Nickelodeon

Background : Nickelodeon, or simply Nick, is an American cable and satellite network, aimed at children and adolescents aged 9-16. Launched on December 1st, 1977, the network was originally founded as Pinwheel, named after a children's television show of the same name. The network was later renamed to Nickelodeon on April 1, 1979, after an early 20th century exhibition dedicated to showing projected motion pictures.

1st Logo

(1988-1989)

Nickname : "Nick ID Snippets"

Logo : There are multiple variants used:
 * Fireworks: We see shadow figures of three children looking into the night sky. A firecracker (which looks like a comet streak) passes by them and we pan up into space, Then the firecracker bounces off of an astronaut, then a satellite, and finally, the moon, who has a very angry look, before it shoots up into the sky, and then explodes into several fireworks. "NICKELODEON" in its familiar font forms. A more common version starts at the firecracker shooting into the sky.
 * Nick TV: On a blue green background, we see a boy in glasses standing next to a large, winged turtle with a TV screen on it. The boy jumps onto the turtle as it flies around in circles. It then stops in the middle of the screen to reveal the "NICKELODEON" text on the TV screen. This was done by Colossal Pictures.
 * Nick Box: On a cream-colored background with objects, we see many objects falling down, and landing in a black rectangle. Then, we see the black rectangle, but on top unfolds a orange rectangle, with "NICKELODEON" in the colors of the objects, which in it's familiar font, is on it. It makes a box shape, then the "NICKELODEON" text flashes white, and a butterfly flies out of the box.
 * Fish: On a stage surrounded by blue fish, we see three green fish dancing and another one playing the piano. A curtain, with the "NICKELODEON" text in it's familiar font, drops. This was done by David Lubell.
 * Golf: We see the toe of a golf club, with a orange golf ball with "NICKELODEON" on it. It hits it, and goes through a loop with a orange arrow with "NICKELODEON" on it. It comes through a windmill with flat orange hands with "NICKELODEON" on it, and finally gets through a curvy pathway with Nickelodeon arrows pointing up.
 * Submarine: We see a dinosaur standing in the middle of a field, looking around. Suddenly, the ground turns into water, and an orange submarine with "NICKELODEON" on it floats up to the surface, right under the dinosaur's feet. This was done by Charlex.
 * Teacup: On a black background, we see a very weird looking tea-dispenser with green grass-like hair, big eyes, a tongue holding a teacup, and a tube coming out of its nose into the teacup. The tea-dispenser slowly spins so that the camera is facing the back of it, and starts to become transparent. When it becomes fully transparent, we see three fish with "NICKELODEON" on them swimming in circles inside.
 * Bikes: On a black background, we see two hand-drawn people (one orange and one purple) riding bikes. This then changes to a blue person wearing green clothing falling over on a bike carrying packages, then to another purple person riding a bike, and finally multiple red people passing by on their bikes. During the last shot, an orange person also passes by, with one of his bike's gears reading "NICKELODEON". When this gear shows up on screen, every part of the orange person's bike except the gear disappears, leaving only the gear on screen.
 * Clay: On a white background, we see a clay orange bomb reading "NICKELODEON" with a lit fuse. When the bomb detonates, it explodes into an orange drop, which transforms into an orange fish reading "NICKELODEON", and then into an orange triangle, also reading "NICKELODEON".
 * Pattycake: We see two silhouettes with orange outlines playing Pattycake on the moon in outer8 space (we also see Earth in the background). The silhouettes clap hands two times, and four orange hands appear on screen. When they clap hands again, they disappear, and "NICKELODEON" appears on the four orange hands.

Trivia : These logos were all based on the iconic idents that Nickelodeon was known for throughout most of the 1980s.

Variant : There was a superimposed variant of the short fireworks logo that was seen on Double Defi, the French-Canadian version of Double Dare.

FX/SFX : It depends on the variant.

Music/Sounds : The closing theme of the show.

Music/Sounds Variant : On several episodes of Finders Keepers, we hear silence over the fireworks logo. On the video Double Dare: The Inside Scoop, we hear the fireworks logo's music.

