Nick Jr. The Movie 3: ZERO

Nick Jr. The Movie 3: ZERO is a 2026 American CGI-Traditionally Animated action-adventure-fantasy-comedy-buddy-quest film produced by 31 different studios, including Nickelodeon Movies, and is a sequel to Nick Jr. The Movie (2020) and Nick Jr. The Movie 2: The Midnight Rerun (2023) and is the third installment in the Nick Jr. The Movie series. The film is directed by Steven Spielberg, the director of the first film, and all of the crew from the first film came back, including all of the studios.
The film was released on July 24, 2026, and made $710 million at the box office and received critical acclaim, with critics praising the script, characters, animation, voice acting, plot, humor, emotional poignancy, original villain, and action scenes along with some new elements, such as continuity from the previous films.
== Synopsis ==
During a science experiment gone wrong, Blaze falls in the world of ZERO and must control his powers from the Core Formula (From the second movie. The Core Formula is the central power of the TV and anyone who consumes it becomes very powerful) before he and his friends are pulled into ZERO canon by a new threat, or else they cannot go back to where they call home.
== Plot ==
After the events of the second movie, with the Core Formula discovered from below the surface of the TV, Millions of cartoon characters are hired to work at a science laboratory. Blaze is one of them, working day and night to find out about the power of this substance.
One day, due to rusty connection within the TV, an earthquake occurs. Cartoon characters evacuate from their channels, including Blaze, who rides across the TV towards the TV Bunker. He is holding a test tube of Core Formula, and he unfortunately drops it and it breaks, and he ends up running over it, so he formula is inside his body, making the earthquake even stronger as he rides. Soon, the earthquake is so strong from his tracks that the floor breaks, causing him to fall through the abyss.
Dora, Boots, The Pups, Ryder, AJ, Rusty and Oswald run over to Blaze, who is falling. Dora gets a piece of rope from her backpack so Blaze can hold on, but Blaze is too heavy, so he pulls the rope with him, causing him and his friends to fall through the abyss!
Blaze lands in a dark space, covered by a sheet of ice below him. He rides around, searching for civilization, but his powers get out of control, making large patterns in the ice. When he manages to escape the icy area, he meets a man covered in an electric blue substance. The man welcomes Blaze to a place he calls "ZERO"
Soon, after exploring ZERO, Blaze reunites with his friends, and they all want to go home. The man explains why it is difficult to return back to the surface, because of the "ZERO TIDAL WAVE" that could come anytime and wipe them out, making them bound to ZERO so they can't escape.
When the man isn't looking, the gang plan an escape that they would do the next day.
The next day, the gang escape by taking Skye's helicopter, but the ZERO TIDAL WAVE comes along ZERO-ifying the helicopter. They all fall back onto the ground, where the man reveals he saw it all and is very angry, so he starts punishing the group by firing lasers at them. The gang run away, except for Marshall, who is hurt. Blaze picks up Marshall, who fainted, and drives along with the group.
They are caught by the man, and locked in a virtual prison. They realise that there is a barrier around one of the cells, right where it is in the normal prison. They ask the man why this is so, and he doesn't reply, instead running away, fury in his eyes.
Soon, the room starts shaking, and the prison bars drop, so the gang escape. While they are leaving, Blaze spots a poster saying "BE CAREFUL AROUND DOUG DOWOWSKI, AS HE MAY BE DANGEROUS" and below the poster, there is a picture of a man. Blaze is interested, but Dora and the rest of the gang have their mind set on escaping, so they pull Blaze away.
The gang are soon found by the man. Blaze asks the man if he has seen someone named Doug Dowowski, and he is so mad that he takes a mallet and crushes Blaze's tail lights.
The gang except Blaze escapes. Blaze is too weak to move, so the man has the opportunity to take Blaze and shred him out of fury. Blaze wakes up and asks the man how he knows the name and why he is so mad. The man tells Blaze to follow him to a virtual representation of above ZERO, home. The man, speechless, stares at a channel named "Drama Central" with main focus on a bump on the ground, in the shape of a USB, but it was blanketed in dust, so Blaze couldn't be sure. Blaze, confused, asks the man if he could help the gang escape. The man refuses. Blaze, confused, drives away. The man smirks a suspicious grin.
Blaze finds his friends, who are hiding behind the prison. They decide that this is the chance to escape.
The group travel to the end of ZERO, at a big wall. Oswald scales the wall with his tentacles, and the group holds on. This time, the man doesn't see them, as they think, but the ZERO TIDAL WAVE still comes, and Oswald falls. The ZERO TIDAL WAVE continues even when they are on the ground, sucking Boots in. They run for the man, telling him that they need help. The man turns around, and they realise that the ZERO TIDAL WAVE is coming from his hand. Shocked, Blaze confronts him of lying to them. The man says that his name is Lord Zero The Second, and that he was the one controlling the TIDAL WAVE. When Blaze asks why, they are chased by the WAVE. Figment of all sorts of cartoon characters appear, when Blaze remembers that the Core Formula is still inside him, so he beams himself and his friends onto the ceiling, when they find the hole. They leap through, and they are transported to the TV, and they revert back to normal gravity. The ZERO TIDAL WAVE beams through the hole and onto the ceiling of the TV. The cartoon characters, when they thought that the earthquake was over, went out and was chased by the ZERO TIDAL WAVE. Confused and scared, they run away.
