The Original 3 Nicktoons: How It Began

The Original 3 Nicktoons: How It Began

August 11, 1991 is remembered as one of the most important days in television animation. Three animated shows premiered on Nickelodeon (not just cartoons, they’re Nicktoons) during a Sunday morning. They would soon define Nickelodeon forever. So I am going to take a look at these three shows. Keep in mind, I’m only covering the original series although I plan to cover their continuations (Disney’s Doug, the 2021 reboot, and Adult Party Cartoon) in another journal.

Doug

The first ever Nicktoon is a slice of life cartoon revolving around a boy simply named Doug (last name being Funnie). Every episode is told through a story narrated by Doug as he writes his experience through a journal. All the episode title starts with his name. Doug is one of the most divisive classic Nicktoons. You either love it or hate it. Or you think it’s a boring show. Most people think it’s that dull of a show because it’s too realistic and doesn’t provide anything interesting. I personally think that while it’s definitely not the most interesting cartoon in the world, it’s something I would rewatch when there’s nothing else to do. I will admit, the first season was pretty slow as the writers were trying to get the hang out of it. Most episodes throughout the season were pretty much your typical sitcom plots like attending a school dance, babysitting a dog, going to a rock concert, and taking a cooking class. You can see why the show got the reputation from cartoon fans, it feels too much like a live-action show if it was animated. Seasons 2-4 really improved the storytelling so I was able to keep myself watching each season instead of doing the old fashioned rule of dropping a show. The plots of these episodes got better, such as getting tickets to see a band, a career week participation, and graduating from elementary school. But I’m actually getting ahead of myself of what I’m going to rank my favorite episodes of the show, so let’s focus on what I liked about the show and why I go easy on it than other cartoon fans. It’s a slice of life show, so you might get a few episodes that you can relate to Doug. Most of my favorite installments will involve a situation that I can relate to. Even then, when it’s not being a relatable show, it can feel experimental when it needed to. The characters (outside of Doug himself who is the definition of a vanilla protagonist) are all distinctive that I’m able to tell them apart from each other. I can’t think of a favorite character honestly because none of them don’t reach my top 10 favorite Nickelodeon characters of all time. But I will say Porkchop is the best character of the entire series. I’m not a dog lover myself, but there’s something special about him. The voice acting is fine for the most part. Billy West started his voice acting career here but I can guarantee you he will be more passionate at the role later on in the series run. It’s very interesting that only he voiced Doug but also Roger Klotz which means a lot of talking back and forth between the two. It’s a shame he got replaced during the Disney series. But I gotta say the best aspect of this show comes from both acting and composing. That guy’s name is Fred Newman. He’s a man of multiple talents. Not only does he voiced a bunch of characters on the show, but he also does both the sound and the music. All by his mouth. Okay, not all of its score is done in a cappella style, but it’s the reason why the show can be charming to watch. Roger, Judy, Quailman, and the geeks especially have a distinctive theme that you notice every time they show up on screen. That’s all the praise I have to give to this show. Now here’s where the problems lie ahead. The animation quality can be rather inconsistent and the earliest episodes look very primitive even for 1991 standards. Some of the stories told throughout the series can be pretty derivative and other shows can handle certain plots much better. This is especially a season 1 problem. A few characters aren’t as interesting, but it seems like Doug and his family are the definition of blandness except for Judy and Porkchop. Doug doesn’t hurt the show much despite being named after him because other characters carry the show hard and West’s performance makes up for it. But if I have to consider the worst character of the entire show, it definitely has to be Mr. Bone. He’s the vice principal of the elementary school, but for whatever reason, the writers sure portrayed him like he’s the leader of this school and we never even seen the actual principal. His voice is like a grating Don Knotts impersonation. And when the show doesn’t catch my attention with the aforementioned pros I listed, it can indeed be a slog to watch, and I understand that it’s not everyone cup of tea. But I’m a lot nice to the show (especially regarding the Nickelodeon run) since not only it’s the first Nicktoon, but also because it’s a comfortable show to watch when nothing good’s on tv. It’s wonder Nick kept this show in reruns for almost a decade before it was limited to Nicktoons throughout early in its life and eventually NickRewind on TeenNick. I will only recommend watching the show just to see how it holds up as Nick’s first in house animated productions. Not a great start, but I promise you there will be better shows of its kind pretty soon. I can tell you this: it’s leagues better than the Disney version but we’ll get to that when I review it another time.

