5 FAVORITE 90s NICKELODEON BUMPERS!
ORANGE YOU GLAD YOU GOT YOUR NICKELODEON?
Grimey
Sad snowman is sad.
I really hate this time of year in PA; it's still snowy but it's not always pretty, it's all dirty and grey near the roads. It's also too cold to willingly want to go outside, so I guess I can spend a few moments to talk about a few of my favorite classic Nickelodeon bumpers. What is a bumper? It's a short clip that not only transitions between a commercial and a show but it also establishes the identification of the program you're viewing.
You may be asking yourself, why Nickelodeon bumpers? I'll do you one better; why the fuck not Nick bumpers? They're like fever dreams that you don't want to end. Just like the smell of a good pumpkin candle can put you back into your Ghostface costume in the 90s, a quick view can put you back to the days of slimed cast members, Chuckie Finster frantically running from Angelica and Helga ogling over a certain football headed boy.
SINGING FRUIT 1989
(YOUTUBE CREDIT TO: YouRuleProject)
One thing you'll learn quickly here; the 90s ads were all about 50s doo wop. For instance, here we have an orange, pineapple and banana in this classic bumper singing "Orange you glad you got your Nickelodeon?" hard with that doo wop style. What a great little clip; I love the pink background and the orange Nickelodeon palm trees. I also love that when the fruits fall to their juicy demise that they all develop into this happy, orangy, liquid trifecta demon with wiggly appendages.
EASY GROOVE 1985
(YOUTUBE CREDIT TO: BUMPROMOFEST)
A barber shop trio softly sings sweet Nickelodeons in our ears. I swear, some of these are more like ASMR than just simple bumpers; so therapeutic.... if I could have a solid hour loop of this 11 second segment I think it would be my new sleepy time ritual. I respect the hustle of the gentlemen swapping the billboard in the background. Good work is hard to find, but their employer should be proud of them for whipping up 8 different variations in 11 seconds.
PINCHFACE 1992
(YOUTUBE CREDIT TO: FRY LETTERMAN)
The fever dream is hard with this one; where do I begin? Two fist faces and a floating face made from dentures, some googly eyes, a pair of glasses and a bowtie singing together in this small room with constant changing patterns and colors. It's enough to give you a seizure and I'm surprised it didn't come with a warning but, I love it. It's such an obscure bumper, which was relatively common for Nickelodeon... I'm curious how many kids were scarred for life after viewing this one in particular.
SLEEPING BOY 1985
(YOUTUBE CREDIT TO: JACK H.’S VIDEO DUMP)
Onto the next DMT trip, we have Sleeping Boy from 1985. Here, we see a very dreamy and dark scene of a boy randomly waking in the middle of the night in a chair to make his way up to bed. The idea for this was to put Nickelodeon (which was for kids) to sleep and segway into Nick at Nite (which was for old people and had black and white shows like I Love Lucy and The Andy Griffith Show). On the boys short journey, a book, toaster and window all eerily whisper "Nickelodeon." I love that the toaster sounds like a dying computer.
CLAYMATION KIDS 1996
(YOUTUBE CREDIT TO: MEMBER BERRIES)
Lastly, and certainly not least (leastly?), we have this beautiful bumper; PURE ASMR! That fucking song, which could only be a clip from a left over Enya track, and again the whispering... so soothing and peaceful. But then we have the absolutely fucking scary looking kids. One of them looks dead frozen solid, another looks like a zombie. I half expected one to start violently eating the others head first. Sort of terrifying but also sort of calming to see them all hanging out in chairs floating in the sky. I get it though, Nick is for kids no matter what size shape or color. Nick IS kids, as the bumper says.
Hope you enjoyed my rambling on about old 11 sec Nickelodeon bumpers. It's snowing again so I'm going to procrastinate shoveling the driveway. Thanks for reading!
