Nickelodeon Movies

**Nickelodeon Movies** is the theatrical motion picture production arm of the Nickelodeon TV channel. Founded in 1991 and owned by Paramount Players, a subsidiary of ViacomCBS, which is itself a subsidiary of National Amusements. The company released its first film *The Rocko's Modern Life Movie* in 1992. It has produced family features and films based on Nickelodeon programs, as well as other adaptations and original projects. Its films are co-produced and/or distributed by fellow ViacomCBS division Paramount Pictures. The studio's highest-grossing films are *The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water* (2015), which grossed $654.85 million worldwide, *The Adventures of Tintin* (2011), which grossed $374 million worldwide, and *Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles* (2014), which grossed $323.4 million worldwide. The company has so far has produced over 35 theatrical feature films in total.

## History

### *The Rocko's Modern Life Movie* (1991-92)

After a successful first season, *Rocko's Modern Life* creator and Nickelodeon founder/president, Paul Winchell, wanted to prove that Nickelodeon was much more than a children's television network. According to Winchell:

*"When you have a successful network, sometimes you would want to make movies based on shows from it like I do. HOWEVER, one wrong move could seriously screw up those chances of it being enjoyable, so you have to wait until the stars and the planets align in order for it to work. And since we've gotten enough money for one thanks to our talented people's minds and souls, I think the right people should give it a try."*

And so, with an $8,500,000 budget in mind after a scrapped pirate/science fiction-adventure-drama spoof, Winchell and his crew began production on *The Rocko's Modern Life Movie*, set to be ready for June 6, 1992. The script was first written by Jim Henson back in 1990, but because of his death on May 16, nothing came out of it. It wasn't until January of 1991 that Winchell found the script and managed to get his crew and bring it to life.

The movie would be directed by Winchell, Joe Murray and Terry Jones, with Ralph Bakshi stepping aside to serve as creative consultant due to him working on what would eventually become *Cool World*. The plot of the film was about Rocko, his best friend Heffer and his dog Spunky going on a road trip to save Flem Rock, a popular tourist attraction, from being blown up and destroyed by Earl the bulldog. In this film, Winchell, Phil Harris, Carlos Alazraqui and Mel Blanc (via archived dialogue), respectively, along with the rest of the show's cast would reprise their roles as well as voice new characters.

Several ideas were flown around, some kept and some scrapped. For example, Joe Murray wanted the hotel the trio stop at to be a love hotel (the "No-Tell Motel") advertising "hourly rates" and ask the horse desk clerk for a room, who infers that Rocko and Heffer will be engaging in intercourse: "All night? [whistles] Wheeeooo! Okay."; however, the MPAA got offended and demanded the scene be removed in order to keep a G rating. Eventually, the hotel was reworked into what Murray called "a 4-star hotel that was almost perfect and deserving of its praise." But even so, a few more things had to be cut, including:

* 2 musical numbers; one sung by Rocko and Heffer and another sung by Earl.
* A scene in which the trio were at Paris, France that ended with Rocko saying "This place isn't lovely at all! What a letdown!"
* A movie poster in the background that parodied the 1991 film, *Terminator 2: Judgment Day*.
* An alternate beginning that featured stock footage of Alfred Hitchcock (dubbed over by Corey Burton).

After a few more post-production mishaps, the movie was finally completed on March 3, 1992, with the movie airing 3 months later. It got good reviews from critics and audiences, even to this day, but was a financial disaster, not making a single cent due to John Kricfalusi (who had been sent to prison for child abuse and attempted murder) stealing all of the money and spending it on production of *The Ren & Stimpy Show*. After about a week, the movie was pulled from cinemas in favor of being released by both Strand Home Video and Walt Disney Home Entertainment on VHS and later DVD, finally earning back the money spent on the film and becoming a huge hit. As for Kricfalusi, he was forced by Winchell to give the money not spent ($5,368,990) to the Make a Wish organization.

