Nickandmore!

via Nickelodeon press release:

NICKELODEON UNWRAPS JOYFUL SLATE OF HOLIDAY SPECIALS, TREATING KIDS TO ‘NICKMAS’ FARE THOUGHOUT DECEMBER

Primetime Presents Include New Yuletide Episodes of Rugrats, Invader Zim and Dora the Explorer, December 9, 10 & 11, and Diverse Seasonal Favorites All Month; A Christmas Carol Premieres on Nick’s Sunday Movie Toon, December 8

Festive Lineup to Feature All-Star Santas: Jim Belushi in One-Hour Rugrats and Backstreet Boy Howie Dorough in Dora’s Bicultural Celebration

Santa Monica, Calif. – November 4, 2002 — ‘Tis the season for SpongeBob and eggnog, Rugrats and reindeer. Spreading cheer from Bikini Bottom to Stu Pickles’ Christmasland, Nickelodeon celebrates Christmas, Chanukah and Kwanzaa with a bounty of specials throughout December. Among these are primetime premieres of Rugrats, Invader Zim and Dora the Explorer, airing respectively on Monday, December 9 (8-9 p.m. ET/PT), Tuesday, December 10 (8:30 p.m. ET/PT) and Wednesday, December 11 (8:30 p.m. ET/PT). And if Santa sounds different in each, it’s because Jim Belushi voices the jolly gent in Rugrats’ one-hour ‘Babies in Toyland’ and Backstreet Boy Howie Dorough does the ho-ho-ho-ing in Dora’s ‘A Present for Santa.’

In fact, nearly every weeknight in December is ‘Nickmas,’ as the kids’ network delivers a primetime slate of back-to-back specials, Mondays-Thursdays, December 2-26 (8-9 p.m. ET/PT) that kicks off on December 2 with Chanukah-themed favorite episodes of Rugrats and As Told by Ginger. Nickmas marathons will make kids merry on Sunday, December 8 (TEENick: 6-9 p.m. ET/PT) and Saturday, December 14 (2-6 p.m. ET/PT). Among the holiday favorites to be telecast from hit series are episodes of SpongeBob SquarePants, Hey, Arnold!, A Rugrats Kwanzaa, The Fairly OddParents, Kenan & Kel, 100 Deeds for Eddie McDowd, The Wild Thornberrys and CatDog.*

In addition, Nick’s Sunday Movie Toon will premiere an animated, musical re-telling of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol the afternoon of December 8 (12:30- 2 p.m. ET/PT). The classic tale of a stingy old man who must confront his past, present and future to reclaim his Christmas spirit features an all-star voice cast including Tim Curry as Scrooge, Whoopi Goldberg as the ghost of Christmas Present and Ed Asner as Jacob Marley.

New Nick seasonal treasures from hit series will mix fantasy, comedy and adventure:

‘Babies in Toyland’ finds the Rugrats frolicking in a spectacular, high-tech Christmasland

designed by Stu Pickles for Dil’s first Christmas — and braving the Battle of the Toy Soldiers in search of a Santa (Belushi) driven to quit by greedy ‘little angel’ Angelica. A hyperactive snow machine strands the grown-ups in a little cabin on the prairie to celebrate and appreciate an old-fashioned Christmas, while the Santa-seeking babies even ride a goat to ‘Bethlehem.’ And toy-hungry Angelica treks to Santa’s North Pole workshop where a singing elf actually opens her eyes to the gift of giving!

In Dora the Explorer’s ‘A Present for Santa’ the bilingual tot turns the tables on St. Nick to deliver his gift, and she climbs snow-capped mountains and crosses an icy river to his North Pole headquarters. Backpack, Boots and Map help the little Latina tackle Project Present Drop, during which lessons are learned about shape identification and Spanish vocabulary. Elves come caroling to celebrate the mission accomplished, and a Backstreet Santa (Dorough) treats Dora to his rendition of ‘Feliz Navidad.’

Older kids may enjoy an outlandish Christmas with Invader Zim who disguises himself as Santa Claus in order to woo adoring humans to their doom at the North Pole in ‘The Most Horrible Xmas Ever.’ In his quest to conquer planet earth, he harnesses the power of St. Nick by programming a special Santa Suit filled with all known Christmas knowledge. Dib must find a way to stop Zim from executing his diabolical scheme before humanity is destroyed.The tide begins turning in Dib’s favor because Zimmay havedesigned his suit too well. When anything jolly comes Zim’s way, the outfit begins to turn against him and Zim becomes Santa. Zim must fight against his own jolly creation from taking over his mind.

Entwining the specials, eight interstitials serve as on-air stocking stuffers, spoofing the classics and starring the Nicktoon characters in the likes of ‘The 12 Days of Nickmas,’ ‘Grinchelica Who Stole Nickmas,’ ‘The Nutcracker Suite’ starring The Fairly Godparents’ Cosmo and Wanda and ‘A Chuckie Finster Nickmas.’

Nickelodeon, now in its 23rd year, is the number-one entertainment brand for kids. It has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in everything it does. The company includes television programming and production in the United States and around the world, plus consumer products, online, recreation, books, magazines, music and feature films. Nickelodeon’s U.S. television network is seen in more than 86 million households and has been the number-one-rated basic cable network for seven consecutive years. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom International Inc.