Viacom brands Conquer Comic-Con International

There’s been a lot of convention activity recently, and it hasn’t all been political. Comic-Con, the annual international pop culture conference, was held in San Diego from Thursday, July 21 to Sunday, July 24.

Comic-Con is a splendor of fantasy, a place that celebrates animation, cartoons, and most of all, fans. Viacom is well-acquainted with the concept of putting fans first. Our diverse content gives us the widest breadth of fan-kind in the industry. There’s no better example of this than at Comic-Con.

Our Nickelodeon exposition entertained young fans with a floor-to-ceiling booth featuring a collage of characters from SpongeBob SquarePants, Invader Zim, and The Ren and Stimpy Show. Our werewolf-romance aficionados were satiated by MTV’s Teen Wolf panel, and adult fans were able to literally insert themselves into the fictional universe of Comedy Central’s South Park as the show ramps up for its 20th anniversary in September .

Read more to see what dazzling ventures Nickelodeon, MTV, and Comedy Central presented at Comic-Con.

Nickelodeon knows its fans are nostalgic for the 90s. Here’s how they took us back in time at Comic-Con:

Nickelodeon blasted open its vaults to celebrate 90s shows and characters, with an interactive booth featuring King Olmec from Legends of the Hidden Temple, the neighborhood stoop from Hey, Arnold! and the original nose from its iconic game show, Double Dare. Nick also had a retail space where it sold exclusive merchandise, most notably the limited-edition Nick Box, filled with surprise swag conjuring up the best of the 90s—from a Rugrats Reptar vinyl figure and Chuckie T-shirt to a Ren and Stimpy mug.

Nickelodeon panels reached full-capacity. Crowds turned out to hear from the creators of Nickelodeon’s trailblazing animated shows, including Craig Bartlett (Hey Arnold), Jhonen Vasquez (Invader Zim), Butch Hartman (Fairly OddParents) and Arlene Klasky (Rugrats, Wild Thornberrys, Rocket Power). Nickelodeon’s Women in Animation panel garnered critical acclaim, and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles panel featured the world premiere of two animated TMNT shorts.

During Nickelodeon’s Back to the 90s panel, former cast members discussed the legendary sketch comedy show—and mostly ragged on Tamberelli.

The second half of the panel revisited another retro show, Legends of the Hidden Temple. The panelists, including the show’s host Kirk Fogg, narrator Dee Bradley Baker, and Executive producer Michael Sammaciccia, released the first trailer for the forthcoming TV movie, which is still racking up thousands of views in the days since Comic-Con ended.

Comedy Central commemorated 20 years of South Park:

On Thursday, July 21, Comedy Central featured an exhibition called the South Park Experience—an interactive booth where fans could immerse themselves into 20 iconic scenes alongside life-size replicas of Stan, Kyle, Cartman and Kenny. Anybody dressed as a South Park character was allowed to skip the exhibit’s line and jump straight into the experience.

The South Park 20 panel on Friday featured surprise guests, creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, as they discussed the evolution of the series over the last two decades to a room filled with 6000+ fans. Moderated by @midnight host Chris Hardwick, attendees listened to stories about their original Pokémon episode, the history behind Woodland Critters Christmas, what Trey and Matt originally intended for Donald Trump’s election episode and more. Find more highlights from their panel here.

Check out this exclusive commercial spot for South Park’s 20^th anniversary that premiered on Friday, July 22 at Comic-Con.

For a full list of Comedy Central’s Comic-Con adventures, click here.

MTV’s Fandom Awards provided offside entertainment on Thursday, July 21:

Just around the corner from the San Diego Convention Center, MTV hosted the Fandom Awards in Petco Park. The festival celebrated TV’s most passionate devotees with awards such as Fan Freakout of the Year and Best Ship (the most innovative coupling of characters by fans).

Fans determine the winners by voting online, making it a truly fans-first extravaganza. This year, the voting took place in five rounds across multiple social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat. It’s an exhausting process, but dogged enthusiasm is integral to fandom.

MTV’s original series, Teen Wolf, won the Fandom of the Year award—the most coveted prize at the ceremony. It was a bittersweet moment for Teen Wolf’s diehard followers. During a panel before the awards, the cast announced Teen Wolf’s forthcoming sixth season would be its last.

Also during the Teen Wolf panel, the cast premiered the official trailer for the sixth season, which begins in November.

Read more about MTV and the Fandom Awards here.