Nickelodeon Home Media Opening IDs

Background
The page describes the opening IDs Nickelodeon used on their VHS releases. Starting in 1996, when distribution of Nickelodeon videos switched from Sony Wonder to Paramount Home Video (which Viacom acquired two years later), Nickelodeon alternated between using their station IDs and their first home video ID before ultimately settling with the latter. Since 2009, the 2009 Nickelodeon Productions logo is used as a de-facto home video logo.

1st ID (August 31, 1993-October 5, 1999)


Logo: First, the barbershop singers from the "Easy Groove" ID singing the familiar Nickelodeon 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 monster from the "Flying TV Monster" ID flies into the screen, and the television 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. The DJ from the 1987 "Top of the Hour" bumper appears, holding three tube sticks on them, and hits them onto the screen, transitioning us to another scene where the barbershop singers perform against an orange-tinted clip of the "Take 50" bumper as more Nickelodeon ID characters move around in the background and foreground. The fish from "Top of the Hour" bumper appear. Several transitions bring us to several edited versions of Nickelodeon IDs, such as the "Anteater" and "Brew" bumpers against a "Top of the Hour" background (should've been shot in black-and-white), and the "T-Rex" roaring against the "Better Off by Far" bumper, a dish lid opens a viking singing and two dogs are riding bumper cars. Finally, the barbershop singers appear again as the Nickelodeon logo (in its form seen on, for example, Wild and Crazy Kids), in computer animation, but the "Take 50" bumper is also shot in black-and-white and rotating from left to right as its design moves, appears above them. Finally, the logo ends with a television switch-off effect.

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

Technique: A mixture of various animation styles of the various IDs used, including hand-drawn animation, claymation, and computer animation.

Music/Sounds: A funky Madchester-esque remix of the 1985 "Top of the Hour" theme, mixed with various sounds of the IDs.

Availability: Common.
 * Seen on most Nickelodeon releases from the era released by Sony Wonder (with live-action series) and early to mid Paramount Home Video, and was also used on several international releases as well.
 * However, some videotapes, like the Paramount reprints of the Rugrats Sony Wonder tapes, used certain television bumpers instead of this.
 * It was first seen on the original Sony Wonder releases of Rugrats and Doug (original version only) and was last seen on Rugrats: Make Room for Dil.
 * It also appears on the 1995 Sony Wonder LaserDisc The Ren and Stimpy Show: The Essential Collection - Classics I & II.
 * The ID also appeared on the rare KaBlam! 3-D VHS.
 * This ID was occasionally used as an actual television bumper, usually before a music video was shown in the '90s.

Legacy: 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 nostalgic favorite of many due to its impressive mixture of a lot of Nickelodeon's older bumpers of the time.

2nd ID (1996-2002)


Logo: We see a model of the Earth zoom into the screen, and it remains in place as this logo's background, spinning throughout. We see different children from around the world saying the phrase "One world, one Nickelodeon" in their native language. Throughout the logo, they interact with a spinning orange ball reading "NICKELODEON". At the end, a girl throws it towards the screen and it bounces back to the center.

Technique: A mixture of live-action and computer animation.

Music/Sounds: A downtempo beat alongside a chorus of children singing "Na-na-eight" (if you listen closely, they sing "Na-na-na-Nick!"), as well as various sound effects, including a honk when the Nickelodeon ball is thrown up to the screen and bounces back. The kids in the bumper repeatedly state "One world, one Nickelodeon" in their native languages, which in order are: Zulu(?), Arabic, English, Finnish, Spanish, Hindi, Japanese, and Chinese.

Availability: Uncommon. Seen on Nickelodeon videotapes released internationally by CIC Video and later Paramount Home Video, such as several Rugrats tapes from the UK and the Australian VHS releases of Blue's Clues: Arts & Crafts and The Ren and Stimpy Show: Incredibly Stupid Stories. In North America, this only appeared on Spanish-language tapes released in the United States and for French-language tapes released in Canada.

3rd ID (January 11, 2000-January 28, 2003, 2013)


Logo: On a white background, we see a young Asian boy and an older black girl "digitize" onto the screen like static on an old-school CRT television. After spinning around for a couple seconds, they are teleported to a giant maze made up of grassy structures. A set of video controls (from left to right: pause, rewind, stop, play, fast forward) are shown at the bottom left corner of the screen, with the play button being activated as the kids run through the maze. We then go to 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 to a different part of the maze while the camera pans at different angles. An orange butterfly then flutters near the kids, which is then followed by several more filling the room. They begin running through the maze again, as we cut to the same video game-like screen of the maze with the kids teleporting by going into the center portal. We then cut to the kids jumping on a large orange flower at different perspectives, They start running through the maze once again, this time being followed by and chasing an orange sphere. The two kids eventually reach a dead end, with the orange sphere right behind them and the pause button from the video controls highlighted. We then cut to them running and reaching the end of the maze 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 before just the play button shows.

Technique: An implementation of computer effects over the live action footage of the kids.

Music/Sounds: A synthpop/techno tune with a drum and bass beat, rhythm guitar and some female backing vocals near the climax. There are also various sound effects heard throughout, including the kids laughing near the opening, birds and cicadas chirping, and some boings/beeping as the play button flickers at the end.

Availability: Just as common as the first bumper.
 * Seen on Nickelodeon VHS tapes from the era, including later Rugrats tapes and the first few SpongeBob SquarePants VHS releases.
 * It was introduced on Rugrats: I Think I Like You and made its last regular appearance on Rugrats: Mysteries.
 * Both this logo and the 1995 Paramount Home Video logo make a surprise appearance on the 2013 Blu-ray release of It's a SpongeBob Christmas. They play if either the first episode or "Play All" on the bonus episodes (which were the same ones used on the Nautical Nonsense and Sponge Buddies DVD releases) are selected. This is due to them using the same video master as the original VHS releases. This is cut on the DVD version, as the correct master is used there.
 * It was also used as a station ID, although its appearances were very rare.

