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Spongebob’s Birthday Blowout Review!

This post’s dedicated to the legendary Tom Kenny on his 57th birthday, the cast and crew of Spongebob, and to the late Stephen Hillenberg. Thank you for twenty years of absorbent, yellow, and porous fun. Happy birthday Spongebob and Tom!

This year, one of the greatest cartoons of all time reached a historic milestone. That’s right, mateys: Spongebob Squarepants celebrates his twentieth birthday! If you’ve seen some of my posts in the past, you know how much Spongebob means to me. So when I heard that Nickelodeon planned to celebrate their favorite show with a birthday special, I had to watch it and say happy birthday, Spongebob!

Considering that it premiered on the night before Tom Kenny’s actual birthday, the timing makes perfect sense.

Quick Synopsis

It’s Spongebob’s birthday in Bikini Bottom and all his friend’s team up to make it his best birthday ever. Patrick takes Spongebob on a sightseeing tour to celebrate, but not just any trip. They go on a bus tour to a place that Spongebob’s only been to twice: THE SURFACE!

It’s all part of Sandy’s plan to get Spongebob out of the house so she and all his friends can decorate it for a surprise party. The hardest part was getting Patrick to understand the plan.

“I’m gonna collect all the pretty eggs that I can see and repeat it back to me.”

Review

I still remember the special that Nickelodeon made for Spongebob’s 10th anniversary, “Truth or Square.” That was a lackluster special, and I honestly remember little of it. So I was skeptical about this special. I’m pleased to say that, as the title indicates, this special’s a love letter to what’s made Spongebob one of the greatest cartoons of all time. From the cameos to the Easter eggs and callbacks, this episode has everything a longtime fan of the show could ask for. Heck, let’s start with me counting out all the cameos I could find.

Cameos

Let’s take a little sightseeing tour down memory lane. As the 20th anniversary special, we got a lot of cameos from the show’s long and colorful history.

The French Narrator, AKA “Frenchy,” appears in his scuba gear. I didn’t know they made him an onscreen character so I thought he was that Shell City “Cyclops” from The Spongebob Squarepants Movie.

Speaking of the Spongebob Squarepants Movie, next we have the heroic lifeguard himself, David Hasselhoff!

Spongebob’s surprise party includes several characters from the show’s long history, but two stood out to me the most. First, we have Princess Mindy. You may remember her as Neptune’s daughter from the Spongebob Squarepants Movie. The second is Fred, the “My Leg!” guy. He’s so popular that he ended up getting an entire episode dedicated to him, which seems like a dream come true.

Spongebob Live-Action Cast

The most prominent cameo of the special, though, comes during Spongebob’s trip to the surface when they visit a restaurant called the Trusty Slab. The voice actor’s for Spongebob play their characters in live-action form, with the voices and everything. It was AWESOME! Watch the likes of Clancy Brown, Bill Fagerbakke, and Tom Kenny play their long-running roles live, and in-character was indeed a meta-joke to behold. It’s one of the big highlights of the entire special.

Thank You Spongebob and Steve

The other big moment for the special for me comes in the closing minutes when Spongebob gets a surprise gift from none other than Patchy the Pirate. Patchy’s always been Spongebob’s biggest fan and has longed to meet him in real life. While he failed in the 10th anniversary, I’m thrilled to say that he finally got his wish. He then led the entire cast in singing “Happy Birthday, Spongebob!” to the tune of the theme song.

The cherry on top is that the last scene is a simple message:

Thank you, Steve Hillenberg.

It’s the perfect tribute to the late creator of Spongebob, who you may remember died on November 2018 from ALS. This moment, more than anything brought tears to my eyes. Tears for all the joy that Spongebob has given kids over the years, and sadness that Steve couldn’t live to see his creation reach the big 2-0.

Seeing that simple “thank you” to Hillenberg re-affirmed what I thought when watching this special: it’s a love letter to everything that Stephen Hillenberg created. He may be gone, but he left behind something that will stand the test of time. Spongebob’s earned his place as one of the most famous animated characters of all time, standing alongside the greats like Goku, Bugs Bunny, Mickey Mouse, and others.

