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Nickelodeon Studios Torn Down


derbeast
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  • 4 weeks later...

When I worked at USF in the late 1990's, the nick studios were mearly a shell. The productions were down to a skelleton crew. The main thing that was taped there was the breaks with games outside the studio. Occasionally nick would have a pilot filmed there to save cost and to have the live studio audience reactions. But going to a Theme park to watch a TV show be taped was no longer accepted by guest who are paying $50+ to spend 5 hours inside watching a taping.

The Universal Production Group has approximately 6-7 soundstages (revised now 8-9 studios with the acusistion of the paramount soundstage). Film there in the 90's included American Gladiator, TNT wrestling, now TNA wrestling, battlebots, a heath channel. The facilitys were designed to be a real production studio and would allow guest to see productions but with the rank group merger with universal the parks began to compete with disney more than just the MGM studio portion of the park and to add more attractions and abandoned the tour trams.

The studios will remain on the property and can be used for attractions if GE desires. I do not forsee any attactions going into those buildings soon. One example of a conversion of a studio on the USF property is Kong, now featuring the Mummy ride. The building is actually built as a soundstage and then converted.

One unique feature of all the soundstages on USF's property is they are built to withstand a Catagory 4 hurricane hitting orlando and still stand with there own power generation. As well as many of the buildings on the property. The security command center and the vaults are all built to the same standard to protect the property and assests.

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Guest TombraiderTy

Okay, everybody says that they hate Nickelodeon but now they all miss it.

My family went to US in 2003 and went on the tour. They didn't keep it running that well, we skipped all the demonstrations and went to the part where the kid got slimed. Nick GAS is a good channel and has some of those shows still on it.

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  • 8 years later...

Wow, talk about a thread bump! This was an epic thread bump 8 years in the making!

Oh well, as long as we're here, classic Nickelodeon was, well, classic! I started watching Nickelodeon in the 80's and it seemed like they were still trying to discover who they were as a network. I remember shows like You Can't Do That On Television, Count Duckula, and a show called Out of Control hosted by a young Dave Coulier. There was also this show where kids reviewed movies. Not sure what it was called, but I do remember thinking that some of the movies they were reviewing were sort of inappropriate for kids to be watching. It was quite an interesting network in the 80s.

Move on into the 90s and the network was legendary! So many great shows that I can't even list them all. All I know is that on the weekends when I was at my dad's house, Nickelodeon was the only station that was on the TV. Ok, I said I couldn't list all the show, but I'm going to try. Here it goes:

Hey Dude

Welcome Freshman

Double Dare

Guts

Legends of the Hidden Temple

Are You Afraid of the Dark

Clarissa Explains it All

Alex Mack

Salute Your Shorts

All That

Keenan and Kel

The Amanda Show

Pete and Pete

Rugrats

Ren and Stimpy

Rocko's Modern Life

Doug (do do do do do do...)

Ok, that's just off the top of my head and I'm sure there were WAY more that I used to watch. It was such a great channel with some unique programming (see Pete and Pete). Kids today sure as heck don't know what they're missing. Most of the stuff they have on that channel now is just crap (same as current Disney Channel). Oh what I wouldn't give to rewind time back to the 90s and early 2000s and relive some of that awesome programming. Until someone invents a time machine, I guess we'll just have to stick with DVD, YouTube, and the occasional Bit Torrent (you didn't see that).

Here's to classic Nick!!!

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I like how some classic NickToons completed series are being released on DVD I've seen such as Hey Arnold, CatDog, Angry Beavers, and Aaahh Real Monsters. Aaahh Real Monsters is my favorite all-time NickToon so I want to get it for Christmas or before, thats one NickToon that should of been on longer than it was.

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The photos and links throughout the thread don't work anymore, but the Nickelodeon Studios building wasn't demolished. It was converted into the Sharp Aquos Theatre, currently hosting the Blue Man Group. They just built a fence between the studio and the rest of the park, which annexed the former attraction building to CityWalk.

Nicelodeon-Studios-nickelodeon-24894295-

Usf_blue_man_group_3_31_20073.jpg

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Unless I'm missing something. (I usually am ^_^)

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I was lucky enough to visit Universal Studios Orlando back in the late 90's to catch a glimpse of that building.

Really glad I got to do it after reading this.

Same here. I took a vacation with friends the summer of 97, prior to my senior year of high school, and visited Nickelodeon Studios for the first and only time. We actually witnessed filming taking place that day, but for the life of me I cannot remember which shows those were. Below is a video of Adamthewoo shooting a video of the interior.

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^^I was actually just about to link to that video.

