Just like other big production companies like Cartoon Network and Disney Channel, Nickelodeon is no stranger to bringing hit series to the big screen. From the Spongebob Squarepants movie to the several Rugrats movies, there are plenty of feature-length Nickelodeon specials out there. There are even original movies that aren’t based on a show like Nacho Libre and Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging, both of which are just as good as those with TV show context. While Nickelodeon still makes movies from time to time, the older ones seem to be the best. If you missed them, or just want to reminisce with some movies you likely loved as a kid, here are seven of the best Nickelodeon movies to check out.

MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

7 Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging (2008)

     Paramount Pictures  

Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging is a teen rom-com that premiered in 2008 and is based on the novels Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging and It’s OK, I’m Wearing Really Big Knickers by Louise Rennison. The movie is about 14-year-old Georgia (Georgia Groome), a teenage girl who keeps a diary where she writes about the ups and downs of life as a teenager. She’s trying to woo her crush, learn how to kiss and survive school with her best friends all while navigating the pitfalls of teenage years.

MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging is perfectly cheesy. It has all the fun, recognizable themes of standard romcoms and teen movies, with just the right amount of cringe and predictability to make it a fun, easy watch. Even years later, it’s still a worthwhile, quirky coming-of-age movie and is especially fun to revisit for nostalgia’s sake. Also, it has a great soundtrack — what’s not to love?

6 Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius (2001)

Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius premiered in 2001 and brought the characters from the Jimmy Neutron series to life on the big screen. In the movie, all the parents in Jimmy Neutron’s town of Retroville are kidnapped by green, gooey, egg-shaped aliens. This seems like a great thing at first. All the kids in town are running free, doing everything their parents typically tell them they aren’t allowed to do. However, they soon find out that a world without parents might not be that great, and Jimmy has to hatch a plan to save the planet.

If you watch Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius today, it’s hard to ignore how much the CGI has aged. However, it’s still a great movie. It’s funny and childlike, but it also has a good plot that keeps you engaged and entertained the entire time. If you grew up loving the Jimmy Neutron series, this movie was likely one of your favorites as a kid. And even now, with the aged CGI, it’s still worth a rewatch, or a first watch if you missed it all those years ago.

5 Good Burger (1997)

     Paramount  

Good Burger is probably the Nickelodeon movie that most people — even those who didn’t watch Nickelodeon cartoons — are familiar with. The movie is based on a comedy sketch from the Nickelodeon show All That that originally ran from 1994 to 2000. Good Burger is about two teens (Kenan Thompson, Kel Mitchell) who work at an old, local burger joint they’re trying to save after Mondo Burger, a brand new burger restaurant, opens right across the street with plans to put Good Burger out of business.

When Good Burger was released in 1997, it received mixed reviews from critics despite being a commercial success. Over the years though, it’s amassed a cult following. When watching it today, Good Burger isn’t good or bad. It’s fun, energetic and unique, even if it comes off as a little silly and corny. There really isn’t another movie like it, and it’s worth revisiting, especially for fans of the original All That sketches.

4 The Wild Thornberrys Movie (2002)

The Wild Thornberrys Movie is such fun, especially if you love the series and its wacky characters. The Wild Thornberrys Movie sees the adventuring family traveling around the world, and then they end up in Africa. Here, young Eliza Thornberry meets a mysterious shaman who grants her the ability to talk to animals. However, if she reveals her new power, she’ll lose it forever. Eliza learns one day that there’s a group of poachers planning to kill a herd of elephants, so she must set out with her pet chimp Darwin to stop the poachers and save the herd.

The Wild Thornberrys Movie is one of those flicks that’s genuinely fun for all ages. In true Wild Thornberrys fashion, it’s funny and quirky, but there are also moments that really tug at your heartstrings. Also, following The Wild Thornberrys Movie in 2002 and the two Rugrats movies — The Rugrats Movie in 1998 and Rugrats in Paris in 2000 — there was a crossover movie between the two series titled Rugrats Go Wild in 2003.

3 Rugrats in Paris (2000)

     Paramount Pictures Studios/Nickelodeon Movies  

Rugrats in Paris brought the group of babies to France in 2000, following The Rugrats Movie in 1998. In the movie, Stu Pickles and Chas Finster are called to Euro-Reptarland in Paris to work on the animatronic Reptar in the amusement park and bring along both their families for the trip. Coco La Bouche, the manager of Euro-Reptarland, hates kids but starts to take up an interest in Chas. This leads Chuckie, Chas’s son, and his friends to work together to stop Coco and Chas from getting married.

Rugrats in Paris is full of all the fun hijinks fans of the Rugrats series are familiar with, but it also pulls heavy on the heartstrings. The movie is more focused on Chuckie and his desire to have a mother like his other friends do, and it gets pretty sad at points, especially when the song “I Want a Mom That Will Last Forever,” sung by Cyndi Lauper, plays while Chuckie stares wistfully out the plane’s window.

2 Nacho Libre

     Nickelodeon Movies/Paramount Pictures  

Starring Jack Black, Nacho Libre follows Ignacio (Black), or Nacho, a cook at a monastery in Mexico that serves as the home for a number of orphans Nacho is very fond of. However, there isn’t enough money or resources to feed all the children. Nacho decides to start wrestling on the side to raise extra money; but since the monastery he works at forbids wrestling, he has to disguise himself and do it in secret.

Despite mixed reviews from critics, Nacho Libre is a fun movie with a good story and great performances. It’s silly and absurd at times and feels a lot like Napolean Dynamite — which makes sense as it comes from Jared and Jerusha Hess, the same husband and wife duo behind the 2004 film. Despite its absurdity that may be a turn-off for some viewers, Nacho Libre comes with plenty of funny one-liners and good laughs.

1 The Spongebob Squarepants Movie (2004)

     Paramount Pictures Studios/Universal Studios  

SpongeBob SquarePants is arguably one of the most popular Nickelodeon series, if not the most popular. In 2004, the signature underwater characters made their big screen debut in The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie. In the movie, Plankton is once again out to steal the Krabby Patty secret formula. He steals King Neptune’s crown and frames Mr. Krabs for the crime. So, Spongebob and Patrick set out to retrieve Neptune’s crown and save Mr. Krabs and Bikini Bottom from total ruin.

The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie is a perfect example of taking a series to the big screen. It features all the well-loved elements of the show and just enhances them to be feature-length. With a great story, excellent voice acting and bright, fun animation, it’s no wonder The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie was such a hit at the time, and remains a very re-watchable movie to this day. Following the movie, there were two standalone sequels — SpongeBob SquarePants: Sponge Out of Water in 2015 and The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run in 2020. There’s also a fourth SpongeBob movie in development and three spin-off movies announced at Paramount+.