12 Best Nickelodeon Movies, Ranked

Among the many main manufacturing corporations making movies for younger audiences, Nickelodeon Films is commonly the unsung hero — the youthful sibling of Disney, Pixar, and DreamWorks, all the time caught within the shadow of genre-defining hits like “Frozen,” “Toy Story,” or “Shrek.” And but, it would simply be this scrappy, underdog standing that makes so many Nickelodeon Films distinct in our reminiscence.

Since its inception within the mid-’90s, the studio has informed tales that replicate a much less good, but arguably extra sincere view of adolescence. Their animated adventures try and outthink the aesthetics and strategies perfected by their friends, creating visuals which are compellingly distinctive and slightly chaotic. Their comedies are messier, interesting to a foolish humorousness we overlook to cherish earlier than we turn out to be too good or too cool in maturity. The approaching-of-age tales have an edge to them, that includes protagonists who make the sophisticated, human errors many do whereas attempting to develop up. 

Having matured itself past its thirtieth anniversary milestone, we have gone again to the very starting to focus on our favourite Nickelodeon films of all time.

Although it is undoubtedly probably the most iconic and culturally enduring Nickelodeon films ever made, “Good Burger” was no crucial darling when it was first launched. The 1997 comedy starred Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell as aimless youngsters working a summer season job at an area quick meals joint. Admittedly, it is a loud, unabashedly immature sort of film with a premise as skinny as a Good Burger patty. It was described by critics on the time as dumb, alienatingly juvenile, and agonizingly overanimated in its execution. In hindsight, we would argue these critics are pondering slightly too laborious — and the movie’s many followers would agree.

In opposition to a finances of $8.5 million, “Good Burger” grossed a whopping $23.7 million. The key names concerned had successfully cemented themselves as defining creators — even perhaps disruptors — in youngsters’s movie and TV. Director Brian Robbins (who additionally co-created “All That”) went on to direct a fair greater hit in “Varsity Blues” two years later, while infamous co-screenwriter Dan Schneider went on to form Nickelodeon’s subsequent decade of programming. Thompson and Mitchell have been immortalized as ’90s heroes by way of the movie as nicely. As older readers are doubtless conscious, Thompson in the end turned a longstanding forged member of “Saturday Evening Stay.”

“Good Burger” had such an affect on the youngsters it was made for that, now in maturity, many have argued the movie is not merely a powerful ’90s time capsule, but a genuine cult classic. When the long-awaited sequel “Good Burger 2” debuted on Paramount+ in 2023, it was the most-watched film premiere within the streamer’s historical past.

Exterior of Disney and Pixar, it is laborious to recollect many early-aughts CGI animated films being half as artistic as “Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius.” Launched simply over 5 years after the aforementioned studio had shaken up the animation medium with “Toy Story,” Nickelodeon and John A. Davis took younger audiences to the unusual but remarkably thrilling city of Retroville, the place the titular boy genius (voiced by Debi Derryberry) should rally his estranged classmates to rescue the day from certain destruction.

From a storytelling perspective, the film works as a result of Jimmy seems like such a well-meaning outsider from the primary scene. He is each bit as endearing and tragic as Tobey Maguire’s Peter Parker. Derryberry’s vocal efficiency is inconceivable to overlook — your entire most important voice forged (notably Rob Paulsen and the late Jeffrey Garcia as Jimmy’s mates Carl and Sheen, and Mark DeCarlo as Jimmy’s father Hugh Neutron) creates such distinct, irreplaceable voices for his or her characters that it is simpler to recall their work than, say, that of Patrick Stewart or Martin Brief, who’re nonetheless completely entertaining because the movie’s villains.

The actual deal with of the movie is its general design. The conflict of Retroville’s retrofuturistic vibe, the junkyard aesthetic of Jimmy’s innovations, and the opulently alien design of the Yolkians works shockingly nicely, creating an appropriately chaotic and disparate visible world that underlines the movie’s spirit of boundless creativeness.

“Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius” grossed over $102 million worldwide towards a finances of $30 million and was the primary Nickelodeon film to earn an Academy Award nomination (for Greatest Animated Characteristic, which it misplaced to “Shrek”). Its sequel collection “The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius” ran for three seasons on Nickelodeon.

