You know, the first time I heard of “SpongeBob SquarePants” was about three years ago, and I was immediately turned off. My son was the one that told me about it, and having seen his other favorite show, “Ed, Ed & Eddie”, I cringed at the thought of watching the misadventures of a little square sponge. But then something odd happened. I sat down one night (no that’s not the odd part, I sit down a lot of nights) and just happened to turn on the TV right when an episode of “SpongeBob SquarePants” was starting. My son plopped down on the couch with me, and together we watched. I ended up laughing my darn fool head off. Luckily this was also a night where the station was running a block of “SpongeBob SquarePants”, so I got to watch several episodes. I was completely ‘hooked.’ I was totally into the style of animation, which seemed to be a combination of Tex Avery and John Kricfalusi, but even more impressive was the style and strength of the humor.

Created by Stephen Hillenburg, the jokes in the Spongebob cartoons come fast and fresh. There are an enormous amount of cultural references, many of which are undoubtedly lost on its younger audience, but help to make the show more than enjoyable for parents willing to take the time to sit with their kids.

Paramount started releasing DVDs of some of the episodes a couple of years ago, and I enjoyed watching some of the ones I had missed. But then they followed these up with full season sets, which is my preferred method of collecting. I watched that first full season set with only a slight hesitation. As I was so hooked on the show, I was worried that I would be glued to the set for a one-time sitting through all 3 discs. But I was smart. I paced myself and spread them out over a few days.

That set featured all 40 episodes from the first season and introduced us to Spongebob and all the denizens who lived in the township of Bikini Bottom. Among them were his best friends, the lovable - but dim - sea star named Patrick; the ill-tempered perfectionist Squidward; an athletic squirrel named Sandy who lives in an undersea treedome and a penny-pinching old crustacean named Mr. Krabs, owner of The Krusty Krab.

For what I originally thought was just some little cartoon, I surprised to find out the identities of some of the voice talent behind the characters. Patrick the sea star is voiced by none other than Bill Fagerbakke. He is best known for his role on the hit TV series “Coach”, but I remember from his terrific turn as Tom Cullin in “Stephen King’s The Stand.” The funny thing is, his voice is so recognizable that I should have known it was him. Then, the bigger surprise came when I saw that the voice behind Mr. Krabs is the great character actor Clancy Brown. I first saw him as the evil Kurgen in the original “Highlander” movie, and have seen him in numerous roles since. You may not recognize the name, but I guarantee you’d recognize the face. More recently he played the role of the evil Brother Justin Crowe in HBO’s ill-fated “Carnivale.”

The voice behind Squidward is Rodger Bumpass, whose name I don’t expect any of you to recognize, but I caught immediately. I had seen him just once in a live theatrical production that aired on Showtime called “Footlight Frenzy.” I saw the production over 20 years ago, but his turn as the bumbling janitor in a school that was putting on play was so memorable as to have stuck with me all this time. There had even been couple of early episodes where you can find Ernest Borgnine and Tim Conway as Mermaidman and Barnacleboy. (Trust me, they’re funny.) They were so popular that they returned for a total of five episodes.

Almost a year after the release of the 3rd season, Paramount is finally releasing a 4th season. Well, actually part of a 4th season. It is being split up into two sets, this new one being a 'Volume 1." Though there aren’t as many features as the first couple of sets, the ones that are included are fairly good. There are animatics for two full episodes and a bit of a 'Behind the scenes' featurette, which is more humorous then informative.

After all this time that I’ve been a fan, I’m still surprised at how fresh and funny the series can be. Last year Paramount released a full-length motion picture into theatres, and I was the first to doubt they would be able to pull off the humor in such a large venue. However, as I am often wrong, I was wrong about this. “The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie” was one of the funnier films of the year, so much so that I’ve seen it numerous times with my son (and a couple of times by myself…).

If you’ve never seen “SpongeBob SquarePants” I recommend giving it a try. I guarantee it will appeal to anyone with a sense of humor and imagination, or that has at least one creative bone in their body.

In the meantime sing with me:

Captain: Are ya ready kids?

Kids: (Aye aye, captain!)

Captain: I can't hear you!

Kids: (AYE AYE, CAPTAIN!)

Captain: Ohhhh......Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?

Kids: (Spongebob Squarepants!)

Captain: Absorbent and yellow and porous is he!

Kids: (Spongebob Squarepants!)

Captain: If nautical nonsense be something you wish,

Kids: (Spongebob Squarepants!)

Captain: Then drop on the deck, and flop like a fish!

Kids: (Spongebob Squarepants!)

Captain: Ready?

Everyone: (SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS, SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS, SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS)

Captain: Spongebob.................Squarepants!

Episodes:
Fear of a Krabby Patty
Shell of a Man
The Lost Mattress
Krabs vs Plankton
Have You Seen This Snail?
Skill Crane
Good Neighbors
Selling Out
Funny Pants
Dunces and Dragons
Mermaidman & Barnacleboy VI: The Motion Picture
Enemy In Law
Patrick Smartpants
Squidbob Tentaclepants
Krusty Towers
Mrs. Puss, You're Fired
Ghost Host
Wishing You Well

Extras: Original Uncut Animatics "Fear of a Krabby Patty" & "Dunces and Dragons", Behind the Scenes with Spongebob and Friends
Specifications: Full Screen, English Stereo
Studio: Paramount
Release Date: 9/12/2006
Region 1
MPAA Rating: NR
Website

We'll give Spongebob Squarepants: Season 4, Volume 1 a B+.