Who lives in a pineapple under the sea? SpongeBob SquarePants! Whose show seemed to get worse after season three? Spongebob SquarePants…? Well, at least that is what everyone thinks. Beloved show Spongebob Squarepants, even after 25 years of airing on Nickelodeon, still remains in plenty of people’s hearts as a foundation of their childhood. However, many consider modern SpongeBob to be at the bottom of the barrel… is it really that bad though?
To start off, what exactly is old SpongeBob, defined by fans of the show and those who remember watching it as a kid? Well, season one to season three and “The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie” to top it off. According to Stephen Hillenburg, SpongeBob’s late creator, the movie was supposed to be the series finale, but Nickelodeon wanted more episodes. That is exactly what the audience got…12 more seasons of SpongeBob SquarePants.
After the movie was finalized and season three was completely wrapped up, Hillenburg stepped down from SpongeBob as the series’ showrunner, leaving Paul Tibbit to take his place for the remaining seasons. It was not until “The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water” (2015) in which Hillenburg made his return to the franchise by being the executive producer of the movie and co-writing it as well.
The show’s “classic years” from seasons one to three were marked by Hillenburg and his adequate knowledge of sea life as a marine science educator that made SpongeBob the show everyone loved.
Afterwards, SpongeBob then had its “teen” phase with seasons four to eight, otherwise known as the “dark ages” of SpongeBob.
This era is pretty much stuck in the middle between classic and modern SpongeBob, with its artstyle starting to become brighter compared to the cool-toned colors that were used in the classic era. The cartoon’s caracters started to become more expressive as shown in season eight’s “Face Freeze!” where SpongeBob and Patrick’s faces freeze after making a bet on who can hold theirs for the longest.
This era of SpongeBob also introduced a style that was merely more graphic and difficult to look at sometimes, with episodes like “House Fancy,” where Squidward gets his toenail ripped off, “The Splinter,” which shows SpongeBob’s thumb leaking puss from him getting a splinter stuck in it and “Pineapple Fever,” which features the infamous scene of Squidward graphically plucking his eyebrow off.
There were some really good episodes that came out of this era, however, including “Have You Seen This Snail?,” “Fear of a Krabby Patty,” “Friend or Foe,” “Not Normal,” “Best Day Ever” and the much adored stop-motion holiday special “It’s a SpongeBob Christmas.”
Then there is modern SpongeBob, which details the start of when the show’s frame went from 16×9 to 4×3 in season nine. These seasons came out as everyone who used to watch SpongeBob became older, and they just wanted to see how the show was doing. Well, they did not really like what they were seeing for a variety of reasons.
First, the previously mentioned faces only seemed to get even more exaggerated in modern SpongeBob. There would not be a whole minute in modern SpongeBob that would go by without a character making a funny face reminiscent of “The Ren & Stimpy Show,” known for its characters’ absurdly animated faces. Whilst not for everyone, it is clear the amount of effort and detail that goes into drawing/animating characters in SpongeBob.
Next, another reason why modern SpongeBob is commonly criticized is that the modern show relied too much on calls to classic SpongeBob. For example, in season 11, “Doodle Dimension” marked the return of DoodleBob, whose last appearance was back in season two in episode “Frankendoodle.” Also, the episode “Squidiot Box” of season 14 uses the imagination box from season two’s “The Idiot Box.”
Why is it that modern SpongeBob gets the most criticism over this when other shows do the exact same thing? Imagine trying to watch a newer season of “Family Guy” with no references or call backs to past episodes, it just will not happen.
Creators of a show may seem a little lazy when that is the only thing a show wants to put out instead of original ideas, but SpongeBob does not do this as often as people think. Besides, what is the harm in a cute throwback to classic times that everyone says that they missed?
The next reason makes entirely no sense to people that actually sat down and tried to at least see if this was right. Some claim that the voice actors behind the show are unhappy to still be voicing characters on SpongeBob after all these years. People online say things like, “Oh, it’s obvious that the voice actors don’t want to be there anymore, you can hear it in their voices,” and “I feel so bad for them—”
Why? With just a Google search, it is clear that the iconic voice actors behind the equally iconic show think otherwise. Tom Kenny, the voice of SpongeBob SquarePants, and Bill Fagerbakke, the voice of Patrick Star, have both gone on record to debunk this kind of thinking.
