Was 1992 really that long ago?
I remember sitting in the living room, eyes glued to the TV, as Nickelodeon buried its Time Capsule in the ground at Nickelodeon Studios — and it was to remain there for 50 years.
In retrospect, it was (perhaps) a particularly ambitious outing for a studio that had only existed for two years. Had they taken in the realities of operating a business for 50 years? Had they considered the ever-changing real estate market? The ever-present threat of nuclear devastation that may obliterate anyone with even a faint memory said time capsule?
Probably not.
When it was all said and done, that time capsule was planted firmly in the concrete outside Nick Studios. The studios themselves were almost a “time capsule” of the early nineties themselves — painted in any neon color you could find, decorated with polka-dots, zig-zags, and zebra stripes. Over the course of the 90’s, quality children’s programming would be created on this spot that continues to reverberate in the memories of today’s “young adults.”
Although the memories remain, the dreams have been crushed.
I was made aware of Nickelodeon Studio’s closing two years ago when it first happened… but I did not fully realize the magnitude of this event. It wasn’t until I saw the studio in its current form — painted white, stripped of it’s essence (and most importantly, with no Gak Geyser) — that I started to get emotional about it.
The most depressing part is — I realize that I’m growing up. If graduating from acting school didn’t really do the trick… the complete destruction of (what I percieve to be) an integral part of my childhood sure did.
We’ll miss you Nickelodeon Studios, Universal Studios, Florida. We’ll miss you.
(That time capsule? For those interested… it’s been removed. It’s now down the road at a Nickelodeon themed Holiday Inn, despite insistance from Universal Studios employees that it would remain where it was buried.)
