Nicktoons is Nickelodeon's official term for their original animated programs (but that is not the subject of this page, for more on that, see here).
Nicktoons (previously known as Nicktoons Network and Nicktoons TV) is also a sister network of Nickelodeon launched in 2002 (as part of MTV Networks' expansion into digital cable). Serving as Nickelodeon's 95% animation channel, it was mainly meant to compete with Cartoon Network and Toon Disney and started as a vault channel for Nickelodeon's huge animation library. In addition to running the animation that was first-run on Nick at the time, it also served as a home for the animated shows that they didn't air anymore, like The Ren & Stimpy Show, Rocko's Modern Life, Doug, and Aaahh!!! Real Monsters. They also aired various foreign cartoons not seen on Nickelodeon, such as Corneil and Bernie.
In 2006, Nicktoons premiered their first original show: Kappa Mikey. It was followed by other co-productions in the later part of the 2000 decade, such as Sky Land, Edgar & Ellen, Ricky Sprocket: Showbiz Boy, Wayside, and Three Delivery. A rarity for a Nicktoons original, Making Fiends was made entirely in-house.
At around 2009, fewer and fewer original Nicktoons were shown in favor of more action-oriented animated programs, presumably to compete with boy-focused Disney XD and Cartoon Network. Two live-action programs, The Troop (with a few animated special effects) and Big Time Rush (totally live-action) also aired on Nicktoons. All of the aforementioned 90's toons were either playing in the graveyard slots or scrapped (even SpongeBob only aired during watershed hours, except for early Saturday mornings), and they were investing in strictly superhero adaptations of Marvel Universe characters. Those went away with Disney's purchase of Marvel Comics.
2010 brought Dragon Ball Z Kai, Nicktoons' first anime and Nickelodeon's return to showing anime; Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003), the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise's first showing on a Nickelodeon network since Nickelodeon acquired the license; and reruns of Power Rangers, after Saban reclaimed the franchise from Disney. In September 2011, the last few non-SpongeBob 90's Nicktoons left on the network note were dropped from the schedule for good, but they would all find new life on The 90's Are All That, TeenNick's late night nostalgia block.
Today, Nicktoons seems to exist as a rerun farm for Nick's lower-tier animated and live action series, along with plenty of SpongeBob marathonsnote , just like the main network. It's also used as a backstop to burn off the rights to international series that the main network had no serious plans to give them a chancenote . There also used to be a block of "sports" programming known as NickSports, which aired sports-related cartoons and league Infomercials from the NFL and NASCAR for kids. Over the past two decades, several cancelled cartoons originally produced by Nickelodeon Animation Studio for broadcast on the main network have burned off their remaining episodes on Nicktoons.
If you're looking for the franchise of original Nickelodeon animated series, see here. If you are looking for Nicktoons games, try Nicktoons Unite! and Nicktoons MLB.
Programs on or previously on Nicktoons include:
- Aaahh!!! Real Monsters
- Alien Dawn (live-action)
- ALVINNN!!! and the Chipmunks
- All Grown Up!
- Animaniacs
- Avatar: The Last Airbender
- Back at the Barnyard
- Big Time Rush (live-action)
- Butt-Ugly Martians
- CatDog
- Catscratch
- ChalkZone
- The Charlie Brown And Snoopy Show
- LBX: Little Battlers eXperience
- Danny Phantom
- Digimon: Digital Monsters
- Doug
- Dragon Ball Z Kai (airing rights expired, now airing on [adult swim] as part of Toonami)
- Edgar & Ellen
- El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera
- Fanboy and Chum Chum
- Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Heroes
- Glenn Martin DDS
- Harvey Beaks
- Hero Factory
- Huntik: Secrets & Seekers
- Invader Zim
- Iron Man: Armored Adventures
- KaBlam!
- Kappa Mikey
- Kaput & Zosky
- Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness
- Making Fiends
- Martin Mystery
- Monsters vs. Aliens (2013)
- Mr. Meaty
- My Life as a Teenage Robot
- Nicktoons Film Festival (annual animation festival aired from 2004 to 2009)
- Oh Yeah! Cartoons
- Random! Cartoons
- Rainbow Butterfly Unicorn Kitty
- Ricky Sprocket: Showbiz Boy
- Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
- Rocket Power
- Rocko's Modern Life
- Rugrats
- Skyland
- Shuriken School
- Speed Racer: The Next Generation
- SpongeBob SquarePants
- Tak and the Power of Juju
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003)
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012)
- The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius
- The Fairly OddParents!
- The Mighty B!
- The Penguins of Madagascar
- The Ren & Stimpy Show
- The Secret Show
- The Troop (live-action)
- The Wild Thornberrys
- Three Delivery
- Thumb Wrestling Federation
- Tiny Toon Adventures
- Voltron Force
- Watch My Chops (as Corneil & Bernie)
- Wayside
- Welcome to the Wayne
- Wild Grinders
- Winx Club (2011)
- Wolverine and the X-Men (2009)
- Yakkity Yak
- Yu-Gi-Oh!
- Zevo-3
Tropes associated with the network
- Adored by the Network: As of late, The Nicktoons channel heavily reruns SpongeBob SquarePants, The Loud House, and ALVINNN!!! and the Chipmunks. The Fairly OddParents! also used to apply here.
- Screwed by the Network: Many low-rated Nickelodeon shows or just shows the network doesn't wanna air for whatever reason are often moved to and burned off on this channel.
