Arguably the largest children’s entertainment networks, Nickelodeon have decades of content that has been loved and analyzed by fans. The two are regularly pitted against each other in a head-to-head match of which was more crucial to the millions of childhood fans.
Disney Channel and Nickelodeon each have their reasons for why they have positively affected popular culture, even looking outside of the nostalgic lenses that the two have been fondly ed through. Here are five reasons Disney Channel is the best and five reasons Nickelodeon is king.
Nickelodeon: Cartoons
Looking back at the shows you used to watch as a kid, you’ll notice that, if the channel was Nickelodeon, nine times out of ten, you were watching a cartoon. Whether it was SpongeBob SquarePants, Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, or Danny Phantom, they thrived on Nickelodeon.
Outside of some quality shows like Kim Possible and American Dragon Jake Long, there wasn’t much time spent in cartoon land over on Disney Channel. Several of their longest-running series only existed in the 12-4 am block of programming, like Brandy and Mr. Whiskers. Nickelodeon was the champion of cartoons, and in some ways still is.
Disney: Live-Action Shows
On the other hand, if you were looking for live-action, it was and still is easy to find on Disney Channel. From Boy Meets World to Lizzie McGuire to Hannah Montana, live-action programming has always played a role in Disney Channel’s success. There is a reason that the term Disney Channel star exists where Nickelodeon star doesn’t.
Nickelodeon had some solid live-action shows, typically in their after-dinner time slots, like Big Time Rush, Clarissa Explains It All, and iCarly, but while these shows had lasting power, the network had major flops that are ed more, like the Lucas Cruikshank (aka FRED) led Marvin Marvin.
Nickelodeon: Slime
Disney has had the mouse for a few dozen years, and even though Mickey Ears are a fun accessory, there was no greater thrill than watching people get slimed as a youngster. Being coated in the great green slime that many celebrities had been drenched with was the dream.
Add in the fact that the slime looks both gross and extremely edible, and you had a winning tool that Nickelodeon was able to use constantly since 1979 when it first appeared on You Can’t Do That On Television. What we wouldn’t give to be able to run through the slime geyser. Too bad it was shut down in 2005.
Disney: Personalities
Weirdly enough, mass-marketed individuality was the norm for Disney Channel cast . As mentioned earlier, the Disney Channel stars were the bread and butter for many adolescents and pre-teen youth. The hottest gossip was knowing who Miley Cyrus or Nick Jonas were dating.
Obviously, looking back, we can see that this level of fandom was at the steep cost of the personal lives of these stars, but you have to it there was a simpler time when knowing what was going on in Dylan and Cole Sprouse’s lives was the best way to spend your one hour of computer time.
Nickelodeon: Game Shows
In 2006, the stars of Disney Channel came together to participate in the Disney Channel Games. While it was fun, it was much more about watching famous teens exercise. Nickelodeon, on the other hand, has been running game shows like Double Dare, Legends of the Hidden Temple, and BrainSurge since the ‘80s.
The premise of these shows was to be watered-down versions of Survivor or The Amazing Race, starring children and families. Youngsters were able to see themselves as the contestants and, if we’re all being honest, make fun of the people who failed spectacularly.
Disney: Fashion
Along the same lines as the television personalities of Disney Channel, one of the biggest drawing factors was the classic late-90s to mid-2000s looks that appeared both on Disney Channel and in its star’s personal lives. Even going as far back as Britney Spears for clothing references, it is easy to see just how tween to teen styles were shaped by the network.
Hilary Duff, Raven Simone, and Miley Cyrus were at the forefront of what constituted the style of this time period in a way that hasn’t been replicated since. Nickelodeon hasn’t even come close to matching this type of stylized influence.
Nickelodeon: Age Variety
While Disney Channel was aimed particularly at 12 to 15-year-olds, Nickelodeon seemingly went out of its way to make its content welcoming to people of all ages. Childish aesthetics covered all of their shows, but the themes and content could range from a simple fart joke to slightly disguised adult jokes you’d normally find in an R-rated movie.
The difference between Jimmy Neutron and Avatar: The Last Airbender is wide, yet both shows were produced and distributed by the network to be loved by all audiences. At a certain point, they even separated their network into categories, such as Nick and Nick-Teens, though there were shows that overlapped into both.
Disney: Crossovers
While this entry could be fully explained with the title That's So Suite Life of Hannah Montana, anyone not familiar with the clash of titans that was the crossover episodes is missing out on cultural greatness. It should be noted that, while Nickelodeon did have the Jimmy/Timmy Power Hour series of crossovers for Fairly Odd Parents and Jimmy Neutron, it didn’t have the same cultural impact.
Disney made it a point to regularly produce crossovers, not only with their major characters but with their properties as well. One of the best episodes of The Suite Life with Zach and Cody had the characters putting on High School Musical, both of which starred Ashley Tisdale. These regular callbacks and crossovers gave the network an identity within itself.
Nickelodeon: Memeability
“Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?” is a simple question that millions of people today can answer, even without having seen the show. The reason for tis is that Nickelodeon shows have an inherent Memeability to them. Several popular memes outside of the hundreds of SpongeBob SquarePants ones feature Nickelodeon properties.
This is probably because Nickelodeon shows are grounded in goofs, rather than reality. The meme of Spencer from iCarly with an emu and a smoothie only exists because the rules of the world are different and can lead to one-off goofs that make perfect screencaps for new memes.
Disney: DCOMs
We all knew this was the ultimate reason that Disney Channel wins over Nickelodeon time and time again. Disney Channel Original Movies, or DCOMs, truly shaped millennial lives in a way that Nickelodeon could only dream of.
These movies actually became a major selling point of the recently launched High School Musical, Camp Rock, The Cheetah Girls, and Halloweentown are even known by those who didn’t have access to the network, cementing their place as cultural icons.