175. It's A SpongeBob Christmas!

[Jjs Goodman]

#175 - It's A SpongeBob Christmas!

Premieres:

Friday, November 23rd @ 9:30 PM ET/PT (on CBS)

Thursday, December 6th @ 8:00 PM ET/PT (on Nickelodeon)

Encores:

N/A

Plot:

In this stop-motion holiday special, Plankton vows to get his Christmas wish – the Krabby Patty formula – by turning everyone in Bikini Bottom bad by feeding them his special jerktonium-laced fruitcake.

Clip:

http://spongebob.nic...day-season.html

[JCM]

I have high hopes for this.

[SpongeOddFan]

Friday, November 23rd @ 9:30 PM ET/PT (on YTV)

[Jjs Goodman]

Friday, November 23rd @ 9:30 PM ET/PT (on YTV)

Yes, I know, but I am referring to how it premieres on CBS for Americans too.

[I'M A TRASH CAN]

I have Also High Hopes for this

[ClassicNickelodeon Fan 1]

This is one of the best specials I've ever seen, you guys are gonna love it.

[Ron]

Wow, so excited for it. The fact that it will be airing at 9:30 PM + CBS will no doubt bring a stellar amount of viewers. The highest number of viewers for an episode as 8 million for Atlantis Squarepantis; is it an over-exaggeration to say I think that this has the potential to blow that out of the water? :3

[SpongeOddFan]

Wow, so excited for it. The fact that it will be airing at 9:30 PM + CBS will no doubt bring a stellar amount of viewers. The highest number of viewers for an episode as 8 million for Atlantis Squarepantis; is it an over-exaggeration to say I think that this has the potential to blow that out of the water? :3

Who knows? maybe this episode will gets to 9 million views?

[ClassicNickelodeon Fan 1]

Less than 15 minutes till it airs guys!

And they cut out the Patchy segements >.>

[Ron]

And they cut out the Patchy segements >.>

Yay!

Ahem, I mean... NO! D:

Still three more hours for me. ;(

[Jjs Goodman]

http://images.wikia.com/spongebob/images/7/7a/Margin-spongebobchristmas.jpg

* Written by: Mr. Lawrence, Marc, Derek, and Luke

* Lol, it feels awkward watching SpongeBob on CBS..

* What the? Why is this special rated PG on CBS?

* They also removed the Patchy openings.

* Well after a commercial break, it's back!

* I love the snow underwater and the claymation is nice.

* Santa Has His Jolly Little Eyes On Me is catchy.

* lol "Go Away"

* Lol at Patrick's box trap.

* The season of getting.

* Well Plankton must be at the top of the naughty list.

* Nice to see a periodic table of elements, as I've been studying that lately.

* New element: Jerktonium (Jt)

* If only that was an element, anyways.

* Apprently SpongeBob is so jolly that he isn't affected by the fruit cake.

* And of course, the fruit cake works on the other citizens..uh oh.

* We have the first affected fish...Bill.

* A Christmas parade. It's nice how popular Christmas has become in Bikini Bottom after the events of Christmas Who?

* Lol at how chaotic the town is turning.

* I want a sled...and a truck...and a bike...and a train..lol at the mean santa.

* Boom goes the sled.

* Robot SpongeBob? Seems like a mix of the Robot SB from Battle of Bikini Bottom and Welcome to the Chum Bucket.

* I'm ready...to destroy Christmas!

* Oh SpongeBob..you've been a bad bad toy indeed.

* Go stuff a stocking!

* Well looks like SpongeBob has been framed, reminds me of the original plot for Frakendoodle.

* Lol at the door part with Squidward.

* It's odd how SpongeBob didn't need a water helmet when he was in Sandy's treedome in both visits.

* You're an idiot.

* So the cure is Don't Be A Jerk, It's Christmas! Genius.

* I still like the song.

* Lol Santa breaths underwater too, and he looks like a pig.

* So everyone is naughty, gulp.

* Ironically, Plankton is good.

* DESTROY SANTA.

* So ironically, the fruit cake destroyed the robot.

* It's a shame they cut out the Patchy bits, but I will say they were pretty funny.

* Overall, still a funny special, not as good as Christmas Who?, but still good.

Grade: A

 

[ClassicNickelodeon Fan 1]

Well, this special was overall great, I'm just glad I got the DVD so I could see the Patchy segments. A+.

[PatBack]

Fantastic special. Pretty heartwarming indeed. And even the Patchy scenes were great. I'm gonna write a more detailed review later, but still a great end of the S8 episode era.

[SpongeOddFan]

great special A+

[JCM]

I loved the visuals, the music, and I even laughed at some parts. Best special in years, hands down. It's too bad they took out the Patchy segments, though. 9/10

 

 

[Macseed]

DANGIT I *bleep*ING MISSED THIS!!!!! UGH!!! I WAS LOOKING FORWARD TO THIS! HELP! PATBACK I NEED THAT LINK! PATBACK!

[Ron]

It's A SpongeBob Christmas - B+

The opening of this episode was absolutely killer. I laughed hard at the quick back and forth between Squidward and SpongeBob, and just how straightforward SpongeBob asked him what he was doing (love how SpongeBob's character has reverted since Season 6). The 'Go Away' was classic Squidward. I laughed at Pearl blasting everyone with water. I couldn't help smiling at the Patrick bit, either, and the cookie was cute. However, from there, the episode just felt dumbed down and flat. Plankton tries to do Jerktonium, finds SpongeBob is immune to it, then we see Sandy, and then Mr. Krabs... it wasn't a montage-episode, but it felt shorter than it actually was, and the plot was VERY minimal and was less than I'd expected it to be. The singing was overkill and took away from the overall progress of the episode, and the end was anti-climatic. I really wanted to see more of the clay Krusty Krab, more of SpongeBob's house... they just kinda went quickly through everything, and when they did everything so beautifully, I wish we could've seen more of it. I loved the animation, but Christmas Who? definitely beats it out in terms of plot and amount of laughs.