My top 5 favorite episodes:

1. Doug Graduates
2. Doug’s Halloween Adventure
3. Doug’s Hot Ticket
4. Doug’s Career Anxiety
5. Doug’s Lost Weekend

My bottom 5 favorite episodes:

1. Doug’s New Teacher
2. Doug Gets Busted
3. Doug Didn’t Do It
4. Doug’s Big Nose
5. Doug’s a Big Fat Liar

Rugrats

The first Nicktoon to become a mega hit, it focuses on the lives of toddlers as they roam around and go on adventures while their parents aren’t looking. Originally intended for 65 episodes, this show was so popular in reruns, it ended up getting 6 more seasons as well as three movies, a couple of spinoffs, various video games, and a reboot. This was the original cash cow Nicktoon and if you were a Nick fan during the late 90s and early 2000s, you couldn’t escape from those dumb babies. So how did a show about babies attracted an audience? Well, if you read this review, you’ll find out why it became a big show in the first place. Since it’s a long running show, the review will be divided by different eras.

Seasons 1-3

The golden age of the franchise. All very good seasons in their own right. Though, like with all long runners, Rugrats was completely different early on in its run. The pilot had Tommy wearing a different shirt and a different woman voicing him. Both the pilot and season 1 had really dark color palette (most old cartoons do, but Rugrats and Simpsons season 1, both produced by Klasky Csupo take it to a level of darkness). It was also animated by a different Korean studio (Wang as opposed to Anivision and its subsidiary) and it surely move so differently than the rest of Klasky Csupo’s works. While the premise is still about roaming babies when the parents aren’t looking, you’ll notice that season 1 primarily focused on Tommy himself (occasionally the other babies are absent). The characters personality hasn’t been officially established yet so watching a season 1 can be jarring after watching a later episode. The best episode of the season was At the Movies while the worst episode was Fluffy vs Spike. At the Movies had an interesting story of the babies wandering during a cinematic experience. Little Dude would be a close second, and while it’s a solo Tommy episode, it’s one of the better Tommy episodes as he tried fitting in with a cool person. Reptar’s Revenge introduced the iconic dinosaur mascot, who pretty much represents the series as a whole. The first season ended on a high note with a Stu episode. As for my least favorite, I listed Fluffy vs Spike as the worst because it’s one of those dumb episodes where the good pet does something wrong and gets blamed for it. It doesn’t sit right with me and it’s the worst episode of the early seasons. Barbecue Story suffered from major early installment weirdness and it’s just a dull story. Beauty Contest won’t fly well in today’s society with the way they made Tommy dress up for a pageant. Ruthless Tommy and Weaning Tommy both suffer from the same problem: mundane plots solely focusing on Tommy with not very good execution. Yeah, it’s clear Tommy as a character by alone doesn’t work. So I’m glad they decided to flesh out the characters more the next few seasons and drop the Tommy’s on his own episodes. Season 2 is when the show got a bit better. It introduced characters such as the Carmichaels (which include Susie, the first supporting black character in a Nicktoon), Charlotte, and Dr. Lipschitz. Let’s get through the negatives first. My least favorites are The Dog Broomer, The Big Flush, Runaway Angelica, and Driving Miss Angelica, as they’re all either not interesting or don’t feature the best portrayal of Angelica. Picking a favorite episode of season is tough, but I’m going to pick the Christmas special. It succeeded at telling a Christmas story without being too mean or preachy. Reptar on Ice is a close second as I loved the idea of everyone seeing an ice show featuring the series mascot. It’s followed by Sand Ho as my third favorite as I tend to love pirate themed episodes. Ice Cream Mountain will surely make your crave for ice cream after watching it. What the Big People Do was basically All Grown Up before All Grown Up (except that it’s a what if scenario as literal adults not teens). This was a good season, but it was able to get even better and experimental by the following season. Season 3 was, without a doubt, Rugrats at their peak, at least as a tv show. But it was still just a little show although it was the only one that was able to surpass 52 half hours. For whatever reason, the colors got even brighter and put a bigger emphasis on purple. It’s a bit of an eye stain, but it doesn’t hurt opinions on the third season that much. And once again, let’s get through the worst episodes first. Tricycle Thief is your typical plot where a character gets accused for a crime they never did. The Unfair Pair is kinda of lame, and doesn’t offer anything special. Pickles vs Pickles had an interesting idea, but it’s held back by a poor execution. Now do you want to guess what is favorite episode of the entire series, which is during this season? Wait a minute, I just remember, that’s not produced during this era. Oh well, but it was clear that I was going to pick the Jewish themed episode Passover. There were some hints before this episode came out (like the grandparents being Jewish stereotypes), but the Pickles family’s religion is Judaism. When you have Jewish creatives involved, of course an episode like this was going to succeed at educating viewers (Jewish and non-Jewish) about the importance of Judaism. I Remember Melville is my second favorite and it’s crazy how they managed to expect us to feel bad for an insect. Chuckie’s Wonderful Life is a perfect parody of It’s a Wonderful Life and arguably the best of its kind as they tend to be hit or miss. Kid TV and Home Movies are one of the most creative stories the show has done as they revolve around television and filmmaking, which are always a joy to watch. If I have to say the show’s biggest strength during this period were definitely the chemistry between the characters and especially the music score, although the comedy almost reach it. The character interaction between the babies didn’t hit its potential until the second season, but they always felt like a group that would go along even if Chuckie’s too scared. Angelica’s conflicts with the babies worked and I know she can be a divided character but I’m basically neutral on her, but I can see why she became a fan favorite from the viewers and writers. My favorite of them all has to be a mix between Tommy and Chuckie. They’re both total opposites of each other and I really like the friendship between the two. I like Tommy for his bravery and I like Chuckie for his sensitivity. The Deville twins have their moments, but their shtick of grossout humor and petty arguments can get old after a while. The adults carried this show as they provided most of the comedy and especially moments that make this show aimed at everyone rather than strictly for literal toddlers. My favorite adult has got to be Grandpa Lou. Whether he was voiced by David Doyle or Joe Alaskey, he always stole the show with his one liners. And I really like Stu for being laid back (Jack Riley does a great performance as him. May he RIP), although he and Didi are horrible parents for never noticing their own son. The music score was at its peak during this time as they got future CatDog composer Denis Hanigan to do serious music alongside Devo musician Mark Mothersbaugh. Mark’s work for the show is iconic even if it’s just different from his usual rock fare, but there’s something special Hanigan’s score. If you’re binge watching the entire series, I definitely recommend watching from the beginning to see how it evolve. 65 episodes was sure enough to make a series about wandering toddlers. But soon, this show would be important for Nickelodeon…

