[067b. Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy VI: The Motion Picture]

I really enjoyed this episode. Even with it being a post-movie episode, it still manages to retain much of the charm the Golden Era had. I thought the episode paced well and the animation was great -- what I really liked about it was the fact that Mr. Krabs had the same appearance as he did in Season 3. At first, I found it bizarre how he looked very "classical" for a Season 4 episode, but later, I found out that this episode was, in fact, originally supposed to air during Season 3, but didn't, and got remade. Now, that's interesting.

 

I also got quite a few laughs from this episode. Two notably funny scenes for me include Mermaid Man repeatedly messing up on his lines and SpongeBob throwing a tantrum after he discovers that Patrick left the lens cap on the whole time. 

 

What really gave this episode a classic feel for me was the fact that Nick UK used the Seasons 1-3 NTSC-to-PAL conversion method for this episode. This means that the music is not higher-pitched in comparison to the United States broadcast and the voices don't sound like they're on helium. While Tom Kenny's new voice for the titular sponge is still noticeable, it's miles better sounding than in the PAL-speedup affected episodes. Again, as mentioned in my other reviews concerning Nick UK's broadcasting techniques, I wish they would use this conversion method for ALL post-movie episodes, not just this one and a bunch of others in this season. Oh, well... none of us have any control over it, I suppose...

 

So, in conclusion, I rate this episode an 8.5/10.

[043a. The Bully]

Pretty much what everyone else has said. 10/10.

[044a. Nasty Patty]

Very funny and entertaining episode. 10/10.

[066. Dunces And Dragons]

Usually don't care about stuff like this but:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There's a difference between an animation goof and an attempt at going off model. The frame thing does sound like an animation error, but your avatar isn't an animation goof. That face is just like the faces above- An attempt to go off model. I'm pretty sure they drew SpongeBob like that to go off-model because Season 4 is absolutely FULL of off-model stuff.

 

Just felt like pointing that out.

 

I suppose you're right. But watching the scene back, it seems as if something else is "off" besides the animation. It MIGHT be that the length of SpongeBob's 'YAAAAWAAH!!' is incompatible with the length of the animated sequence. What I mean by that is SpongeBob's mouth is still open when the line is finished... it's as if the scream was originally intended to be longer. Again, this is just a rough idea after watching it back once more, but I'm fairly certain that is quite accurate. 

 

Regarding Squidly... I have to admit, he was an... interesting character

[066. Dunces And Dragons]

Hoooooo, boy. Where do I start? This has GOT to be one of the worst, if not THE worst episode ever to emerge from the series. Scratch that.... I'm not even sure HOW it emerged from the series at all.... I am actually questioning whether it emerged from the fiery depths of Hell. 

 

One of my main gripes with this episode is that Nickelodeon promoted it to no end back when it was about to be aired. They essentially promised us that it was going to be SpongeBob's greatest outing... that it was going to be a phenomenal thrillride of an episode. But what did we get? CRAP. Allow me to elaborate on why I loathe this episode with a passion.

 

First off, the animation seems incredibly rushed at times. The most prominent example of this by far is during the scene in which SpongeBob is preparing to "vanquish" Lord Planktonamor. Good Lord.... his... his MOUTH. It... it's just so HUGE. Also, I can't help but notice how tiny and minuscule his eyes are, and how they are placed so high upon his face. I even have a snapshot of the scene saved as my user avatar, so you can see it for yourself. Additionally, the scene makes him look like he has an underbite, which he does NOT -- he has an overbite. You'd think that grotesque underbite and large gap in his top incisors would warrant an extreme dental examination, but, oh... there are more animation errors, my friends. Right before that scene, SpongeBob yells (in his insanely high-pitched voice... thanks, Tom Kenny, for ruining the titular character's voice), "PREPAAARE TO BE VANQUISHED-UH!!" No, I'm not going to delve into how ridiculous his voice is now... no, I'll save that for later. The REAL issue here is that a frame is repeated during the final word of that line. That repeated frame just made the episode look even LESS polished, unprofessional and lazy. Jesus Christ, had the animators even THOUGHT about double-checking?

