The Wild & Weird Universe of Nickelodeon Idents

The branding of #Nickelodeon in the 80s and 90s continues to fascinate me all these years later. It was weird, it was creepy, it was funny, it was gross, and it was a brilliant mess. This is my big rundown/tribute of the peak of orange goo, experimental animation and soothing doo-wop all coming together. I hadn’t kept in mind that this would release in the 40th anniversary year of the splat, but it’s a happy coincidence.
0:00 Intro
1:24 Early Years
2:52: Orange You Glad?
10:41 Nick Is Kids
15:50 120 Frames
17:57 The Decline
21:42 The Impact
26:06 The song never ends

[@GregCubed]

Bumpers and idents like these are one of the main things I miss about cable television, it added so much personality to the channel you were watching. You don’t really get the same thing in the streaming age sadly

[@AJPierson]

Yeah, looking at these promos and bumpers is like looking at a mini animation festival.

[@Mr.Giegue]

Rest in Peace Eugene Pitt.
I hope you are having eternal fun with Stephen Hillenburg in the heaven.

[@KyleRDent]

Nickelodeon idents are probably why Millennials got obsessed with a capella in their teens/20s, but that Glee crap gets all the credit.

[@SparklingWithNiGHTS-yv5fe]

17:02 "Me looking at this caterpillar"😳...
Someone pass to me the bug spray please !

[@theluckiesteh9058]

Those classic Nick indents from the 80's and 90's weren't just interesting and well-animated, the music and singing in them was incredibly soulful as well.... kind of surprised they're able to get so much rhythm out of a funny-sounding word like Nickelodeon.

[@Adadevoh2000]

Crikey, Nick's wild and weird bumpers are the very dangerous bumpers. 😅

[@leet7489]

This is what separates cable from streaming. Streaming services dont have identities. Netflix has the logo sound but thtas it. Disney doesnt even have an identity

[@CaptainBZarre]

Excellent discussion, and thanks for giving me credit at the end of the video! Compared to CN, Nick's branding history always felt way less consistent and that had its pros and cons. You bring up an interesting point about whether or not they were focus tested, I can't imagine they were judging by stuff like the infamous Pinchface and box bumpers. The 80s bumpers, IMO, were the most iconic set and my personal favorite, and it seems like Nick agrees.
Also just binged your Sponge Comms videos and I love your perspective on the series. I'm a big fan of seasons 1 - 3 and 9b - 11, though 12 and onwards has been just alright with a few standout episodes.

[@SparklingWithNiGHTS-yv5fe]

Nicktendo really needs to watch this video.😊

[@jonahabenhaim1223]

10:32 not gonna lie, this Nickelodeon bumper scene would work well as a mashup with Stardust Speedway JP Bad Future from Sonic CD. Since it sounds so similar.

[@FileStorage-dt5gq]

TryWatching "A better schedule for Nickelodeon's main block" by Evan Rosman.

[@brendonoconnor1425]

Fantastic video!!

[@the9thinning1]

great as always

[@jedd.0322]

MTVs was pretty inconsistent tooo

[@AJPierson]

8:08 oh hey I used these bumpers as the transition for my Nickelodeon Top Shows review.

[@ryanwilkins2233]

Like adult swim, Back then Nickelodeons your's to be a giant Drug trip.

[@joshuaW5621]

Ireland and Britain had the weirdest bumpers in the mid 2010s.

[@datguyyo]

That Nickelodeon Video Open terrified me when I was a kid.

[@Illumisepoolist]

6:54 I knew there were sesame street vibes going on.

[@happaxgamma]

19:53 Harriet The Spy is also an Apple TV+ series.

[@capricedutton5584]

Lol what was the bumper at 17:10 😭 great video by the way

[@joalgarcia8770]

ummmhh why no 2009 -2024 full please

[@joalgarcia8770]

26:26

[@LukasSheshene1]

u should remove the ":" from your description