Lots of solid jokes about school that parents and kids will appreciate: O.C.D. The classic New Student Starfish, from Paul Tibbitt, Kent Osborne, and Mark O'Hare, is a beautifully-built take-off on early school days, when SpongeBob, out of pity (never a good sign), decides to take Patrick along with him to Mrs. SpongeBob, though, gets the best bits here: his would-be exit line to a frantic Patrick is a classic ("I can see you're busy having an 'episode,'") while the brief, subversive shot of SpongeBob wearing a frilly, girly blouse under his clothes earns a big yok. Greenblatt, and Mark O'Hare, takes the simple set-up of Patrick panicking that his parents-who, for some reason, think he's dumb-are coming for a visit, and keeps the jokes and visual gags running at a decent clip. I'm With Stupid, from Aaron Springer, C.H. The Secret Box, from Walt Dohrn, Paul Tibbitt, and Merriwether Williams, is much simpler in design-SpongeBob goes crazy trying to figure out what Patrick is hiding in his "secret box"-but it's filled with sly gags, from SpongeBob listing all his secrets (among them: dancing to loading zone announcements), to Patrick's eloquent self-assessment ("The inner machinations of my mind are an enigma," he pontificates.as they show his thought bubble where a quart of milk is tipped over), to a hilarious montage showing best friends SpongeBob and Patrick giggling grotesquely, from ridiculously cute babies, to ghostly giggles from two fresh graves (delightfully sick). When Patrick begins sweeping the floor with the handle end of a broom, a fish walks up, takes a beat, and deadpans: "Hey, pal.you just blow in from Stupidtown?" Classic. The obsessively repetitious gag-a SpongeBob standard-involving Patrick's inability to take off a jar lid is perfection, but nothing compares to another SpongeBob standby: the smart-assed anonymous fish bystander. The jokes come fast and smart (when we think Patrick's job pays $50 dollars an hour, SpongeBob then marvels that when he started, he had to pay $100), before the toon really takes off, first with SpongeBob trying to walk Patrick through the simplest tasks, with Patrick copying SpongeBob's every move. SpongeBob, hoping to help a despondent Patrick get an award for something, decides to get the dim bulb starfish a job at The Krusty Krab, with typically disastrous results. Big Pink Loser, from Jay Lender, William Reiss, and Merriwether Williams, opens the disc, a perfect example of the show's brilliance during its earliest outings. You know it's funny (or you wouldn't be reading this) and I know it's funny-particularly when we're talking about the earlier seasons sampled here in SpongeBob and Friends: Patrick SquarePants. Tallying up the numbers over the past eight years here at DVDTalk, I discovered I've reviewed 23 SpongeBob SquarePants discs, so I'm not going to go over yet again why I think it's still one of the funniest-if less consistently so over the past few years-toons on cable today. No extras for these colorful, sharp fullscreen transfers. According to press releases, this is the first SpongeBob disc that focuses exclusively on a character other than headliner SpongeBob, and although I would have voted for that honor to go to my favorite SpongeBob character, Plankton.you can't argue with the people: if my kids are any indication, Patrick is the most popular goofball on that marvelous little toon, and the fourteen shorts collected here are a knock-out showcase for the character. Episodes included here are Big Pink Loser and The Secret Box from season two of SpongeBob SquarePants, I'm With Stupid and New Student Starfish from season three, Dunces and Dragons, Patrick SmartPants, That's No Lady, Driven to Tears, and The Gift of Gum from season four, Karate Star and Big Sister Sam from season seven, and Squidward's School for Grown-Ups, The Googly Artiste, and Pet Sitter Pat from season eight. Nickelodeon and Paramount have released SpongeBob and Friends: Patrick SquarePants, the 14-episode animated compilation dedicated to SpongeBob's best friend, Patrick Star (the first-rate voice talent of Bill Fagerbakke).
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |