As the Nickelodeon Animation Studio celebrates its 25th anniversary, it’s clearly blossomed from being a small but formidable toon house to a world-class studio with dozens of productions in process and executive Ramsey Naito at the helm. And Naito’s plans include growing relationships with creators who can speak to Nick’s audience.
In the last five to six years, the studio has expanded to include Nick Animation West (Burbank), Nick Animation East (New York) and offices in Hollywood on the Paramount lot. When Naito was named president of Nickelodeon Animation in 2020 (she has since become president of Paramount Animation as well), there were nine shows in production at the studio. Today there are nearly 70 at a place known for its irreverent, fun and boundary-breaking animation.
Naito, who went to CalArts and comes from a family of artists and haiku poets, knew the studio had to expand when she arrived.
Nine shows “wasn’t enough,” says Naito, who had worked for the company earlier in her career. “We’re open to a tremendous variety of projects and all our projects are wildly different. We really try to embrace this idea of no house style and by way of doing so we’re really four-walling around creators, directors, producers, and working with them to create a process for getting their vision on screen in the best way. On every single movie that we’re making now, we’re working with a different studio, which I also think supports uniqueness and sophistication in the storytelling and execution. We treat animation as cinema.”
When Nickelodeon opened its state-of-the-art building in Burbank six years ago, the 200,000-square-foot location was intended as a place contributors could collaborate with each other while working on an increasing roster of shows and films. It was meant to signal to the creative community that the company was focused on making a home for its creatives.
The animation studio’s projects include “SpongeBob Square Pants,” “Loud House,” “Shimmer and Shine,” “The Fairly OddParents,” “Rugrats,” “Avatar: The Last Airbender” and “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.” They’ve created the SpongeBob spinoffs “Kamp Koral: SpongeBob’s Under Years” and “The Patrick Star Show.” There’s also another film based on “Paw Patrol” in the works and “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem,” co-written by Seth Rogen, is due in theaters this August.
Upon her return to Nickelodeon, Naito dove in headfirst into development. “The plan was to build out a slate and greenlight a ton of shows,” Naito says. “By doing so we focused on three very important pillars: culture, talent and content.
“First, we reinvigorated our culture. We let people know we were open to buy and make lots of shows. We targeted talent and reached out to them, and we developed great content.”
She says building the slate was one of the first conversations she had with Brian Robbins, president and CEO, Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon, and chief content officer, movies and kids & family, Paramount+. “We knew we needed these things.”
Feature films based on “Blues Clues” and “Baby Shark,” as well as Paramount properties including “Transformers” and “Smurfs” are on the horizon. With so many franchises and IP in play, the studio is still focused on the qualities that distinguished the company’s animated shows from
the beginning.
“I remember [former Paramount topper]Sherry Lansing saying it all comes down to great characters,” says Naito. “At the end of the day we want shows with great characters who are appealing and relatable and speak to our audience in a way that compels them to want to see their story and go on their adventures. People want to see SpongeBob because he warms their heart and makes them laugh. Great characters like that are at the heart of everything we do.”