Availability : Most of the variants can be seen on the Orlando-taped episodes of Super Sloppy Double Dare. The long fireworks version (with music) can be seen on the video Double Dare: The Inside Scoop and at the end of Double Dare: The Messiest Moments on VHS. The short fireworks version however, appeared on the syndicated versions of Double Dare and Finders Keepers, as well as the Fox version of Family Double Dare (and even appeared on the Australian version of Double Dare after the "This program is based off of.." bumper). A short Nick Box is seen on the syndicated version of Double Dare and 1989 episodes of Super Sloppy Double Dare (both the Philadelphia and Orlando-taped episodes). The full Nick Box however, can be seen on the video How to Throw a Double Dare Party. The golf logo can be found on some Orlando-taped SSDD episodes as well. None of these variants appear on the British and Dutch versions of Double Dare though.

Scare Factor : Depending on the variant, it can range from none to medium.

2nd Logo

(September 4, 2000?-September 2006)

Nickname : "The Weird Object"

Logo : Against a teal background, various hard-to-describe versions of the Nick logo bounce around the screen (usually "Cloud 2"), eventually settling in the center. Copyright info (which vary in font depending on the show it follows) appears below. Sometimes the copyright info can be on as early as the logo is animating.

Trivia : This logo was based on the on-air look Nick had from 2000 to early 2003, which was designed by Burning Settlers Cabin.

FX/SFX : The "bouncing".

Cheesy Factor : Sometimes the object may alternate its shape before the copyright notice appears. The animation also looks rather simple and the quality looks slightly low-budget (this is probably because most videos and screenshots of the logo are rather low in quality, since a lot of them were recorded in the early 2000's).

Variants :
 * A still version of the logo without any copyright notice exist.
 * The second logo for Nickelodeon Animation Studios was also used along with this logo for certain Nicktoons (Jimmy Neutron, the Frederator Nicktoons, and Invader Zim) up until 2006. See the page for more details.

Music/Sounds : Usually the outro of the show, or the previous logo's audio may play over the logo (e.g. United Plankton Pictures, Snee-Oosh, Jumbo Pictures, and Peter Hannan Productions).

Music/Sounds Variants :
 * For a brief time in summer 2005, there was an announcer (possibly a female adult or an older child) that said "[SHOW NAME] next on Nick."
 * Sometimes it's the sound of kids laughing (usually heard after the Klasky-Csupo SSF, but was also heard on shows like Avatar: The Last Airbender and Catscratch). That sound effect was heard on a Wunschpunsch episode "Terrible Toddlers".
 * Or, it's the sounds an engine revving sound combined with a xylophone.
 * On some shows, it has the buzzing sound from the 1996 Nickelodeon Productions "Lightbulb" logo.
 * From the logo's debut until sometime around late 2001/early 2002, sometimes the audio from the preceding promo on the split-screen credits can sometimes play over this logo and the logos before it.

Availability : Near extinction. This logo was mainly used to plaster the Nickelodeon Productions logo on the split-screen credits (this was done to simplify the creation of the credits). It was used from 2000 until 2006. Strangely, this logo is preserved on older home video releases of Nick shows. Sometimes, it would appear on shows that weren't made by Nickelodeon, but the show had split-screen credits like Speed Racer X. The still logo was last seen on the 2011 airing of Cry Baby Lane, as current airings on NickSplat removes this logo.

Scare Factor : None to low.

3rd Logo

(September 2006-September 28, 2009, August 2011)

Nicknames : "Bubbles and Nick", "The Splat!", "CGI Splat", "Nick Splat", "CGI Nick Splat"

Logo : On a white and teal background with green CGI bubbles, one bursts, revealing a CGI Nickelodeon logo. Copyright info is shown below.

Trivia :
 * This logo was based off Nick's on-air look used from 2006 to 2008.
 * A similar concept would later be used for the Nickelodeon Productions logo of 2007.

