Nickelodeon Home Media Opening IDs

Logo descriptions by Kobepedia, CooleyBoy10, and NitroG Logo captures by Kobepedia and Originalsboy11 Video captures courtesy of Kobepedia, Originalsboy11 and Jimmy Campbell

Background: This page describes the opening IDs Nickelodeon used on their VHS releases. Beginning in 1996, when distribution of Nickelodeon videos switched from Sony Wonder to Paramount Home Video, Nickelodeon alternated between using their station IDs and their first home video ID before ultimately settling with the latter.

1st ID (August 31, 1993-October 5, 1999)
Nickelodeon Home Video "Montage" ID (1995)

Nickname: "Montage"

Logo: We see the barbershop singers from the "Easy Groove" ID singing the familiar Nick theme on the bottom-left of the screen, behind the parrot from the "Dog and Parrot" ID, who caws out the Nickelodeon logo in the form of a speech bubble. Then, the creature from the "Flying TV Monster" ID flies into the screen, and the TV on it switches to a background with a white floor and the Nickelodeon logo as its wall. Several characters from Nickelodeon IDs walk across it, including the "Blobman", the "Doo-Wop Dinosaurs", the "Frog" and several others. An alien-like character holding three sticks with TVs on them slams them onto the screen, transitioning us to another scene where the barbershop singers perform against an orange-tinted clip of the "Top of the Hour '86" bumper as more Nick ID characters move around in the background and foreground. Several transitions bring us to several edited versions of Nick IDs, such as the "Anteater" and "Nick Brew" bumpers against a city background, and the "T-Rex" barking against the "Better Off by Far" bumper, among others. Eventually, the barbershop singers re-appear as the Nickelodeon logo (in its form seen on, for example, Wild and Crazy Kids), in CGI and rotating from left to right as its design moves, appears above them. Finally, the logo ends with a TV switch-off effect.

Variant: A shortened version of this ID, beginning when the barbershop singers appear near the end, was used on Sony Wonder releases to close out the tape.

FX/SFX: A mixture of the various animation styles of the various IDs used, including hand-drawn animation, claymation, and CGI.

Music/Sounds: A remixed version of the classic Nickelodeon theme, mixed with the various sounds of the IDs.

Availability: Common. Seen on most Nickelodeon releases from the era released by Sony Wonder and Paramount Home Video. However, some tapes, like the Paramount re-releases of the Rugrats Sony Wonder tapes used one of the Nickelodeon station IDs from the time. It was first seen on the original Sony Wonder releases and was last seen on Rugrats: Make Room for Dil. This also appears on the 1995 Sony Wonder LaserDisc The Ren and Stimpy Show: The Essential Collection - Classics I & II.

Editor's Note: Some have stated this logo scared them when they were younger due to the large amounts of animation going on, as well as the switch-off effect. However, this is only a few people who have mentioned this. For the most part, this is a favorite of many.

2nd ID (1996?-2002?)
Nickname: "One World, One Nickelodeon"

Logo: TBA

FX/SFX: A mix of live-action and CGI.

Music/Sounds: TBA

Availability: Seen on Nickelodeon VHS tapes released outside North America (mainly in the UK and Australia) by CIC Video and later Paramount Home Video, such as several Rugrats tapes from the UK and the Australian VHS release of Blue's Clues: Arts & Crafts.

Editor's Note: None.

