As a lifelong SpongeBob SquarePants enthusiast who has spent countless hours underwater (or at least, on my couch) watching every episode and holiday special since its debut, I can confidently say that the show’s Christmas episodes hold a special place in my heart. And let me tell you, dear reader, there is nothing quite like the joy of diving into the nautical nonsense of Bikini Bottom during the holiday season.
After a quarter century filled with seafaring silliness, “SpongeBob SquarePants” stands as one of the greatest cartoons ever made. The primary series has spanned 15 seasons and continues to run, along with numerous films, spin-offs, specials, and even a Broadway production. Whether it’s everyday viewing or holiday celebrations, there’s an abundance of “SpongeBob” content to enjoy – especially during Christmas!
Examining the Christmas specials from “SpongeBob SquarePants” (and associated shows like “Kamp Koral: SpongeBob’s Under Years” and “The Patrick Star Show”) showcases the franchise’s versatility. This collection features episodes drawn by hand, animated with computers, and made using stop motion. Some strive for a more heartwarming holiday feel while others opt for sheer silliness. The quality of these episodes may differ, but the team behind the scenes remains dedicated to this incredibly goofy yet endearingly optimistic series.
Instead of reviewing forgettable Christmas specials devoid of holiday spirit and ranking them against timeless classics worthy of yearly viewing during the holidays, let me present each and every Christmas episode from the “SpongeBob” series, arranged from least preferred to favorite.
10. Twas the Night Before Spongemas/A Very Patchy Holiday Livestream
Examining the pattern of “SpongeBob” Christmas episodes over time, it’s clear that they have been produced more frequently as the series progressed, with almost every special on this list debuting after 2017. This surge in interest for holiday-themed “SpongeBob” content seems to have inspired the creation of two Christmas-themed compilation episodes: “Twas the Night Before Spongemas” and “A Very Patchy Holiday Livestream,” which were broadcast in 2022 and 2023, respectively.
If you come across clip shows during your TV browsing over holidays, you’ll find some amusement indeed, but you’d undoubtedly enjoy watching the full episodes that those clips originate from more. The “Patchy” episode does contain unique content that fans might be intrigued by, yet the animation of the newly added scenes seems awkwardly stiff and low-budget. In today’s streaming era, clip shows have become rather outdated, and because they lack compelling original content, they tend to rank at the bottom of our recommendations list.
9. The Ho! Ho! Horror!
As a gamer, I’d say: “In ‘Kamp Koral: SpongeBob’s Under Years’, a spin-off of the beloved series ‘SpongeBob SquarePants’, we find ourselves in a different universe where our favorite characters are kids at summer camp. Unlike the main storyline, this series doesn’t align with other SpongeBob specials’ timelines. In this unique tale, Santa makes his first visit to Bikini Bottom, only to discover that he’s missed out on a town he should have known all along. The campers, who’ve never encountered such a giant, mysterious creature before, are understandably terrified by him.
Experiencing “Kamp Koral” can be quite different for individuals who are familiar with the initial “SpongeBob” series. While the original program (and “The Patrick Star Show”) maintain an edgy, comedic vibe that keeps them entertaining even as an adult, “Kamp Koral” appears to be geared solely towards young children. The 3D animation is less appealing and the voice acting by the original cast, attempting to sound like kids, feels awkward. It’s challenging to argue that this is a high-quality show for its intended audience, and the lackluster Christmas episode echoes these sentiments.
8. Plankton’s Old Chum
In this Season 12 episode, titled as the sole 11-minute Christmas special within the “SpongeBob” collection, it could be argued that it’s more of a casual nod rather than a full-fledged special, and only loosely related to Christmas. Plankton concocts an imaginary holiday called “Chum Day,” mimicking traditional Christmas celebrations. His intention is to deceive SpongeBob into disposing of his excess chum. In the spirit of the occasion, SpongeBob dons a Santa hat and sings Christmas songs with chum-infused lyrics. An unexpected twist unfolds as Squidward reenacts the iconic Christmas morning scene from “A Christmas Carol,” which may inspire you to revisit some genuine adaptations of this classic tale.
