Nickelodeon has a reputation for producing memorable and timeless cartoons that have sat in the hearts of many millennials. Even cartoons that stopped airing ten years ago, are still relevant today, popping up in memes and lists, circling on social media to give you all that heart-warming feeling of nostalgia. Many of Nick’s old cartoons are considered cult classics and are still watched by an adult audience today, with some moments still as charming and funny as when we were children.
But the trouble with timeless, classic animation that demands to be rewatched, is that our eyes aren’t as unforgiving as they were when we were children.
All animators make mistakes, especially in the early days of a cartoon when budgeting and the future of their work is still in question. Some are very small and I’m sure slipped by easily on the first watch, but the more something is viewed, the more the mistakes become obvious. It’s the price the creators have to pay for making such amazing content that people will enjoy for years to come, that they must have their teeny-tiny errors pedantically pointed out for all to see!
But no animator is perfect and all the cartoons mentioned on this list can certainly be forgiven for these mild sins! Mistakes happen and they’re a great excuse for you to go back and watch some of your old faves as adults (if excuses were needed.)
20 Pesky Garbage Man
During this episode of the adventures of a sentient sea sponge, SpongeBob finds a worm in a bush which he claims as a new pet and names Mrs. Wormsley. Mrs. Wormsley proceeds to give birth to her worm babies, before Gary chases her out of town leaving SpongeBob to take care for her wormy offspring.
During the episode, SpongeBob is forced to sabotage a garbage truck in order to save the worm babies, angering some garbage men. However, when one of the garbage men goes to wipe slime off SpongeBob’s face, he is blue, then turns green when he shows the slime to the other garbage man! That’s some powerful worm slime!
19 Genius Clothing
Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius was the 2001 animated movie that lead to the '00s Nick series The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius. The premise of the show was a ten-year-old boy who was able to build a series of high tech gadgets in his backyard, along with conducting scientific experiments to various success.
During one scene in the movie, Jimmy and his friend Carl are in a rocket ship, attempting to launch a satellite into space. During this scene Jimmy steals thread from Carl’s shirt in order to launch the satellite, ruining the shirt. However, after ejecting Carl from the rocket, his shirt is back to normal. Maybe Jimmy invented some kind of miracle clothing!
18 Hair Growing Power!
Channel Chasers was the second television movie to come out from Fairly OddParents. It was very satisfying to watch as it centred around Timmy entering the world of television to escape his parents and finally defeating his evil babysitting Vicky. The film contains several fun parodies, including parodies of Peanuts, Rugrats, and Scooby-Doo. It also contains several fun continuity errors!
Towards the end of the movie Timmy and Vicky face off together in Maho Mushi, an anime fighting show based on Yu-Gi-Oh. During the fight, there is a close shave where Vicky gets her pony tail sliced off and Timmy’s trademark pink hat gets damaged! Not to worry though, in the next shot they are both fine!
17 Alien Eyes
Who doesn’t love waffles, right? Dib, probably, after this episode of Invader Zim. During the well-known episode of the cult classic Zim Eats Waffles, Dib watches Zim constantly, trying to capture a moment where he reveals him evil plan, frustratingly missing it every time a member of the Swollen Eyeball Network answers his calls, but instead getting to watch both Zim and GIR eating waffles. During the entire episode we feel Dib’s frustration of the network missing the evil squid and stolen Happy Nick!
This experience is so frustrating for Dib, that he can’t even keep his eyes straight. In one shot, while watching Zim eat his waffles, Dib’s eyes go right over his glasses. Apparently too much computer time is bad for your eyesight!
16 Missing Shirt
During the season nine SpongeBob episode Patrick-Man, SpongeBob’s best friend Patrick becomes convinced that he is a superhero, taking on the persona of Patrick-Man! As Patrick-Man, he sets out to solve the crimes of Bikini Bottom. However, characteristically, he takes matters too far, including taking food from Krabby Patty patrons.
However, Patrick seems to take more than a burger from one customer, apparently stealing his shirt as well! When SpongeBob presents the burger to the customer he is shirtless, but gets his white shirt back when SpongeBob turns away. Maybe Patrick-Man decided that his shirt wasn’t part of an evil ploy after all!
15 Swimming Shirt
Rugrats was a classic TV-show centred around small babies exploring the world around them. In the season four episode Vacation, the rats and their parents take a vacation to Las Vegas (or “Slots Vegas” according to the babies).
