Nick Jr. Productions

Background
Nick Jr. Productions was the television production arm of Nickelodeon's preschool block, Nick Jr., founded in 1993. On February 2, 2009, the Nick Jr. Productions brand was folded into Nickelodeon Productions, as Nick Jr. was re-branded as "Nickelodeon's Play Date" at the same time (though the block's name would return to Nick Jr. from 2014 to 2023). However, international Nick Jr. channels (most notably Nick Jr. UK) continue to use a Nick Jr. production tag (usually in-credit) at the end of their shows.

1st Logo (April 5, 1993-October 3, 2000)
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Visuals: On a white background, an (more commonly referred to as "Father") with "NICK" on his body and a blue child (more commonly referred to as "Son") with "JR" on his body (both in the Balloon font used by Nickelodeon at the time) are seen making "throwing" motions, like they are playing catch. The dad throws underhand and the blue child throws overhand. Several black lines and curved lines are drawn, tracing the motion of their arms. They jump to each other and hold their hands together. The final product resembles the print logo. The copyright stamp is below.

Trivia:


 * In the Allegra's Window variant, the "Grow, Learn and Play" words were used for the 1993 branding of Nick Jr., which consists of a live action set with kids.
 * The dad and child are commonly referred to the title as "Father and Son" or "Caregivers" by fans. They have many other titles, such as "Brothers" and "Mother and Son".

Variants:
 * On 1993-95 airings of the first two Max & His Alphabet Adventures shorts, a still version is shown on a black background. This variant also appears with a copyright stamp at the end of a Little Bear preview on the VHS release of Blue's Clues: Blue's Big Musical Movie.
 * On early episodes of Allegra's Window, the words "Grow, Learn and Play" appear above the logo. Copyright info for Nickelodeon in its signature Balloon font is seen below. The words start out colored black, but each row's letters shake causing colors to appear (Grow, Learn and Play).
 * On Little Bear, the Maggie and the Ferocious Beast shorts and the Blue's Clues: Blue's Safari VHS release, the copyright notice is omitted.
 * On an early VHS release of Little Bill, the logo is still and on a yellow background. Below is the word "Productions" in black, along with the copyright stamp - considering this would've been a prototype version of the 3rd logo.
 * On an early video of Eureeka's Castle, a still variant is used where the orange dad is dancing with the blue child. It also removes the copyright notice and fades in from the credits.

Technique: Digitally-colored cel animation by Lee Corey.

Audio: Usually the end theme of the show plays over.

Audio Variants:
 * On seasons 2-3 of Gullah Gullah Island, a synthesized piano jingle with notes being corresponded to the movements and a ending similar to the Touchstone Television logo is used. Composed by Peter Lurye and Billy Cobin.
 * On season 1 of the show and the original Sony Wonder VHS of Gullah Gullah Island: Sing Along with Binyah Binyah, the jingle is remixed in a higher key to tie in to the end theme, following into the Nickelodeon Studios logo.
 * On some season 1 episodes of the show, the remixed jingle's nearest end is cut short.
 * On Allegra's Window, a child giggling and an ascending xylophone are heard near the end of the show's ending theme.
 * However, on some episodes of season 1 of the show (and most VHS tapes, with the exception of Small Is Beautiful and Play Along With Allegra and Friends), the music is low-pitched; on the final two seasons, the tail end of the show's closing theme is cut short.
 * On other season 1 episodes, the logo's audio is heard over the Nickelodeon Studios logo.
 * On the Blue's Clues: Blue's Safari VHS release, it plays the show's ending theme (including the bass pluck and squeak at the end).

Availability: This was originally used as part of Nick Jr.'s 1993-94 on-air branding.
 * Seen on several shows of the era, such as Gullah Gullah Island, Allegra's Window (the entire series of which can be found on archive.org) and US airings of Little Bear episodes from 1995 to late-1999. It also appeared on the Maggie and the Ferocious Beast shorts (Treehouse airings only; US airings of the shorts are credits-less) and on VHS and certain DVD releases of said shows, as well as the end of the VHS of Blue's Clues: Blue's Safari.
 * The still version was found at the beginning of the Blue's Clues video trailer on the VHS releases of Blue's Discoveries, Blue's Big Treasure Hunt, Blue's Big Pajama Party, Blue's Safari, Magenta Comes Over and Stop, Look and Listen. It also appeared on the trailer of The Rugrats Movie.
 * This was also preserved on reruns of Little Bear and Gullah Gullah Island when they last aired on Nick Jr. (formerly Noggin).
 * With the introduction of the 3rd logo, these were used together in tandem until the beginning of October 2000.

