Nicktoons that were rejected. · 4:18pm Feb 20th, 2018
While many Nicktoons make it to air, there are some that do not. These were publicly announced in press releases earlier, but were cancelled before production began. We will mix the obvious with cartoons that I'll bet some of you didn't know were pitched to Nickelodeon.
THE CARMICHAELS
Pitched: 1999, 2002
A spin-off of RUGRATS, this series intended to move her family from their main locale to Atlanta, Georgia, wherein the rest of their relatives live.
WHY THE REJECTION? Klasky-Csupo decided it would be way too confusing for Susie to be living in two different cities at the same time. As such, only two episodes of RUGRATS, "All Growed Up" and "Pre-School Daze" got the spin-off treatment.
OUTCOME: The only appearance of the relatives of the Carmichael family was in the episode "A Rugrats Kwanzaa."
STEWY THE DOG BOY
Pitched: 1999
Dennis Messner and Mary Harrington created this series about a dog who dresses like a human boy as a means of attending 4th grade at Deerlick Park Elementary School.
WHY THE REJECTION? Herb Scannell, then the head of Nickelodeon, saw that Gary Baseman and the Steinkellners (Bill & Cheri) were developing a similar project for Disney (TEACHER'S PET, which ran from September 9, 2000 to May 10, 2002 and got its own movie in 2004). He felt it unwise to have a similar program on his channel.
OUTCOME: STEWY THE DOG BOY got his only television appearance as a short segment on KABLAM!
THE PROUD FAMILY
Pitched: c. 1999
Long-time animator Bruce W. Smith, who directed the 1992 film BEBE'S KIDS, and who would work in Disney animated projects from TARZAN to FROZEN, created what would have been a black version of RUGRATS. From Disney's press materials:
The Proud Family is an animated sitcom that follows the adventures of Penny Proud (Kyla Pratt), a 14-year-old African American girl who's doing her best to navigate through the mysteries, mishaps and merriment that come with those difficult early years of teen-dom.
Fueled by a never-ending passion for growing up, Penny's every encounter inevitably spirals into bigger than life situations filled with hi-jinks, hilarity and heart. Along for the ride are Penny's best friends -- the sassy and scheming Dijonay (Karen Malina White); the naively optimistic Zoey (Soleil Moon Frye); and Sticky (Orlando Brown), a techno-wiz with attitude -- her irreverent, groovy grandma Sugar Mama (Jo Marie Payton)and her funky little poodle, Puff; Penny's trouble-making toddler siblings Bebe and Cece; and, of course, Oscar (Tommy Davidson) and Trudy (Paula Jai Parker), her loving parents, who don't seem to understand that a responsible 14-year-old like Penny is ready to grow up. With family and friends like this, Penny certainly has a lot of love in her life.
WHY THE REJECTION? Nick probably felt there already was a black RUGRATS in the form of Susie Carmichael's family and didn't feel as though they needed another black RUGRATS.
OUTCOME: THE PROUD FAMILY debuted on the Disney Channel September 15, 2001, and ran until August 5, 2005 as a regular series. Its one-more-for-the-road came two weeks later, in the form of a film.
CONSTANT PAYNE
Pitched: 2001
Alexander "Doc" Payne is part of a long list of adventure-seeking generations of the Payne family. However, the family decided that he would be the last adventurer in the Payne family with them out of the adventure business by the time he dies. But his daughter, Amanda, wants to carry on the tradition as an adventurer.
WHY THE REJECTION? Creator Micah Wright, a staffer on THE ANGRY BEAVERS, attempted to pull a NORMA RAE on the writers of Nick Animation Studios by unionizing them and, what's more, having them go on strike. Back then, Nick had made a huge profit over the cartoons that it distributed, $800 million in annual income, but had refused to share such profits with its writers. Nick responded by rejecting the pilot and making sure Wright wasn't hired by any other cartoon company, a move that backfired on them. It nearly shut down following the cancellations of HEY ARNOLD! (creative differences with Craig Bartlett, who created it) and INVADER ZIM (a huge fan base but too costly for them to make) and to that end only three of the cartoons it did after ZIM in the 2000s (AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER, CATSCRATCH, THE X'S) were produced entirely in-house, with Nick relying on outside companies the rest of the time.
OUTCOME: Mr. Wright has written three political commentary books since then, and has also written for video games, to name CALL OF DUTY II: BLACK OPS. He's also written comic books, short stories, and he co-wrote the 2016 screenplay of the found footage horror comedy THEY'RE WATCHING, which is available on Netflix.
THE PATAKIS
Pitched: Early 2000s.
Mentioned in online chats held by Craig Bartlett at the time, this features Helga and her titular family five years after the period in which HEY ARNOLD! took place. This was simultaneously pitched to Nickelodeon, Nick at Nite, and MTV.
WHY THE REJECTION? Nick felt that the series had too dark a tone for them; Nick at Nite had a reputation for re-running classic television shows from as early as THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW to as late as SCTV and wasn't willing to give it up just yet; MTV felt it was way too similar to an already unsuccessful show of theirs, DARIA.
OUTCOME: Along with the JUNGLE MOVIE, it was shelved following the cancellation of HEY ARNOLD! An attempt by fans to revitalize the program has thus far faded into obscurity.
BAXTER AND BANANAS
Pitched: 2002
A CALVIN AND HOBBES type created by Zak Moncrief, whose upload of the short is above, centering on the adventures of Baxter Anderson, a 10-year old boy who recently moved to a new town. He was trying to look for a new best friend, something he had had difficulty with. That's when he found an old sock monkey named Bananas while his parents unpacked.
