Christmas in Bikini Bottom

The holiday season brings us a delightful dose of SpongeBob in this DVD set SpongeBob SquarePants - Christmas. If you are a fan on SpongeBob but maybe don't have many, if any at all, the DVD's featuring the cartoon character, then I highly recommend this product to you.


The DVD Content:

Half of the DVD is comprised of a handful of holiday-themed episodes including:

Christmas Who? (A double-length episode)
Procrastination
Snowball Effect
Survival of the Idiots

As well as five random non-holidayish episodes:

Mermaidman and Barnacleboy IV
Chocolate with Nuts
As Seen on TV
Pizza Delivery
Squeaky Boots

The full run time for SpongeBob SquarePants - Christmas is 110 minutes.


DVD Extras:
There are interactive menus to scroll through. You can also play the first episode, Christmas Who?, with a commentary on. Two other languages are available to choose from too, Spanish and Portugese.


Episode Breakdown (may contain spoilers):

*Christmas Who? - 7/10: Patchy the Pirate hosts this episode. Personally, I don't enjoy the shows where human characters are featured. The cartoon itself was very funny. Sandy tells SpongeBob the story of Christmas and Santa Claus, who then shares the tale with the rest of Bikini Bottom. In a frenzy to receive a visit from the jolly man, the townspeople all write Santa Christmas lists. On Christmas day, there is no Santa. To unbreak the hearts of everyone, including wide-eyed hopeful SpongeBob, Squidward dresses up like Santa and gives away all of his personal belongings.

*Procrastination - 8/10: Not one of my favorite episodes. This one specifically focuses on Spongebob and leaves out one of my favorite characters, Patrick. SpongeBob and his sclassmates receive an 800-letter assignment on "What Not to do at a Stoplight" from boating school instructor, Mrs. Puff. Sponge rushes home to get started on his assignment but a series of distractions get in his way. After talking to the mailman, obsessively feeding Gary, scrubbing the kitchen, and calling Patrick on the phone, SpongeBob falls alseep with nothing done. When he wakes up, it is 5 minutes before class. SpongeBob begins to panic but then completes the paper by listing all the activities he participated in the night before which prevented him from finishing his homework. When he arrives at school, he is informed that class--and the assignment, has been cancelled.

*Snowball Effect - 9/10: This episode begins with Bikini Bottom being powered with a coat of snow from an above iceberg. SpongeBob sets out, Santa hat and all, to go play in the snow. He and Patrick begin a snowball fight, which awakens Squidward. Angry and annoyed, Squid asks the pair to reconcile so he can resume his nap. Before long, SpongeBob and Patrick have sided up against Squidward in the fight.

*Survival of the Idiots - 9/10: SpongeBob and Patrick visit Sandy's bubble but find a videotape instead of Sandy telling the boys of her hibernation for the winter. The guys proceed to enter her bubble and find snow falling everywhere. After making fun of Sandy and all the weight she has gained, the pair retreat outside to stir up trouble. Sandy buries the two in the snow while still asleep. Soon the cold becomes too much for both and decide to "borrow" some of their squirrel-friend's fur to keep warm. Pat and Sponge get carried away making fur-outfits, SpongeBob having an "eyebrow goatee combo." Spring pops up out of nowhere and Sandy wakes up in a panic with all her fur missing.

*Mermaidman and Barnacleboy IV - 8/10: I don't like the Mermaidman/Barnacleboy characters which is why I gave this episode lower rating. The superhero duo is eating in the Krusty Krab when Spongebob spied them. He asks for an autography but the pair runs away and drop their mini-belt. SpongeBob fools around with the device and accidentally shrinks Squidward and can't figure out how to get him back. SpongeBob ends up shrinking Patrick too and eventually the entire town.

*Chocolate with Nuts - 9/10: In this episode, Sponge and Patrick want to be rich and decide on becoming door-to-door salesmen selling chocolate bars. The pair get conned by one customer numerous times and chased by a frantic fish who ultimately buys the guys' whole candy bar stash.

*As Seen on TV - 9/10: This is a very likeable episode where Mr. Krabs decides to film a commercial for the Krusty Krab. Squidward is in charge of the directing, yet hires a ton of people. Mr. Krabs fires everyone to save money and Squidward (forced to dress up like a girl), Pearl, and Mr. Krabs are cast in the commercial. SpongeBob's arm is seem, as well as his hat, yet he is convinced he is a star. When someone mistakes him for a box of cornflakes, he is sure of his stardom. Sponge continues at work where his entertaining talents are not recognized, yet his culinary skills soon are.

*Pizza Delivery - 9/10: In this episode, the Krusty Krab takes up pizza making and delivery to make more income. SpongeBob and Squidward are the delivery guys. With Sponge behind the wheel, he jams the boat in reverse and the pair blast out of town and run out of gas. They are now forced to find their way back. After getting lost numerous times, the guys hitch a ride on a boulder and deliver the pizza to their customer. He claims the order is wrong but Squid puts him in his place.

*Squeaky Boots - 10/10: This is my favorite SpongeBob episode EVER! Mr. Krabs gives Pearl a pair of boots which she hates. After spending a lot of money, Mr. Krabs has to find a way to get rid of them so he tells Spongebob that they are special "fry cook" boots. Spongebob trades his paycheck for the shoes and vows never to take them off. The boots are extremely annoying though, as they squeak every time Sponge moves. Mr. Krabs can't take the noise any longer and steals the boots at night while Sponge is sleeping and buries them under the Krusty Krab, mimicking the classic Poe tale "The Tell-Tale Heart." Mr. Krabs is haunted by the squeaks of the buried boots and eventually succombs and dugs up the boots, fries them, and eats them. In one of my favorite lines, Krabs comforts Spongebob by telling him "It's not the boots, its the boot-eee. Err, I mean uh...the person wearing the boots."


My Overall Thoughts:
I really enjoyed this set. I have no other SpongeBob DVD's but after watching this one about four times, I really am considering purchasing at least one of the complete seasons offered. This product wasn't expensive, but the amount of content is limited. The view time doesn't even exceed 2 hours, which I found disappointing. I was left wanting more, which is what I guess the distributors intended when this item was released. Another thing I didn't like was when you select the "Play All" menu feature, only the 4 Christmas episodes play through; none of the other shows play all the way through constant.