back when it was an MTV sister channel, back when VIACOM didn't own PARAMOUNT and this was also many years before the infamous SKYDANCE merger of Mid-Summer 2025,
The SLIME FACTORY changed the face of CHILDREN's television FOREVER on that aforementioned August 1991.
How was that possible?
Well, Nickelodeon's staff took a long thorough look at the AMERICAN ANIMATION Industry and summarized what was the problem that permeated the industry before they stepped in to clean up the mess:
The industry took a heavy hit after WALT DISNEY died on December 15 1966,
The thought of a Man ,that even the competitors and rivals revered, having succumbed due to Lung Cancer made the industry feel absolutely venerable and that's because of the pangs of 1960s counter culture. 
Assassinations of Politicians like JFK,
The VIETNAM WAR
The rising success of THE BEETLES
Richard Nixon's WATERGATE Scandal of 1973
"Well I'm not a crook! I've earned everything I got!"
"Therefore, I shall resign the PRESIDENCY effective at noon tomorrow"
etc.
That and Television Animation started to get popular what with shows like
THE FLINTSTONES
SCOOBY-DOO
etc.
Most of them getting popular.
But it also brought about the end of an era and the beginning of a dark era.
After things like JFK and Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassinations throughout the 60s as well as the popularity of the BEETLES and the rise of Conservatives who were against the Hippie Movement as well as ANTI-WAR Demonstrations protesting the US' participation in the VIETNAM WAR taking place in the streets,
Then came them mom's who wanted to control their children's viewing habits as to shield them away from either assassinations or hippie protests.
"NO CHILD OF MINE IS GONNA WATCH A SHOW ABOUT A
RABBIT GIVING A DUCK A STICK OF DYNAMITE TO THE BEAK!!!
YOU'RE ONLY GOING TO WATCH SHOWS THAT I CHERRY PICK FOR YOU!!!
STARTING WITH THAT ONE ABOUT *insert baby show here*!!!!"
Even some Fathers were still insistent on getting them children to grow up what with them threatening their son's to be drafted to VIETNAM in the 60s... NO IFS, ANDS, OR BUTS.
(CLASSIFIED 4-F is a term used for UNFIT FOR MILITARY SERVICE in case you're wondering. And yes, there was a 4-F Classification even during KOREA and WWII.)
"BACK IN THE DAY WHEN I SERVED IN WWII & KOREA,
THERE WAS NO SUCH THING AS CLASSIFIED 4-F!!!
IF I HEAR THAT THEY GIVE YOU THAT CLASSIFICATION IN VIETNAM,
I'LL BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF RECRUITMENT FOR YOUR HONOR!!!"
Things started to take a turn for the worst once the 1970s rolled over and continued throughout the 80s.
Suddenly, the slapstick era of LOONEY TUNES-esque goodness....
was being replaced with saccharine pieces of crapola that only babies (or naive little kids who are too sensitive on their epidermis) would like.
And even legacy Characters like the Looney Tunes or Tom and Jerry that did survive would unfortunately be forced to contend with strict new content guidelines to a point that they were severely watered down or their old cartoons that rerun on tv would have no choice but to contend with severe censorship.
And cartoons with Mature subject matter that didn't come from RALPH BAKSHI were out of the question.
THE WUZZLES(1985)
MY LITTLE PONY(1980s Version)
And on the CANADIAN SIDE what with shows coming from the then BRAND SPANKING NEW NELVANA, The CANADIAN Broadcasting side would introduce even stricter rules to cartoons not just to ensure that they're cartoons are marketed for Children but also that they're firmly set in CANADA to contend with The Country's strict CANADIAN CONTENT requirements for Canadian Produced Productions.
THE RACCOONS(1985)
There were some attempts like DOWN & DIRTY DUCK
But those really missed the point due to most of those films being all about the SEX while BAKSHI's movies were really about SOCIAL SATIRE. NOT DICKS OR BOOBS.
Shows that dared to be ADULT either were canned by Executives or only lasted for a single pilot if they were approved.
CARLTON, YOUR DOORMAN from 1980, which is an animated spinoff of the Live-Action RHODA series which itself was a spinoff of THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW, is one such example of an adult show that tried to pick off the ground but never lasted past a single pilot
And Disney struggled during the tenure of RON MILLER, son of WALT DISNEY, until his 1984 ouster which replaced him with MICHAEL EISNER, JEFFERY KATZENBERG, & FRANK WELLS.Did I mention that legacy Characters in the 1980s were not exempt from the meddling?
ALVIN & THE CHIPMUNKS is an example.
After the death of ROSS BAGDASARIAN SR. in the early 70s, his son ROSS JR. took over the franchise and rather than stick with the tried and true designs from the earlier THE ALVIN SHOW from 1961
He was told by NBC to instead use the BABY-FACED designs from SANDRA BEREZ for the 1983 RUBY-SPEARS/MURAKAMI WOLF-SWENSON series.
