The two biggest names in animated entertainment on television have long been Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network. These two channels have introduced countless shows and characters that dominated childhoods and entertained kids for years from SpongeBob SquarePants, to The Powerpuff Girls, to Rugrats, to Dexter's Labrotory, to Avatar: The Last Airbender, to Courage the Cowardly Dog, to The Fairly OddParents, to Adventure Time. But what I think doesn't really get talked about enough though, was how these two channels distinguished each other and their shows stylistically and aesthetically. What makes something a Nickelodeon-style cartoon, while something a Cartoon Network-style cartoon?
To me, I think the thing that separated these two brands were perspective, and tone. Nickelodeon was very much the "first kids network". The first full service tv station dedicated to serving children. As such, everything the channel put on the air was designed to reflect the attitude, lifestyle, and expressiveness of childhood. This was "Your" network. It wasn't your mom's, you dad's, or your older sister's, but yours. Nickelodeon was a place just for kids. This aesthetic would especially be defined in the mid-80s and throughout the 90s.
Cartoon Network on the other hand, was launched as the first 24 hour "Cartoon" channel. Dedicated entirely to the art of animation. So the focus was on hosting a wide array of cartoon stars and showcasing the kinds of creativity and ingenuity that the medium of animation can bring. While CN was always known to be a network for kids, it was also a channel geared towards anybody and everybody who liked Cartoons. It positioned itself not just as a kids network, but a channel for kids at heart as well.
These distinctive mentalities of the two channels can be seen in their most well known programing. Because of the network's "Kids Rule!" aesthetic, Kids on Nicktoons are either the POV characters, point of empowerment, or both. Take SpongeBob SquarePants for example. SpongeBob is technically an adult, but his personality and manerisms are often very child-like. He acts very similar to the kids who watch him at home. He's silly, creative, spontaneous, curious, and naive, and always wants to have fun working at the Krusty Krab, and go on adventures with his friends like Patrick and Sandy. Squidward, SpongeBob's neighbor and co-worker, is very much the archytipical stuffy grown-up. Boring, monotone, pretentious, stick-in-the-mud. Squidward is often unamused with SpongeBob's childish antics, and wants nothing more than to be left alone and practice his music. But through sheer optimism and childlike energy, SpongeBob is often able to prevail at having fun, while Squidward ends up foiled or humilliated in many situtations.
SpongeBob, particularly the first few seasons embodies the pure Nickelodeon aesthetic. It's the cool, fun-loving kid vs. the lame, boring adult. And its a reccuring theme throughout most of Nick's shows, animated or not. Kids are always the ones having the adventures and dealing with problems, while adults are either portrayed as annoying obsticles to overcome or goofball authority figures for the kids to question or make fun of.
On the opposite end, Cartoon Network had more of a holistic approach. Cartoon Network as mentioned, was as much a channel for hardcore cartoon fans, including adults, as it was a network for children, particularly during the pre-Adult Swim days. Many of the channel's most well known shows from this era were designed to be enjoyed on two tracks. For example, The Powerpuff Girls. To a child, the show is a fun super-hero comedy about three kindergarten girls with superpowers who fight crime and spend time together as siblings. But to an adult, its a heavily stylized and cheeky satire of 60s crime fighting shows and Jay Ward cartoons. With tons of jokes and references that will be completely lost on kids, and parodies of various superhero cliches and tropes. Many episodes of the show also focus not just on the girls and their adventures, but also on their father, Professor Utonium and his various inventions, as well as the ways he bonds with the girls and teaches them lessons.
And that was very common in Cartoon Network shows at the time, the adults were just as much protagonists as the kids, and the kids were often portrayed in a very abstract and ironic manner, sometimes even as just tag-along sidekicks like in Time Squad, which gave them a more Pixar-type appeal compared to most Nickelodeon shows, where kids and adults can both get something out of it. Even a show like Ed, Edd n' Eddy, where there are no adults present, is still told more in the style of an adult vividly reminicing about his youth rather than just the wacky adventures of three tween losers who share a name.
But I think you can especially tell the difference by comparing their two Boy Genuis shows, Dexter's Labrotory and Jimmy Neutron. Dexter's Labrotory is a full-blown parody of Mad Scientist genre fiction and sci-fi tropes. The fact that there's this giant secret labrotory run by a scientist who is reaaly just this little boy playing in his room, is part of the joke. In contrast, Jimmy Neutron is a much more grounded show focusing more on Jimmy's childhood problems and how he uses his inventions and intellect to solve them. Nick's show was about a kid who happens to be a genius. CN's show, was about a genius who happens to be a kid.