3rd ID (January 11, 2000-January 28, 2003; October 15, 2013)
Nickelodeon Maze ID" (2000-2003, DVD Quality)

Nickname: "Maze", "The Nostalgic Maze", "The Green Labyrinth"

Logo: On a white background, a young boy and an older African-American girl appear in a static-like format (similar to when you turn on an old-school CRT TV). They spin around a bit, and then are "teleported" to a giant maze with grassy structures. A set of video controls (from left to right, pause, rewind, stop, play, fast forward) is shown at the bottom left corner of the screen as the kids run through the maze (as play is activated) until we go through a video game-like screen of a maze with orange squares (portals) and two small white squares (the kids), going into the center portal. The kids teleport into a different part of the maze while the camera pans at different angles. An orange butterfly then flutters near the kids (followed by several more) until they begin running through the maze again (as well as another video game-like screen of a maze with the kids going into the center portal, teleporting them once again). We then cut to the kids jumping on an orange flower at different perspectives, then cutting to the kids running through the maze once again being followed by and chasing an orange sphere until they reach a dead end, in which we then cut to them running and reaching the end of the case with the orange sphere following them. Finally, we cut to the kids facing the sphere on a white background. The camera zooms in while the Nickelodeon text appears and the same video controls from before appear and flicker until just the play button shows.

FX/SFX: A great mix of the live-action kids and the CGI effects.

Music/Sounds: An early 2000's synthpop tune with a drum-and-bass/UK garage beat, a guitar section, and some female harmonizing near the climax. There are also various sound effects heard throughout, including laughing near the opening, birds and cicadas chirping, and some boinging/beeping as the play button flickers at the end.

Availability: Seen on Nickelodeon VHS tapes from the era, including later Rugrats tapes as well as the first few SpongeBob SquarePants VHS releases. It debuted on Rugrats: I Think I Like You and made its final regular appearance on Rugrats: Mysteries. Strangely, this logo, along with the 1995 Paramount Home Video logo, also appears on the 2013 It's a SpongeBob Christmas Blu-ray release if you select either the first episode or "Play All" on the bonus episodes (which were the same episodes from the Nautical Nonsense and Sponge Buddies releases), as those episodes used the same video master as their respective VHS releases. It was also used as a station ID.

Editor's Note: This is a favorite bumper of many for its unique effects, great music and impressive CGI.

3rd ID (March 12-September 24, 2002)
Nickelodeon (2001/2002)

Nicknames: "The Oval", "Nickelodeon Oval", "The Dull Orange Oval"

Logo: Over a black background, an oval-shaped, 2D Nickelodeon logo is seen.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Seen on the first two Nickelodeon DVDs: Rugrats: Decade in Diapers and SpongeBob SquarePants: Nautical Nonsense & Sponge Buddies.

Editor's Note: It has less effort than a lot of other logos on this page.

4th ID (August 27, 2002-September 30, 2003)
Nickelodeon Productions - CLG Wiki

Nickname: "Nick Robot"

Logo: On a black background, a robot-shaped 3D Nick logo is seen moving to the screen.

Variants: There is an animated variant in which we see the robot moving.

FX/SFX: The robot moving.

Music/Sounds: The end-title theme of the show or none.

Availability: Seen on the SpongeBob SquarePants: Halloween and Nicktoons Christmas DVDs.

Editor's Note: None.

5th ID (January 28, 2003-August 31, 2004)
Nickelodeon Productions (2004) (Better Quality)

Nickname: "Nickelodeon Top"

Logo: On a black background, a top-shaped 3D Nickelodeon logo is seen spinning to the screen, then stays still.

Variant: There is an animated variant without the copyright info in which the top spins to the screen for a few seconds and then stays still.

FX/SFX: None, except for the spinning on the animated variant.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Fairly rare. Appears on these Rugrats DVD releases: Rugrats Mysteries, Rugrats Saves the Day, Rugrats Halloween and Rugrats Turkey & Mistletoe, and makes a surprise appearance on the 2011 reprint of the former, which was released on September 20, 2011.

Editor's Note: None.

6th ID (2003-2005)
Nickelodeon Productions - CLG Wiki

Nicknames: "Nickelodeon Rocket", "The Jimmy Neutron DVD/VHS Logo"

Logo: On a black background, a rocket-shaped 3D Nickelodeon logo is seen flying across the screen.