I'm amazed by how much Nickelodeon nostalgia remains inside the building. I understand that Blue Man Group doesn't need the entire building, but it still caught me off guard that they didn't bother to strip any of the old cartoons from the wall or replace everything with a more modern interior.

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I'm wondering how much the evolution of animation has to do with the need of studios and the decline.

I have a friend that worked on Ren and Stimpy, he's now got a site for "Animation Resources", it's a fantastic collection that he generously shares with cartoonists. He works in an office building now, Cartoons are made desktop, by anyone.

Ralph Bakshi and his son did his latest film, "Last Days of Coney Island" on their desktops, with Animation Studio Pro.

Live action takes money, and space.

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I've been studying animation since I was around 5 or 6 (I'm 34 now), and had originally planned to be an animator. I read every article I can get my hands on and watch all the documentaries I can find. Lately I've been reading a lot about what's going on in the industry right now and it's not all good. The whole business of animation is in an interesting state right now. I somewhat feel sorry for current animation students who are hoping to have a long career in animation here in the US.

Let me explain a little bit for those of you who might be interested. See, 20-30 years ago, animation was an art form that could only be created by artists. You had to have special skills. Not only did you have to know the techniques of animation, but you also had to be classically trained in fine art. You studied anatomy and physiology. You studied nature, and animals. You really knew how to capture every little detail. It was quite painstaking. Of course, this was for 2D animation - Think Beauty and The Beast, Aladdin, and Lion King. These guys were masters at their craft and it took special talent and a lot of hard work to become one of these guys. Fast forward a few years and along comes Toy Story. Now, most of the people who worked on this film came from the 2D animation background. These guys were artists who were now using a different medium. They were trading their pencils for a mouse and screen.

Let's move forward a decade or two and now we're busting at the seams with 3D animated films. They're everywhere and new studios are constantly popping up trying to get in the game. But where are all these animators coming from? Well, you no longer have to be an "artist" anymore. As long as you know the techniques of animation and know how to use the software, anyone can animate. You no longer have to have that special talent of "fine artist" anymore. Now obviously it helps, but it's not required.

In an interview for the movie Tangled, Glen Keane (an ex-Disney animator), was talking about the guy who animated the opening scene in which we first meet Rapunzel. He stated that the particular animator couldn't draw a stick figure to save his life, but he was especially skilled at understanding movement so he was able to animate Rapunzel with believability. Had this guy wanted to animate 10-20 years prior, he would not have been able to because he was unable to draw. This was no doubt a huge hindrance for many, many people. Now with computers, this opens up the door for many new people to become animators, even those that can't draw!

Is this a problem? Yes. Because of this, the industry is much more crowded. There are tons of people trying to break into the industry, so each studio has to be more selective and there aren't as many jobs as there are animators wanting those jobs. This also create new problems. Since we have such an abundance of animators, new studios are opening up and getting into the business. Remember when is was just Disney? Then Disney and Pixar? And then Disney, Pixar, and Dreamworks? Do you know how many studios have entered the animation business? Quite a few. Now, everyone's competing for that top spot and there are many more selections of quality animated family films to choose from at the theater. This splits up revenues and each studio is struggling to recoup their budgets. This creates another problem.

Dreamworks has been struggling the past couple of years to make a profit, or a big enough profit to keep their shareholders satisfied. Because of this, they laid off a TON of animators and announced that they would be moving a good chunk of their animation department overseas. Kung Fu Panda 3 will be largely animated in China. Is this fair? Well, not to American animators, but to the company, it's quality animation done cheaper. Cheaper animation = higher profits. See, animation is a business now, not strictly an art form. So what's happening over at Pixar? Well, now they higher animators on per job. What does that mean? Well, you want to work for Pixar? They higher you on to do animation for a particular film. At the end of the film you either stay on for another film, or they can let you go. Think of it as "temp" work. This isn't good for anyone wanting a career in animation. So what's up with the Disney Animation Studios? Well, they might be worse. Just earlier this year they booted a bunch of big named 2D animators out the door. They've decided that no one wants 2D anymore so they don't want 2D animators hanging around. Not even to train the new guys. Many of the 2D animators who were there in what some people would call the Disney Renaissance era back in the late 80s and early 90s have moved on to do their own projects and are doing some great things in animation. I highly recommend doing a Google search for "Glen Keane" and "Duet."

So since it's easier to animate and a lot more people can do it, it's making animation as an industry more crowded and less profitable (for some). Someone told me the other night that it's never too late to become an animator. I looked at them and said, not now. Not in this climate. And that's the truth. Now there are some areas that still require some fine artists, but more than likely that won't be as an animator. It will most likely be in pre-production stuff, designing backdrops and layouts and that kind of thing. These are really talented people that sometimes get forgotten. You can still have a career as a fine artist in animation, but it's not like it used to be.