In an interview with Variety, the SpongeBob voice actors made it be known that for SpongeBob’s 25th anniversary that they are still just as happy with voicing their characters as they were when the show first aired. Kenny explained that he would not trade jobs with some of the biggest movie stars in the world to stop voicing SpongeBob. Fagerbakke expressed similar sentiments by saying that he would keep voicing Patrick until his voice box finally gave out.
Of course, after more than two decades, no one’s voice is going to stay the same. A lot of people notice that Julie Kavner’s voice for Marge Simpson on “The Simpsons” and Seth Green’s voice for Chris Griffin on “Family Guy” has changed from when they first started compared to now.
It is the same thing for the SpongeBob cast, this should not be an indication of unhappiness as if they are being forced to keep doing it. If people have to put words into one or all of SpongeBob’s voice actors’ mouths, then they obviously did not have anything else to hate on the show for.
The other reason for the criticism in SpongeBob’s new seasons is its inconsistencies. In season 12, Patrick finds out that the rock that he lives under is actually a sea turtle who accidentally overslept in the episode “Shell Games.” The amount of times this specific moment has been pointed out by viewers as to why someone does not like modern SpongeBob is unreasonable. SpongeBob is not an episode-to-episode type of cartoon, what happened in the last episode will not affect the next one.
SpongeBob has always had inconsistencies, including episodes where SpongeBob understands what Gary says through his meows, and then the next episode, not knowing what he is saying. Another example is Patrick saying that he did not have a sister in “Something Smells,” with episode “Big Sister Sam” later coming out, with the episode’s focus being all about Patrick’s sister, Sam. In “Krusty Love,” Mr. Krabs spent an entire episode pinning over Mrs. Puff and spending loads of money on her to the point where he had to get SpongeBob to make sure he did not spend a lot on her. Then, in “Summer Job” when Mrs. Puff has to work through her summer break at the Krusty Krab, it is almost like the two never even dated before.
Sometimes, cartoons are just not that consistent with every detail they put out; one thing could be true for one episode then not even mentioned in another. Modern SpongeBob should not be hated for something other cartoons do just as much.
It is funny how SpongeBob has the harshest critics for a cartoon, sometimes it seems like nothing can please a portion of its fans. Some unfairly write off SpongeBob and do not even get the more recent episodes a chance.
People are allowed to dislike modern SpongeBob. No matter what, nothing will ever recreate those classic seasons that everyone remembers in their childhood. But to go on and say that there is nothing good in modern SpongeBob is just not true.
Episodes like “Feral Friends,” “Squid Noir,” “Plankton’s Pet” and “My Leg!” are all a part of modern SpongeBob, and these episodes have been received positively even with their more recent release dates. Of course, there is also “SpongeBob’s Big Birthday Blowout,” where the audience gets to see all the voice actors behind the show in front of the screen in celebration of its 20th anniversary in 2019.
Whilst modern SpongeBob is not perfect, the most recent season, the 15th one, has cut down on the exaggerated faces that no one seemed to like and has produced funny episodes that are a step up from the last season.
So, is modern SpongeBob really all that bad? There are genuinely good episodes in every season, not just season one to three. Some of the most popular memes do not even come from the classic seasons, with Handsome Squidward in season five and the SpongeBob clucking meme came out in season 12. No one can deny the show’s influence, no matter what season.
It is one thing to critique, but modern SpongeBob is just flat-out hated on. The bad is talked about a lot more than the good, just scroll on YouTune and see how many videos there are against it.
The greatest thing about modern SpongeBob is that children can come together and enjoy the show just like the older audience did when they were younger too. There is a certain beauty in seeing that things never really get old, and SpongeBob can make children have that same feeling of entertainment that older audiences could relate to themselves.
Imagine if “SpongeBob SquarePants” actually ended when it was supposed to? It would have been known as a show that people used to love instead of being one that some still love to this day. SpongeBob is to Nickelodeon what Mickey Mouse is to Disney, there is no denying that.
Some advice? Take a chill pill, no one is trying to take away from the magic that classic SpongeBob was. Fans should be happy that the fun, loving show that they once loved is still going on for older fans and newer ones to enjoy.
