Nick Jr.

From the Audiovisual Identity Database, the motion graphics museum



Background

Nick Jr. is an American morning programming block that airs on Nickelodeon every weekday. It was launched on January 4, 1988. Nick Jr. features a lineup of shows aimed at children under eight.


Shadow Play (1989-1993)


Visuals: On a black background with a spotlight, two hand silhouettes move up from the bottom of the screen. When they're in front of the spotlight, both hands start to make duck hand shadows, but after a while, the left hand makes a hand shadow of a dog instead. Both hands move around and dance for a while, before the hand on the left makes an OK sign, while the one on the right shows a thumbs up. The background then turns periwinkle, and the hand silhouettes become orange with "NICK" on it and blue with "JR." on it, respectively. The end result is the Nick Jr. logo (which is the same as the 1994 version, but with a "tighter" look to the shapes).

Technique: 2D animation by VideoWorks.

Audio: A quick upbeat piano tune with a girl and boy talking throughout:

  • Girl: OK, let's go!
  • Boy: Hey, look! I'm a dog and I'm bigger than you! (mimics barking)
  • Girl: Oh yeah? Well, I'm a duck! Quack, quack!
  • (they both laugh)

Dancing Stars (1989-1993)


Visuals: On a sky background with thin red-violet clouds, the Nick Jr. logo, as two stars wearing nightcaps (a big orange star with "NICK" on it and a small blue one with "JR." on it), ballet-jump across the screen three times. Between each time, silhouettes of a tree and a girl with a jump rope walk by. After the third jump, a silhouette of a cat walks by, stops, makes a weird "MEOW!" as a question mark appears above its had, and runs away. Then, the Nick Jr. stars slide in from the left and pause in a straight position.

Technique: 2D animation by VideoWorks.

Audio: A pizzicato piece with strings, mixed with the weird "MEOW!" from the cat, and a cartoon-style car-parking noise when the Nick Jr. logo slides into place.

Scary Night (1989-1993)


Visuals: In a dark bedroom is a boy in bed looking scared as he scooches under his covers. Then, the shadow of a cat arches its back and then a shadow of a bird flies past his window. Then, the camera zooms in under his bed, and two cats (an orange cat with "NICK" on it and a blue kitten with "JR." on it) gradually come out. The boy stares at them from over the side of his bed in puzzlement.

Technique: Finger-painted 2-D effects.

Audio: Suspenseful music with a very loud cat meow and a loud crow cry, climaxing into a nice-sounding 7-note flute piece with cats meowing.

Boy Toys (1989-1993)


Visuals: In a bedroom, a boy (different from the one in "Scary Night") winds up a box and makes a wheeled elephant toy come out, which leads to it knocking down toy soldiers like dominoes. A toy solider rolls an 8-ball into the screen and past a wind-up crocodile, which bites a chicken gumball machine, making it scream and let out a gumball. The boy chews it and blows up a big pink bubble that has two circles on it (a big orange one with "NICK" on it and a smaller blue one with "JR." on it).

Technique: 2D animation by Olive Jar Animation.

Audio: A whimsical cartoon-sounding piece with a clarinet, bassoon, violin and percussion along with sound effects.

Elephants Drinking (1989-1993)


Visuals: On a white background, two black elephants (one large on the left and one small on the right) walk up to a waterhole. As the camera zooms out, a few palm trees appear. The elephants both drink from the waterhole and fill in with orange and blue, as well as "NICK" and "JR." respectively.

Technique: 2D computer animation by Electric Picture Works in New York.

Audio: Some tuba music overlapped with jungle sounds.

Magic Hands (1989-1993)


Visuals: On a swirly purple and magenta background, a pair of white hands appears. The right hand opens as a magic wand falls in it, and touches the left hand with it. An orange butterfly comes out of the left hand, and it points at the right hand, making it reveal a blue butterfly. The words "NICK" and "JR." appear on the butterflies, and the hands leave the screen.

Technique: 2D computer animation by VideoWorks.

Audio: A guitar and flute melody with sound effects.

Fishbowl Diver (1990-1993)


Visuals: On a sky blue background, a teenage boy in swim trunks and a diving mask climbs up a diving board ladder and gets ready to dive into a gigantic fish bowl. In the fish bowl are 2 fish (a big orange one and a small blue one) and the boy staring at the camera. The fish swim near each other to reveal the Nick Jr. logo.

Technique: 2D animation by Olive Jar Animation.

Audio: A slightly Latin-style piano, rock bass and marimba jingle with tambourines beating in the background along with a Hanna-Barbera "sproing" sound and scuba-diving sounds.

