Nickelodeon Animation Reaches Across Platforms to Boost Franchises
variety.comAndrew Barker Senior Features Writer Ramsey Naito has been running Nickelodeon Animation since 2017, and in that time the network’s programming has exploded with a raft of both homegrown series and adaptations of external IP. “Star Trek,” “SpongeBob,” “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” “Blue’s Clues,” “Dora the Explorer,” “Rugrats”… if that seems like too much for one network to handle, well, it no longer has to.
Last fall, Naito added running Paramount Animation to her docket, and since then, the scope of potential programming across the corporate-partnered Nickelodeon networks, Paramount+ and Paramount theatrical has given the network increased space to expand. “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” — the Seth Rogen-produced feature spun off from Nick’s revamped “Turtles” animated series — is due out next summer.
Nickelodeon feature films from “PAW Patrol,” “Blue’s Clues” and “Baby Shark” are also on the horizon, as well as new features from Paramount properties “Transformers” and “Smurfs.” For Naito, this glut of programming presents opportunities. “It’s a huge job, and I definitely feel the power of being stronger together than apart,” Naito says of her increased purview. “Together, Nick Animation and Paramount Animation can make series, theatrical films, and be a destination for artists who can have long careers here.
We’re making so much content, and the ecosystem we have within our studios is huge. Artists can come here to work on a preschool show, a big kids show, a theatrical film, you name it, and have a rich career. “We needed to operate as one team, and so that’s been a main focus, just looking at both companies holistically.
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