Growing up, my parents couldn’t understand what’s so appealing about Spongebob. They saw it as silly and pointless, and they’re right, to an extent. I would say that that’s what a lot of cartoons should be, though. When I look at Spongebob, though, I don’t see a hyperactive man-child: I see someone who’s not afraid to be himself, even if people call him a “goofy goober” for it. I see someone who always tries to see the best in the world and the people in it; that’s something this world sorely needs. If we had more people as lovely as Spongebob, I think the world would be a better place.

Happy Birthday Spongebob

What I’m trying to say is that this unique show us what make’s Spongebob so great. It has all the humor and jokes we expect from Spongebob, but it also got all its heart and love. It’s everything that we could want from Spongebob Squarepants, and I wish we got this ten years ago. If you’re a fan of Spongebob, then I’m telling you to see this special. Happy birthday, Spongebob, and happy birthday, Tom Kenny. Thanks for twenty years of laughter.

I Give Spongebob’s Birthday Blowout a 4.8/5.

Click here to see this birthday tribute to Spongebob

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*The following was originally published on FANDOM. Due to the FANDOM Contributor Program being shut down, it has been copied and moved to my blog. Thank you!

Three things make Halloween a fantastic holiday: costumes, candy, and TV specials. Every October networks air special episodes to help people get in the spirit of the holiday. When it comes to a holiday that children love, though, no one can get kids hyped for a night of tricks and treats quite like Nickelodeon, “The First Kids’ Network.”

In its first ten years on the air, Nickelodeon gave kids shows that they’re now nostalgic for as adults. Many of these shows would air annual Halloween specials. When it comes to laughs and scares, these five classic Nicktoons Halloween specials are among the most frightful and funny in Nick’s first ten years on TV.

“CANDY BAR CREEP SHOW” — RUGRATS, 1992

It’s Halloween night at the Pickles’ house in episode “Candy Bar Creepshow,” and the babies have only one thing on their mind: Reptar Bars. They’re delicious candy bars molded in the likeness of their favorite dinosaur, Reptar. The only problem is that they have to go to a haunted house. A haunted house filled with spaghetti brains and grape eyeballs (cue scary music)!

Few things are as memorable as going trick-or-treating as a kid. Through the Rugrats, this episode captures the joy, and fear, of the holiday. This episode also built on the in-show popularity of Reptar with the Reptar Bars. The candy proved to be enduring enough to warrant a real-life release in 2017 by FYE, just in time for Halloween.

“SUGAR FROSTED FRIGHTS” — ROCKO’S MODERN LIFE, 1995

In the episode “Sugar Frosted Frights,” Rocko and Heffer discover Filburt is afraid of Halloween, so they try and teach him the joy of the holiday. Their plan backfires when Filburt goes into a sugar-induced frenzy and begins to tear apart O-Town in search of candy, ultimately ending up at an old cemetery. Of course, the cemetery is haunted by a local ghost, the Hopping Hessian.

Nick may have canceled it in 1996, but Rocko’s Modern Life has maintained a cult following among fans. With the revival movie coming soon, now is the perfect time for fans to rewatch this special episode. The real cherry to this episode, though, is the Hopping Hessian, which spoofs Washington Irving’s Headless Horseman. Way to reference an American classic, Nickelodeon.

“ARNOLD’S HALLOWEEN” —  HEY ARNOLD!,1997

On Halloween night, Arnold and Gerald decide to prank the residents of the Boarding House. They broadcast a fake radio transmission about an alien invasion, but things get out of hand. The host of a local UFO show picks up their broadcast and shares it with the entire city, causing panic. It doesn’t help that Arnold’s classmates dressed as aliens for Halloween, either.

This episode serves as a tribute to Orson Welles’ famous “War of the Worlds” broadcast in 1938. The UFO host is even voiced by the king of Orson Welles impersonators, Maurice LaMarche, aka the Brain from Pinky and the Brain. The nods to the legendary actor, along with the Halloween setting, make for a hilarious special. Not to mention, Arnold and Gerald pulled a great prank.

“SCAREDY PANTS” — SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS, 1999

When SpongeBob gets tired of everyone scaring him on Halloween, he decides to do the scaring for once. So, after Patrick gives him a quick head shave, SpongeBob becomes the Ghost of the Flying Dutchman. The duo tries to scare everyone at Mr. Krabs’ Halloween party, only to incur the wrath of the real Flying Dutchman.