### Nickelodeon/20th Century Fox deal (1993–95)

In 1993, Nickelodeon agreed to a two-year contract with 20th Century Fox to make feature films. The joint venture would mostly produce new material, though a Nickelodeon executive did not rule out the possibility of making films based on *The Ren & Stimpy Show*, *Doug* and *Rugrats*. None of the movies were produced due to the 1994 acquisition of Paramount Pictures by Nickelodeon's parent company, Viacom, and they would distribute the movies instead. With the creative differences with John Kricfalusi, the creator of *Ren & Stimpy* and an inability to market that property in a family-friendly manner instead of a "cynical and gross humor" scuttled the film. However, Paramount and Viacom would go forward and start development on *The Rugrats Movie* a year after the acquisition.

The Nickelodeon version of the *Doug* film was not made due to the acquisition of the show's production studio, Jumbo Pictures, by The Walt Disney Company in 1996. With this, the show moved to Disney's ABC network and new seasons aired as a part of its programming block *Disney’s One Saturday Morning* as *Disney's Doug*. In 1999, Walt Disney Pictures released a film finale to the series, *Doug's 1st Movie*.

### Nickelodeon Movies (1995–98)

The movie division was officially named Nickelodeon Movies on February 25, 1995. On July 10, 1996, the studio released its first film, *Harriet the Spy*, a spy-comedy film based on the 1964 novel of the same name. This would be the final Nickelodeon project to directly involve the movie studio's mascot, Alex before his unfortunate passing on June 24, 1995, making this his posthumous role. This film is also dedicated to his memory.

On July 25, 1997, the studio then released another film, *Good Burger*, a comedy film, starring Kenan Thompson, Kel Mitchell, Abe Vigoda, Dan Schneider, Shar Jackson, Josh Server, Lori Beth Denberg, Jan Schweiterman, Linda Cardellini and Sinbad. It was based on the *Good Burger* sketch on Nickelodeon's popular sketch comedy series *All That*.

On November 20, 1998, the studio released *The Rugrats Movie*, Nickelodeon Movies' first animated film and the first Nicktoon to be shown in theaters. It received mixed critical reception, but despite this, the movie became a box office success, earning $100,494,675 in the domestic box office and $140,894,675 worldwide. It also became the first non-Disney animated film to gross over $100 million domestically. The success of the film led to two sequels.

### 2000–02

On February 11, 2000, the studio released *Snow Day*, a comedy film starring Chevy Chase, Chris Elliott, Zena Grey, Josh Peck, Mark Webber, Schuyler Fisk, Jade Yorker and Emmanuelle Chriqui. This film met negative reviews, yet it grossed $62,464,731 worldwide.

Nine months later, the studio released *Rugrats in Paris: The Movie* on November 17, 2000. It is the first sequel to *The Rugrats Movie*, and grossed $76,507,756 at the domestic box-office and $103,291,131 worldwide. The film received favorable reviews, becoming the most critically acclaimed *Rugrats* film to date.

On December 21, 2001, 79 years after Paul Winchell' birth, the studio released its first CGI animated film, *Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius*. It is based on a series of shorts that aired on Nickelodeon in 1998. It became a critical and box-office success, earning $80,936,232 in the United States and $102,992,536 worldwide. It stars voice actors Debi Derryberry, Rob Paulsen, Carolyn Lawrence, Jeffrey Garcia, and Candi Milo, and co-starred Martin Short and Patrick Stewart. On March 24, 2002, this movie was nominated for the first Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, but lost to *Shrek*. It is the first Nickelodeon film to be nominated for an Academy Award. The success of the film spawned this film into a TV series, *The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius*, which aired on Nickelodeon from 2002 to 2006.

On March 29, 2002, the studio released *Clockstoppers*, a sci-fi action film, starring Jesse Bradford, Paula Garcés, and French Stewart. This film got disapproval from Paul Winchell, received negative reviews and was a box office disappointment, only earning $36,989,956 in the United States and $38,793,283 worldwide.

### 2002–04

On May 1, 2002, to celebrate 3 years of *The Loud House*, Nickelodeon Movies released *The Loud Hoise Movie*, starring the series' original cast, some through archived dialogue, and once again directed by Terry Jones. The film received positive reviews, but was considered only a minor financial success, grossing $17.5 million on a $7 million budget.

