Paramount+ has unceremoniously and without warning dropped 10 kids’ titles from its current catalog, including several animated shows from popular animated franchises such as Blue’s Clues and Rugrats.
This week’s removals come amid uncertainty about Paramount’s future. The legacy company has struggled to adapt to the streaming era and is laying off 800 workers this year. The entire staff at Paramount’s preschool streamer Nogging is counted among those layoffs, as the parent company plans to sunset the platform this year. Additionally, Paramount Global’s majority owner, Shari Redstone, wants to unload her stake in the company.
When the Noggin shutdown was announced, a Paramount spokesperson indicated that many of the platform’s titles would migrate to Paramount+ because kids’ shows, specifically Nickelodeon’s kids’ show, are among the most watched programs on the platform. Given the company’s current state of affairs, Paramount’s decision to drop kids’ content is a bit of a head-scratcher.
Here’s a list of all the shows that were removed from Paramount+ this week. Animated titles are in bold.
- Are You Afraid of the Dark? (2019-2022)
- Blue’s Clues & You! (2019)
- It’s Pony (2020-2022)
- Middlemost Post (2021-2022)
- Ollie’s Pack (2020)
- Ryan’s Mystery Playdate (2019-2023)
- Santiago of the Seas (2020)
- That Girl Lay Lay (2021-2024)
- Big Nate(2022)
- Rugrats (2021)
It’s worth noting that most of these titles are relatively new, having been released within the past two to four years, and some, like Blue’s Clues & You and Rugrats, are, or at least were until now, still airing episodes on Nickelodeon’s linear network. Cartoon Brew has reached out to Paramount and Nickelodeon for more details about the removals but did not receive an immediate response. We will update this piece if and when we have more information.
In its annual 10-K financial report submitted in February (available here as a PDF), Paramount foreshadowed cuts to its streaming catalog, writing:
In connection with our continued review of our international content strategy, during the first quarter of 2024, we made a strategic decision to focus on content with mass global appeal. As part of this, we are rationalizing original content on Paramount+, especially internationally, and improving the efficiency of our linear network programming. As a result, we have reviewed our expansive global content portfolio and are removing select content from our platforms.
Paramount has not confirmed that this is a total erasure of the programs, but the shows have also been removed from the official Nickelodeon website. That said, there is wide speculation that the company will try to sell at least some of these shows to other platforms.
Netflix seems like a strong contender, given its long and fruitful relationship with Nickelodeon. The streamer recently teamed with Paramount and Nick on the hugely popular Avatar: The Last Airbender live-action adaptation and will release the new Spongebob feature spinoff Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie later this year.
Artists who worked on some of the removed Nick shows are chiming in on social media in a situation that feels all too familiar after Warner Bros. Discovery’s much larger purge of shows in August 2022. Most of those series remain locked away, and there are fears that Paramount will do the same with any titles it’s unable to sell to other distributors.
Accomplished storyboard artist Régis (Reggie) Camargo is among the hardest-hit artists by the cuts and has had four shows he worked on get dropped by either Max or Paramount+. He tweeted:
Final Space, Prodigy, and now Big Nate. 3 shows I worked on that were on streaming for less than 2 years?(Prodigy less than one, before coming back to Netflix).
Final Space still gone… who knows where Big Nate will end up…
Before later adding:
Welp, correction on my LRT. Make that 4 shows I worked on (I did a bit on Middle Most – I animated Goku Parker…) that are off the grid.
Rugrats story artist Li Cree tweeted:
rugrats 2021 was my first boarding job (revisions) and it’s sad to hear they removed the show without any prior warning
but hey that’s american animation amrite🫠🫠🫠