(Even my Mother prefers THE ALVIN SHOW from 1961. I know as I've asked.)
Your only other Market for Cartoons with no meddling would be ANIME but even that's difficult to get to in the 80s.
Due to the JAPANESE Market growing up what with Successful projects like LUPIN III
The US & Canadian Markets realized the successful potential to localize the anime but they felt that these shows are not AMERICAN or CANADIAN enough for audiences or even if there was no cultural conflict with the characters or settings, the other problem is that the content is not suitable for children so networks or even studios that license these Japanese Cartoons would go out of their way to censor what they felt is inappropriate before they can air.
LUPIN III(1971 GREEN JACKET)
And some Anime that did air without censorship often had to combine some unrelated anime in order to appease Network Syndication rules.
Say what you will about you saying you prefer the original MACROSS
but the real reason why ROBOTECH exists is because CARL MACEK was frustrated with
how Television Syndication mandates were made.
Ok. So it looks like I'm criticizing 1980s Animation.
I don't care.
I know that 80s animation is revered by many gen-xers and early millennials but if you stop and think about it, many of the people who worked on these shows back in the 80s actually dreaded working on them due to things like...
moral guardians demanding the watering down of Content,
blatant network censorship,
executives' culling of ideas in favor of formula, and even toning down the original execution of drawings and actions.
This drawing of PERCY PIMPLEPUSS from JOHN K's development drawings
was actually for CBS' attempt on THE GARBAGE PAIL KIDS Cartoon.
But he was fired, his drawings were discarded, toned down, and then some.
The artists needed to take back a medium that was robbed from them since the late 1960s.
To them, it was an injustice that they went to Art Schools like CALARTS or SHERIDAN, only to end up working on shows that were nothing but advertisements for toys.
I mean, Cartoons are gonna have toys as per advertising rules and contractual obligations....
But I'm sure Children during the late 80s were getting tired of the same old shtick so rather than have a rehash of legacy characters, them kids would want some new characters.
Or as these two girls from the LOG COMMERCIALS would say it:
"WE WANT...."
"A NEW....."
"TOY!!!"
So after an industry suffered 25+ years of stagnation, artistic stifling, meddling of the screenplay, protests from Fundamentalists to keep everything toned down, and the ban on any new concepts in favor of established I.P,
(And the CRTC demanding the setting be firmly CANADIAN)
A cable company called NICKELODEON decided to finally break the ice block and defiantly break the belief that only established characters that aren't from DISNEY, HANNA-BARBERA, or WARNER BROS. can get the TV treatment.
The first attempt at an original project would be....
RALPH BAKSHI'S CHRISTMAS IN TATTERTOWN 
This was intended to be a series pilot for a TV SERIES but after a preacher made a big fuss about a FLOWER SCENE in MIGHTY MOUSE, BAKSHI was booted off the project and while the special aired as planned, he took all the rights of his characters with him.
Enter NICKELODEON EXECUTIVE VANESSA COFFEY.
After leaving MURAKAMI-WOLF-SWENSON,
She wanted to abandon the animation industry over her frustrations about how networks and executives refuse to back away from the assembly-line driven system and favor existing characters instead of original characters.
But then she had a change of heart.
She decided to make it her mission to give CREATIVITY back to the creators of CARTOONS so she alongside GERRALDINE LAYBOURNE decide to jumpstart a new system of CARTOONS that come from other creators and their respective studios through an auteur license.
It also helps that at the time, Nickelodeon was somewhat inexperienced in Cartoon Production so a history lesson from the creators of them new cartoons was given to the executives.
This would lead to the rise of a phenomenon known as CREATOR DRIVEN Cartoons
or as NICKELODEON would call them NICKTOONS.
Even though the NETWORK would not tamper with these shows unless they have content that isn't in NICK's agenda, NICKELODEON would have all merchandising rights on things like toys, pogs, posters, designer plates, etc.
To build up hype for this new network haven for Cartoons, the SLIME FACTORY decided to greenlight Three Original Nicktoons to air on that fateful August 11 1991.
These were 
and
All three of these shows debuted on that fateful August with at one PURPOSE:
TO GIVE CARTOON FANS WHAT THEY WANT INSTEAD OF BEING TOLD WHAT TO THEY SHOULD WATCH AS WELL AS GIVE CREATIVITY BACK TO HANDS OF THE CREATORS.
That was the gist of it all.
DOUG was amongst the first to debut since it was first on the timeslot as NICK originally had more faith on the programme due to the TITLE CHARACTER going to SCHOOL so they prioritized it's airtime.
What made DOUG memorable was everything related to it's style.
With the exception of the title character and his family,
The FUNNIE Family before THEDA gave birth to DIRTBIKE
on December 25 1996.
many of the characters had literal colors for their skin-tone.