“Scaredy Pants” is classic SpongeBob at its finest. From SpongeBob jumping at everything to people’s confusion at his attempts to be scary, this episode has plenty of laugh-out-loud moments. The funniest moment by far, though, is everybody’s reactions to what’s underneath Spongebob’s costume. Watching the Dutchman and partygoers run away from the sight of Spongebob’s brain is comedic gold.

“HALLOWEEN SPECTACULAR OF SPOOKY DOOM” — INVADER ZIM, 2001

Following a mishap with one of his dad’s inventions, Dib, and Zim, get sucked into a nightmarish world based on Dib’s imagination. Led by a monstrous version of Ms. Bitters, the nightmare creatures want to use Dib’s head as a portal to the real world. As such, the two rivals are forced to work together to escape the dimension and return home. Meanwhile, GIR is terrorizing kids and stealing their candy.

If you’ve seen Invader Zim before, then you know that it is the darkest Nicktoon to ever air. So you know that the Halloween special is going to be dark and disturbing, if not more so given the holiday. Not to mention, inhabitants of the Nightmare Realm are grotesque and terrifying to look at. The scariest thing, though, is the sight of a bloated chocolate-covered GIR resting on a pile of stolen candy.

2019 Super Bowl’s Failed Halftime Show

I wanted to write this yesterday, but since the Super Bowl was still fresh in my mind, I decided I would get too emotional to do anything about it. So, I gave it an extra day to let myself cool off.

As many already know, in November, 2018, Stephen Hillenberg, the creator of the famous cartoon Spongebob Squarepants, died from ALS.

Shortly after his death, a petition began to go around the internet. With the Super Bowl coming up, one fan came up with an idea to create the perfect tribute to Hillenberg: have the song “Sweet Victory” play at the Super Bowl Halftime show.

Sweet Victory

Any fan of Spongebob has heard or seen “Sweet Victory”. At the climax of the Season Two episode “Band Geeks“, Spongebob helps Squidward lead the citizens of Bikini Bottom in playing the song at halftime for a spoof on the Super Bowl, the Bubble Bowl.

That performance and the final shot of Squidward leaping into the air in joyful triumph is legendary in cartoon lore. “Band Geeks” was critically acclaimed and is considered by most fans and critics to be the show’s best episode. I affectionately call it “Squidward’s finest hour.” So when that petition went up to play it at Super Bowl LIII, hundreds of thousands signed it as the ultimate tribute to the late Hillenberg.

In January, it looked like fans were going to get their wish:

Here’s what we got instead:

What. The heck. Was that? Just thinking about it makes me upset!

While some fans were happy that Spongebob got a cameo at the halftime, many were livid, myself included. So, we did what angry fans do: go to social media and spew our bile. Currently, the #1 trending video on YouTube, the Super Bowl LIII Halftime’s overwhelmingly disliked. It stands at 622k dislikes, last time I checked. And the comments are just as bad:

I don’t hate Sicko Mode, i actually think it’s an amazing song. But when you do Spongebob dirty like that, that’s when you’ve crossed the line

Lee Croc, YouTube

“Hey Patrick, what am I now? “”Uhh, stupid? “”No, I’m the NFL!” “What’s the difference!”

Hello, YouTube

We are disliking the video faster than nfl can remove it

Rocky Reyes, YouTube

I could go on! Everyone hated it!

We Got Ripped Off

I am aware that we were never outright promised that “Sweet Victory” would be played at the Super Bowl, but it was implied that it would be, given the footage of Spongebob in Maroon 5’s promo for the Halftime. I know that it can be argued that we should be lucky that we even got that cameo.

I don’t want to argue that, though. Because it felt like the cameo was an even bigger insult to the fans. The people who run the NFL and the Super Bowl thought that fans would be content with a brief cameo, but they underestimated us.

An Insult To the Fans

Having Spongebob reduced to a small cameo not only felt lazy, but disrespectful. Disrespectful to the fans who fought so hard for this, and disrespectful to Spongebob, Hillenberg, and the impact they’ve had on so many lives. Even if they didn’t have the cameo, the Halftime Show would have gotten a lot of hate. It was bland, forgettable, and honestly, it sucked.

