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STUDIO: Nickelodeon
MSRP: $16.99
RATED: Unrated
RUNNING TIME: 88 minutes
SPECIAL FEATURES:

  • Animated shorts
  • Bonus episode of T.U.F.F. Puppy                                

The Pitch

A collection of episodes from the 7th season of SpongeBob Squarepants.

The Humans

Tom Kenny, Bill Fagerbakke

"I have 76 uses for this finger!"

The Nutshell

8 episodes of SpongeBob Squarepants in which a few are focused on superheroes Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy, hence the title referring to the “Heroes” of Bikini Bottom, the place that SpongeBob and friends inhabit.

The Lowdown

I never really got into SpongeBob until, honestly, fairly recently.  And at this point I wouldn’t even really say I’m “into it” so much as casual watcher whenever it’s on.  It’s a fun show, obviously one of Nickelodeon’s biggest shows for the past 11 or so years that it has existed and deservedly so.  It’s fun, light, hilarious, and filled with endearing characters….everything that a great cartoon should be.  As a kid I was a huge fan of the first round of Nicktoons.  Shows like Doug, Rugrats, Ren & Stimpy.  And towards the end of the 90’s, when SpongeBob premiered, I had for the most part abandoned cartoons, at least where Nickelodeon is concerned.  So SpongeBob may have been after my time, in a way, but I suppose it’s never too late even as someone who’s approaching his 28th year.  Even though something such as the unrealistic gravity underwater in the show is something I never would have noticed or cared about if this was a show of mine 15-20 years ago, it’s an issue I do find a bit strange.

Millions of kids had to have had nightmares because of this.

So several of these episodes have a “hero” theme, and others are just seemingly random choices.  Episode descriptions from the DVD package are as follows:

Back To The Past
Mermaidman and Barnacleboy show SpongeBob and Patrick their locker of memories with the warning not to touch anything.  Someone didn’t listen!

The Bad Guy Club For Villains
With the Dirty Bubble, Man Ray, the Atomic Flounder, and the Sinister Slug on their way to Bikini Bottom, this can only mean one thing.  But what? 

Keep Bikini Bottom Beautiful
Squidward cleans up the city of Bikini Bottom with “help” from SpongeBob. 

A Pal For Gary
SpongeBob brings Gary a pet that terrorizes him. 

Yours, Mine and Mine
SpongeBob and Patrick learn to share a toy.  Sort of. 

Kracked Krabs
SpongeBob goes with Mr. Krabs to the Cheapest Crab Convention. 

A Day Without Tears
Squidward bets SpongeBob he can’t go a day without crying. 

Summer Job
When Mrs. Puff has to work through her summer break at the Krusty Krab, guess who trains here?!

They’re definitely a good collection of episodes.  My favorites are the first two on the set, the Mermaidman and Barnacleboy-centric episodes.  Back  To The Past features Adam West and Burt Ward as the young versions of the two crimefighters, and Ernest Borgnine and Tim Conway as the elder versions.  What’s strange is that in The Bad Guy Club For Villains, Borgnine is the voice of the young version.  As someone who isn’t terribly familiar with the show, I can only guess that Borgnine was always the voice of the character young or old, but for the special episode with Adam West I guess the creators thought it’d be better to have him play the character for just that one episode.  Another great episode, A Pal For Gary, is hilarious because a Lovecraft-esque monster disguised as a cute little fish tries to kill SpongeBob and his pet snail Gary.  This can be a very bizarre show most of the time, and these episodes definitely fit that classification.

Below: 26 Japanese girls.

I can’t truly say anything negative about this set; if you love SpongeBob, you’re gonna enjoy it.  The only caveat is that in this day and age of Netflix having tons of episodes and Nickelodeon playing the show approximately 286 times a week, it’s hard to justify spending almost 20 bucks on 8 episodes you’d probably catch in a rerun anyway.

The Package

There’s an episode of a newer Nickelodeon cartoon, T.U.F.F. Puppy and I have to admit it’s pretty enjoyable.  It has a spy/James Bond vibe to it and made me laugh several times, especially at a villainous rat who is allergic to cheese and has to take antihistamines.  And just several animated shorts, although they’re really just promos for some of the episodes.

Rating:
★★★★☆

Out of a Possible 5 Stars


Nice to see that even SpongeBob Squarepants isn't afraid of a Gremlins reference.