Blogcritics The critical lens on today's culture & entertainment
Written by Pollo Misterioso
If I were an eight-year-old girl that watched cartoons I would turn to Nickelodeon and I would love Spongebob Squarepants because it is so much fun. Now I’m not an eight-year-old girl, graduating from my days with dolls, but I still enjoy Spongebob Squarepants, which says a lot about this children’s show; its ridiculous nature translates to all audiences, making it entertaining for everyone.
In the latest installment to the Spongebob Squarepants DVD collection comes Atlantis SquarePantis, featuring a two-part episode with the same title, along with six other entertaining episodes. In these episodes the much-favored characters of Bikini Bottom travel to new places, meet new friends, and sing many new songs that get themselves into lots of trouble, but not without good intentions.
For those that have never watched Spongebob Squarepants, this cartoon takes place underwater in the town of Bikini Bottom. As the opening credits remark, our main character, who is a sponge that wears square pants, lives in a pineapple next to his best friend Patrick Star, a pink starfish that always tags along, and Squidward, an octopus that despises and often takes advantage of our sponge friend.
The “Atlantis SquarePantis” episode begins on the freeways of Los Angeles, introducing Patchy the Pirate stuck in traffic and trying to get to Encino. When he finally reaches his destination, it no longer exists and it reminds him of “another story about a lost city” and we then enter the animated world that we are so familiar with. Here we find Spongebob blowing bubbles with Patrick. Amidst their bubble blowing they stumble upon the missing half of the amulet of Atlantis—once put together the path to the lost city of Atlantis is revealed. Spongebob and his crew are then transported to the city “where all their dreams come true.”
Reminiscent of Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, when they arrive at the lost city they are greeted by the Lord Royal Highness, voiced by David Bowie—the parallels to Willy Wonka are unmistakable. As they are escorted through the city, the group gets smaller as they venture off into their desired parts of the city. But all good things come to an end when Spongebob manages to get himself into the worst of situations, shipping them back to Bikini Bottom.
The episode is filled with entertaining songs, experimental animation (not usually seen in their other episodes) and a side plot with Patchy the Pirate that takes place in real time. This episode is a prime example of why this show is so entertaining. Unlike most cartoons, Spongebob relies on ridiculous and absurd situations that never really get to a moral conclusion, but somehow wrap up in an entertaining and playful fashion.
Other episodes on the DVD include “ Money Talks,” “The Krusty Sponge,” “Spongebob vs. the Patty Gadget,” “Sing a Song of Patrick,” “Slimy Dancing” and “Picture Day”—all of which put Spongebob and friends in crazy situations that work out somehow. The entire DVD runs only 93 minutes and contains an interesting special feature that runs through the step-by-step process of the making of an episode that is informative to both kids and adults. Other special features include “Inside the Spongebob Animation Studios” which is a very short look at what the studio does.
This is a great edition to any Spongebob collection, especially for the title episode that was given special care and attention. This little yellow sponge clearly doesn’t take himself too seriously and neither should we, making it fun to trigger our inner eight-year-old.