Seasons 4-5, the first movie

In 1996, after a couple years break of new content, Nick has decided to renew the show for another season. Reruns were proven to be popular and that is the rise of Rugrats. Not to the point of overexposure, but we’re almost getting there. The show is pretty much the same as it was as the earlier seasons, although it had a different crew since most of them migrated to Aaahh!!! Real Monsters, Klasky Csupo’s other show. While it’s a slight drop in quality, I treat this show the same way I treat with SpongeBob seasons 4-5, Fairly OddParents seasons 6-8 and The Simpsons seasons 9-10: it’s different from what came before, but it’s harmless and the bad qualities have not taken over the show yet. The art style here is more polished and it’s less brighter than the third season, which is the one improvement they made during the post-revival era. However, if there’s one thing that did made the show a tad worse was dumbing down the babies’ dialogue. It was noticeably less big wordy if I can describe that. Now that is still some adult humor, and the cursing episode does fall during this era after all. The comedic moments are still present but they aren’t as common as they were in the first three seasons. The characters are still portrayed the same as they were in seasons 2-3. I still recommend this era, if you can tell, as I barely notice much of a difference. It does actually had my favorite episode of the show, Mothers Day, where we hear about the whereabouts of Chuckie’s mother. And Chuaunkah is up there as well and it’s the start of season 4. They even went all out with the animation budget for that episode and it shows. Let It Snow will put you in a joyful mood as it revolves the idea of experiencing snow, so it’s a must watch during a snow day. America’s Wackiest Home Movies continues the creativity with home movies that the writers explored in the previous season. And the Thanksgiving special was just great to watch. Season 5 is noticeably a step down but still watchable. Word of the Day is just entertaining on the sole fact that it’s an episode revolving on swearing. This was Sailor Mouth before Sailor Mouth. Sleep Trouble is very relatable for the insomniacs. And the season ends on a perfect note focusing on family tree. This would the be last of the show before it would become a global phenomenon. So towards the end of the 90s, they would announce that the dumb babies are heading to the big screen. And it was a rather important movie as it was the first non-Disney animated movie to gross more than $100 million at the box office. It was clear these babies were here to stay a little and Nick found a way to milk them for all they’re worth. The movie introduced the character Dil Pickles (clever pun they made) who is Tommy’s brother. And of course the audience reaction is what you expect when you add a new character. Dil simply exists for the cute factor. As for the movie itself, I like it, but it’s not the best Rugrats movie and you’ll find out in the next paragraph. It had quite the budget here. The lightings are noticeably darker and the animation is more fluid to give it a theatrical feel. The middle act of the movie kind of dragged when the babies are at the forest and we have to endure a third act breakup scene because of course those scenes need to exist in movies, even if you have toddlers as your lead. Probably why I never gave this movie a perfect score. So yeah, it’s not the highlight of this era and that would go to Mothers Day. And it’s not even the best Rugrats material yet. You’ll find out soon although the show itself would noticeably starts to take a nosedive.

