I have to admit it; I have really gotten bored watching SopngeBob Squarepants.  The show has been on since 1999 and nine seasons!  Ever since the creator Stephen Hillenburg left the show it has gotten less funny and it has not been a joy to watch.  But when I heard of this Christmas special I decided to give it a try.  The special premiered on CBS and it was animated like the animation you see in a Ranklin-Bass Christmas special.  Here is a sneak peek video.

I went in very skeptical about the special.  Seeing SpongeBob and all of his friends in a different animation was going to be weird.  But after watching the Christmas special I thought it was done very well!  This special brought back the charm from the first seasons of SpongeBob.  The episode was full of wit, charm and heart as you expect to see in a Christmas special.

The entire Christmas special was shot using stop-motion at L.A.-based studio Screen Novelties, which specializes in stop-motion magic.  About 30 people worked on the special and listen to some of these crazy stats!  Six sets were constructed on which 60 pounds of baking soda were used as snow, 42 pounds of glitter added sparkle to the magic, 22 pounds of wood chips were used to create Sandy’s tree-house floor and 20 boxes of cereal covered the coral rocks.

Tom Kenny, the voice of SpongeBob, said the first-time foray into stop-motion is a welcome change for the 13-year-old show.  “It’s fun that after all these years we can still do stuff that’s a little different. It’s like reinventing the wheel a little bit — if you can refer to a square character as a wheel.”  I also enjoyed the voice talents on the show.  John Goodman did a decent job as the voice of Santa Claus.  And I liked the song “Don’t Be a Jerk (It’s Christmas).”  Christmas should be a time to love your family and loved ones.  Don’t be a big jerk during the holidays!

I believe this Christmas special will rank up there as one of the best.  In the special, SpongeBob continues to accept gifts from Plankton.  Why would SpongeBob go around town feeding people jerktonium laced fruitcake?  And yes; I am glad Santa Claus realized Plankton was being evil and he got a bunch of coal!  I would recommend you watch It’s A SpongeBob Christmas.

Related articles

• SpongeBob Christmas special goes stop-motion (kmov.com)
• Nickelodeon Debuts First Full-Length Stop-Motion Special ‘It’s a Sprongebob Christmas!’ on Sunday, December 9 (tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com)
• CBS Announces New Holiday Special ‘It’s a Spongebob Christmas’ (tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com)

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