On June 28, Nickelodeon Movies released *Hey Arnold!: The Movie*, starring the series' original cast members and guest starring Paul Sorvino as Scheck, the CEO of a real estate company called Future Tech Industries (FTI). The film received negative reviews and grossed $15.2 million. It was originally going to be a TV film entitled *Arnold Saves the Neighborhood*, but executives of Paramount Pictures decided to release this film theatrically. It was the first animated film from Nickelodeon to get a PG rating.

In 2002 and 2003, the studio, along with Klasky Csupo, released two films based on popular TV shows, *The Wild Thornberrys Movie* and *Rugrats Go Wild*, respectively. *The Wild Thornberrys Movie* was released on December 20, 2002, starring the show's original cast members, Lacey Chabert, Tim Curry, Jodi Carlisle, Danielle Harris, Michael "Flea" Balzary, and Tom Kane. This film received positive reviews and was a box office success. It only grossed $40.1 million domestically and $60.7 million worldwide. On March 23, 2003, this film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song. This would be the final film to have Alex as the mascot of the division, as Winchell didn't want to be reminded of his dog's death.

*Rugrats Go Wild* was later released on June 13, 2003. This film was met with mixed critical reception and was a minor box office success, unlike previous *Rugrats* movies, only earning $39.4 million in the United States and $55.4 million worldwide. This film is also the only *Rugrats* film to receive a PG rating.

On November 19, 2004, Nickelodeon released *The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie*, based on the popular Nickelodeon television series, *SpongeBob SquarePants*. This film received positive reviews and grossed $85.4 million in the United States and $140.2 million worldwide. The success of this film led to a sequel, and it was adapted into various media, including its own video game, soundtrack, books, and toy line.

### 2004–09

With the release of *The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie*, Nickelodeon Movies returned to making box-office hits. The studio purchased the film rights of the *A Series of Unfortunate Events* book series in May 2000. Paramount Pictures, owner of Nickelodeon Movies, agreed to co-finance, along with Scott Rudin. Various directors, including Terry Gilliam and Roman Polanski, were interested in making the film. One of author Daniel Handler's, Lemony Snicket's real name, favorite candidates was Guy Maddin. In June 2002, Barry Sonnenfeld was hired to direct. He was chosen because he had previously collaborated with Rudin and because of his black comedy directing style as seen in his films *The Addams Family*, *Addams Family Values* and *Get Shorty*. Sonnenfeld referred to the *Unfortunate Events* books as his favorite children's stories. The director hired Handler to write the script with the intention of making *Lemony Snicket* as a musical, and cast Jim Carrey as Count Olaf in September 2002. Sonnenfeld eventually left over budget concerns in January 2003 and director Brad Silberling took over. This film was released on December 17, 2004, a month after *The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie* was released. It received positive reviews and became a huge box office success, earning $118,634,549 at the United States box office and $209,073,645 worldwide. This film won an Academy Award for Best Makeup in 2005.

In 2005, the studio and Paramount Classics purchased a documentary film, *Mad Hot Ballroom*, at the 2005 Slamdance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. It became the studios' first (and, so far, only) documentary film and their only film to have a limited theatrical release. It grossed $8,117,961 in the United States and $9,079,042 worldwide. It also was a huge critical success. This would be the final film to involve Paul Winchell before his death on June 24, 2005, 10 years after the death of Alex.

Several months later, the studio and Paramount Pictures released their first co-production with both Columbia Pictures and Metro Goldwyn Mayer and released a family comedy film, *Yours, Mine and Ours*, a remake of the 1968 film of the same name. This film stars Dennis Quaid and Rene Russo. This film was critically panned, but was a modest box office success, earning $53,412,862 in the United States and $72,028,752 worldwide.