I look forward to the day that 2D animation is revived and animation becomes more of an art form like it was at one time. We can only hope!

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Korea has become the go-to market for cheap, offshore animation production. The Simpsons has been using Korea for years. Once the voice actors record their parts (usually with little more than storyboards to read from), everything gets shipped to Korea and then shipped back to LA for final assembly and release. As for Nick studios, I recall that only one of the several original soundstages was converted for BMG; the others were in fact demolished.

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Voicetek,

There's also compositing. That's putting it all together in editing after the shoot.

That's a good field and takes talent.

It's not the end of animation, it's the evolution.

Superheros can't fly themselves, yaknow.

I never said it was the "end" of animation, I just said that right now the whole climate of the industry is different than it was back in the 80s/90s. Is this good or bad? I guess we'll find out. All I know is that studios are laying animators off or hiring them for temp positions (some of them anyway). And they can do this because there are so many animators now that they're happy to have the work.

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Maybe someone answered it before, but I have watched a few of adamthewoo's videos... kind of a fan. How does he do those with sometimes video proof of trespassing and not get fined back to the stone age?

He did get himself banned from Disney World. He did a video where he talked about that.

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Voicetek,

There's also compositing. That's putting it all together in editing after the shoot.

That's a good field and takes talent.

It's not the end of animation, it's the evolution.

Superheros can't fly themselves, yaknow.

I never said it was the "end" of animation, I just said that right now the whole climate of the industry is different than it was back in the 80s/90s. Is this good or bad? I guess we'll find out. All I know is that studios are laying animators off or hiring them for temp positions (some of them anyway). And they can do this because there are so many animators now that they're happy to have the work.

Yea but... (I use that way too much) that is how it is in almost all media fields.

Newspapers, TV, News, etc. 20 years ago a news production staff was filled 8-10 or more people. Now you can run a whole production staff with 1 maybe 2 people.

Animators are getting laid off, but the biggest difference between Pixar and say Dreamworks (or others) is the quality of the story. I dont think it has anything to do with animation. Ice Age 3 compared to Toy Story 3. The ability of the story to be told has more to do with the inability of a company to make money versus the art being used.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Voicetek,

There's also compositing. That's putting it all together in editing after the shoot.

That's a good field and takes talent.

It's not the end of animation, it's the evolution.

Superheros can't fly themselves, yaknow.

I never said it was the "end" of animation, I just said that right now the whole climate of the industry is different than it was back in the 80s/90s. Is this good or bad? I guess we'll find out. All I know is that studios are laying animators off or hiring them for temp positions (some of them anyway). And they can do this because there are so many animators now that they're happy to have the work.

Yea but... (I use that way too much) that is how it is in almost all media fields.

Newspapers, TV, News, etc. 20 years ago a news production staff was filled 8-10 or more people. Now you can run a whole production staff with 1 maybe 2 people.

Animators are getting laid off, but the biggest difference between Pixar and say Dreamworks (or others) is the quality of the story. I dont think it has anything to do with animation. Ice Age 3 compared to Toy Story 3. The ability of the story to be told has more to do with the inability of a company to make money versus the art being used.

You are right. The film business is very much like a factory, but it depends on if you want to make Rolls or a Yugo.

What I've seen is that yes, computer animation is the norm now, but with that comes extra jobs to add to the experience of the film. People are now layering over the 3d animation with digital paint to get a more human feel to it.

Zemeckis had his own 3d animation system, I forget what it was called, but I submit the name "Dead Eye, LTD." He was the one behind the creepy "Polar Express". That's what happens when you rely on computer animation alone without the added touches.

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I believe DeadEyes, Ltd was part of ImageMovers (or makers). Yeah the problem with digital animation is that it can move into the realm of the Uncanny Valley, very very quickly. Uncanny Valley basically talks about the response the viewer has when something looks "too real." If it looks too real but we know its fake, then we have a negative response to it.

Polar Express I think suffered more from this than any other movie. It attempted to portray as close to "real" as possible without actually being real. That is all fine and good when its "things" : animals, objects, vehicles etc.

When its a person:

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Which is why, personally, I think the big block buster movies have characters that have some sort of feature that lets you know "Hey this is an animation"

elsa-and-anna-frozen-25421-400x250.jpg

header-brad-bird-on-the-incredibles-2-an

big-hero-6.jpg

As compared to when using a CGI enhanced monster in a "real movie"

2481796-joss-whedon-s-hulk-vs-ang-lee-s-

**All images used under the copy write for educational purposes**

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