At least there are people out there who have tried to do something to correct the NFL’s mistake. The morning after the Super Bowl, the Dallas Stars posted this video on their Twitter feed, giving us the halftime show fans deserve.

There’s no point in dwelling on the past any longer, though. All we can do is make sure the NFL learns their lesson and move on. Maybe someday, we can give Hillenberg the tribute he deserves, and get the sweet victory we deserve. As for Maroon 5, I hate them now. Plus side is, we have our first Dank Meme for 2019.

Click here to see my other animation stuff.

Kneel Before Zim!

Do you remember this show? Invader Zim, the cult classic of Nickelodeon. Created by comic book writer Jhonen Vasquez and premiering in 2001, this show isn’t like other Nicktoons. It was extremely dark for a kids cartoon. Too dark, it seems, for some kids to watch, and it worried a lot of parents.

Me, I didn’t care one bit. I loved Invader Zim because it was dark and different from other Nicktoons. I did think some of the episodes were a little too scary (I don’t even remember the “Dark Harvest” one that well). But it holds a special place in my heart for the amazing use of CGI. It was one of the first times I had ever seen CGI in a kids show, so I was mesmerized by it!

All the love can’t help with bad ratings, though, and the show got pulled in the middle of its second season, with a bunch of episodes remaining unreleased or unfinished. The last episode I ever saw was its Christmas Special, which aired sixteen years ago tonight. In honor of that, I decided to rewatch it for my 25 days of Christmas. So without further ado, I give you The Most Horrible X-Mas Ever.

Zim Ruins Christmas Forever

The entire story takes place in flashback, being told by a robotic snow who is a clear parody of Frosty the Snowman. He explains that two million years ago, Zim discovered the concept of Christmas, and more importantly Santa. 

After seeing how much humanity loved and adored Santa, Zim got an idea. An awful idea. Zim got a wonderful, awful idea. *cue the evil Grinch smile*

Using alien nanotechnology, Zim creates a robotic Santa suit for him to control, then with a flourish, presents himself to the world as the real Santa Claus.

Humanity successfully fooled, he summons them to the North Pole for a huge rally. In hindsight, the decorations, chanting, and the sinister overtones of the song, reminds me of a cult rally. It does give us the most oppressive and tyrannical Christmas Song ever, though. And I loved it!

Zim’s master plan is to build a teleporter and beam humanity to the Irken Empire to use as slaves. The only one with enough sense to oppose him is Dib. But since humans in Zim are stupid, they don’t believe Dib and Zim throws him in Jingle-Jail.

Fortunately, Dib doesn’t have to do anything this time around. Zim made the Santa Suit too good, and it’s started to think it’s the real Santa. Anything Christmas-related makes it take over.

Despite his best efforts, the suit manages to overpower Zim, trapping him inside.

So Zim’s trapped forever and Santa is real. Happy ending for all! Until Dib shows up with a giant robot suit and causes the suit to go berserk. 

The Fight I Couldn’t Show You

After a giant monster fight, Dib weakens the suit enough for Zim to escape, shrink it down, and have Dib throw it into space. There might have been a moral behind all that, but for the life of me, I still don’t know.

But despite thinking him destroyed, the Santa Suit, in fact, survived to gather power in deep space. Now it comes back every year on Christmas and terrorizes the Earth, so everyone has to live inside domes and placate him with milk and cookies. Dark

Dark Show, But I Loved It

Yeah, Invader Zim was a dark and scary cartoon more often than not, but that’s what it was supposed to be. That’s why I liked it so much: it was different, and not seeing it canceled leaves a hole in my heart. I know it’s sounds sappy, but I wanted to see where the series would go. This Christmas Special was the last episode that ever aired; the rest were released years later by Nickelodeon.

In hindsight, maybe it would have been a good idea to just leave Zim trapped inside the suit. It would have been a good way to end the series: Earth saved, Santa is real, and Dib got what he wanted with Zim stopped. At least we still have the comics and the upcoming movie. And even after all these years, I still love this Christmas Special! Ho-ho-ho, Happy Holidays one and all!