Sans the copying of Doug's outfit that is....
Funny 1993 era episode by the way....
With the exception of several adults as well as a few portly or strong characters, 
many of the characters had spindly limbs for their arms and legs.
And that's if they're wearing short sleaved shirts, Shorts or Skirts.
Unless the pants are skin-tight.
And with exception for those like Skeeter,
Porkchop,
and even former Mayor/Principal BOB WHITE,
many characters were drawn with beady eyes too, even if they're wearing glasses.
Porkchop,
and even former Mayor/Principal BOB WHITE,
many characters were drawn with beady eyes too, even if they're wearing glasses.
It was not just the TECHNICOLORED Human characters that made DOUG so defining for our childhood but rather it was the internal mental adventures of the title character himself.
DOUG would often imagine certain situations with his mind and sometimes get lost in thought to his fantasies such as his famous QUAILMAN Fantasies.
Often at times, his imagine spots were a personification of his anxiety or temptation issues
but sometimes they were of what he wants to be or how he will solve the problem in the future.
"You should have joined the Mushroom Club....
BUT NOOOOoooo!!! You wanted to be SMART!
You wanted to show off how SPECIAL we are!!!!"
but sometimes they were of what he wants to be or how he will solve the problem in the future.
And earn him great success.
Such as in this scene with DOUG dancing with
Patti while she's dressed as BARBARA EDEN's JEANNIE from
I DREAM OF JEANIE(1965)
RUGRATS would air second after DOUG and it's style is rather unique.
For the first 2 seasons, the characters often had weird, crudely drawn designs which looked like something coming from someone who needed to follow on-model rules but wanted to rebel against it.
Pretty sly for a cartoon that was original to KLASKY CSUPO that wasn't THE SIMPSONS which was what the studio was also working on in tandem until they were replaced by FILM ROMAN in late 1992.
But RUGRATS struck a crowd with Children due to it's premise which is seeing through the eyes of a baby navigating through their life and exploring... a kind of freedom many kids in real-life were not allowed to have when they were infants.
The success of RUGRATS also enabled KLASKY CSUPO to start pursuing other projects.
Within NICKELODEON, they made AHH! REAL MONSTERS!!!, WILD THORNBERRIES, ROCKET POWER, AS TOLD BY GINGER, ALL GROWN UP, etc.
But outside of NICK but still within PARAMOUNT, they also made
DUCKMAN: PRIVATE DICK/FAMILY MAN for the USA NETWORK.....
Ok so they just provided additional help for the late EVERETT PECK but still, that's a major achievement.
REN & STIMPY would be the LAST to air on that fateful AUGUST 11 1991.
The show is mainly about an Irate Chihuahua and his Retarded Manx Cat friend who embark on whacky adventures in their hometown of DECENTVILLE, USA.
"YOU SICK LEETLE MONKEY!!! WHY I OUTTA......"
Often with funny reactions that look like they came out of a TEX AVERY Cartoon but with finesse that would have come from a BOB CLAMPETT Animation unit.
(Which is fitting considering how much of a CLAMPETT fan JOHN K. really is.)
Also, the show is known for it's gross Closeup Cards, usually done by BILL WRAY
that would eventually become so popular with artists that it found a new home on future shows like SPONGEBOB.
that would eventually become so popular with artists that it found a new home on future shows like SPONGEBOB.
"What, it's just an ordinary Krabby....
OH MY GOODNESS!!!!!!
SQUIDWARD!!!!!!!"
While all three Nicktoons were very successful in their premiere,
RUGRATS and REN & STIMPY were somewhat preferred in the original 3 by most viewers due to their breaking of boundaries on what people perceived about animation.
Aside from some jokes about bathroom breaks,
punching people in the stomach,
etc.
He just went before he got in those tights....
AW NEMATODES.. I feel bad for DOUG....
punching people in the stomach,
etc.
DOUG preferred to play things safe.
But REN & STIMPY presented gross and funny which is what the kids wanted.
Heh Heh. Dental Beavers.....
"This place is too stinky even for me! Oh Man!"
while RUGRATS was sort of in the middle ground.
Which made sense due to the premise being about the Curiosity of BABIES.
But I think RUGRATS ended up being the more successful of the original 3 Nicktoons.
Why?
Because it was the only original Nicktoon to have been granted a STAR on the HOLLYWOOD WALK OF FAME in LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.
Even though the SLIME FACTORY had put more financial faith into DOUG due to it's School Setting,
A minority of kids weren't really all that interested in the character or the episode plots that much.
And although kids loved REN & STIMPY more than DOUG, STIMPY had production problems wrought out by JOHN KRICFALUSI's obsession with perfection as well as his general insanity and anger over things that didn't meet his criteria.
"YOU EEDIOT!!!!