In ZERO, Lord Zero The Second's power was draining, removing parts of his body, because he was using lots of ZERO TIDAL WAVE energy. At this point, only his head was left. Blaze jumps back into ZERO, grabs his head, and jumps out.
A few months later, things are different. Boots is gone, and Lord Zero's head is put on display at Drama Central. Blaze comes up to Lord Zero and asks him why he is put up on display here. Lord Zero explains how he was a character in a show named "The Golden Days Of Gavin" at Drama Central. He eventually got bored of his job, so he pulled out the USB and threw it into the abyss where it broke, therefore The Golden Days Of Gavin was taken off of the air. He was not unscathed, however, because he was arrested and taken to prison. Over time, he developed a bomb, to blow up the bars of his and his friends' cells. When he used the bomb at night, the bomb, instead of flying through the bars into the hallway, bounced off of the bar of his cell, breaking the floor, and he fell into ZERO. He was told by the only other person there, Lord Zero The First, that he must avoid the ZERO TIDAL WAVE that Lord Zero The First was secretly controlling. He, however, didn't listen, and clumsily got caught. A few years later, Lord Zero The First died of old age, making the other person there, him, Lord Zero The Second. He eventually got so lonely, and he wanted anyone who came to stay, and that was why he was using the ZERO TIDAL WAVE to drag the gang into his trap. Blaze asked Lord Zero The Second what his character's name was, and he said Doug Dowowski, much to Blaze's shock.
In a mid-credits scene, Blaze and the gang go to the prison, where they meet Swiper, The Troublemakers, Sweetie and Copycat. They ask the police if the cell that was closed was closed because of the hole leading to ZERO, and they say yes.
In a post-credits scene, the screen glitches out at the end of the credits.
== Characters ==
Dora The Explorer - Dora, Boots, Map, Backpack, Swiper, Isa, Tico, Benny, Diego
Blaze And The Monster Machines - Blaze, AJ, Gabby, Crusher, Pickle, Stripes, Darington, Zeg, Watts
PAW Patrol - Ryder, Marshall, Rubble, Chase, Rocky, Zuma, Skye, Cap'n Turbot, Mayor Goodway, Chickaletta, Mayor Humdinger, The Kitten Catastrophe Crew, Everest, Tracker, Robo-Dog, Tuck and Ella
Peppa Pig - Peppa, George, Mummy Pig, Daddy Pig, Grandpa Pig, Granny Pig, Suzy Sheep, Rebecca Rabbit, Richard Rabbit, Grampy Rabbit, Miss Rabbit, Candy Cat, Danny Dog, Granddad Dog, Zoe Zebra, Zuzu and Zaza Zebra, Emily Elephant, Edmond Elephant, Freddy Fox, Kylie Kangaroo, Wendy Wolf, Gabriella Goat, Gerald Giraffe, Molly Mole, Delphine Donkey, Peggi and Pandora Panda, Mandy Mouse, Madame Gazelle, Mr. Bull, Mr. Potato, Super Potato
Rusty Rivets - Rusty, Ruby, Frankie, Frankford, Ray, Whirly, Crush, Jack, Botasaur, Botarilla, TigerBot, ElephantBot, Bytes, Kittybot, Robo-Squirrel, Frankfurt
Bubble Guppies - Gill, Molly, Goby, Deema, Oona, Nonny, Zooli, Mr. Grouper, Bubble Puppy
Team Umizoomi - Milli, Geo, Bot, the Troublemakers
Oswald - Oswald, Weenie, Henry the Penguin, Daisy
Lord Zero The Second (AKA Doug Dowowski)
== Production ==
In September 2023, Steven Spielberg green-lit a third Nick Jr. Movie, taking inspiration for the plot from Dwayne Johnson's idea for it to be about "Dora, Blaze and the gang going straight down to zero" and for it to revolve round Blaze. He said that it would come out on July 24, 2026.
In February 2024, it was announced that Timothy Adams would be playing Lord Zero The Second.
== Release ==
The film was released on July 24, 2026 in the United States and United Kingdom and July 31, 2026 in Canada. the film came along with a Pixar short named "Pups' Blockbuster".
== Release Dates ==
United Kingdom (Premiere): July 17, 2026
United States (Premiere): July 17, 2026
Canada (Premiere): July 18, 2026
UK: July 24, 2026
USA: July 24, 2026
Ireland: July 24, 2026
Indonesia: July 24, 2026
Scandinavia: July 24, 2026
Ethiopia: July 25, 2026
Guatemala: July 26, 2026
Spain: July 27, 2026
Mexico: July 28, 2026
Iran: July 29, 2026
Jamaica: July 30, 2026
Canada: July 31, 2026
Everywhere Else: August 21, 2026
== Marketing ==
A teaser was released on March 7, 2025.
A teaser trailer was released on October 17, 2025.
An official trailer was released on June 20, 2026
== Box Office ==
The film was a box office success, earning $710 million at the box office as opposed to its $275 million budget.
== Critical response ==
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 99% (8.09/10) based on 326 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads: "Any movie can make a hole, but it takes a real movie to be like Nick Jr. The Movie 3: ZERO." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 94 out of 100, indicating "universal acclaim". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film a rare grade of "A+" on A+ to F scale.
== Sequel ==
A sequel, Nick Jr. The Movie 4: The Criminal Cartoon, was released on July 27, 2029, with Spielberg back to direct. The film received critical acclaim, so a fifth movie was announced shortly afterwards.
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