WHY THE REJECTION? Nick probably saw airing the pilot as a one-and-done deal, as it aired it on July 13, 2002.
OUTCOME: Another "coulda been a contender" situation as far as Nick is concerned.
SKELETON KEY
Pitched: Sometime around 2002.
What would have been Sunbow Entertainment's first Nicktoon is based on Andi Watson's 30-issue series of comic books of this name published by Slave Labor Graphics. It's about a Canadian high schooler named Tamsin Mary Cates who stumbles upon the "Skeleton Key". But this one's not just ANY skeleton key. Nooooooo. This one opens doors to many dimensions, and the many adventures that await her.
WHY THE REJECTION? Nick ordered 13 episodes of the show but then suddenly changed their mind as they opted not to explore dark animated programs following the cancellation of INVADER ZIM.
OUTCOME: It's highly unlikely you'll see Ms. Cates on TV anytime soon.
WHAT'S COOKING
Pitched: 2003
Klasky-Csupo (attempted to) strike again! This cartoon is about a boy whose grandparents run a delicatessen, which is in reality a cover for their real occupation, as CIA operatives.
WHY THE REJECTION? Nick viewed the series as being out of touch with the post-9/11 attitudes of the nation and additionally its execs had tired of K-C's animation style after more than a decade of its implementation onto Nick.
OUTCOME: With K-C back in business, it is unclear whether or not the show will be brought up again.
CRASH NEBULA
Pitched: 2004
For 2005, Butch Hartman pitched this series exploring the lifestyle of the lead character of one of Timmy Turner's favorite shows who brings peace to outer space every which way he can.
WHY THE REJECTION? Nick felt the show was too similar to his DANNY PHANTOM for them to greenlight.
OUTCOME: Hartman stuck to, and proved to be content with, the two shows he had on Nick at the time, and would eventually render CRASH NEBULA just an episode of one of the two, but Nick would eventually greenlight his T.U.F.F. PUPPY and BUNSEN IS A BEAST. This writer was under the impression that Butch Hartman also pitched KUNG-FU SPY TROLLS around the same time but the Wikipedia article on Nickelodeon Animation Studios proved him wrong.
THE MODIFYERS
Pitched: 2007
From Chris Reccardi and Lynne Naylor, the animators of REN & STIMPY, would have come this innovative program centering on Secret Agent Xero. She has disguised herself as a henchman of one of the villains to steal back an artifact named The All Seeing Eye while keeping her identity a secret.
WHY THE REJECTION? Nick had previously been unsuccessful with series that had female protagonists and didn't want another one at the time.
OUTCOME: An outpour of successful female-driven shows (including Nick's own hits THE LEGEND OF KORRA and THE LOUD HOUSE) has done much to make Nick regret this long-ago decision.
ADVENTURE TIME
Pitched: 2008, 2009
This series created by Pendleton Ward is about a human boy named Pen (changed to Finn in the series), and his best friend Jake, a dog with magical powers which would allow him to change shape and grow and shrink when he wants to.
WHY THE REJECTION? After it aired on Nicktoons, the Nick staff was at two pitch meetings for the show, and proceeded to reject the series at those meetings because they felt it was "too weird."
OUTCOME: Cartoon Network, which at that time had fallen on hard times, was much more receptive to the pilot. The series proved to be adored by as many adults as children and became one of several shows (along with REGULAR SHOW, THE AMAZING WORLD OF GUMBALL, MAD and STEVEN UNIVERSE) that really revitalized Cartoon Network's presence in the ratings earlier this decade. It even gave Cartoon Network a float in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Ironically, Cartoon Network has fallen on hard times again lately under the tenure of executive Christina Miller, who became the president of the channel in July 2014.
THE BRAVEST WARRIORS
Pitched: 2009
Four teenage heroes-for-hire warp through the universe to save adorable aliens and their worlds using the power of their emotions in the year 3085.
WHY THE REJECTION? Unknown, but it was there.
OUTCOME: It was uploaded to YouTube through Cartoon Hangover, where it became a very successful web series.
Other cartoons rejected by Nick over the years were THUNDER LIZARDS (pitched in 1990), KID KOMET AND GALAXY CAT (pitched in 1997), HECTOR THE GET-OVER CAT (pitched in 1998), TERRYTOONS PRESENTS: CRUBSIDE (pitched in 1999), PSYKO FERRET (pitched 2001), CHICKEN TOWN, COMMANDER BUNSWORTH, JUNKYARD TEDDIES, KUNG-FU SPY TROLLS, ROLLIN' ROCK STARZ, SCHMUTZ, WIENER SQUAD, ZEEK & LEO (all pitched 2005), ACE BOGART: SPACE APE, BIG BABIES, EGGHEADS, GRAMPA & JULIE: SHARK HUNTERS, LITTLE FREAKS, MY STUPID CAT, RICKY Z, RONNIE BIDDLES (all pitched 2006), MALL SPIES, SPACE ANIMALS (both pitched 2008), LEROY DORSALFIN (pitched 2009) and SKY RAT (pitched 2013).
Next chapter will be "Nicktoons of the Future."
At least, some actually ended up as shows (I.e.: The Proud Family (Disney Channel) and Adventure Time (Cartoon Network) to name some. Yeah....Nickelodeon...ya done f**ked up on those!