Will Nickelodeon become a bigger player in animation and start treating animation better?

[The Overlord]

Will Nickelodeon become a bigger player in animation and start treating animation better? That may seem like a silly considering that Nickelodeon has been sending off most of its animated shows off to Nicktoons to die for the last 20 years. But Nickelodeon is taking in outside submissions for new animated projects and Nickelodeon has been saying that it wants to hire Warner Bros animators affected by WB's recent cuts.

Nick Animation Hiring Former HBO Animation Staff

It looks like Nick Animation is looking to hire some former HBO Animation staff who have become displaced. From LinkedIn.

animesuperhero.com

Really, Nickelodeon's parent company is an interesting position, smaller than giants like Disney, but not as crippled with debt as WB. With a smaller company, you have to take more chances to stand out. They also seem to be promoting animation more on Paramount Plus than WB is on HBO Max.

They have not done anything new with animation on Paramount Plus yet, but they could and putting stuff on Paramount Plus is better than putting stuff on Nicktoons. They are expanding old franchises in animation on Paramount Plus with new SpongeBob, Star Trek, Avatar, etc animation. WB cutting back on animation leaves an opening.

 

[JMTV]

Eh, no. I still don't trust Nickelodeon TBH. I mean, it's cool they had the Accelerator program, and Paramount is being more somewhat competent with their animated shows more than Warner Bros did, but the network has done far too much damage that it's impossible to repair for what they did.

Unless they finally come to their senses and started to treat their creators, animated shows, and (former and current) kid actors the respect they deserves, I really doubt it.

 

[Light Lucario]

It's hard to say for sure right now when it's probably going to be awhile before they announce more animated projects, especially from people who were affected from the HBO Max situation. At the moment, I find it unlikely for Nickelodeon to change. They've been treating most of their animated shows pretty poorly for decades at this point.

I still think it's a nice gesture for them to reach out to people who were affected by HBO Max and there could be some more potential for the channel to change with Paramount+ as well. I just don't have the strongest confidence in Nickelodeon to make these kind of changes at the moment.

 

[The Overlord]

It's hard to say for sure right now when it's probably going to be awhile before they announce more animated projects, especially from people who were affected from the HBO Max situation. At the moment, I find it unlikely for Nickelodeon to change. They've been treating most of their animated shows pretty poorly for decades at this point.

I still think it's a nice gesture for them to reach out to people who were affected by HBO Max and there could be some more potential for the channel to change with Paramount+ as well. I just don't have the strongest confidence in Nickelodeon to make these kind of changes at the moment.

That's a valid view point. The only thing I would counter with is I found a LA Times article (it is kinda old from 2019), where the CEO of Nickelodeon says the cupboard is bare and they need new content. None of this means they will invest more in animation, never trust one of these entertainment companies, but it could happen, which would be an amusing turn around.

Nickelodeon once ruled kids TV. Can it make a comeback?

Nickelodeon's boss, Brian Robbins, has a plan to revive the once dominant children's television brand as it faces heavy competition from streaming rivals.

www.latimes.com

 

[aegisrawks]

It's their only hope at this point. Their kidcoms are pretty much poison and they should resort to treating animation better... But they wont.

 

[The Overlord]

It's their only hope at this point. Their kidcoms are pretty much poison and they should resort to treating animation better... But they wont.

I have no idea whether these kid coms do well or not, but I would assume Nick still makes them because they do well. I am not going to comment on the quality of kid coms because I am way outside the demographic for those shows. Live-action shows for kids hold no appeal to me, but I am old enough to remember when I liked something like Saved by the Bell (probably the first modern kid com) and eventually realized that show was not very good.

But I am talking about Nickelodeon as a studio, rather than a TV channel. Streaming has had some bumps, but it's not going anywhere. we are not going back to a pre-streaming media landscape. If Nickelodeon makes live-action and animated content for Paramount Plus, they are no longer fighting each other for air time.

It does seem like Paramount Global is making new animated projects for Paramount Plus, but it does seem like its big franchises getting the most resources. Paramount has new kids' animated content for streaming that consists of a new Rugrats show, some Spongebob spinoffs, and a new Star Trek show. In terms of upcoming stuff, we are seeing a ton of Avatar stuff and some more TMNT content, with a bunch of animated movies about various TMNT villains in production and that animated Seth Rogen film. As Paramount Global's adult animation, it does pull from the big franchises too, with a Star Trek adult comedy and a new Beavis and Butthead series.

Now some of this content, mostly the Star Trek, TMNT, and Avatar content, sounds interesting to me but is the big franchises Paramount owns. It would be nice if, in addition to the big franchises, something new was developed by Paramount, but hey, animation is animation and work is work, especially for people who were screwed over by WB. But it does seem like Nickaleodon as a studio will be producing more animated content.

 

[90'sKid]

I feel like that at this point Nick has relied so much on SpongeBob and KidComs (in all their foot-fetish inglory) that it would take a major, and I mean major, shake-up to finally break out of creative stagnation.

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[ATSFGuy]

I feel like that at this point Nick has relied so much on SpongeBob and KidComs (in all their foot-fetish inglory) that it would take a major, and I mean major, shake-up to finally break out of creative stagnation.

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You're right regarding the issue with the internet taking over, especially streaming. Once new technology is introduced, it "stays there." whether we like it or not. There's no need to go back to the old 1997-2007 time frame. Digital is the new tomorrow, not analog servers.

If Nick can create a "Creator Lab" similar to what they had in the 90's, it would be a huge step towards creating good quality shows.

 

[90'sKid]

You're right regarding the issue with the internet taking over, especially streaming. Once new technology is introduced, it "stays there." whether we like it or not. There's no need to go back to the old 1997-2007 time frame. Digital is the new tomorrow, not analog servers.

If Nick can create a "Creator Lab" similar to what they had in the 90's, it would be a huge step towards creating good quality shows.

... I never mentioned the internet?

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[PF9]

Only if Paramount Global changes controlling owners from National Amusements to Charter Communications.

Charter cares a lot about cable TV still, they own Spectrum after all, and would be abhorred by how the Paramount Media Networks channels are being run currently.

So, under Charter's control, Nick and its sister networks would undergo changes in leadership to people who are more willing to renew SpongeBob for a final season that concludes its basic premise, limit its spinoffs to 100 episodes apiece, restore variety to their schedules, and treat all other originals on these networks equally.

 

[The Overlord]

Only if Paramount Global changes controlling owners from National Amusements to Charter Communications.

Charter cares a lot about cable TV still, they own Spectrum after all, and would be abhorred by how the Paramount Media Networks channels are being run currently.

So, under Charter's control, Nick and its sister networks would undergo changes in leadership to people who are more willing to renew SpongeBob for a final season that concludes its basic premise, limit its spinoffs to 100 episodes apiece, restore variety to their schedules, and treat all other originals on these networks equally.

I meant Nickelodeon as a studio, not a channel. As we get new animated content, who cares if it's on Nickelodeon or Paramount Plus? I think Nickelodeon is making new stuff for Paramount Plus, but it seems like it's the big franchises like SpongeBob, Star Trek, Avatar, TMNT, etc. Nothing really new.

 

[Ace]

I doubt it. They have way too many of their shows not last longer than 2 seasons some not even get past their first.

I can also mention the merciless milking of existing franchises for spinoffs which doesn't help these new properties for having to compete with them.

 

[ThePharaohZ]

Hopefully they will, but their track record with non-Spongebob/Loud House animated content is not great. It's a wonder anyone would even pitch to them after Greenblatt's rant/warning on Tumblr.