Gears (1990)

Visuals:: Two doors open to reveal orange and blue balls going through an assembly line. The finished gears, one with "NICK" and the other "JR.", leap onto a wall and turn.

Technique: CG animation.

Audio: "Knees Up" by Ronald Aspery.

Kangaroos (July 1990-1993)


Visuals: An orange kangaroo leaps into a living room from above. The kangaroo takes a lot of things out of her pouch, including a giant blue baby kangaroo. The blue kangaroo drops an orange and blue barbell on the orange kangaroo, then it falls to the floor (with the "NICK JR." text on it now visible) and both kangaroos look at it.

Technique: Clay animation by Michael Frierson.

Audio: Bouncy stock piano music which is accompanied by sound effects.

Refrigerator (1990-1994)


Visuals: In a kitchen, two kids wearing Nick Jr. shirts walk to their refrigerator. The kids open the refrigerator and an animated character comes out.

  • Ghost: The kids find a Casper-esque ghost wearing a deerstalker and a necktie and holding a sandwich. Just as he is about to take a bite out of the sandwich, the kids shout "BOO!" at him, upon which he screams, scattering the pieces of the sandwich, and closes the refrigerator while stammering "Nick Jr.!"
  • Artist: An artist's hand paints the kids into animated kids who say "Nick Jr.!"
  • Elephant: Nick pulls out an elephant holding peanut butter. They laugh as the elephant says "Nick...Jr.!"
  • Fish: A fish with a top hat and cane comes out of the refrigerator. The kids and fish strike a pose as the fish and a smaller one that comes out of the hat say "Nick...Jr.!"
  • Fairy: A fairy comes out of the refrigerator and casts a crown onto Jr.

Technique: Live-action produced by Fred/Alan and directed by Noel Frankel, combined with cel animation produced by Van Allen Animation and Bill Davis ("Artist").

Audio: A funky beat composed with the E-mu Proteus/1 "Stereo Piano" preset, then a stinger that depends on the variant.

  • Artist: A French folk tune composed with a synth accordion preset and the artist speaking gibberish.
  • Fish: The fish saying "Hey!" and a Disney zing-out whistle sound accompanied by a triumphant fanfare, along with "bubbling" sounds.

Marching Ants (1991-1993)


Visuals: On a white background, a closeup of two ants carrying orange and blue crumbs is seen. More ants are shown carrying crumbs in two lines. The camera pans over to reveal the ants marching into a big, orange "NICK" castle and a smaller blue "JR." castle.

Technique: 2D computer animation produced by Electric Picture Works.

Audio: A dramatic horn fanfare with marching sounds following the closeup, and then violin music as the Nick Jr. logo appears.

Clouds (1991-1993)


Visuals: On a blurry blue sky background, two big CGI clouds (an orange one and a smaller blue one) and the letters of "NICK JR." rotate near the camera hanging on strings (like a mobile above a baby crib). After a few seconds, all nine objects meet each other in the center and form the familiar logo.

Trivia: The ident was designed and animated by Peter Garcia and Beth Warshafsky.

Technique: CGI by Electric Picture Works.

Audio: A music box and wind chime sounder.

Fish Eating Seaweed (1991-1993)


Visuals: On a white background, two black dots pop up in the center. Then, the dots "morph" into two drawings of fish. Some orange and blue seaweed appears below them. When the fish eat it, the bigger one fills in with orange and the smaller one with blue, forming the Nick Jr. logo.

Technique: 2D computer animation by Electric Picture Works in New York that uses the exact same technique as "Elephants".

Audio: Two synthesized pogo stick sounds, then a dramatic synthesized harp sounder, two more pogo stick sounds and a peaceful synth-harp riff.

Chicks (January 1992-1993)


Visuals: A rooster crows as the background behind it changes from black to yellow. A hen on a white background leaves its nest, as two chicks hatch out of the eggs in the nest, an orange one with the word "NICK" on it, and a blue one with "JR.". The hen then peeks back into view in astonishment.

Technique: 2D computer animation by Electric Picture Works.

Audio: A harmonica imitating a rooster crow, then short banjo, cuica, guiro, and flute sections, composed on a Roland SC-55 synthesizer.

Blocks (1992-1994)


Visuals: A girl and boy are building a tower of blocks as other kids comment offscreen. When the boy finishes it by putting the green triangle block on top of the orange cylinder block, the tower falls down. Among the last blocks to land on the floor are an orange rectangle block with "NICK" and a blue square block with "JR." that land next to each other.

Technique: Live-action.

Audio: The two kids talking about finishing their block tower, ending with The Premiere Edition "giggling two children" sound effect in a higher pitch.

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