Click here to see my other animation stuff. Or here to see all holiday related posts!

I think that by now, you guys will have noticed a trend behind my choices: several have been from Nickelodeon. That’s what I mainly watched in the first half of my childhood. I didn’t discover Cartoon Network until after I was ten, and I didn’t get into Disney Channel until a year or so later. So, I have a fondness for Nicktoons. That’s not what I’m here to write about. I’m writing about Holidays Specials I’ve watched every day, and I picked an old Nickelodeon one, Holly Jolly Jimmy from The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius.

Jimmy Doesn’t Believe in Santa

The premise behind the special is simple: it’s Christmastime in the town of Retroville, and everyone is getting into the spirit of the Holiday. Everyone, that is, except for Jimmy Neutron. As a boy of science, Jimmy refuses to believe in the idea of Santa Claus, as most of his abilities defy science. When he openly says so in class, it makes his best friend Carl run out crying.

The trope of “the kid who doesn’t believe in Santa” is not a new concept, but I can’t remember where I first saw it. Plenty of kids will go through a point in their childhood when they doubt in the existence of Santa. Almost every special that deals with this trope end up reaffirming the belief in some way. Personally, I don’t care if Santa is real or not. Historically, he was, but that’s a whole other ball game.

At any rate, Jimmy and his friends, Carl and Sheen, go to the North Pole to prove whether Santa is real or not. Despite all evidence saying so, Jimmy refuses to admit the truth out of pride. Then his DNA tracker accidentally “breaks Santa”.

So, now we have a “saving Christmas” story as well. The three decide to deliver all the presents, but fail and end up being rescued by Santa himself, finally affirming Jimmy’s belief in him. Then, in typical Santa fashion, he manages to save Christmas and deliver the boys and all the presents back home.

Simple Premise

Like I said, the ideas in this episode are not new, and while much of the special stands out as particularly memorable. Still, I did like Jimmy Neutron as a kid, and it was fun to see the main character grapple with an idea that went against everything he stands for and ends up accepting it.  I liked it enough, and it was a good reminder of one of my favorite memories: the Merry Nickmas theme Nickelodeon did in the early 2000s. 

Well, that’s about it for tonight. Gotta blast!

Click here to see my other animation stuff. Or here to see all holiday related posts!

There are plenty of Christmas specials out the wazoo, but there are more holidays in December than just Christmas. Coincidentally, as a kid the only specials I remember watching that had anything to do with Chanukah or Kwanzaa were made by the same show, Rugrats on Nickelodeon.

Rugrats was a personal favorite show of mine growing up, and with the revival of the series announced earlier this year, I’d thought now would be a good time to look back at their holiday specials. I’m not actually Jewish, so I don’t celebrate Hanukkah. But ever since I learned about the story behind the holiday, I’ve had a mild fascination with the holiday. Plus, I think driedels look like a lot of fun! So, here’s my look back at the Rugrats Chanukkah.

The babies, being babies, don’t really understand the meaning behind Chanukah. They take one look at the Menorah, how Tommy get’s presents every night, and their conclusion: it’s HIS BIRTHDAY! To be fair, that does have some logic to it from a kid’s point of view. 

The whole special is about the kids learning the meaning of Chanukah, though they are, at first distracted. So is Grandpa Boris: his childhood rival, Shlomo is playing the role of King Antioch, and when the Rugrats hear Boris complain about him, they decide they need to beat the “meany of Hanukkah”

As for Angelica… I don’t really care about Angelica. I never really liked her, because she’s mean and bossy all the time. She also personifies the kid at Christmas: she doesn’t give two cents about Hanukkah, she just wants to watch a dumb Christmas special. Then she enlists the Babies in order to do that at the Synagogue.

Eventually, all the plots come together as Boris and Shlomo resolve their rivalry and the babies (and Angelica) learn about the meaning of Hanukkah.

I honestly liked this special as a kid. It was different from the other Holiday Specials that I had been seeing, it was about something new, and I appreciated it for it. For the life of me, I cannot think of any other Hanukkah Special that was on for me as a kid to watch. As an adult, I can appreciate even more, because, and this sounds really corny, the holidays are universal. No matter what religion you are, this should be the time of year when we together and celebrate and have fun. So, to all my readers, Happy Hanukkah, and Happy Holidays.

