"SpongeBob SquarePants" premiered on Nickelodeon in July of 1999. The creation of a marine-biology teacher, "SpongeBob SquarePants" is the story of a likable, rather naive sponge living in Bikini Bottom with his friends. SpongeBob is a cook at "The Krusty Krab" where he works with his neighbor, and sometime-friend, Squidward the squid. Patrick, the starfish, and Sandy the squirrel join SpongeBob in his many adventures. "SpongeBob SquarePants" attracts 10 million kids between 2 and 11 each week, making it the most popular cartoon for that age group.
The world of "SpongeBob SquarePants" is a strange one. They live underwater yet they have fire and go to the beach surfing. Luckily the show is aimed at kids because I have a whole list of "how's that possible?" questions I need answered. Sure, you have to suspend your common sense but the result is a lot of laughs.
Video
Being an animated show, "SpongeBob SquarePants" is mostly solid, flat colors. Flat colors like this can make spotting flaws and grain rather easy and grain is noticeable in some episodes more then others (SB-129). I noticed a few dust specs, probably less then 10 instances in the entire presentation. I thought a few of the episodes could have been a bit brighter, but that could just be my opinion.
It's nice to see that Paramount Home Video provided a "play all" feature. It's something I've seen requested on the Home Theater Forum quite a few times.
Audio
"SpongeBob SquarePants" contains a Dolby Surround audio track. I was surprised by how many effects used the left and right speakers. There are often voices that come from one of the speakers and some sound effect pans between the two. I only noticed music coming from the rear speakers, and it's not very common at all. If it was a stereo mix I would be really happy, but for a surround mix I was expecting a little more use of the rear speakers.
Backstage Pants
The feature allows you to access various video clips while watching the episodes. When you see SpongeBob pop up, simply press the enter button on your remote and you're taken to a short video clip. Thankfully there are chapter stops at each "Backstage Pants" feature so you can quickly jump to them. Here's info on the video clips you can see:
EP 1 - Tom Kenny (SpongeBob) talks about "Ripped Pants", his favorite episode (0:38)
EP 1 - Tom talks about SpongeBob's underwear (0:29)
EP 2 - Roger Bumpass (Squidward) talks about his character (0:32)
EP 2 - Tom & Bill Fagerbakke (Patrick) recording some sounds (0:27)
EP 3 - Carolyn Lawrence (Sandy) talks about her character (0:13)
EP 4 - Steve Hillenburg (show creator) talks about sponges (0:43)
EP 4 - Jay Lender (Storyboard Director/Writer) shares a little anecdote about SpongeBob (0:37)
EP 4 - Jay shares a story about Nosferatu (0:28)
EP 5 - Tom talks about SpongeBob's bed (0:18)
EP 5 - Tom talks about talks about SpongeBob's pet, Gary the snail (0:23)
EP 5 - Bill describes something really, really stinky (0:24)
EP 5 - Tom tells a story about stinky stuff in San Francisco (0:28)
EP 5 - Tom & Bill doing recording voices (0:35)
EP 5 - Mr. Lawrence (writer and voice of Plankton) talks about "the stench" (0:14)
EP 5 - Derek Drymon (Creative Director) & Steve describe the smell (0:23)
EP 6 - Tom talks about SpongeBob's relationship with Squidward (0:31)
EP 6 - Squidward's laugh (0:13)
EP 6 - Tom talks about what SpongeBob does with the jellyfish he catches (0:22)
EP 6 - Steve talks about jellyfishing while playing with his paper jellyfish in the office (0:37)
EP 7 - All about Mr. Krabs (0:25)
EP 7 - BOOM - talking about the bomb (0:32)
EP 8 - Carolyn tells us why Sandy is in the bottom of the ocean (0:21)
EP 9 - What is in the Krabby patty recipe? (0:38)
EP 9 - What is in the Krabby patty? - part 2 (0:09)
EP 9 - Karen, the computer wife (0:05)
EP 9 - Sherm Cohen, Storyboard Supervisor and writer of the F.U.N song (1:09)
EP 9 - What is in the Krabby patty? - part 3 (0:14)
EP 10 - Squidward's interests (0:30)
Violent Femmes Sing SpongeBob
A music video featuring Violent Femmes singing Spongebob (0:34).
SpongeBob's Start
Steve Hillenburg (show creator) talks about his idea for SpongeBob and the creation of his world (2:23).
Voice Overs
Tom and Roger recording for "The Graveyard Shift"
Carolyn, Tom and Bill record "Texas"
Tom and Roger in "Dying for Pie"
(7:39 total)
Drawing Characters
Sherm Cohen (Storyboard Supervisor) shows us how he draws SpongeBob and Squidward (2:03).
"The Graveyard Shift": In the Beginning
Jay Lender (Storyboard Director/Writer) talks briefly about the story process and then reads the storyboards (2:58).
Show Design
Nick Jennings (Art Director) talks about the problems with the chrome backgrounds in "SP-129) when Squidward travels into the future and we watch Peter Bennett (Background Painter) as he paints one of the backgrounds (2:53).
If the idea of "pan and scan" makes you cringe, the bonus material in the release will send you into convulsions. Someone thought it would be cool to have all the video shown through a big bubble. What am I talking about? Well...click here and you can see. Yes, that's right, even those white highlights are over the video. Parents or older kids will be the ones watching this and they're going to want the entire frame of video, not look at it through a bubble!! Sorry, but it's a very, very bad idea.
Summary
The humor in "SpongeBob" reminds me of "Ren & Stimpy"; a little off the wall but funny at the same time. I can see why the show appeals to children and how adults can be drawn into his world. Because of the length of the episodes (11 mins on average), they could easily be played as a break from homework or before bed. "SpongeBob" is one of those shows that lets you shut off your brain and escape to a wacky, wacky place. I'd have to say I quite enjoyed this DVD.
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