 

Now, I approach the issue I briefly touched upon in my last point -- SpongeBob's new voice. I honestly cannot stand how it is now. Why, why, why, why, WHY did Tom Kenny even PITCH the idea of changing the titular character's voice, when it was PERFECTLY FINE before the Movie? Did his colleagues not notice how radically he altered SpongeBob's voice? It is simply intolerable at times, and Kenny's "brilliance" in voicing the character is exemplified in THIS line (yep, you guessed it): "PREPAAARE TO BE VANQUISHED-UH!!" To put the icing on the cake, Nickelodeon UK have inflicted the dreaded PAL speedup upon this episode, which means that EVERY SINGLE CHARACTER'S VOICE is noticeably higher-pitched in comparison to their voices in the United States broadcast. This also means that musical tracks are higher-pitched, too. And, most aggravating of all, the PAL speedup serves to ACCENTUATE SpongeBob's already higher-pitched voice -- as if it wasn't different enough from his Seasons 1-3 voice already! I wish Nick UK would just revert back to their old NTSC-to-PAL conversion method for episodes. After all, their old conversion method (which was used for episodes in Seasons 1-3, including Season Four's The Lost Mattress, Krabs Vs Plankton, Selling Out, Funny Pants, Enemy In-Law and Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy VI: The Motion Picture) did not alter the speed or the pitch of the episodes... in fact, it made them virtually identical to their United States counterparts!! So, this begs the question "WHY DID THEY DECIDE TO CHANGE IT???" Honestly, the current writers, Tom Kenny and Nick UK have all made completely unnecessary changes to the show. 

 

Now, I approach my next gripe with this episode: the humour... or should I say 'lack of it'? Seriously, this episode did not make me laugh or even chuckle ONCE. In fact, I don't think there were any jokes included within the episode at all. What happened? Where has the inspired, adult humour from Seasons 1-3 gone? You can all "thank" the new writers for this, folks. They really butchered the series. I think I will end my point there.

 

Finally, we have the setting. The premise of a medieval theme has been done to death before.... have these writers got ANY scrap of originality? Ugh... I think that pretty much says it all.

 

I think I have rambled on for long enough. In conclusion, an ABYSMAL episode. I rate it a 1/10.

[062b. Krabs vs. Plankton]

I have a soft spot for this episode. For one thing, the writers attempted something new and tried to re-invent the wheel in an interesting way. Also, I love the fact that Nick UK used the old NTSC-to-PAL conversion method for this episode, unlike what they did with FoaKB/SoaM... those episodes seemed like they were on heroin or something - what with the sped up voices and whatnot. At least they had realised the error of their ways. All of this, combined with the fact that I watched this episode at a considerably young age (I was around eight years old when this episode premiered in the UK), means that I am very lenient towards this episode, in spite of the fact that it was somewhat lacking in humour. However, for a post-movie episode, it is to be expected, I suppose. I rate this episode an 8 out of 10.

[061b. Shell of a Man]

This episode was just sort of... there. Nothing really leaped out at me. There were little to no gags included within the episode, and the plot was very predictable - even for a post-movie episode. To make matters worse, Nick UK used a horrible NTSC to PAL conversion method for this episode and the last one, Fear of a Krabby Patty -- both episodes are noticeably sped up and higher-pitched in comparison to the episodes found in Seasons 1-3. Thankfully, for the next episode pair, TLM/KvP, Nick UK realised the error of their ways and reverted back to the old NTSC to PAL conversion method which they used for the classic episodes. 

[062a. The Lost Matress]

This was a decent episode, especially for the fourth season. Highlights of this episode for me included this conversation:

 

"ALL... MY... MONEY... WAS... IN... THAT... MATTRESS!!"

 

"Waaaah!! Haven't you ever heard of a BANK?!"

 

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooo!!"