“Dora and the Lost City of Gold” threads an impressive needle. On paper, there is not a very sturdy purpose to show the massively widespread animated youngsters’s collection (the audience of which is for essentially the most half toddlers too younger to go to highschool) right into a live-action younger grownup journey movie. It sounds just like the premise of a Cracked YouTube brief: “What if Michael Bay produced a gritty replace of ‘Explorer’ the place the monkey is performed by Danny Trejo?” This is not precisely what got here to go (Bay’s involvement wound up being misreported), however it’s shut sufficient that the ultimate product nonetheless seems like everybody concerned received away with one thing — and that is very a lot to the film’s profit.

Starring future “Superman” actor Isabela Merced (née Isabela Moner), “Dora and the Misplaced Metropolis of Gold” is a hilarious and surprisingly thrilling movie that succeeds by treating its supply materials in the identical method “Barbie” and “The LEGO Film” handled theirs. Dora, now an adolescent, is thrown right into a Los Angeles highschool, the place the character’s trademark vivid persona and childlike marvel conflict with what is actually the true world (comparative to her upbringing within the jungle). It is not merely comedic fodder, nevertheless. All through her journey — from attempting to slot in along with her cousin Diego (Jeff Wahlberg) and their friends to main all of them by way of the Peruvian jungle — the movie makes use of that conflict to discover how uncomfortable and disorienting rising up could be. It is an insightful method to make that means out of forcing Dora, the character, to develop up for an viewers that hasn’t spent a lot time along with her since they have been in preschool. 

Talking of adolescent awkwardness, few movies seize the humiliation ritual that’s highschool fairly like “Angus, Thongs and Good Snogging.” Launched in 2008, the movie follows a 14-year-old lady named Georgia (Georgia Groome) who’s intent on rising up as quick as attainable — whereas additionally, after all, having the time of her life as a goofy teenager. A lot of the story revolves round her and her mates’ makes an attempt at speaking to, courting, and usually understanding highschool boys — particularly Robbie Jennings, who’s performed by a younger Aaron Taylor-Johnson. Each Groome and Taylor-Johnson are outstanding within the movie given how early they’re of their respective careers.

As its title may counsel, “Angus, Thongs and Good Snogging” is barely extra suggestive and, in some instances, outright express than one may count on a Nickelodeon film to be, particularly in 2008. That is arguably the movie’s biggest power. It is not sensational, scandalous, or exploitative, however reasonably a brutally sincere, earnest depiction of what being younger is definitely like. Because of this refreshing bluntness and its equally credible humorousness (characters are allowed to swear and inform the sort of jokes you truly informed your mates in highschool), it is elevated far above the sorts of coming-of-age tales usually aimed toward younger youngsters. “Angus, Thongs and Good Snogging” is a strong romantic comedy that rests comfortably alongside its contemporaries.

For followers of the guide collection, Netflix’s “A Series of Unfortunate Events” was nothing short of a gift, a painstakingly fidelitous and well-produced adaptation made all of the extra vital after the discharge of the movie in 2004. Certainly, the movie has a big downside in that it opted to condense the primary three novels right into a single story — and although there have been discussions a couple of potential sequel, the story ends with an odd sense of finality and with out the darkish ahead momentum that propels every novel. Definitely, these qualities would make for an underwhelming book-to-screen translation — however, now that we do have a definitive adaptation, it is time to reappraise “Lemony Snicket’s A Collection of Unlucky Occasions.”

For the uninitiated, the books, collection, and movie all observe a trio of orphans — the Baudelaire youngsters — who’re compelled to reside with a malicious distant relative often called Depend Olaf after the mysterious deaths of their mother and father. When it turns into clear that Olaf is an unsuitable guardian, the kids are taken to different properties, the place they’re stalked by Olaf (adopting an elaborate disguise and alter ego at every). The movie is all however a showcase for Jim Carrey, who disappears into Olaf and every of his personas in a method that is as hilarious as it’s unsettling. In a narrative that’s basically concerning the risks of being a baby in a world the place adults cannot be trusted, his good efficiency makes his efficient deception all of the extra irritating.