During a scene by the pool, with some of the adults swimming in the pool and the others with the children standing beside it, the conversation cuts to adults. When the adults and babies first approach the pool, Tommy is in his mother’s arms shirtless. Yet when the show cuts to Didi, her little boy is wearing his trademark blue shirt! When she puts him down, he is again shirtless. You may find it difficult to confirm this one, as due to issues with the music included in the episode, it is unavailable on digital markets.
14 Fast Moving Windmill!
Season four episode of Fairly OddParents, Pixie Inc, was the first episode to introduce the dull, grey-loving pixies. Pixies buy out Fairy World and Timmy is unable to use his fairies to finish building his miniature golf course for a school project. Luckily (spoiler alert!) Timmy defeats the Pixies and the teachers come to his house for mini-golf.
However, when his principal hits her golf ball at the windmill, she knocks the blades off which head straight towards the teachers. Though the blades start moving forward towards the teachers, when it reaches them it is seen on its side. Magic can’t solve everything!
13 Back And Forward To The Future
Not all errors in Nickelodeon cartoons are animation based. Sometimes little fact-based errors slip past the show’s creators. While it may seem bizarre to nit-pick a show about fairies for consistencies, that doesn’t mean it can’t be done!
During the episode, The Secret Origin of Denzel Crocker, Timmy goes back in time to find out why his teacher Mr Crocker hates March 15th so much. During the adventure, he goes back to 1992, 1982 and 1972. When Timmy and his fairies arrive in 1982, a DeLorean has just left, referencing the popular 80s movie Back to the Future. However, the movie was set in 1985, three years after Timmy went back in time!
12 Tak’s Disguise!
Tak, became a very popular Invader Zim character, despite only appearing in one episode, Tak, The Hideous New Girl. Zim attempts to win the affection of new girl Tak (in order to observe human emotions). After Zim attempts to “break up” with Tak, she reveals that she is Irkin and out to steal Zim’s mission.
After Zim screams at Tak to ask her what her plan is, Tak’s collar appears purple in colour, despite being pink throughout the rest of her Irken appearance. While this could be an animation error, it could also be a glitch in Tak’s disguise software, as her human form wore a purple outfit. You decide!
11 Phil’s Magic Drum
Famous Babies was a season six episode of Rugrats, where the babies decide that they would like to become famous! In order to do this, they start a band in the playground, with Chuckie on vocals, Tommy on guitar, Dil on the rattle, Lil on the Jack-in-the-Box, and Phil on toy drums.
While the vocalist and guitarist are often the centre of attention in rock bands, perhaps you should pay close attention to the drummer during this episode. When the kids begin their second song, Phil doesn’t have his bucket (his “drum”), then when you look again, he suddenly does! Maybe they should try and become famous with their disappearing bucket trick!
10 Un-Gloved Arm
SpongeBob has proven time and time again that he lacks bones and that his flexible body can be manoeuvred in many helpful situations. Sometimes to the point that he doesn’t even notice when something is missing.
During the season one episode, Rock Bottom, SpongeBob and Patrick board a bus, after visiting the fun time amusement park Glove World! However, when boarding the bus, SpongeBob’s arm seems to reconsider leaving the world of gloved fun, before changing its mind and reappearing on SpongeBob’s body. Those arms can be so indecisive... (also, how did SpongeBob manage to pull that glove on, UNDERNEATH his eyes?)
9 Even The Shoes!
Perhaps with a show as controversial as Rocko’s Modern Life, which was filled with blatant innuendo and references, animation errors would be the last thing noticed. But while some people’s eyes go straight to the dirty jokes, others go straight for the mistakes.
In the episode (literally named) Bedfellows, Rocko’s friend Heffer moves in with him and their personalities soon clash. Later, Rocko comes home from work to find clothes thrown all over his house and unclothed animals in his back garden. When Rocko tries to enter the garden, his shirt is ripped off him, but not his shoes. However, in the next shot, we see that his shoes have also gone!
8 Rebellious Hair
Not all Rocko episodes had to be inappropriate in the same way. Some episodes like I Have No Son, were disturbing in a very different way. During this episode Mr and Mrs Bighead’s son Ralph is revealed as the successful creator of the tv show The Fatheads. Mr. Bighead however denies their relation as he is mad at his son for not going into the family business. Bev, Rocko, and Filbert then travel to Hollywood in order to reconnect with Ralph.