Legacy: A favorite logo for those who watched Nick Jr. shows in the 1990s.

2nd Logo (September 8, 1996-March 2, 2004)
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Visuals: On a black background, a still version of the Nick Jr. logo is seen (it varies in shape, like Nickelodeon's). The parent is orange and has "NICK" on its body while their child is blue and has "JR" on its body. It fades out after three to four seconds. The copyright stamp in the logo reads "© [YEAR] VIACOM International, INC.", or is sometimes absent.

Animals Featured: The animals in the logo vary for each episode of Blue's Clues that has this logo (even episodes that have the same pair of animals) from the following:
 * Cat and kitten
 * Dog and puppy
 * Fish (sometimes referred to as "Dolphins")
 * Elephant and calf
 * Starting with international prints of Oswald, the "Elephants" logo has more detail on it.
 * Pig and piglet
 * Giraffe and calf
 * Duck and duckling
 * Chicken and chick
 * Rooster and chick
 * Frogs
 * Porcupines
 * Penguin and chick
 * Monkeys
 * Kangaroo and joey
 * Seal and pup
 * Hippo and calf
 * Rabbits
 * Bear and cub
 * Turtles
 * Dinosaurs
 * Lion and cub
 * Swans
 * Crocodiles
 * Birds
 * A dad and a child
 * A dad with a child holding hands together (print logo; from the previous logo)
 * A dad holding a child (predicting the next logo)
 * A dad and a child walking
 * A dad and a child running

Variants:
 * On 1999-2001 Blue's Clues VHS releases, the copyright is extended to read "©[YEAR] Viacom International Inc. All Rights Reserved. Nickelodeon, Nick Jr., Blue's Clues and all related titles, logos, and characters are trademarks of Viacom International Inc."
 * A version without copyright info exists on the first two Blue's Clues VHS tapes ever released: "Arts and Crafts" and "Story Time". The ending theme of said show plays over this.
 * Starting in June 2001, the logo was used as a primary closing logo at the end of VHS and DVD releases from Nick Jr. The "Monkeys", "Bears" and "Pigs" variants are known to have been used.
 * On the 2001 VHS Nick Jr.'s Imagine That!, the "Monkeys" logo is small, and three copyrights are under it:
 * For the Dora the Explorer episode "Sticky Tape", the top copyright reads "©2001 Viacom International Inc. All Rights Reserved. Nickelodeon, Nick Jr., Dora the Explorer and all related titles, logos, and characters are trademarks of Viacom International Inc."
 * For the Blue's Clues episode "Blue's Big Treasure Hunt", the middle copyright reads "©2001 Viacom International Inc. All Rights Reserved. Nickelodeon, Nick Jr., Blue's Clues and all related titles, logos, and characters are trademarks of Viacom International Inc."
 * For the Little Bill episode "Super Family Fun Land", the bottom copyright reads "©2001 Viacom International Inc. All Rights Reserved. Little Bill is a trademark of Smiley Inc. Original Little Bill characters ©1997 William H. Cosby Jr."

Technique: None.

Audio: The end of the Blue's Clues closing theme, concluding with a bass pluck and a small squeak. Composed by Michael Rubin (who also played Mailbox in the series).

Audio Variants:
 * Sometimes on Blue's Clues, it has the ending theme without the bass pluck, or silence. VHS and DVD releases from Nick Jr. shows just have a silent version of the logo.
 * On the Blue's Clues episode "What is Blue Afraid Of?", a The General Series 6000 cat meowing sound effect plays, followed by the bass pluck.
 * On later episodes of the UK version of Blue's Clues, this logo had the music from the 3rd logo. This is most likely a reverse plaster.
 * On some late-1990s episodes of the aforementioned Blue's Clues, a four-note bell tune is heard (the last note held long) followed by a short piano arpeggio, before the bass pluck.

Availability: Seen on Blue's Clues until the episode "Blue's Big Holiday". Last seen when it was last re-run on Nick Jr. (formerly "Noggin") on July 1, 2019, although the series is intact on Amazon Prime Video, Paramount+ and its VHS releases, with the exceptions of Blue's Birthday, Blue's Discoveries and Blue's Safari.
 * Though Blue's Clues was the only show to air this logo on TV, the version with no audio and without the copyright stamp was also found on some VHS and DVD releases of Dora the Explorer and Little Bill.
 * After October 2003, this was retired, leaving the Nickelodeon "Haypile/Scribble".
 * Starting in August 2001, a new version of the "Elephants" logo exclusively appeared on international prints of Oswald.
 * Also seen on the UK and Portugal versions of Blue's Clues.

