Where will my feet take me today? Silver ball

Silver Ball in the Air (Nickel) (1977-1993)

ID: We see a silver coin on a live action pavement as a bike passes by. Then a human hand picks up the silver coin and flicks it up, where it turns into the usual silver ball on a sky background. The silver ball opens up to reveal a fish bowl, which then opens up to reveal a mirrored ball with a fiddler juggling, and this continues to form an Earth globe, footage of a highway, footage of clouds in the sky, a snow globe and then the Silver Ball again, which flashes as usual with the neon lines inside and the word "NiCKELODEON" zooming in and spinning.

Technique: Mainly live-action footage.

Music/Sounds: An alternated version of the channel's main theme at the time. The lyrics are also alternated, going "Look around, we can find; a world of magic! Look around, we can make; the world your friend! Silver baaaalllll in the air, See it glllllooooow everywhere! Nickelo-Nickelo-Nickelo-Here we go! Nickelooodeon!"

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Silver Ball in the Air (Neon) (1978-1996)

ID: A silver ball is seen moving towards the viewer on a black background (with maroon on the bottom). It flashes and turns black with flashing neon effects inside it. Another silver ball appears next to it on the left, which then shows a sparkly neon area where the two balls are moving to the back, and another one appears on the left of the first ball. Then it cuts to the top with the sparkly neon intact and another ball appears on the bottom. Then it goes back to the camera angle it started off with the balls moving, and two more balls appear on the left and right, and all the balls then form a line as they speed through a sparkly neon city. It then goes to a black background and all six balls form into one big ball which turns out to be the silver ball with neon lines inside it, and the word "NiCKELODEON" zooms in from the center while spinning.

Variants:

• After the main animation plays out, the logo can remain still for up to 30 seconds.
• Sometimes, at the beginning of the logo's still period, it flips over to the National Education Association logo and back.

Technique: A combination of hand-drawn animation and Scanimate effects (mostly the latter).

Music/Sounds: A funky tune with a male singer and female backup singers, and this was the main theme to the channel itself. The lyrics are widely in debate, but go something like this: "Come along (Come along) we can find, a world of magic (Come along, come along) come along, we can make, the world your friend! Silver baaaalllll in the air, See it glllllooooow everywhere! Nickelo-Nickelo-Nickelo-Here we go! Nickelooodeon!" An instrumental variant of the "nickel" ID music follows, ending with a reprise of the music's finish.

Music/Sounds Variant: In the NEA variant, a male voiceover says "This channel is recommended by the National Education Association" following the main animation.

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Circles (1978-1996)

ID: The word "NiCKELODEON" turns into colorful balls that form several circles. Then they disappear and many silver balls form a circle as the Nickelodeon logo appears.

Technique: Animation.

Music/Sounds: A version of the '80s Nickelodeon theme without vocals.

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Roller Skates (1978-1996)

ID: In a black room, a blonde-haired girl wearing a pink T-shirt and blue pants spins around on roller skates. A close-up of her feet is shown. Several more close-ups of people's feet wearing roller skates are shown, and then more kids: a boy with the yellow shirt, a boy with the red shirt, and a dark-haired girl wearing a blue T-shirt and pink pants roller skate with her. The silver ball from the IDs follows them. They skate around it. It follows them again, and the blonde-haired girl kicks it, before they skate around it again. The boy with the yellow shirt does a twist, another close up of the ball is shown, and the blonde girl spins around. The ball spins with some effects, followed by shots of the kids' feet, and then they skate by the ball. After that, the ball flies up to the camera, and does its usual animation with the "NiCKELODEON" text spinning in.

Technique: Live action.

Music/Sounds: An instrumental version of the Nickelodeon theme of the time.

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Pinball (1978-1996)

ID: We zoom in on a pinball machine in a black room. The ball flies onto it, and starts rolling around the game, going through obstacles, with featured zoom-ins on the clown paintings’ faces. After it’s done going through the game, it zooms in and does its usual animation, with the “NiCKELODEON” text spinning in.

Technique: Live-action.

Music/Sounds: An electronic version of the Nickelodeon theme of the time.

Availability: Extinct.

History (1979-1996)

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Space Travel (1979-1996)

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Present (1979-1996)

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Arcade (1981-1996)

ID: A kid puts a quarter into an arcade machine. The silver ball appears in the game, which resembles Space Invaders, stunning the kid. The silver ball avoids the enemies and very soon, turns them all into silver balls, and the Nickelodeon logo appears.

Technique: Chroma-key effects and live-action.

Music/Sounds: A catchy synth-pop tune, with Pac-Man-esque sound effects.

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Paint Cans (1982-1996)

ID: Just the Nickelodeon logo swooping down in front of cups of paint.

Technique: Chryon effects and live-action.

Music/Sounds: Just a chorus singing "Nick nick! Nickelodeon!"

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Painting (1985-1996)

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Rube Goldberg (1985-1996)

ID: We see a small silver ball emerging from a tube then going down a slide. It then bounces off a trampoline, then goes down various tubes and tunnels. It then goes up in a balloon and falls. It comes up in a water spurt and, before zooming up and becoming cartoon, the word "Nick" zooms out over it and then "Nickelodeon" zooms in.

Technique: Live action by C.D. Taylor.

Music/Sounds: A bouncy-type Moog synthesizer tune.

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Bubblegum (1986-1996)

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Pizza Plate (1986-1996)

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Old Times (1986-1996)

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Clips (1987-1996)

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Breakaways (1987-1996)

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Crayons (1988-1996)

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Pencils (1988-1996)

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Jeans (1989-1996)

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Sports (1989-1996)

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