BUY IT AT AMAZON: STUDIO: Nickelodeon
MSRP: $26.98
RATED: Not Rated
RUNNING TIME: 262 minutes
SPECIAL FEATURES:
• Karaoke music videos
The Pitch
America’s favorite sponge has more adventures.
The Humans
Tom Kenny, Bill Fagerbakke, Rodger Bumpass, Clancy Brown and Mr. Lawrence
The Nutshell
Spongebob Squarepants enters into the second half of his fifth season. After the terrible fourth season, Nickelodeon has decided to make each half of this year’s offering as a special event. Whether it be David Bowie stopping by in the Atlantis premiere or some gangster offerings with Ray Liotta. I’m not a big fan of this tactic, as it only gives viewers two majors episodes and roughly twelve mediocre ones. But, that’s just the way the cookie crumbles.
The Lowdown
Spongebob Squarepants has all the makings of a classic cartoon. The show doesn’t date itself by anchoring its humor to the modern day. It plays silly off the absurd and hopes for the strokes of genius that fall in between. Whether it be lampooning Westerns or taking a nose dive into the undersea mythology, the show has fun. That’s all that it demands.
But, the show isn’t as fun as it used to be. After the motion picture and various media offerings, there’s only so many ways left to skin a cat. Now, we just have a show generating ideas off of random scenarios. It’s difficult to find fault with this, as Tom Kenny leads a superb voice cast through these quickie plots. But, if you’re over the age of 10, you’ll find yourself tuning out at the end of the first disc. Luckily, Nickelodeon doesn’t make its bread and butter off your middle age ass.
The following episodes are included in this release:
• “Sing a Song of Patrick”
• “A Flea in Her
Dome”
• “The Donut of Shame”
• “The Krusty
Plate”
• “Atlantis SquarePantis”
• “Picture
Day”
• “Pat No Pay”
• “BlackJack”
• “Blackened Sponge”
• “Mermaid Man vs.
SpongeBob”
• “The Inmates of Summer”
• “To
Save a Squirrel”
• “Pest of the West”
• “20,000 Patties Under the Sea”
• “The Battle of
Bikini Bottom”
• “Le Big Switch”
• “Goo Goo
Gas”
• “The Two Faces of Squidward”
• “SpongeHenge”
• “Banned in Bikini Bottom”
• “Stanley S. SquarePants”
“We’re getting oit’s any easier…”
There’s also a couple of karoake songs in the special features. The animation is the same as the show, so there’s that. But, how much replay value is there in singing about being a Goofy Goober or talking about bubbles? Save that supplemental material for your kids.
Honestly, most animation fans have dumped Spongebob now in favor of Chowder. But, I still have a soft spot for supporting these modern animated classics. Nickelodeon doesn’t really foster this kind of development and the show’s lengthy run is a testament to goofy durability. It’s just that if the show were to end tomorrow, I wouldn’t be hurt. Some things run their course.
The transfer for this package is pretty decent for recent Animated Television. My only beef is that some of the mid-season episodes seem jittery. I’m not saying that there issues with recycled animation, but the Spongebob team has done better work. The karaoke videos are the only special features and their entertainment value is limited. But, your kids will love it. So, pick it up for them.