Legacy: Well-known amongst fans of Blue's Clues, and those that grew-up watching the show.

3rd Logo (November 28, 1999-November 5, 2007)
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Visuals: On a yellow "swirly" background, the familiar dad and the blue child from logo are seen, both with "NICK" and "JR" on their bodies, though with a notable lumpy look (due to clay sculpting). They bounce around as the word "Productions", in a childish multicolored font, forms below them:


 * "P" is purple.
 * "r" is.
 * "o" is.
 * "d" is outlined (its counter is filled).
 * "u" is purple outlined.
 * "c" is.
 * "t" is outlined (its apex and terminal is filled).
 * "i" is outlined, and its dot is heart-shaped.
 * "o" is.
 * "n" is purple.
 * "s" is outlined.

The dad and child both hug after the logo completely forms (closely resembling a variant from the previous logo).

Trivia:
 * The logo was completed on September 9, 1999.
 * 23 years later, Webster Colcord on his Instagram found the original models in a decayed condition: the dad's arm and the child's head have been ruined or fallen off and the paint has dried off.

Variants:
 * A raw film scan of the logo has nothing below the dad and son. The logo is also zoomed-out a bit, revealing more of the painted background.
 * On 2000-2001 episodes of Little Bear and some episodes of Dora the Explorer, a warp-speed version can be seen.
 * On Little Bill, a purple copyright notice is seen.
 * However, on VHS prints of the aforementioned Little Bill, the first frame of the regular copyright stops the logo, causing the heart on the "I" to be tilted instead of straight.
 * On American prints of Oswald, a black copyright notice (from the HIT Entertainment logo) is seen.
 * On Whoopi's Littleburg, an extended copyright notice in can be seen. The copyright notice fades out when the logo is completed.
 * On VideoNow Jr. version of the Blue’s Clues episode The Legend of the Blue Puppy, there is an error in which the logo uses a dark red color instead of the normal yellow.
 * On JimJam Africa prints of Oswald, the logo is still and the copyright notice (from the HIT Entertainment logo) is smaller.
 * On some Nick Jr. compilation DVD releases from March 10 to September 15, 2009, the logo does not fade out, it just goes straight to the 18th Nickelodeon Productions logo instead.

Technique: Clay animation by Webster Colcord (who previously made the Nick Jr. "Hippos" and "Crocodiles" IDs).
 * Colcord animated this logo in his garage on a down shooter setup on glass and defined the background as a watercolor painting. Ed Navarro provided the lighting and Jeffery Roth created the letters, which are CGI.

Audio: A bongo rhythm with a tuba rendition of the Nick Jr. "Just for me" jingle (used from 1998 to 2001), with kids laughing and a Hanna-Barbera "boing" sound when they jump. The audio was mixed at Clack Sound Studios.

Audio Variants:
 * On shows such as The Backyardigans and Little Bill, the ending theme plays over it.
 * On some episodes of Blue’s Clues, the closing theme plays under this logo’s music.
 * On Whoopi's Littleburg and the raw film scan, the logo is silent.
 * On 2004-2006 airings of The Backyardigans and original airings of Lazy Town season 1 with the split-screen credits, one second of the ending theme can be heard at the beginning of the music. This also happens on DVD/digital prints of the Dora the Explorer episode "Swiper the Explorer".
 * Original TV airings and Paramount+ prints of the aforementioned episode had this logo with the music starting as it regularly would without the end theme. Otherwise, the 2009 Nickelodeon Productions logo would plaster it.
 * On a November 2004 TVCosmopolis Greece airing of Dora the Explorer, another laugh is heard at the end.

Availability: It made its first appearance on Little Bill, and has been seen at the end of shows from the era, usually pre-2005, like Blue's Clues from "Pool Party" to "Bluestock" and the first season of The Backyardigans. Also appears on the first four seasons of Dora the Explorer.
 * This logo made its final appearance after the split-screen credits on the original airing of the 2007 Nick Jr. TV movie Dora Saves the Mermaids. On DVD and current prints, the 6th logo plasters over this logo.
 * It plasters over the 2nd logo at the end of the first three episodes on the DVD release of Blue's Clues: Blue's Biggest Stories.
 * It continued to be seen on reruns on the aforementioned shows until 2009.
 * It also appears on the behind the scenes featurette on the Blue’s Big Musical Movie DVD.
 * The logo (along with the 6th logo) is retained on March 10, 2009-February 2, 2010 Nick Jr. compilation DVD releases (with the Nickelodeon Productions logo appearing after).

