When Nickelodeon launched on televisions over 25 years ago, the landscape of children’s programming was dominated by poorly produced animation with a focus on selling toys. Nickelodeon changed that by creating television for kids, by kids. At turns silly, sad and gross, Nickelodeon revolutionized children’s TV and created some of the most iconic characters of the last quarter century. Struck in collaboration with Nickelodeon Animation Studio created a sumptuous coffee table book to capture the the Nick story in all it’s wacky glory.
The limited edition book, You Can’t Do That on Television: The Rebellious History of Nickelodeon, is the brainchild of Russell Hicks, President of Content Development and Production for Nickelodeon. In the years leading up to the book’s fruition, Hicks tossed around the idea of the need for something that pulled together the history of Nickelodeon and the studio’s success. The colorful pages of the book combine original sketches, pop-outs and text by Jerry Beck to weave together the edgy and groundbreaking history that is Nickelodeon Animation Studio. Beginning with the launch of Ren and Stimpy, Rugrats and Doug in 1991, to becoming a global brand, and then on into the rocket-fueled future of animation.