FX/SFX: The rocket flying around.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Can be found on VHS and DVD releases of The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, the DVD release of Jimmy Timmy Power Hour 1, and a few DVD releases of Rocket Power and All Grown Up.

7th ID (2002-March 30, 2010)
Nickelodeon Productions - CLG Wiki

Nicknames: "Nickelodeon Fish", "The SpongeBob DVD/VHS Logo", "Nickelodeon Goldfish", "The SpongeBob Logo"

Logo: On a black background, a 3D fish-shaped Nickelodeon logo is seen swimming. Blue bubbles are seen are also seen coming out of the fish.

FX/SFX: The fish swimming.

Music/Sounds: None, but on the VHS release of The Fairly OddParents: Channel Chasers, bubble noises are heard.

Availability: Very common. With the exception of a few releases, this is seen on virtually all Nickelodeon DVD releases from this time, including SpongeBob SquarePants releases through the era including the first five seasons and the first volume of season 6, DVD's of Avatar: The Last Airbender, as well as many other shows, and later Nick Jr. releases. It makes a surprise appearance on the DVD release of SpongeBob SquarePants: Viking-Sized Adventures, released on January 26, 2010, and on the DVD release of iCarly: iFight Shelby Marx, released on March 30, 2010.

8th ID (2003-2005)
Nickname: "Nickelodeon Flower''

Logo: On a black background, a flower-shaped 3D Nickelodeon logo is seen blooming.

FX/SFX: The flower blooming.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Can be found on some VHS releases of As Told By Ginger and The Amanda Show. The Fish logo appears on DVD releases.

Editor's Note: None.

9th ID (July 15, 2003)
Nickelodeon Productions - CLG Wiki

Nicknames: "Nickelodeon Slime", "The Wiggling Slime"

Logo: On a black background, an orange slime 3D Nickelodeon logo (which looks more like a cloud) is seen spinning.

FX/SFX: The slime spinning.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: On VHS, this only appears at the beginning of one release - the VHS version of ''The Fairly OddParents: Abra-Catastrophe! The Movie''. The DVD version just features the regular fish logo.

Editor's Note: Same as the endcap.

10th ID (August 26, 2003)
Nickelodeon Productions - CLG Wiki

Nickname: "Nick Eye"

Logo: On a background, a set of 3D orange eyes bounce around, all having "NICK" inside the pupil. One of them comes to the screen, and starts blinking.

FX/SFX: CGI animation.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Appears on the Nicktoons Halloween DVD.

Editor's Note: None.

11th ID (2004-July 25, 2006)
Nickelodeon Productions - CLG Wiki

Nickname: "Nickelodeon Crown"

Logo: On a black background, a 3D crown Nickelodeon logo is seen. Copyright is shown below.

Variant: There is an animated version without the copyright stamp of this, where the crown is spinning.

FX/SFX: The crown spinning.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Can be found on the VHS version of SpongeBob SquarePants: Lost in Time (The DVD version has the regular Fish logo), some Fairly Odd Parents VHS and DVD releases, some All Grown Up! VHS releases (which use the Rocket or Fish on DVD versions) and the DVD releases of Jimmy Timmy Power Hour 2 and 3.

Editor's Note: None.

12th ID (2004-2005)
Nickelodeon (2004)

Nicknames: "The Flying Carpet", "Nickelodeon Carpet"

Logo: On a black background, an orange carpet with the Nickelodeon logo on it flies across the screen before stopping in the center. The carpet waves a bit before fading out.

FX/SFX: The carpet moving.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Originally used as a Station ID. It was later seen on the VHS release of The Fairly OddParents: Superhero Spectacle.

Editor's Note: None.

13th ID (2005?)
Nicknames: "Nickelodeon Slug", "The Crawling Worm"

Logo: Same as the closing version, but without any copyright info.

FX/SFX: The worm moving.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Appears on the region 4 DVD release of The Wild Thornberrys: Heroes of the Animal Kingdom.

Editor's Note: None.