Seasons 6-9, Paris/Go Wild

The last 4 seasons of Rugrats is going to be rather short to describe as I won’t explained why this episode was the best of a season because at this point, the show has started to shift demographics and not in a good way. The original seasons target audience has grew up so they’re mostly watching shows that better suited to a tween audience. Season 6 is harmless, but you can tell they try their hardest to shove Dil down the viewers’ throats as much as possible even though he can’t talk unlike the other babies. So of course, they were trying to give an audience to Nick Jr’s demographics which is why they aired the show on the block for a while. I don’t have much to say about this season except that it contained the worst episode of the entire show, which will surprise you because while I’m neutral on Angelica, even a spoiled brat like her don’t deserved to be treated this (I’m talking about the Silent Angelica episode). The best episode of the season is predictably the tv movie Runaway Reptar, cause Reptar makes a special cooler. With that said, it is the last good season of the original series. But first, let’s talk about Rugrats in Paris, their next theatrical adventure. What can I say? It’s easiest the best thing to come out of Rugrats, period. And this was during a period when they were at their most overexposed and the main series wasn’t as good as the earlier seasons. Maybe I’m biased since I used to own the movie on VHS, but I just enjoyed watching it. Everything about it was perfect, from Chuckie’s arc, the animation, the atmosphere the villain. While the first movie was good and all, Paris just had a better story. Sadly, the show itself will continue to go on a downhill spree. It says a lot about season 7 that the best episode is a a freaking Cinderella parody. And it’s so different from the rest of the series that most of the episodes had three segments: two 5 minutes shorts and one short just end after two minutes. As you can tell, this didn’t worked because the middle segment would always be a 2 minute short and they never had enough time to tell a story. The other two segments tend to be better because the pacing isn’t lighting speed fast. A Rugrats Kwanzaa was wasted on being during this season tbh. For being the first full season in digital animation, it’s not a good sign when it’s just a bunch of dull stories. Easily the worst season of the show. Now seasons 8 & 9, while an improvement as they went back to the two segment format, both feel the same so I will be describing them as if they were equal. And both seasons are just as interesting as watching paint dry. It was clear that Nick was trying to keep this show as alive as possible even though they already found a new hit in SpongeBob. Season 6 already started to feel so much like a Nick Jr show but these later season take it to the extreme that everything that made the show great in the first place are almost gone. It’s more about the babies than adults so it’s wonder why it feels so blatantly like a literal toddler show. Kimi and Kira were decent additions to the show as they are more interesting than Dil. But they don’t really save the show much from being a dying ship. Another new character they add was a babysitter named Taffy who literally look like Reggie Rocket. You all know I love Amanda Bynes with a passion, but even I consider her work on Rugrats one of her weakest. Her character is nothing to write home about. By the time the final episode aired, Nick was already focusing more on All Grown Up, a continuation that came to be after the massive success of a season 8 special. Before we end the review, I just want to say Rugrats Go Wild didn’t really need to exist. It was just Klasky Csupo saying “we should do a crossover between two of our biggest show.” The Wild Thornberrys Movie was better and Rugrats in Paris is league better. I don’t feel much of a reaction watching it. So in the end, this show was ran into the ground so much that it just ended with a whimper. Sorry if this review ends up being longer than I expected.