General, it is a placing, uniquely moody movie that does not sacrifice the sardonic chunk of the novels. In hindsight, its narrative completeness is a big plus given no sequel ever materialized.

Although they do not have the identical cultural endurance as Dora the Explorer or SpongeBob SquarePants (not less than till they make that unavoidably nightmarish live-action movie), the “Rugrats” have been as soon as probably the most widespread and oft-revisited items of IP at Nickelodeon. In case you want a reminder of why, we suggest giving “Rugrats in Paris: The Film” one other watch.

Intelligent, thematically daring, and as zany because the collection itself (however with an impressively cinematic improve in its visible and narrative fashion), the 2000 movie presents these speaking infants at their greatest. When your entire “Rugrats” crew are whisked away on an impromptu working trip, the youngsters are left, as they usually are, to babble to one another with stunning humor and profundity concerning the absurdity of the grownup world. Probably the most compelling side of the narrative is Chuckie Finster (Christine Cavanaugh), who spends a lot of the movie attempting to navigate sophisticated emotions about his late mom. “Rugrats in Paris” strikes a satisfying steadiness between goofy cartoon antics and emotional exploration that is additional buoyed by a humorousness that does not go away the large youngsters feeling unnoticed.

It requires a good bit of hair-splitting to find out which movie is healthier between “Rugrats in Paris” and “The Wild Thornberrys Film.” Each are equally entertaining theatrical adventures for exhibits that, in at this time’s local weather, would not have a hope of escaping the small display (the theatrically launched crossover “Rugrats Go Wild” appears unimaginable). However the place “Rugrats” excels in sheer vitality and enjoyable, “The Wild Thornberrys” efficiently tells a way more targeted, mature story concerning the titular household struggling to remain true to the wildlife they’ve chosen. (It additionally does not harm that the latter is one of Tim Curry’s best movies of all time.)

Launched in 2002, “The Wild Thornberrys Film” sees Eliza (Lacey Chabert) threat all of it — together with the very powers that permit her to speak with the animal kingdom she calls household — so as to cease a gang of ruthless poachers. So as to add much more rigidity to the narrative, she is separated from her household and compelled to journey on with few sources, following their try and ship her off to boarding college in England. Appropriately harmful and pretty unpredictable, it is and away the best “Wild Thornberrys” story ever informed.

Stand down Christopher Nolan — there’s solely room on this city for one adaptation of “The Odyssey,” and “The SpongeBob SquarePants Film” cannot be beat.

Kidding apart, this 2004 animated epic is definitely the most effective of Nickelodeon’s TV-to-film diversifications, capturing the singular vitality of your entire “SpongeBob SquarePants” collection in a single iconic film. Charged with recovering the crown of King Neptune (Jeffrey Tambor) after Mr. Krabs (Clancy Brown) is framed for its theft, SpongeBob (Tom Kenny) and Patrick (Invoice Fagerbakke) embark on a harmful journey that takes them from the darkest depths of the ocean to the brilliant seashores of the floor world.

The film has all the pieces followers keep in mind from the best episodes of the “SpongeBob” series. Catchy, face-melting musical numbers? Verify. An uncanny injection of actual human beings? Verify. (This could be our favourite David Hasselhoff efficiency of all time, however do not quote us on that.) A successful combination of dumb humor and defiantly optimistic vibes? Verify. It is the form of movie you may solely despise for those who actively strive. And whereas critics have broadly been extra receptive of the next CGI options Nickelodeon has produced sporadically over the previous twenty years, solely the unique “SpongeBob SquarePants Film” comes near the collection itself.

Launched in 1996, “Harriet the Spy” was truly the primary movie produced by Nickelodeon Films. It stars the late “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” actor Michelle Trachtenberg because the titular character from Louise Fitzhugh’s novels. Fancying herself one thing of a citizen sleuth, Harriet has made it her mission to carefully watch her neighborhood — mates, household, and schoolmates included — and report any findings or ideas that come out of her “investigations.” Sadly, this implies she basically retains a pocket book of embarrassing secrets and techniques and candid opinions about everybody she is aware of. What may probably go improper?