[box]

=== It's A SpongeBob Christmas! ========

Writers ~ Mr. (Doug) Lawrence, Marc Ceccerelli, Luke Brookshier & Derek Iversen

Production Code ~ 175

Season 8

Premiere Date (USA) - November 23rd, 2012 (CBS), December 09th, 2012 (Nick)

Guest star - John Goodman as Santa Claus

Rating ~ ★★★★

=================================================================

So here it is! The new anticipated Christmas special. Also the final episode of Season 8!

When I first saw this episode, I was surprised that they were using claymation to animate

this episode, but otherwise I couldn't wait for it. I love how it's a homage to the Rankin-Bass

specials (Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer, Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town), and at the same

time based on the "Don't Be A Jerk, It's Christmas" song. I just can't help but love that.

Another thing worth pointing out is that this is the first SpongeBob SquarePants episode to air

on another channel then Nick. It aired today (November 23rd) on the CBS station. . I decided

to watch it when I could, and.. I'm glad. A thing worth pointing out was that this CBS broadcast

got rid of the Patchy scenes, so until I watch the full version, this review will NOT review the Patchy

introduction scene. Heads up.

So the basic formula of the episode is that it's the Christmas season in Bikini Bottom and everyone is

joyful as jolly ol' Saint Nick (who will appear later). SpongeBob is espically cheerful and sings a musical number "Santa's Got His Jolly *toot toot* Eyes On Me", which is a little upbeat and catchy. A much better improvement than the forced and mediocre numbers of Atlantis SquarePantis, indeed.

All of Bikini Bottom's in the spirit except one little green indivual who lived in the Chum Bucket, Plankton, who's heart was two sizes too small. Plankton's been on Santa's "naughty list" for years straight and strives to get on the "nice list" so he can get the Krabby Patty secret formula as a present. Plankton, of course, is the main antagonist of the special. Unlike Christmas Who(?), to me, IASBC felt a little forced with an antagonist and went with typical Plankton. Christmas Who(?) felt a bit clever having Squidward as the Christmas Grinch, not nesscessarily the antagonist. I always felt that, but with IASBC, you just get a straight-up antagonist, Plankton. I know, Plankton is the major antagonist of the show, but I felt like there could have been some other dilemma, Oh, well.

Plankton plans to get on the nice list by turning every other citizen in town to jerks by lacing the chemical Jerktonium (a plot-device chemical which turns anyone into a jerk when in contact with it) with..

Spoiler

The fruitcake.

Plankton builds a fruitcake car out of thin air and tests the Jerktonium fruitcake on SpongeBob. 3.14 fruitcakes later and no success. Plankton thinks the fruitcake is junk and donates it to SpongeBob, whom proceeds to give Jerktonium-fruitcake to the entire town, including Christmas carolers, and eventually wrecks an entire Christmas parade accidentially in song~(Forgot song name, sorry).

Meanwhile, Plankton decides to try to switch to Plan B because of SpongeBob's immunity to the fruitcake - Plan B is a imposter SpongeBob robot which throughout the special, wrecks the entire town to confuse the townspeople into thinking the robot is SpongeBob.

When it's Christmas Eve, the townspeople are still jerks and SpongeBob starts to notice this little predicament. He decides to get some help and recruits Squidward (who refuses), so he goes to Sandy for help. Sandy is also affected by Jerktonium, but out of nowhere, she snaps out of it for no reason and instead decides to try to find out what's causing the townspeople to be all jerkish. The two find out that, of course,

Spoiler

the fruitcake is laced with Jerktonium.

The antidote to this is a song (Don't Be A Jerk, It's Christmas).

Eventually, Santa Claus comes into town and reports that the entire town is on the naughty list.. except for Plankton. The whole town is shocked, and Plankton finally recieves the formula. But, wait! Every good Christmas special needs a climax! The imposter robot comes in for more evil doings and wrecks the Krusty Krab area, throws SpongeBob away like a baseball, and corners Santa Claus. SpongeBob returns in the fruitcake mobile, though, and saves the town by destroying the robot. Santa is saved, and Plankton's formula is taken back. All's well that ends well!

As for comedy.. this one was pretty good. Squidward's "GO AWAY" Christmas lights cracked me up, Patrick's box and tiger trap got me chuckling, and the parade also got a chuckle out of me. It's good to see that the writers got a running gag (usually, these get stale to me) and manage to keep it funny and stale each time. Kudos to them.

So, what did I think? Overall, I think it was a good special. Definitely worth a watch if any of you missed it. (It airs Dec. 9 on Nick). The clay animation was fun to watch, the jokes were pretty good, but the plot felt a little typical and plot-devicey. I'd say this was S4 quality.

Overall, I give it 8.0/10.

★★★★.

[Sauce Mama]

This special was phenomenal! I loved how they executed the plot, and the stop-motion was great. I thought they really did a great job with staying true to the overall look of the characters. Props to them!!

9.5/10 A

[Ron]

I'm surprised at the number of people praising the plot... nobody else thought it felt rushed... or that it was... I dunno, just a little cliche? xD I mean, character must stop villain, villain is stopped and Christmas is saved... even then, it all felt like it was sped along.

AND OH MY GOD CBS HAD SO MANY ADVERTISEMENTS.