Variants :
 * On Wayside, there was no copyright information byline and at the top, there was orange text that read "This has been a presentation of".
 * On Back at the Barnyard, and The Fairly OddParents episode "77 Secrets of The Fairly OddParents Revealed", the logo lacks copyright info.
 * On all Three Delivery shorts, the logo is completely still.
 * On Making Fiends, the logo is in black and white.
 * On a 2007 season 1 airing of Just Jordan, if you look closely near to the end, the 2006 copyright stamp appears due to a plastering error.

FX/SFX : The bubble bursting. Nice CGI.

Music/Sounds : Usually the end theme of the show that aired, but sometimes it's the kids laughing from the last logo.

Music/Sounds Variants :
 * On some international airings of the season one iCarly episode "iWanna Stay With Spencer", this logo had the "POP!" sound from the 2007 Nickelodeon Productions logo.
 * On the end of Three Delivery shorts, there is no music playing.
 * On split-screen credit airings of Jimmy Neutron episodes, the logo has the "Gotta blast!" audio variant of the Nicktoons logo from the mentioned show.
 * On split-screen credit airings of Mr. Meaty, the logo plastered the 1996 Nickelodeon Productions "Lightbulb" logo, and because of it, this logo has the end theme of the show accompanied with the sounds of the mentioned logo. This is probably because the Lightbulb's audio is mixed in with the end theme of the show and Nick must have forgotten to remove the audio.
 * On August 9, 2011, on a Nickelodeon USA airing of Bubble Guppies after the split-screen credits, the logo strangely was revived and because of it, the Wild Brain and the 2009 Nickelodeon Productions logos were plastered. The audio from the aforementioned logos was played over this one.
 * Also in August 2011, on an airing of Team Umizoomi, an similar thing happened above where the Curious Pictures and Nick logos was plastered and it had the audio from those two logos.

Availability : Rare. It was mainly used for the split-screen credits (like the previous logo) until 2008. However, it's was also used outside of the split-screen credits as a proper logo, thus allowing it to escape extinction. It appeared on Tak and the Power of Juju and season 1 episodes of Back at the Barnyard. This logo, for some reason, was retained on the split-screen credits of shows on Nicktoons Network (now "Nicktoons"). Also, when Nickelodeon ran The Ultimate SpongeBob SpongeBash marathon in July 2009, this logo was revived after the split-screen credits of several SpongeBob episodes. It's also been spotted on more recent airings of The Fairly OddParents episode "Fairly OddBaby", which surprisingly kept the original ending credits and logos intact despite the credits being displayed on the bottom-left of the screen. This is also seen across the globe, unlike the fifth logo, but there it's not as common as the fourth logo below. It was also shown on early season 6 episodes of The Fairly OddParents as well as late-season 5 to early-season 6 episodes of SpongeBob SquarePants. It was also seen on The Naked Brothers Band and US airings of early El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera episodes. It was also seen on Three Delivery shorts on Nicktoons Network (now simply "Nicktoons"), which haven't been on in a while. Now that the 2009 Nickelodeon Productions logo has chronically plastered this and many older logos, it might be preserved on DVDs of Nick shows from the time, and/or the next time "Fairly OddBaby" is aired on Nickelodeon. On the DVD and streaming releases of TV movies produced by Dolphin Entertainment such as The Last Day of Summer and Shredderman Rules, the Sony Pictures Television logo follows the logo.

Scare Factor : None.

4th Logo

(January 30, 2008-September 28, 2009, October 12-December 5, 2009, July 21, 2010, October 23, 2010)

Nicknames : "Nick Lightbulb", "CGI Nick Lightbulb", "The Lightbulb Returns", "From Splat to Lightbulb"

Logo : On a black background, we see the infamous Nickelodeon orange splat logo in 2D. Then the background glows dark orange, and the splat transforms into an orange 3D CGI lightbulb, an obvious homage to the Nickelodeon Productions logo of 1996, which turns toward us. And as always, copyright info is shown below, or sometimes not at all.