Harriet Welsch is not one of our favorite fictional detectives as a result of she has notably logic (she’s in center college, in spite of everything). Fairly, it is that her age belies a posh, mature story about goal, accountability, and neighborhood that really challenges younger audiences to place themselves within the footwear of somebody who makes a fairly heavy mistake. Trachtenberg exhibits unbelievable vary for a younger actor all through the movie, making it a bittersweet watch within the wake of her passing in 2025. It is laborious to think about how troublesome it should’ve been to navigate a script that shifted between grownup drama and sillier hijinks. That she did so seemingly effortlessly in her first credited movie function earns “Harriet the Spy” a special place in her filmography.

“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” succeeds the place the latest diversifications of the traditional comedian guide characters failed by lastly emphasizing the primary “T” in “TMNT.” Sure, there’s nonetheless an thrilling, action-packed storyline to fulfill the fundamental premise of the franchise — with the assistance of their new buddy April O’Neil (Ayo Edebiri), the turtles should cease a league of mutants (led by Ice Dice’s Superfly) set on taking on a world that is rejected them.

However the movie’s true allure shouldn’t be its bombastic combat sequences, the endearing character design, and even the embarrassment of A-list actors who fill out its voice forged. What makes “Mutant Mayhem” stand out as among the best “TMNT” films of all time is its authentically and amusingly youthful vitality. From its humorousness and characterization to its motion set items and thematic id, the movie constantly facilities the expertise of being a child once more. For youthful, up to date audiences, it is one in all only a few films to depict late-Gen Z/early-Gen Alpha youngsters precisely, and for adults, the vitality driving the expertise matches the inherent nostalgia of revisiting the turtles once more. Plus, the animation is simply plain cool.

Rediscovering “The Adventures of Tintin” after all these years is like discovering buried treasure. Regardless of having a startling quantity of widespread, revered artistic expertise at its again — Peter Jackson and Kathleen Kennedy as producers; Edgar Wright, Steven Moffat, and Joe Cornish as contributing writers; Steven Spielberg as director — the 2011 movie is never talked about in the identical breath as any of their different work. (In equity, its $374 million world haul hides a disappointing $77 million home return — U.S. audiences have by no means been passionate concerning the movie.)

However, “The Adventures of Tintin” stays arguably essentially the most artistically formidable mission Nickelodeon Films has ever produced. This adaptation of the Hergé comics combines a globe-trotting treasure hunt with a swashbuckling thriller, through which the titular intrepid journalist (Jamie Bell) braves untold peril (and the drunken moods of Andy Serkis’ Captain Haddock) to discover a life-changing fortune considered lengthy misplaced at sea. It is a movie so dazzling and breathlessly paced that it is laborious to even register that it ends on one thing of a cliffhanger (which will, sadly, never be resolved). By itself, it is a bewilderingly transportive Spielberg journey that deserves to be remembered as greater than an underrated hidden gem.

Launched only one yr into the last decade, “Rango” remains one of the best animated films of the 2010s. It is an unconventional reunion for “Pirates of the Caribbean” director Gore Verbinski and star Johnny Depp, the latter of whom ditches the swagger and confidence of Jack Sparrow to play this movie’s unlikely hero.

Apart from Depp’s unsurprisingly infectious and dedicated efficiency as a scared, domesticated lizard attempting to play-act because the sheriff of an old-west-inspired neighborhood of animals, “Rango” thrives on Verbinski’s specific command of the animation medium. He crafts every scene as if it have been live-action, eschewing the dangerous movement seize enterprise of “Tintin” or “The Polar Specific” for a course of known as “E-motion seize,” through which the voice actors would report their traces whereas performing the scene full-out bodily on a set. This course of — in live performance with Industrial Gentle and Magic’s unbelievable animation work — marries the simplest parts of live-action and animation.

“Rango” in the end grossed a decent $246 million worldwide, and gave Nickelodeon Films their first and solely Academy Award for Greatest Animated Characteristic Movie (poetically, they gained towards the “Shrek” spin-off “Puss in Boots”). Right this moment, it nonetheless stands tall as an distinctive all-ages animated western, in addition to a chief instance of the sort of distinct, youthful pleasure Nickelodeon was capable of seize at their greatest.