No one's done a conclusive study, but there are lots of SpongeBob fans out there. The popular cartoon series has launched a line of merchandise that parents and kids alike recognize on sight, and just about everyone knows the words to the show's catchy theme song.
SpongeBob has hit the Xbox® once before in SpongeBob SquarePants™: Battle for Bikini Bottom, but he's back again in The SpongeBob SquarePants™ Movie, which is obviously based on his first big-screen outing, in theaters now. This time around, SpongeBob brings fans and gamers loads of new characters, brand-new settings, and more of the all-around goofiness of the show.
What's not to love about SpongeBob?
If you're a kid in the target age group, the appeal of SpongeBob is obvious: He's friendly, cheerful, kind, and above all, funny. For starters, he's a sponge, for Pete's sake. He's prone to swelling up and blowing bubbles all the way across the ocean floor. His body stretches and twists without injury, and he's as quick with a song as he is with a one-liner.
Similar to classic Looney Tunes, the SpongeBob show also features sharp verbal humor and a boat-load of pop-culture references that the average viewer might miss, especially if they're only watching because a younger fan is in the room.
SpongeBob himself is the classic loveable dimwit that always has an inspirational word for his fellow sea creature. All he wants to do is go to work, spend some quality time with his pet sea snail Gary, and hang out with his friends.
The only reason he gets into so much outlandish trouble every episode is because he's not so good at thinking. He tends to fixate on silly things and overreact to the extreme. He's also easily tricked by smarter fish like Squidward and Plankton. So, even though SpongeBob has a good heart, he sometimes finds himself doing vaguely nasty things because he's following bad advice (or because he doesn't want to be rude by refusing the local pranksters and villains).
Little villain, big plans.
It's this wide-eyed innocence that makes SpongeBob such a great central character. He's so good-natured that the bad guys can really go over the top, way past normal villainy into insane super-villainy. Plankton, the mastermind behind the movie's evil plot to take over the world, is literally that: a one-celled organism with unlimited ambition.
Plankton knows he can't conquer the globe by force, so he's going to do it with an endless supply of mind-control helmets (that look suspiciously like a child's metal sand bucket). These helmets overwhelm the wearer with a constant stream of propaganda. "If you could think," Plankton's voice mocks in his radio broadcast to the helmets, "You'd think this was great."
It's also hysterical when SpongeBob and Patrick go on a binge to drown their sorrows in The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, as if they were a couple of hard-boiled detectives from a black-and-white movie. First of all, they go to an ice cream parlor and gorge themselves on sweet dairy treats, instead of the hard stuff (like sherbet). Second, two floppy sea creatures with small brains and ice cream hangovers is the start of a recipe for pure comedy gold. When you combine the wicked script and the actor's voices with the colorful animation, it's hard not to laugh. All you have to do is pay attention.
The wages of sin.
It's not easy to show you how funny SpongeBob is without the actual voice actors bringing the characters and the story to life. There's no font to capture Mr. Krabs' intense devotion to his fast food restaurant or Squidward's bitter sense of defeat in the face of a world that frustrates him at every turn. It's not a cop-out or a marketing ploy when someone like me tells you you have to see SpongeBob to appreciate him—it's a fact.
Without the voices, the animation, and the outrageous action that you'll find in the TV show, the movie, and the Xbox game, you'll just have to take my word for it: SpongeBob is funny … even if his soft head never understands why.