I think that's what seperated Nick shows from CN shows at their prime. Nickelodeon was a channel about kids, for kids, while Cartoon Network was a channel about cartoons, for kids and adults.
To me, I think the thing that separated these two brands were perspective, and tone. Nickelodeon was very much the "first kids network". The first full service tv station dedicated to serving children. As such, everything the channel put on the air was designed to reflect the attitude, lifestyle, and expressiveness of childhood. This was "Your" network. It wasn't your mom's, you dad's, or your older sister's, but yours. Nickelodeon was a place just for kids. This aesthetic would especially be defined in the mid-80s and throughout the 90s.
Cartoon Network on the other hand, was launched as the first 24 hour "Cartoon" channel. Dedicated entirely to the art of animation. So the focus was on hosting a wide array of cartoon stars and showcasing the kinds of creativity and ingenuity that the medium of animation can bring. While CN was always known to be a network for kids, it was also a channel geared towards anybody and everybody who liked Cartoons. It positioned itself not just as a kids network, but a channel for kids at heart as well.
These distinctive mentalities of the two channels can be seen in their most well known programing. Because of the network's "Kids Rule!" aesthetic, Kids on Nicktoons are either the POV characters, point of empowerment, or both. Take SpongeBob SquarePants for example. SpongeBob is technically an adult, but his personality and manerisms are often very child-like. He acts very similar to the kids who watch him at home. He's silly, creative, spontaneous, curious, and naive, and always wants to have fun working at the Krusty Krab, and go on adventures with his friends like Patrick and Sandy. Squidward, SpongeBob's neighbor and co-worker, is very much the archytipical stuffy grown-up. Boring, monotone, pretentious, stick-in-the-mud. Squidward is often unamused with SpongeBob's childish antics, and wants nothing more than to be left alone and practice his music. But through sheer optimism and childlike energy, SpongeBob is often able to prevail at having fun, while Squidward ends up foiled or humilliated in many situtations.
SpongeBob, particularly the first few seasons embodies the pure Nickelodeon aesthetic. It's the cool, fun-loving kid vs. the lame, boring adult. And its a reccuring theme throughout most of Nick's shows, animated or not. Kids are always the ones having the adventures and dealing with problems, while adults are either portrayed as annoying obsticles to overcome or goofball authority figures for the kids to question or make fun of.
On the opposite end, Cartoon Network had more of a holistic approach. Cartoon Network as mentioned, was as much a channel for hardcore cartoon fans, including adults, as it was a network for children, particularly during the pre-Adult Swim days. Many of the channel's most well known shows from this era were designed to be enjoyed on two tracks. For example, The Powerpuff Girls. To a child, the show is a fun super-hero comedy about three kindergarten girls with superpowers who fight crime and spend time together as siblings. But to an adult, its a heavily stylized and cheeky satire of 60s crime fighting shows and Jay Ward cartoons. With tons of jokes and references that will be completely lost on kids, and parodies of various superhero cliches and tropes. Many episodes of the show also focus not just on the girls and their adventures, but also on their father, Professor Utonium and his various inventions, as well as the ways he bonds with the girls and teaches them lessons.
And that was very common in Cartoon Network shows at the time, the adults were just as much protagonists as the kids, and the kids were often portrayed in a very abstract and ironic manner, sometimes even as just tag-along sidekicks like in Time Squad, which gave them a more Pixar-type appeal compared to most Nickelodeon shows, where kids and adults can both get something out of it. Even a show like Ed, Edd n' Eddy, where there are no adults present, is still told more in the style of an adult vividly reminicing about his youth rather than just the wacky adventures of three tween losers who share a name.
But I think you can especially tell the difference by comparing their two Boy Genuis shows, Dexter's Labrotory and Jimmy Neutron. Dexter's Labrotory is a full-blown parody of Mad Scientist genre fiction and sci-fi tropes. The fact that there's this giant secret labrotory run by a scientist who is reaaly just this little boy playing in his room, is part of the joke. In contrast, Jimmy Neutron is a much more grounded show focusing more on Jimmy's childhood problems and how he uses his inventions and intellect to solve them. Nick's show was about a kid who happens to be a genius. CN's show, was about a genius who happens to be a kid.
I think that's what seperated Nick shows from CN shows at their prime. Nickelodeon was a channel about kids, for kids, while Cartoon Network was a channel about cartoons, for kids and adults.
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