Click here to see my other animation stuff. Or here to see all holiday related posts!

Before we start, I would just like to say that I do not, repeat, DO NOT consider Nickelodeon’s idea of “Spongebob Merrypants” to be a Christmas Special. Including Santa Claus in an episode does not make it a Christmas Special by default.

Now, today as a tribute to Stephen Hillenburg, the man who created their most popular cartoon, Nickelodeon ran an 8-hour marathon of SpongeBob. Some of the best episodes from the first three seasons of SpongeBob (AKA what fans call “The Golden Age”) running from noon to 8. Since I hadn’t watched a holiday special yet today, I decided to cap off the night with a SpongeBob Christmas special. 

I was tempted to do the first special, “Christmas Who?”, but I wanted to save that for another day. So instead, I did the more recent one, “It’s a SpongeBob Christmas!”

I had always loved SpongeBob, but once I reached a certain age, I moved on to new shows. Plus I had to worry about school more. I kept up with the show, but it didn’t entertain me as much as before. Then I saw the stop-motion SpongeBob Christmas Special and fell in love all over again!

Just Like The Old Days

This special has all the trappings of the legendary stop-motion Christmas Specials of the 1960s and 70s. Several songs about Christmas? Check. A problem that threatened to ruin Christmas? Check. An appearance by Santa Claus himself as Christmas is saved? Check! And as an added bonus, Patchy the Pirate even plays a mailman delivering mail to Santa. Well, more like he steals a mailman’s truck to get his letter to Santa

The whole special revolves around Plankton’s attempts to ensure that he finally gets on Santa’s nice list. Rather than be nice, though, he decides to turn everyone else in Bikini Bottom into jerks using a convenient new element called Jerktonium. It turns everyone who ingests it into jerks, so he laces fruitcake with it, and tricks SpongeBob into feeding it to everyone in Bikini Bottom.

Pretty soon everyone in town is mean and grumpy. Except for SpongeBob, whose love of the holidays makes him immune. It also means he’s the only one who can save Christmas. One Christmas Song later…

It works, though Santa nearly writes off the whole town as naughty. Thankfully, Plankton’s Plan B (release a robot SpongeBob to ruin his good name) backfires when tries to kill Santa.

SpongeBob ends up saving Santa and everyone gets back on their rightful place on Santa’s list, but I’m confused at how Plankton thought this would work. It was two days before Christmas. How could everyone being jerks in two days put them on the naughty list so easily, or get Plankton off it? 

Thank You, Spongebob Christmas

Well, it doesn’t really matter. I liked this special. It was original, it captures the spirit of the original SpongeBob Christmas Special, and it hearkens back to some of the specials that my parents grew up on. It was an excellent way to cap off a day dedicated to the memory of the man who helped make my childhood. RIP Stephen Hillenburg! And to all of my readers, happy holidays!

Click here to see my other animation stuff. Or here to see all holiday related posts!

My fellow goofy goobers, nickelodeoneans, and millennials: yesterday Nickelodeon announced on social media that Stephen Hillenberg, creator of the legendary show Spongebob Squarepants, had passed away from ALS.

You may now commence with the crying.

 I’m crying too, by the way. But not just out of sadness. I’m crying tears of joy, laughter, and gratitude. Growing up, Spongebob was probably my favorite cartoon to watch on TV, not counting Avatar: The Last Airbender. I loved watching Spongebob and his friends in their adventures through Bikini Bottom. I played the video games, I saw the original movie, and read the comics. For a time, my parents even banned me from watching the show because it was making me too silly. That just made me love it more 😉

Spongebob was a massive part of my childhood, and I’m taking the creator’s passing pretty hard. As hard as I took Stan Lee’s passing. But after I wipe the tears off my face, I just started remembering all the good memories Spongebob gave me. And then I wanted to just start laughing. Now, I just want to talk about a few of my favorite episodes and moments in Spongebob in honor of the man who gave us so many laughs. In no particular order, by the way.

