was also seen on PAW Patrol: The Movie (as well as a French trailer for said movie) and The J Team. Also, it made a surprise appearance on The Loud House Movie, which is also the first Nickelodeon film without Paramount's involvement. It's expected to appear on future films from the company.

Editor's Note: While it may not be as creative as the original SpongeBob movie logo, it's still a pretty nice logo all around.