Top 10 Episodes:

1. Mothers Day
2. Passover
3. Sand Ho
4. The Santa Experience
5. Runaway Reptar
6. I Remember Melville
7. Chuckie’s Wonderful Life
8. Sand Ho
9. Home Movies
10. Kid TV

Bottom 10 Episodes:

1. Silent Angelica
2. Angelica’s Assistant
3. The Times of Their Lives
4. Fluffy vs Spike
5. The World According to Dil & Spike
6. Ruthless Tommy
7. Who’s Taffy?
8. Happy Taffy
9. Lil’s Phil of Trash
10. Dil Saver

The Ren & Stimpy Show

The show features a crazy chihuahua and a dumb cat who get into wacky situations. That’s basically what the show is all about. It’s a pure comedy with no other genres explored, with the occasional sci-fi elements. Although he’s very controversial for different reasons, John K was best known for being the first person to make a creator driven cartoon. Most cartoons at the time were strictly toy commercials and lacked artistic merits. Almost every single  animation made today can have this show to thank for (except for the creator). Unlike Rugrats, I will review the whole run instead of doing separate review for both Spumco and Games Animation episodes. The early episodes were done at John K’s little studio called Spumco (The Danes call it quality according to the vanity plate at the end of every episode). As you may expect, the first few episodes were rather slower paced and the animation hasn’t been perfected yet (as it look like a grossout version of a Hanna Barbera show). I actually did an old review of the Spumco seasons that you access to on DeviantArt (my opinions hadn’t changed much). By the second season, the show became familiar with animation techniques that everything during it is spectacular especially the Carbunkle animated episodes. The pacing has slightly improved although it still suffers from slowness, which has always been John K’s problem even during his prime. Now that I analyzed the early seasons, does that mean I copy everyone’s opinions on the Games Animation seasons? No, because I liked them just as much as the Spumco seasons, although I can definitely see a different vibe. I only noticed the final season being off in story structure, and occasionally the animation due to different overseas studios, but otherwise Ren and Stimpy had always remained good (except for that adult themed reboot we shall not speak of). What made this show good in the first place is that it’s clearly a team effort of which artist’s style gets to showcase. It’s one of those cartoons where the art style changes depending on who work on it. As you can see, John had a strict rule about not drawing the same poses more than once. It shows, but it can be very difficult to pull off. This show don’t really had much of a supporting cast, as the titular characters are the only one to show up in nearly every episode. But what I do noticed is that certain characters only show in a specific era. You have Mr Horse and George Liquor only appearing in Spumco episodes since they also show up in John’s other works. In the Games Animation episodes, Wilbur Corr, the Lumonx, and Haggins show up. But there are few characters that show up in both era, and my personal favorite had to be the Powdered Toast Man (so good he’s in the Nick Brawl games). The music cues are just as memorable as the drawings. And the odd thing is, there isn’t original music outside of the theme song and original songs (composed by then future Angry Beavers and Jimmy Neutron composer), it just consist of stock music for a music library called Associated Production Music. Other Nick shows will soon follow suit although they have their own music composition as well. If I had to pick my favorite season, the answer is very obvious. Season 2 is when the show was its most experimental. It had stories such as the important of keeping your teeth clean, making a fart bubble, having a fan club, joining a Canadian army, and more. It’s the general consensus and I agree with everyone’s opinion that the show peaked here (and not because of John). Season 3 is a mix between Spumco and Games Animation, but it never really loses its luster. Season 4 had more mediocrity, and by the final season, it was a completely different show. With that said, I just want to vent about one thing. The popularity of this show kinda hurt Nickelodeon’s reputation for the longest time because the cartoon community are always quick to point out how gross they are. And they aren’t wrong, nearly every single of their cartoons (and some live action, which become commonplace later on) will have some sort of fart or toilet humor to remind you the impact this show had. Because of this, I feel like people never take the network seriously as it was always considered the weirdest of the big three. The only difference in the 90s and 2000s is that grossout was used in a minimalist (with the occasional gross episode that feels mandatory by the network). By the post-splat logo era, nearly every single Nicktoon that debuted put a bigger emphasis on making viewers grossed out for the sake of shock values. I get that they’re the lowest common denominator of comedy out there, but it is what it is. Kids will find that humor amusing and there’s no we can do about it. Regardless, it still had a more positive impact on the animation industry as we started getting more creator driven cartoons and the toy driven junk were out to wayside. Watch this show at your own risk, but I understand if you aren’t interested in watching because of the creator or its weird comedy style.

Top 5 Episodes

1. Space Madness
2. Sven Hoek
3. Stimpy’s Fan Club
4. Insomniac Ren
5. The Royal Canadian Kilted Yaksman

Bottom 5 Episodes

1. Hair of the Cat
2. Road Apples
3. Feud for Sale
4. Travelogue
5. I Love Chicken