As a gamer, let me tell you, this episode was way too gruesome for my taste! I don’t recall the chum from the Chum Bucket being shown so graphically and icky in previous episodes. Even characters eating toes? That’s just not cool or clever enough to make gross-out comedy entertaining. It’s a tough watch, to say the least.
7. Sandy’s Country Christmas
The Sandy Cheeks Movie.
Unlike the movie you mentioned, “Sandy’s Country Christmas” likely won’t provoke intense emotions, positive or negative. The songs are average, the new squirrel characters from Bikini Bottom don’t offer much intrigue, and the attempt to celebrate family feels somewhat materialistic despite its intentions. However, the stop-motion animation is visually stunning, and the scene where they use real fireworks to destroy a SpongeBob puppet is impressive. Overall, as holiday specials go, this one may not leave a lasting impression.
6. Goons on the Moon
Season 11’s “Goons on the Moon” is a solidly entertaining Christmas episode, but it’s also far from the most festive of the specials. For the first half of the episode, it’s just Sandy taking her Science Scouts — SpongeBob, Pearl Krabs, and the debuting character Squidina Star (who would go on to feature in “The Patrick Star Show”) — on a trip around the moon. Squidward also tags along, and his continued misery offers some of the episode’s most inspired slapstick.
In this humorous tale, chaos ensues when SpongeBob inadvertently swaps the “meal” and “launch” controls on their spacecraft, resulting in a disturbed lunar orbit. His subsequent efforts to rectify the situation end up destroying the moon. You might be curious about where Santa fits into this story, well, he was enjoying his holiday on the moon’s hidden side. The climax of this lunar calamity? SpongeBob manages to absorb an incredible amount of super-soaker water, transforming himself into the moon itself! Santa vows to deliver a new moon as a Christmas gift to save the day. While it may not be the best Christmas special ever made, it certainly provides an entertaining spin on the SpongeBob universe.
5. It’s a SpongeBob Christmas!
In the eighth season, the second Christmas special of “SpongeBob SquarePants” was broadcast. This episode, titled “It’s a SpongeBob Christmas!”, marked the first time “SpongeBob” was animated using stop-motion animation, similar to classic Rankin/Bass holiday specials. The visuals are the standout feature of this special, earning the character animation an Annie Award. However, the narrative seems somewhat hastily put together: Plankton devises a plan to put “Jerktonium” in fruitcake, intending to turn everyone else in Bikini Bottom into jerks, making himself appear less naughty by comparison.
It’s a silly continuity quibble, but it’s weird that the characters suddenly like fruitcake after learning to discard it in “Christmas Who?” When the Jerktonium doesn’t work on SpongeBob, Plankton builds an evil robot lookalike which Santa (voiced by John Goodman here before Lewis Black would take over the role for future specials) believes is the actual SpongeBob. However, SpongeBob’s town-saving song “Don’t Be a Jerk, It’s Christmas” is a total charmer, and this special has already accumulated some nostalgic value 12 years later. It might not be consistently great, but it’s a whole lot of festive fun.
4. SpongeBob’s Road to Christmas
In a somewhat unconventional twist, “SpongeBob’s Road to Christmas” – an extraordinary episode from Season 13 – is set during July, yet manages to capture the essence of holiday cheer. The plot revolves around SpongeBob’s determination to bestow a special gift upon Santa Claus. However, when he discovers that Santa hadn’t noticed his present under the Christmas tree, he embarks on a journey to personally deliver it to the North Pole, enlisting the aid of Patrick and Plankton along the way.
