The channel did not invest in its own original cartoon series until 1989 when producer Vanessa Coffey visited Los Angeles to accept pitches from local animators.

Geraldine Laybourne, the channel's then-president, greenlit three pitches for full series: Doug, Rugrats and The Ren & Stimpy Show.

In the early 2010s, Nickelodeon debuted the first two Nicktoons based on preexisting TV franchises, as opposed to new characters: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Winx Club.

Several months later, the studio announced a multi-year deal to produce animated content for Netflix, including new properties and spin-offs of previous Nicktoons.

[1] It was produced over a half-year period in 1979, when the network hired its future president Geraldine Laybourne to make two pilots for the show.

[4] During the production of Nick's Thanksgiving Fest in 1989, Geraldine Laybourne held a meeting at her house to develop a philosophy for the channel's original cartoons.

The group decided that Nickelodeon should aim for the opposite of their contemporaries, producing cartoons that would keep their creators in a key creative role rather than prioritizing an efficient "assembly line" process.

Geraldine Laybourne laid out a set of rules for the network's cartoons, most importantly wanting to "put the creator back, front and center.

"[5] She approached her fellow executive Vanessa Coffey to find artists in Los Angeles interested in pitching original cartoons.

Laybourne would eventually select three pilots to expand into full series, meant to fill a programming block of an hour and a half.

Coffey and Laybourne asserted that Kricfalusi was in breach of contract for not delivering on time, creating inappropriate content, and going over budget.

[11] After Kricfalusi and Nickelodeon missed several promised new-episode delivery and air dates, the network—which had purchased the rights to the Ren & Stimpy characters from Kricfalusi—negotiated a settlement with him.

[12] At the time, the Nicktoons were produced primarily out-of-house at Jumbo Pictures (Doug) and Klasky Csupo (Rugrats), with Nickelodeon's executives overseeing development.

A budget freeze in 1995 at Viacom (parent company of Nickelodeon) resulted in Ren & Stimpy being canceled that same year and the network passing on the final 13 episodes of their option for Doug.

"[20] The series eventually yielded three half-hour spin-offs based on segments from the show: The Fairly OddParents, ChalkZone, and My Life as a Teenage Robot.

Desiring a cartoon suited for older viewers,[23] Nickelodeon producer Mary Harrington contacted Jhonen Vasquez for a series pitch after reading his Squee!

[25] In response, Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino pitched Avatar: The Last Airbender, and Nickelodeon ordered six episodes of the show.

[27] As part of the agreement, Hartman developed original animated and live-action concepts for Nickelodeon and its sister channel, Noggin.

In a statement, Hartman said, "Working with everyone at Nickelodeon over the past several years has been hugely satisfying and I look forward to forging the same kind of terrific creative alliances with the folks at Noggin".

[28] The partnership resulted in three CGI-animated shows based on DreamWorks' character library: The Penguins of Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness, and Monsters vs. Aliens.

In October 2009 and September 2010, respectively, Viacom brought Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Winx Club into the Nickelodeon family by purchasing both franchises.

Nickelodeon Animation Studio produced a new CGI-animated Turtles series[29] and new seasons of Winx Club with CGI sequences.

Chris Viscardi, who would later become Nickelodeon Animation's senior vice president, stated that the studio desired to "[get] back to more creator-driven things.

Howell and Dirschberger were recruited to develop Sanjay and Craig while DiRaffaele and Borst were asked to expand their Breadwinners short into a full series.

After its debut, Los Angeles Times critic Robert Lloyd optimistically compared the show to the Nicktoons of the 1990s, writing that "the goofy and delightful series ... represents a positive step back for the network to where it once belonged.