Variants :
 * There is an extended variant on the 2008 Kids' Choice Awards, as well as some other shows, in which the lightbulb changes back to the splat logo at the end.
 * The logo is shown without the copyright stamp on some Nick Jr. shows, Back at the Barnyard and the first 5 episodes of The Troop. However, some international reruns and more recent ones in the U.S. still had the copyright stamp.

FX/SFX : The splat transforming into a light bulb, the glow in the BG. More nice CGI, which is very good, but...

Cheesy Factor : ...on split screen credits airings on some of their shows they can do a rather lazy job on plastering this logo in a show's logo combo. For example, the "laughing kids" sound effect could be doubled, with one echoing the other, or it can be extended and play over logos that it follows. Or, the previous logo above could suddenly cut into this logo for a brief second.

Music/Sounds : The "laughing kids" sound effect from the 2000 logo, the end theme of the show, the end theme and the "laughing kids" sound effect mixed together, the audio from the logo that came before it (see the music/sounds section of the 2nd logo), or silence.

Music/Sounds Variant : On split-screen airings of the Ni-Hao Kai-Lan episode "The Ant Playground", the 2005 Nick Jr. Productions jingle may play over the logo without the copyright stamp. This is the only Ni-Hao Kai-Lan episode to use this logo with Nick Jr. Productions music; other episodes used this logo with the standard laugh.

Availability : Was very common in it's time of use, but now, it's uncommon. Again, like the previous logo, it was primary used on the split-screen credits until the 2009 rebrand. However, it was more widely used outside of the split-screen credits compared to the previous logo. It used to be seen on episodes of Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide and iCarly on TeenNick from the era, but was taken off after TeenNick changed their split-screen credits style twice. It also appears on 2 SpongeBob SquarePants episodes: "SpongeBob's Last Stand" and "The Clash of Triton" on DVD and Nicktoons. It was also seen on SpongeBob SquarePants episodes from season 6 to early-season 7 (when it switched to the 2009 Nickelodeon Productions logo), The Fairly OddParents since season 6 until 2009, The Mighty B!, Back at the Barnyard, The Penguins of Madagascar, late episodes of El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera and early episodes of Fanboy and Chum Chum. The bylineless version can also be seen on some Nick Jr. shows and plasters over the Nick Jr. Productions logo along with the first five episodes of The Troop on Nicktoons. Also seen more commonly across the globe. Ironically, Nickelodeon Latin America still used this logo in newer episodes of shows until one point. Also appears on some episodes of All Grown Up! (split-screen credits only, otherwise expect the haypile to appear). It was also seen at the end of VOD releases of a few SpongeBob SquarePants episodes, which were on Nick On Demand in 2010. It also appear on Square Roots: The Story of SpongeBob SquarePants. Strangely, the TV movie The Boy Who Cried Wolf used this logo, despite it premiering a year after the 2009 rebrand. On DVD and streaming releases of TV movies produced by Dolphin Entertainment such as Spectacular!, the Sony Pictures Television logo follow the logo.

Scare Factor : None.

5th Logo

(September 28, 2009-)

Logo : Essentially the same as the 2009 Nickelodeon Productions logo, but excluding the word "PRODUCTIONS" and the copyright stamp.

Variant : On Degrassi starting with the 14th season, the same logo of Nickelodeon Productions was used but "ORIGINALS" replaces "PRODUCTIONS".

FX/SFX : Same as the 2009 Nickelodeon Productions logo.

Cheesy Factor : Same as the 2009 Nickelodeon Productions logo.

Music/Sounds : Same as the 2009 Nickelodeon Productions logo.

Availability : Common. Althoughsplit-screen airings now use the 2009 Nickelodeon Productions logo, it's still seen onmost Nickelodeon DVDs, and sometimes at the end of Nickelodeon shows like Rabbids: Invasion. The "Originals" variant appears on Degrassi starting with the 14th season.

Scare Factor : Same as the 2009 Nickelodeon Productions logo.

6th Logo

(March 11, 2017-)

TBA