Archiving means a bunch of different things to me; like a cel, it has layers. The deeper you go into an animated cartoon, the harder or rarer the information is to get a hold of. Level two would be things like marketing materials, interviews or commentaries with the staff. Level three would be things like animatics or storyboards. Level four would be cels, series bibles, or pre-production material. Level five would be a fully preserved animator who would sit on your shelf and keep you company.
But the first level is pretty simple and, ironically, seems to be the most difficult for some companies: home availability. This does not consider home streaming or digital purchases, as the rights to those products can be revoked at any time, but physical releases of animated series. A product you can hold in your hand, whether that’s a Blu-Ray, a DVD, a VHS, or a LaserDisc. While older technology begins to degrade over time, it at least, theoretically, can be transferred forward to different, more modern, media formats
I grew up with Nickelodeon, The Disney Channel, Kids WB, Fox Kids (eventually the Fox Box), and Cartoon Network. Each of these channels are owned by the biggest conglomerates in the world, and yet, a lot of home video releases of historically significant and successful (and sometimes not so successful) shows have been neglected to be released. It frustrates me to no end knowing the amount of work it takes to create a show, and the amount of man hours creators put into their properties, only to have them disappear or become difficult to find years after completion. And sometimes, never released in the first place.
Some companies have done better than others in releasing their properties for home release; licensing out the busy work to companies like Shout! Factory or Amazon’s manufacture-on-demand services. Today, we’ll go through the first five of Nickelodeon’s original animated series in Part One of tracking the availability of home media from their beginnings to present day, 2020 (Excluding the young children’s programming seen on Nick Jr. Perhaps another day).
Doug (1991) had an interesting distribution history. Being one of the first animated series developed for Nickelodeon, its first four seasons premiered on the channel. However, the 5th through 7th seasons were produced and released by Disney. The series ended with the ironically titled, Doug’s First Movie in 1999.
Released at the height of VHS’ marketability, many VHS volumes containing episodes from the first four seasons were released. However, they were made redundant when Amazon released each of the first four seasons on DVD on Demand in the late aughts. Those season sets were bundled together as Doug: The Complete Nickelodeon Series, though, it has become scarcer (and pricier) since its release in 2014.
The Disney produced seasons have not had the same attention to home media releases. Of the three seasons, only the first season’s first, second, third, fourth, sixth, eighth, fifteenth, and twenty-third episodes have been released on four VHS tapes (Two episodes, a piece). No other releases of the Disney Era have been released on any home media.
Doug’s First Movie had an unedited theatrical version released on VHS and the TV edited version has been released on DVD. The DVD is still available for sale.
Sources:
https://doug.fandom.com/wiki/Doug_videography#1
https://www.shopdisney.com/dougs-1st-movie-dvd-477451632041.htmlPicture Sources:
Nickelodeon’s Doug Logo from Nickipedia
https://nickelodeon.fandom.com/wiki/Doug_episode_list
Disney’s Doug Logo from Disney+
https://www.disneyplus.com/series/doug/6XrYdV4qQHL6
Doug’s First Movie Movie Poster
https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/Doug%27s_1st_Movie
Rugrats also had three theatrical films, The Rugrats Movie, Rugrats in Paris: The Movie, and Rugrats Go Wild (A crossover with The Wild Thornberrys). All three films were released on VHS and DVD (Once as a single release and as a triple pack). The Rugrats Movie was also released on LaserDisc.
Sources:
https://rugrats.fandom.com/wiki/Rugrats_videography
Picture Sources:
Rugrats Logo
https://logos.fandom.com/wiki/Rugrats
Rugrats: The Movie Poster
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rugrats_Movie
Rugrats in Paris: The Movie Poster
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rugrats_in_Paris:_The_Movie
Rugrats Go Wild Poster
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rugrats_Go_Wild
The third of the original trio of Nickelodeon originals, The Ren & Stimpy Show (1991) has also had a unique and significant production history, though, for much different reasons than the aforementioned Doug. The original run of the show lasted five seasons, the first two seasons were produced by Spümcø with the remaining three seasons produced by Games Animation (Eventually renamed the Nickelodeon Animation Studios). This change in production company was due in part to Spümcø breaking contractual obligations. The first two season’s production history are the focus of the 2020 documentary, Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy: The Ren and Stimpy Story (Trailer).
The Ren & Stimpy Show had eleven VHS releases, one LaserDisc compilation, and a single UMD release (For Sony’s PlayStation Portable). All five seasons were released as uncut multiple season sets throughout 2004 and 2005.
In 2003, Spike TV (now The Paramount Network) produced a revival called Ren & Stimpy’s Adult Party Cartoon. It was met with negative critical and fan reception and cancelled after three episodes were broadcast. The three remaining unaired episodes already produced were packaged together with the three broadcasted episodes and released on DVD as The Lost Episodes.
In 2020, Comedy Central announced a reboot was in the works, but there have been unsubstantiated rumors that it has already been cancelled by the network.
https://www.facebook.com/renandstimpydoc/
https://renandstimpy.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_VHS_tapes
https://www.austinchronicle.com/screens/2005-08-12/284251/
https://www.bubbleblabber.com/rumor-has-the-ren-stimpy-reboot-already-been-shelved-by-comedy-central/
The Ren & Stimpy Show Logo
https://logos.fandom.com/wiki/The_Ren_%26_Stimpy_Show
Joe Murray’s Rocko’s Modern Life (1993) originally ran for four seasons. Four VHS episode compilations were released from 1995 to 1998. In 2008 and 2009, Amazon released the first three seasons on their Manufacture-on-demand service. In 2011, Shout! Factory would take over distribution, re-releasing the first three seasons as well as the fourth and final on DVD as stand-alone season sets. A Complete Series set in 2013. In addition, a single disc of the first season’s box set was released for brick and mortar retailers.
https://www.thewrap.com/new-rockos-modern-life-one-hour-special-to-air-on-nickelodeon/
https://www.netflix.com/title/81091977
Rocko’s Modern Life Logo
https://logos.fandom.com/wiki/Rocko%27s_Modern_Life
Klasky Csupo’s Aaahh!! Real Monsters (1994) ran for four seasons. Two episode compilation VHS volumes were released in the 90’s. In 2010, Amazon released on their manufacture-on-demand service all four seasons as individual season sets on DVD. Shout! Factory acquired the distribution rights and re-released the season sets as well as a complete series package from 2011-2014.
Sources:
https://nickelodeon.fandom.com/wiki/Aaahh!!!_Real_Monsters_videography
Aaahh!! Real Monsters Logo
https://logos.fandom.com/wiki/Aaahh!!!_Real_Monsters
Join me again next time as we continue to analyze the next five Nicktoon home releases including a football head and some very perturbed beavers.
No comments:
Post a Comment