Nickelodeon Animation Studio

1990–98: Precursors and origin

Nickelodeon Animation Studio's beginnings lie in the roots of the channel's Nicktoons endeavor. In 1990, Nickelodeon hired Vanessa Coffey as a creative consultant to develop Nicktoons, providing her with the task of seeking out new characters and stories that would allow the channel a grand entrance into the animation business. The high cost of high-quality animation had discouraged the network from developing weekly animated programming. Although most television networks at the time tended to go to large animation houses with proven track records to develop Saturday-morning series, often generally pre-sold characters from movies, toys or comics, Nickelodeon desired differently. Inspired by the early days of animation and the work of Bob Clampett, Tex Avery and Chuck Jones, Nickelodeon set out to find frustrated cartoonists swallowed up by the studio system. Nickelodeon president Geraldine Laybourne commissioned eight six-minute pilots at a cost of $100,000 each before selecting three. Seeking the most innovative talents in the field, the products of this artists' union – Doug, Rugrats and The Ren & Stimpy Show – represented twelve years of budget-building toward that end. Coffey was hired as Nickelodeon's Executive Producer of Animation between the pilots and series production. The Nicktoons were produced by external studios, Jumbo Pictures, Klasky Csupo and Spümcø, with oversight from Nickelodeon. However, this method of production led to both Spümcø and Jumbo Pictures having strained relationships with the network, with only Klasky Csupo retaining a relationship with the network to the present.

In fall 1992, the studio fired John Kricfalusi and Spümcø from The Ren & Stimpy Show. Coffey asserts that John was in breach of contract for not delivering on time, creating disturbing content and going over budget. Kricfalusi suspected the real reason was that the network was uncomfortable with more crude humor. Nickelodeon objected to numerous proposed plotlines and new characters—including George Liquor, an Archie Bunker-ish "All-American Male". After missing several promised new-episode delivery and air dates, Nickelodeon's parent company MTV Networks—which had purchased the rights to the Ren & Stimpy characters from Kricfalusi—negotiated a settlement with him. The creative tug of war was closely watched by both animators and the television industry and covered in the national press. In response, Nickelodeon moved the series' production to its own studio, Games Animation, located in an office building in Studio City, California. The series was moved to Games, who hired as much personnel from Spümcø as possible and put under the creative supervision of Bob Camp, one of Kricfalusi's former writer-director partners, in order to continue producing The Ren & Stimpy Show; this period was considered to be a great decline in quality for the series, eventually being cancelled in 1995. Coffey soon stepped down as animation vice president for Nickelodeon, to pursue her own projects. She was replaced by Mary Harrington, a Nickelodeon producer who moved out from New York to help run the Nicktoons division that was a near-shambles after Kricfalusi was fired.

Nickelodeon's plan was to hire bright, young animators and let them do almost anything they want. In 1992, animator Joe Murray was approached by the studio with intentions of developing a new animated series for Nickelodeon. The series became Games Animation's first in-house production, Rocko's Modern Life, which premiered on the network in 1993. Games worked on the show for three years and employed over 70 people during the course of its run. Executives did not share space with the creative team. The show ended in 1996 as its creator Joe Murray wanted to spend more time with his family.

Following the end of Rocko's Modern Life, Games Animation produced the pilots for Hey Arnold!, The Angry Beavers and CatDog, along with the former's first 26 episodes, and the second's first 13 episodes. The latter was produced by Nickelodeon Animation Studio along with the other two by this point forward.

1998–2007: As Nickelodeon Animation Studio

In 1996, Albie Hecht, then-president of Film and TV Entertainment for Nickelodeon, met with Nickelodeon artists for a brainstorming session on the elements of their ideal studio, and, with their feedback (and some inspiration from the fabled Willy Wonka chocolate factory), created "a playful, inspirational and cutting-edge lab which will hopefully give birth to the next generation of cartoon classics." He added, "For me, this building is the physical manifestation of a personal dream, which is that when people think of cartoons, they'll say Nicktoons." Nickelodeon and parent company Viacom threw a bash to celebrate the opening of the new Nicktoons animation studio on March 4, 1998. During the launch party, a gathering of union labor supporters formed a picket line to protest Nickelodeon's independent hiring practices outside the studio's iron gates.

Located at 231 West Olive Avenue in Burbank, California, the 72,000-square-foot (6,700 m2) facility, designed by Los Angeles architecture firm AREA, houses 200–300 employees and up to five simultaneous productions. It also contains a miniature golf course (with a hole dedicated to Walt Disney), an indoor basketball course/screening room, an artists' gallery, a studio store, and a fountain that shoots green water into the air. The Nicktoons studio houses five, project driven production units. Each has its own color and design environment and includes a living room, writer's lounge, and storyboard conference room. The studio also has a foley stage, a post-production area, sound editing and mixing rooms and an upstairs loft area with skylights for colorists.

In September 1999, Nickelodeon opened a major new digital animation studio at 1633 Broadway in Manhattan. The New York studio primarily took over production of Nick Jr. animated properties. At the same time, the Los Angeles facility animated the intro for The Amanda Show.

It was reported in 2005 that the Burbank studio was up for sale; this was later corrected, as the owner of the building was selling it.