Legacy: This is a very iconic and nostalgic logo, but it's also quite infamous for being another subject of usually low-quality "logo edits" on YouTube. However, ever since Webster Colcord rediscovered the clay models, behind-the-scenes images of the logo started appearing online.

4th Logo (In-credit variants) (September 3, 2001-October 8, 2010)
Visuals: Essentially the same as the 1st logo, but it is still and in-credit.

Variants:
 * On some shows, the logo has a outline and/or the word "Join in!" is under the logo. This variant was used on a white background on some UK prints of Angelina Ballerina: The Next Steps.
 * Another variant exists with the logo in a white square.
 * On series 1 episodes of Fifi and the Flowertots, the logo has the words "Join-in TV" in dark blue and written underneath it.
 * Most shows used the "Father and Son" logo. However, depending on the show, it can be a different creature/shape/person.
 * Sometimes, the outline is a different color.
 * On Thomas and Friends, the logo is next to the 2000 HIT Entertainment Logo.
 * A version exists with the URL "www.nick.co.uk".
 * On 2009 episodes of Peppa Pig, the word "NICK" is off-centered.
 * However on Latin American airings of the aforementioned 2009 episodes, the word "NICK" is now centered.
 * On Nick Jr. UK airings of series 8 episodes of Thomas and Friends, it has the tagline "A Nickelodeon UK Channel" under the logo.

Technique: None.

Audio: The ending theme of the series or silence (in other cases).

Availability: This was used mainly on international co-productions.
 * This logo can be seen on select episodes of Fifi and the Flowertots and Roary the Racing Car on PBS Kids Sprout (now Universal Kids).
 * It was also seen on Nick Jr. UK airings of series 6-7 of Thomas and Friends.
 * It also appears on the 2003 UK VHS/DVD "The Chocolate Crunch and Other Stories".
 * It also made a surprise appearance on the U.S. Thomas & Friends DVD releases of "Percy's Chocolate Crunch and Other Thomas Adventures" (2003) and "Best of Gordon" (2004), respectively.
 * Also appears on series 1-2 and the first half of series 3 of Peppa Pig and the first series of Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom on Nick Jr.
 * This was also seen on Peppa Pig when it aired back in 2005 on Cartoon Network's short-lived "Tickle U" block (but not on Nickelodeon airings of older episodes of Peppa Pig).
 * It also appeared on episodes of Humf on the official Humf YouTube channel (unavailable in the United States) and also at the end of series 1-2 of the 2007 reboot of The Magic Roundabout.

5th Logo (You Do Too custom variant) (July 3, 2002-January 27, 2004)
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Visuals: On a white background, a postcard with a stamp is seen placed on the right of the screen, with the dad and the blue son from the previous logos on it. The blue son jumps around, and is then picked up by the orange dad, with their final pose looking identical to one of the variants from the second logo. The text "A Nickelodeon UK Channel" fades in below the dad and son. A copyright stamp can be seen below.

Variant: An opening variant exists where the postcard, the stamp and the copyright stamp are omitted and after "A Nickelodeon UK Channel" fades in, big text reading "presents" (in VAG Rounded) fades in.

Technique: 2D animation.

Audio: The sound of a child giggling and laughing.

Availability: This logo and the opening variant were exclusively used on the Nick Jr. UK original series You Do Too, which hasn't been seen since its original run outside of a brief rerun period in 2010. As such, both the show and this logo are hard to find.

6th Logo (September 6, 2005-January 30, 2009)
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Visuals: On a light blue/green gradient background, the orange dad and the blue child are seen standing. After a split second, a colorful water drop appears and the father bends down as the child points to it. More water drops are formed to make a puddle, which they jump around and splash in. The words "NICK JR" can be seen on their bodies like the 1st logo, while the word "Serif" appears via a ripple effect below. The dad and child hug after the company's name appears, and four bright yellow arcs form over the puddle.

Variants:
 * A more common version begins with the father and son playing around in the puddle. The arcs are also removed.
 * There is an edited version of the logo, which cuts out the first 1.9 seconds of the regular version.
 * On the Blue's Clues 10th Anniversary special Behind the Clues: 10 Years with Blue, a copyright notice is shown.
 * On The Wonder Pets! and 2007 airings of Go, Diego, Go!, the logo starts with the dad and blue child jumping.
 * For Christmas 2006, the blue child makes a snowflake come out of the puddle a second after the logo starts.

Technique: Digital 2D animation produced by Primal Screen in Atlanta, Georgia.