On June 16, 2006, Nickelodeon released the wrestling comedy film *Nacho Libre*. It is very loosely based on the story of Fray Tormenta. This film stars Jack Black, Héctor Jiménez, and Ana de la Reguera. This film met with mixed critical reception, but was a box office success, earning $80,197,993 in the domestic box office and grossed $99,255,460 worldwide. A sequel to this film is being considered.

Two months later, the studio released another CGI film, *Barnyard*, starring the voices of Kevin James, as Otis, a carefree cow who loves throwing parties, Courteney Cox as Daisy, a kind-hearted cow, David Koechner as Dag, an evil coyote, Sam Elliott as Ben, Otis's father and the leader of the barnyard, Danny Glover as Miles, an old mule, and voice actors Cam Clarke, Jeff Garcia, S. Scott Bullock, Tino Insana, Maurice LaMarche, John DiMaggio, Fred Tatasciore, and Rob Paulsen. This film met with negative critical reception, but was a box office success, earning $72,637,803 at the United States box office and grossed $116,476,887 worldwide. Like *Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius*, the film's success has spawned into a TV show, *Back at the Barnyard*, which ran from 2007 to 2011 on Nickelodeon, longer than *The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius*. Chris Hardwick replaced Kevin James as the role for Otis.

On December 15, 2006, the studio released *Charlotte's Web*, a family drama film based on E. B. White's book of the same name, starring Dakota Fanning, Kevin Anderson, Beau Bridges, and the voices of Dominic Scott Kay, Julia Roberts, Steve Buscemi, John Cleese, Oprah Winfrey, Robert Redford, Reba McEntire, Kathy Bates, with Thomas Haden Church and Cedric the Entertainer. This film became a critical and box office success, earning $82,985,708 in the United States and $144,877,632 worldwide. This is Nickelodeon's first G-rated film in five years and first live-action film rated G as well as being the studio's highest-grossing film with that rating. Dakota Fanning won a Blimp Award for Favorite Movie Actress at the 2007 Kids' Choice Awards.

2 years later on February 14, 2008, the studio released *The Spiderwick Chronicles*, a fantasy drama film based on the bestselling book of the same name, starring Freddie Highmore, Sarah Bolger, Mary-Louise Parker, Martin Short, Nick Nolte, and Seth Rogen. This film was released in both regular and IMAX theaters and received favorable reviews and was a box office success, earning $71,195,053 in the United States and $162,839,667 outside of the United States.

On July 28, 2008, Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies released a coming-of-age comedy film, *Angus, Thongs, and Perfect Snogging*, based on two bestselling British novels by Louise Rennison, *Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging* and *It's OK, I'm Wearing Really Big Knickers*. The film met with positive reviews and was a box office success. It was released in theaters in the United Kingdom, earning £8,647,770 and grossed £13,835,569 worldwide. To date, it has a direct-to-DVD release in the United States and has made its U.S. premiere on Nick at Nite on March 12, 2009. It is also the first film from Nickelodeon Movies to receive a PG-13 rating.

On January 16, 2009, *Hotel for Dogs* was released, starring Emma Roberts, Jake T. Austin, Johnny Simmons, Kyla Pratt, Troy Gentile, with Lisa Kudrow, Kevin Dillon and Don Cheadle. It is based on the 1971 novel of the same name by Lois Duncan. This film received mixed reviews from film critics, but was a box office success, earning $73,034,460 in the United States box office and grossed $117,000,198 worldwide. It is distributed by DreamWorks. This marks the first film from Nickelodeon to be distributed outside of Paramount Pictures. However, it is still distributed under Paramount.

Five months later on June 12, 2009, Paramount Pictures released Nickelodeon Movies' *Imagine That*, a comedy-drama film based on a poem by Terry Jones and starring Jones, Steve Burns, Eddie Murphy, Yara Shahidi and Grant Palmer. The film received negative reviews, with critics mainly criticizing the lackluster writing and Murphy's performance; however, Jones and Burns' performances as well as the movie's faithfulness to the original poem were praised. It was also a box office failure, only earning $16,123,323 at the domestic box office and grossed only $22,985,194 worldwide. Jones even said in an interview in 2011 that the movie was his least favorite he's done and would do anything to redo the film.