When we see Ralph for the first time, we can see that his hair is purple. However, at the beginning of the episode when we look at the title card, Mr. Bighead is presumably yelling at Ralph on the television, where he is shown to have blond hair!
7 Indecisive Book
Hey Arnold! was probably one of the most memorable Nickelodeon cartoons of the nineties, following the adventures of an orphaned ten-year-old and his close group of friends. The show hit home on some very real issues and could sometimes become very emotional.
During the season two episode Gerald Moves Out, Arnold’s best friend Gerald becomes fed up with being neglected by his family and decides to rent a room at The Sunset Arms. The episode starts by showing Gerald’s family situation, with an older brother who beats him up, dismissive and disinterested parents and a younger sister who breaks his stuff! His sister Timberly has decided to use Gerald’s cassette tape (ah, the nineties) to tie her books together. However, in the same shot, the book she is holding turns from blue to green!
6 No Sibling Affection!
Sometimes we might come across an error that doesn’t even look like an error. Invader Zim siblings Gaz and Dib have a very dysfunctional relationship, with Gaz bullying and abusing Dib, and Dib taking very little interest in Gaz or what she has to say. This relationship shows in the episode Gaz Taster of Pork, during which Dib tests out a spell on Gaz without her knowing, causing everything she eats to taste like pork.
In one moment in this episode, the two siblings appear to be holding hands, which would have been a rare moment of affection. Series creator Jhonen Vasquez himself came out to say that this was in fact an animation error. On closer inspection this becomes clear, as their hands appear to have gone and their arms are stuck together.
5 A Really Bad Dye Job
All Grown Up! is a personal favourite of mine, as it was really cool to finally see those weird Rugrats babies grown up and facing new issues as tweens. Throughout the series the Rugrats experience the troubles of puberty, school, and relationships, putting them through some serious character development. A noticeable change that occurs during season two onwards is that Lil begins to experiment with her style, dying a strip of her hair a different colour each episode. This style however goes to the extreme in Tweenage Tycoons, when Lil’s hair colour changes from dark back to brown while she is sitting at the lunch table.
4 Even My Mat Has Ninja Skills
Not aliens or mutants can defeat the amazing ninja skills of the four turtle brothers! But that doesn’t mean eagle eyed viewers can’t spot the occasional mishap from the animation team. The animation of the Nickelodeon revival of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles blew all others out of the park, but as I said at the start, no show is without a bad scene.
At the end of the season on episode Showdown Part II, the turtles are celebrating their victory over the Kraang with a dance party. Leader Leonardo is showing off his moonwalk skills on a white mat, but when the camera cuts to a higher angel, the mat is nowhere to be seen!
3 Going Grey
Remember that awfully emotional episode of Hey! Arnold! When we finally learned of the fate of Arnold’s parents (Parents Day)? Remember how beautiful the story was and how Arnold came to terms with his parents' disappearance and reconnected with his grandparents? And how only a stone cold gargoyle would notice a silly little animation mistake?
Well, stone cold gargoyles like myself will have noticed that Arnold’s grandmother ages dramatically in one scene. When Arnold’s parents leave, handing him to his grandparents, Gertie’s hair turns from dark to grey.
2 Exams Suck!
While I can sit here and blame the animators for all the mistakes, writers can occasionally slip up too. This is particularly noticeable with the All Grown Up! season one episode Their Encounter. In this episode, someone in the neighbourhood has been stealing very random items and Dil is the major suspect. It’s revealed however that Tommy is the culprit, stealing the items while sleep walking. His sleep walking is revealed to be stress induced, after his teacher sets the kids into a panic over their standardized tests.
This however is inconsistent, as the episode opens with Betty asking where her garden gnome is BEFORE the kids are told about their test. That must have been one stressful test to stress someone out before they even knew about it.
1 The Lash House
It’s not just the old classics that suffer from animation bloopers. The Loud House is a popular cartoon that started airing on Nickelodeon last year. The cartoon follows the adventures of Lincoln Loud, the middle child in a house of eleven children. The series has already won a Young Artist Award and ASCAP award, and been noted as being the first Nick cartoon to feature a same-gender couple.
Despite all its glory, The Loud House, has still had its own slip ups. A notable error is that occasionally characters in the show are missing eyelashes or have inconsistent eyelashes. One of the notable examples is in the first episode Left in the Dark. Lincoln is attempting to keep the television free for his favourite TV show. To keep his little sister Lana occupied, he gives her two frogs. When Lana sees the frogs, she’s so excited her eyelashes disappear!