Legacy: This bumper is a favorite of many for its unique effects, great music and impressive computer animation.

4th ID (March 12-September 24, 2002)


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

Technique: None.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Extremely rare. It was only seen on the first two Nickelodeon DVDs: Rugrats: Decade in Diapers and SpongeBob SquarePants: Nautical Nonsense & Sponge Buddies.

5th ID (August 27, 2002-September 30, 2003)


Logo: On a black background, an orange 3D robot is seen in the top right corner, moving down as it turns its head towards the screen and waves at us. It then swerves to the right before swerving back to the left and then finally rests in the center, arms on its waist.

Technique: Computer animation.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Extremely rare. Only appears on the SpongeBob SquarePants: Halloween and Nicktoons Christmas DVDs. The VHS versions have the regular Fish logo.

6th ID (January 28, 2003-August 31, 2004, 2011)


Logo: On a black background, an orange 3D spinning top is seen spinning towards the screen, bouncing about before it stands still.

Technique: Same as the previous ID.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Fairly rare. Only seen on four Rugrats DVD releases: Mysteries, Saves the Day, Halloween and Turkey & Mistletoe, and makes a surprise appearance on the 2011 reprint of the first title, which was released on September 20, 2011, while the others use the 2009 Nickelodeon Productions logo on their reprints.

7th ID (2003-2005)


Logo: On a black background, an orange 3D rocket seen flying across the screen. It first goes from bottom right to top left, then top right to bottom left, and then swerves into the center. Blue-colored flames can also be seen coming out of it.

Technique: Same as the previous IDs.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Rare.
 * Can be found on all VHS and DVD releases of The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius.
 * It also appeared on the VHS and DVD releases of Jimmy Timmy Power Hour, and a few DVD releases of Rocket Power and All Grown Up.

8th ID (2002-March 30, 2010)


Logo: On a black background, an orange 3D fish with the white Balloon font on it is seen swimming around, turning directions twice before stopping in the front of the screen for a few seconds. As the fish swims, blue-colored bubbles are seen coming out of the said fish.

Technique: Same as the previous IDs.

Music/Sounds: None.

Music/Sounds Variant: On the VHS of The Fairly OddParents: Channel Chasers and the DVD of SpongeBob SquarePants: Season 3, bubble noises are heard.

Availability: Very common. With the exception of a few releases, this is seen on virtually every Nickelodeon DVD release from this time.
 * This was seen on the majority of SpongeBob SquarePants releases through the era including the first five seasons and the first volume of season 6, DVDs of Avatar: The Last Airbender, as well as many other shows, and later Nick Jr. releases.
 * Also seen on some VHS releases at the time.
 * It makes a surprise appearance on several 2010 DVDs released after the 2009 rebrand (even when the packaging and most of them include the new logo), including Nickelodeon: We Love Our Friends, released on January 5, 2010, SpongeBob SquarePants: Viking-Sized Adventures, released on January 26, 2010, and made its last appearance as a whole on the DVD release of iCarly: iFight Shelby Marx, released on March 30, 2010.

9th ID (2003-2005)


Logo: On a black background, a Frisbee-shaped 3D orange flower is seen zooming in and turning towards the screen before blooming its petals.

Technique: Same as the previous IDs.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Rare. Only appears on some VHS releases of As Told By Ginger and The Amanda Show. The regular fish logo appears on the DVD releases.

10th ID (July 15, 2003)


Logo: On a black background, a moving orange splat appears before swooping over to the center of the screen, showing that it's a 3D Nickelodeon splat logo (which looks more like a cloud) wiggling its edges.

Technique: Same as the previous IDs.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Extremely rare. This only appears on one release - the VHS version of ''The Fairly OddParents: Abra-Catastrophe! The Movie''. Once again, the DVD release of it just features the regular fish logo.

Legacy: Viewers may recognize this logo from it being used as an endcap, or for its appearances on Rugrats video trailers and on the VHS release of The Rugrats Movie.

11th ID (August 26, 2003)


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 begins blinking.

Technique: CGI animation.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Extremely rare. Only seen on the Nicktoons Halloween DVD.

12th ID (2004-July 25, 2006)


Logo: On a black background, an orange 3D crown is seen rolling on its side before it collapses down to its bottom.

Technique: Same as the previous IDs.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Rare.
 * Can be found on the VHS version of SpongeBob SquarePants: Lost in Time (the DVD version has the regular Fish logo), which is also the final SpongeBob SquarePants VHS released.
 * Also appears on some Fairly Odd Parents VHS and DVD releases (the Fish logo is used otherwise), some All Grown Up! VHS releases (which use the Rocket or the Fish on the DVD counterparts) and the DVD releases of Jimmy Timmy Power Hour 2 and 3, as well as the VHS release of the former.

13th ID (2004-2005)


Logo: On a black background, an orange 3D carpet with the white Balloon font on it flies across the screen before stopping in the center. The carpet waves a bit before fading out.

Technique: Same as the previous IDs.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Originally used as a station ID. It only appeared on the VHS release of The Fairly OddParents: Superhero Spectacle. Yet again, the regular fish logo is on the DVD.

14th ID (2005?)


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

Technique: Same as the previous IDs.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Extremely rare. This was not used in the US and Canada. Only appears on the region 4 DVD release of The Wild Thornberrys: Heroes of the Animal Kingdom. Other prints just have the Fish logo.

Final Note
Since the 2009 rebrand (with some exceptions), the 2009 Nickelodeon Productions logo (but without the word "Productions" and the copyright info) is used as a de-facto home video logo, despite that logo being replaced in 2017.