In this particular episode, SpongeBob SquarePants ventures into a unique territory by presenting the surface world through animated sequences instead of live-action scenes. For the first time ever, we witness Patchy the Pirate and Potty the Parrot brought to life in hand-drawn animation! This innovative episode was honored with an individual achievement award for animation at the 2022 Children’s and Family Emmys.
Despite not quite reaching the wit level of classic “SpongeBob” humor, this special still manages to elicit some chuckles with its catchy one-liners – such as “Christmas is about bleeding, man” – and boasts an ending that strikes a delightful balance between heartwarming (unveiling SpongeBob’s gift) and mischievous (Plankton’s scheme following Christmas). This episode certainly ranks among the series’ stronger holiday offerings.
3. Squidina’s Holidaze Special
One of the best-kept secrets in the “SpongeBob” universe is that “The Patrick Star Show” kind of slaps. A lot of older fans opposed its initial announcement on the grounds that Stephen Hillenburg dismissed the idea of a Patrick spinoff in an interview once (“Patrick by himself might be a bit too much,” he told Television Business International), but it’s really funny and very creative. If “SpongeBob” is nautical nonsense, “The Patrick Star Show” is nautical insanity.
In the latest episode of the spin-off series titled “Squidina’s Holiday Spectacular,” Christmas serves as a backdrop, but it also includes New Year’s, Easter, Halloween, and numerous other holiday themes. When Patrick inadvertently botches Squidina’s holiday play script and sends the actors soaring into space aboard a rocket, the pair must think quickly and improvise a new one on the spot. It may seem odd that theater classes in Bikini Bottom don’t include rehearsals, but humor trumps logic here. What other place would you find Mr. Krabs and Plankton transforming into something resembling Super Saiyans to narrate the tale of St. Patrick’s Day?
2. Just in Time for Christmas
For Christmas this year, “The Patrick Star Show” premieres its inaugural holiday episode titled “Just in Time for Yuletide.” In this 11-minute adventure, bumbling Patrick realizes it’s Christmas Eve as his father Cecil chops down a telephone pole to be their Christmas tree. With no presents prepared and the recycled trash from last year unacceptable, he embarks on a time-traveling quest. He snatches a laser from the future, a pterodactyl egg in prehistory, and even gets a tattoo at an 1800s carnival, but not without making a few powerful foes along the way.
In a fun and outlandish manner that perfectly captures the Christmas spirit, this episode is utterly hilarious yet stays true to its theme. The visually appealing animation for future scenes is an absolute joy to behold. Some of the episode’s jaw-dropping visual jokes, like “handsome Patrick” and Cecil shaving his own face off, are truly hard to believe! Despite the seemingly unrelated elements, they surprisingly weave together to form a relatively coherent story. Interestingly, Patrick’s idiotic nature is both the source of and remedy for multiple issues in this episode, making it possibly the funniest entry on the list with an impressive laugh-to-minute ratio.
1. Christmas Who?
Of course, the one Christmas episode made during creator Stephen Hillenburg’s time as showrunner is the best “SpongeBob” Christmas episode overall. In this Season 2 special, Sandy introduces SpongeBob to the idea of Christmas. He’s super excited about it and gets everyone into the festive spirit… except for Squidward. However, when Santa doesn’t show up, Squidward is moved enough by a homemade clarinet gift from SpongeBob that he becomes “Santa” himself to save Christmas.
For the first time, a full half-hour episode of “SpongeBob” aired, marking a debut also for live-action segments with Patchy the Pirate. While some fans might find him contentious, his skits in this episode are funnier than usual, particularly the voiceover of “name and address withheld.” Re-watching “Christmas Who?” brings back memories of how amazing “SpongeBob” was then. You’ll be reminded of the heartwarming moments like Squidward questioning what girls would want for gifts, such as a book of matches, a shaving kit, or a copy of his birth certificate. This episode combines great humor with festive holiday spirit and rightfully takes the top spot on this list due to its perfection.
Read More
Sorry. No data so far.
2024-12-04 20:00