Pranks a Lot

I remember this one very well. It came out on video before it ever aired on TV, so I got my parents to haul me to the Library to check it out first chance I got. Spongebob and Patrick bought that can of invisible spray from a jokes shop and decide to use to prank everyone in Bikini Bottom. So they strip down and go around scaring the whole town into thinking they’re ghosts. But when they try and scare Mr. Krabs, he turns the tables on them and exposes them.

The whole plot of the episode is funny enough as it, watching everyone freak out over the “ghosts.” But the real clincher is how Mr. Krabs gets payback on the duo. Instead of getting mad, he pretends to laugh it off. But as soon as the two leave the bathrooms in the Krusty Krab, this happens:

I don’t remember if I laughed at this or just sat there smiling, but I can imagine that I was laughing myself to death on the inside. The way Mr. Krabs sets up the prank by fooling Spongebob and Patrick and then timing it just as the episode ends is comedic gold. Now THAT is what I call comedic gold.

I Had an Accident

I think this episode aired right before the Kid’s Choice Awards in 2003. Spongebob breaks his butt in a sand-sledding accident and then gets too scared to leave his house. Then a gorilla attacks Sandy and Patrick and he has to go outside and save them.

I liked this episode as a whole, but the really funny came at the end, with this:

To this very day, I have no idea what it was that I had witnessed. Like, no idea at all. I think that that was the point, though: to get people to laugh at the sheer absurdity of what had happened. That or the staff couldn’t come up with an ending. Either way, Stephen Hillenberg did good.

Goofy Goober Rock!

I loved this movie as a kid! I was one of the first people in line to go see The Spongebob Squarepants Movie. Not to mention I read the junior novel and played the video game. But this was my favorite scene by far because it has to do with the underlying message of the film: it’s alright to be yourself.

Spongebob spends the whole movie trying to prove to everyone that he’s not a kid, but by the film’s climax, he learns to accept that he is very much a kid in a man’s body. And he’s fine with that because he still managed to do everything a “kid” shouldn’t do. Then he proceeds to jam out to one of the coolest songs I had heard in my childhood. 

The message rings true even today now that I’m grown up. With everything negative that comes with being an adult, it’s easy to end up being a Squidward. I’d rather be an optimistic goofball like Spongebob and enjoy my life than spend it being a Squidward! #GoofyGoober4Life

Help Wanted. Stephen’s Legend Begins

This was the episode that started it all: Help Wanted. Spongebob goes to get his dream job as a fry cook at the Krusty Krab (not something most people would want, but Spongebob made it look cool). Mr. Krabs and Squidward sent him on that wild goose chase, and then the infamous scene happens:

I wish I had a video of what happens next, but YouTube seems deadset on not letting that happen. But it was one of the coolest things I had ever seen in my life.

Band Geeks

For nearly every fan of Spongebob out there, this is considered to be the best episode of the entire show. The finest moment of Stephen Hillenberg. It gave us so many jokes and funny moments: from the “dying animal” joke at the start, to the “kicking” incident, and of course, Patrick’s words of wisdom up above. Also, eager face:

But that’s not why it’s the best. It’s the ending. It wouldn’t be a stretch to call it one of the greatest moments in cartoon history. IT’S THAT GOOD! I actually call it “Squidward’s Finest Hour”, because it is one of the few times that Squidward, or any of the other cast members, is able to be this successful. I read a tweet on Twitter yesterday from another fan, saying that they felt this moment perfectly encapsulates Spongebob’s rise to success: it was nervous and unsure of itself, but once it got going, everybody loved it, and everyone loved Stephen Hillenburg for giving it to us. Just look at how much love the clip of it got when someone posted it on Twitter. It’s clear that Spongebob meant a lot to my generation, and that a lot of us will miss Stephen Hillenburg and thank him for what he gave us.

What Stephen Hillenburg and so many others created nearly twenty years ago has become one of the greatest cartoons of all time, with a cast that’s right up there with the gods of cartoons like Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny, and the Simpsons. Decades from now when it’s all over, the fans of today are probably going to be sharing this with their grandchildren and scholars are gonna study it as an example of what cartoons can do for our culture. So, I’m only going to say this once: Stephen Hillenberg, THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING!!!!!

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