 

....and the doctors' negligence of Mr Krabs. Something that is not episode-related but broadcast-related that I liked was the fact that Nick UK used the old NTSC to PAL conversion method for this episode, unlike with FoaKB and SoaM where they sped the episodes up and made them all high-pitched. Of course, SpongeBob's voice change was still noticeable, but not nearly as much as in said episodes. I wish Nick UK would use that conversion method for ALL episodes airing in the UK, not just for the Seasons 1-3 episodes, and this episode pair and Selling Out/Funny Pants. I rate this episode a 7.5/10.

[074a. Bummer Vacation]

In my opinion, this was an O.K. episode... although if I had not seen it at such a young age (I was around eight or nine when this episode premiered in the UK), I would perceive this episode to be mediocre at best. So, this episode has SORT OF a place in my heart. The things that really dampened my opinions of this episode when I came to re-watch it again were the mundane plot, character flanderization and just the overall pace of the episode, amongst other negative aspects which I will dive into shortly. 

 

The animation in this episode is, bluntly put, crap. SpongeBob's appearance differs radically in almost every scene. This is particularly prominent during the beginning, in which SpongeBob's eyes are drawn to ridiculous, unrealistic proportions. 

 

Piled atop that, we have the titular character's new, higher-pitched voice. It boggles my mind to no end why Tom Kenny even had the faintest idea of changing his voice for the character, when the old one fit him JUST fine. This is compounded by the PAL speedup introduced by the UK's broadcast of the episode, in which ALL audio is noticeably higher-pitched than its United States counterpart. I swear, if a SpongeBob fan from the United States who only watched episodes from Seasons 1-3 emigrated to the United Kingdom and flicked on Nick UK to a new episode of the show, he'd wonder if he had taken any drugs... as if the difference in SpongeBob's voice wasn't noticeable enough already. 

 

In spite of my complaints with this episode, I rate this episode a 5.5/10.  Of course, as I mentioned in my opening paragraph, if I had not seen this episode at a younger age, I would rate this episode less.

[055a. The Great Snail Race]

A pretty decent episode. The gags were funny and the animation was superb. However, there is one, single thing that bothers me in this episode: SpongeBob's voice. I feel this is the episode in which it began to change; in some parts, his voice starts to fluctuate -- the most prominent instance being in the quotation, "YOU'RE BLOWING EVERYTHING WE'VE TRAINED FOR!!!" While it is not "PREPAAARE TO BE VANQUISHED-UH!" caliber, it still gave off an indication of what was to come for his voice in the later seasons. It's such a shame that Tom Kenny even thought about altering the voice of the titular character. Regardless, I rate this episode an 8/10.

[061a. Fear of a Krabby Patty]

I find this episode to be so-so. I mean, it's not particularly bad, but it isn't very good either. Nothing spectacular really leaped out at me. However, I will say that the shift in episode pace and humour did aggravate me quite a bit. Another aspect of this episode that got on my nerves (and was carried over from the movie) was the change in pitch of SpongeBob's voice. Honestly, I have absolutely NO idea why Tom Kenny decided to alter it -- it was perfect the way it was during the pre-movie era (at least for the most part -- it began to fluctuate slightly in later episodes of Season Three). 

 

On the plus side, the animation was rather good... although there were a few instances in which characters looked radically different; a prime example being the ending -- Mr Krabs looked incredibly different and more rotund than he did earlier in the episode. I suspect it was just tiredness on the animators' part. But again, for the most part, the animation was fluid. I found the characters' facial expressions and movements to be particularly interesting, although some could have used a bit of work. I rate this episode a 6/10. 

 

Additionally, this was the second episode in the UK to be plagued by the dreaded 'PAL speedup' phenomenon; the first to be affected was a Season Two episode... although I can't remember the exact title of it, nor the plot. This is extremely noticeable, as the opening and ending theme tunes are higher-pitched, as well as some of the characters' voices. This unfortunately means that SpongeBob's already high-pitched voice present in the US broadcast is ACCENTUATED in the UK one. I also have no idea why Nick UK thought it was a good idea to change the NTSC to PAL conversion method -- the one they used for Seasons 1-3 episodes (barring one, as I said moments ago) was just fine.