Audio: A piece of music played by a violin and an oboe, with the melody being a four-note marimba tune followed by a nine-note clarinet sounder. The music is accompanied by kids laughing and puddle splashing sounds.

Audio Variants:
 * On The Backyardigans and Behind The Clues: 10 Years with Blue, the ending theme plays over the logo.
 * The longer version has a xylophone/flute remix of Nick Jr.'s "Love to play!" jingle (used from 2004-2007) with bongos and a vibraslap (previously used in Nick Jr. on CBS' 2004-06 bumpers), accompanied by a different laugh. This was composed by Stephen Mank.
 * On Dora's World Adventure and Dora Saves the Mermaids, the 3rd logo's music is heard.
 * On 2006 split-screen airings of The Backyardigans, it's the same thing for the 3rd logo but with this logo's music.
 * On pre-2007 broadcasts of The Wonder Pets!, the Little Airplane Productions logo's voice over fades into the Nick Jr. Productions logo theme, which unlike on other episodes of the show, starts from the very beginning (minus the first note).

Availability:
 * The logo first appeared on Go, Diego, Go!.
 * The short version of the logo can be seen on The Wonder Pets!, original airings of Ni Hao, Kai-Lan and other Nick Jr. shows of the era.
 * The long version seems to be unused and was featured on the Primal Screen website before the redesign.
 * Another sighting of this logo was seen twice on the Blue's Clues 10th Anniversary special Behind the Clues: 10 Years with Blue, during the interview with the pilot, and at the end after the County Line Productions logo, and did appear in season 2 of Blue's Room. While no episodes of Blue's Clues used this logo, it was also seen on the Blue's Clues series finale "Meet Blue's Baby Brother".
 * The snowflake variant only appeared on Nick Jr. airings of Go, Diego, Go! from November 25 to December 31, 2006 and hasn't been found online.

Legacy: Also a favorite for those that grown-up with their shows from the time.

7th Logo (In-credit variants) (September 24, 2010-)
Visuals: Same as the 4th logo, but the new Nick Jr. logo (nickjr.) is used.

Variants:
 * In the UK sometimes, a URL for Nick Jr. UK is seen underneath.
 * On some prints of Tickety Toc, the logo quickly fades in and out, along with the other in-credit logos.
 * On the Peppa Pig special "Around the World with Peppa", the logo is bigger than usual.
 * On Nickelodeon airings of Peppa Pig, the logo appears to have a shadow.
 * On season 1 of Digby Dragon, the logo is seen under the Blue-Zoo Animations logo with the text "for Nickelodeon UK".
 * On season 2 of the aforementioned Digby Dragon, the logo appears as part of the Channel 5 logo under the Milkshake logo and the text reads "A FIZZY PRODUCTION FOR [Milkshake logo] AND [Nick Jr. logo]".

Technique: None.

Audio: None, or the ending theme of the show.

Availability: Like the fourth logo, this is used on international co-productions.


 * Seen on series 2 of Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom and Peppa Pig during the 2nd half of series 3 and all of series 4, in addition to the 2015 specials.
 * Usually seen whenever the latter airs on Nickelodeon, and even plasters the 4th logo at times, but sometimes it's removed.
 * Other appearances include Poppy Cat, Tickety Toc, Zack & Quack and Digby Dragon.

Logo (January 26, 2004)
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Visuals: On a green background, two frogs are seen, one orange and one blue. Then, a fly appears, and the orange frog tries to catch it twice, but then the blue frog catches it. The orange frog is surprised and laughs with the blue frog as the words "NICK JR" appear on the frogs. Then, fireworks appear below them, spelling "PRODUCTIONS".

Technique: Cel-shaded CG animation by Virtual Persuasion.

Audio: A strange fantasy tune with a stock fly buzzing sound and the frogs giggling, followed by a five-note tune at the end based on Nick Jr.'s then-current "Where I Play To Learn/Play Along" jingle from 2001 to 2004.

Availability: This logo was created as a possible replacement for the 3rd logo, but it was never used on-air.

Legacy: For a long time, this logo was falsely rumored to have appeared on the premiere of Dora's Pirate Adventure (which aired on January 17, 2005), as the only possible reason why the logo was unused is that it used the aforementioned "Where I Play To Learn/Play Along" jingle, which was retired on October 8, 2004.

Final Note
On February 2, 2009, Nick Jr. shows replaced the Nick Jr. Productions logos with the 2008 Nickelodeon Productions logo, and later on, the 2009, 2017 or 2023 (depending on the release time) Nickelodeon Productions logos.