CARTOONS AREN'T SUSPOSED TO START FROM A SCRIPT!!!"
"CARTOONS ARE SUSPOSED TO START IN STORYBOARD FORMAT!!!"
Ren & Stimpy would have JOHN K. fired and production would shift over to BOB CAMP with episodes being made that were more miss than hit.
DOUG on the other hand would have it's 5th season declined by NICKELODEON due to VIACOM freezing JUMBO PICTURE's budget in February 1994 shortly after acquiring PARAMOUNT PICTURES, and therefore reverted the rights back to JIM JINKINS due to a contractual loophole which was the original series 52 episode count not exceeding 65 required for syndication and permanent IP Ownership.
DOUG would transfer over to DISNEY....
and a mess of legal ownership and fan preferences over whether the sale is legit or they accept the new ownership but prefer the earlier bygone era of pre-budget freeze is still ongoing today.
DOUG and SKEETER transferring their assets and artwork
to DISNEY in BURBANK, CALIFORNIA.
DOUG inspecting security for any NICK ELITISTS
attempting to break into the BRAND SPANKING NEW storage vaults.
RUGRATS would remain unscathed, barring a 3 year hiatus due to said budget freeze in '94, as that show would have twice the amount of seasons, three theatrical movies, a CGI remake, and best of all:
BILLY COORE's favorite thing to talk about which is his coveted 1994 Marathon Viewing which he taped back in the day on his little 1984 MONTGOMERY WARD Tv.
The NOVEMBER 27 1994 Marathon Lasted for 8 hours
spanning from 12:00PM to 8:00PM.
NICKELODEON, admittingly still sore over their decision to freeze Jumbo's budget and losing the DOUG to Disney, took another jab at a show with a School Setting and with the help of Craig Bartlett Succeeded with HEY ARNOLD premiering in 1996 to critical acclaim.
And no. Disney's DOUG was not in competition with HEY ARNOLD.
ARNOLD SHORTMAN's true Competitor from DISNEY was RECESS.
Look it up.
As for where to watch the 3 Original Nicktoons?
That's a bit of a negative stretch in terms of where to watch them.
DOUG was removed from PARAMOUNT+ in late December 2024 because DAVID ELLISON has no faith in the cartoon what so ever.
And the AMAZON DVDs have long since been discontinued since 2019.
Even DOUG's glad he's in cahoots with JOSH D'AMARO and not DAVID ELLISON
as this Screenshot proves he's not happy with what happened with both
AMAZON CREATESPACE & PARAMOUNT+.
Apple TV or AMAZON PRIME are your only options unless DISNEY licenses the streaming rights from SKYDANCE... or DAVID ELLISON reverses his decision and reinstates all 52 episodes back to PARAMOUNT+.
And for the record, Yes, I check both services periodically so don't ask.
REN & STIMPY is a mixed bag because only a handful of episodes are available on PARAMOUNT+ not because of JOHN K's allegations but rather it's due to that stupid Copyright issue with WARNER MUSIC due to some episodes using samples of music from RAYMOND SCOTT.
Using John's late father MICHEAL KRICFALUSI(aka ANTHONY'S DAD)
to represent RAYMOND SCOTT's Descendant's Lawyers.
RUGRATS seems to be the only original NICKTOON from 1991 to have all it's episodes uncut, unedited, and not touched by lawyers which makes sense due to it being the Flagship Nicktoon for NICKELODEON throughout the better part of the 90s.
Until SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS showed up on MAY 1 1999.
But either way, if streaming is not your thing and you still have problems finding DVDs at your local retailer, thrift store, or online retailer,
I will highly recommended ARCHIVE.ORG as your source for your Nicktoons nostalgia fix.
Just be sure to download the .mp4 or .mkv files into your HDDs, SSDs, USB drives, SD cards, or NAS Drives before the uploaders or the Archive.org administrators remove them due to the Nicktoons still being under copyright.
Notice I didn't mention Blu-Ray?
Even if it's SPONGEBOB or AVATAR,
Nickelodeon, or in this case SKYDANCE, has no interests in putting their Animated Tv Shows on 1080p Physical Format so 480p DVD it is.
And I apologize if several of my DOUG screenshots were from the DISNEY Series.
My COMPLETE NICK SERIES AMAZON DVD had their episodes sourced from interlaced masters as I didn't do Progressive Scan AVERMEDIA Captures from PARAMOUNT+ like I would prefer. While I did try my best, I had to cherry pick some of my screenshots so they're higher resolution and NON-INTERLACED Picture were passable since I still refuse screenshots that have a network bug or green or purple tinted colors that were sourced from a VHS recording.
And I should have mentioned how both DOUG and REN & STIMPY also skyrocketed the career of actor BILLY WEST but I already mentioned that in last year's Blogpost If you want to read that, here's the link: