Why Nicktoons Are the Best at Crediting Voice Actors' Roles?

Why Nicktoons Are the Best at Crediting Voice Actors' Roles?

         Back in the good old days, being credited for doing a voice role in animation was brutal. A voice actor's name is only credited while their role isn't listed unless you have a script. (This is still a widespread problem for some preschool shows and it's notoriously bad with adult animation) It wasn't until the 1990s that they finally get credited for voicing characters, even if it just for one line. However, as the years go on, I start to realize Nick Animation is the best at crediting voice actors' role as opposed to their competition. They always find a way to credit every single character in an episode. Of course, there are the occasional exceptions, so let’s look over at which shows doesn’t properly credit voice actors.

Not Crediting the Characters Roles

         Doug, the first ever Nicktoon, does not tell you who voiced a character, so you can tell it’s such a retro show. It might’ve been greenlit during 1989, since not showing the voice roles was still a common practice. Ren & Stimpy also did this practice sadly since it, too, was an old fashioned show. However, the only difference was the titular characters and guest stars only get the credits while the rest are limited to the “other players.” Since then, there has not been one Nicktoon to do this practice, except for the preschool shows, like Bubble Guppies and Blaze & the Monster Machines.

Additional Voices for Incidentals

          If you’re watching a Cartoon Network or Disney Channel show (produced within the past decade, though Disney is a tad worse at this) you’ll always notice the rest of the credited cast members that don’t voice a main or guest will be listed under “Additional Voices.” Very often it will be incidentals with only a line or two, but sometimes it can be used wrongly and credit a guest character under that category even if they play a major role in a particular episode. For Nick, the only times they ever caved in to the “Additional Voices” practice was Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Crediting Every Single Role

           This is what Nick's animated shows are primarily best known for. Rugrats is one of the first ever shows to credit a voice actor's role, and the success of that led to literally (almost) every subsequent Nicktoon to adapt this strategy. Rocko's Modern Life does this as well, but only with one or two characters, as the show had a very limited voice cast (the same handful voice actors are casted as recurring characters). But other than that, there's no major exceptions to the rule. 

        So yes, it's pretty obvious Nick wins when it comes to crediting voice roles (a couple of other animation studios have some strong competition). Sucks because Cartoon Network used to be okay with this until the 2010s. It's very important for shows to do the "crediting every single role" strategy. If not, you either need to look up a script consisting the voice cast or ask a voice director for the roles.