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Fred Hembeck on Spongebob Squarepants
posted December 20, 2004
 

Fred Hembeck
via the Internet

Saw the article you posted today concerning Schlolastic moving half a million SpongeBob quasi-manga, and noted the muted tone of incredulity that shone through your prose. I'm not one to tell anybody anything about marketing, especially of manga, but I think I can explain one very important reason why the kids bought so many books: SpongeBob SquarePants is, obviously, a full-blown phenomenon, and, to my mind, the greatest animated character since the The Simpsons. And like the Simpsons, I firmly believe this franchise has the legs to keep it going for many more years to come.

I'm really not much of an animated cartoon person, and never heve been, even as a kid. Sure, I watch The Simpsons, as well as that other long-running prime time series, King Of The Hill, but that's been about it, even as my daughter Julie grew up with the channel seemingly stuck on Nickelodeon, day and night. Rugrats, Catdog, The Wild Thornberries -- none of them caught my fancy, despite her undying allegience. I just saw them as a means for me to catch a break from entertaining the kid myself, not anything I cared to watch myself. But then, several weeks after its unheralded debut several years back, she came up to me one day and said, you really have to check out this new Nicktoon. Uh huh, I said, only half paying attention. It's called SpongeBob SquarePants, she told me -- and that's when I awoke from my stupor!

"SpongeBob SquarePants"?? With a name like that, it was either gonna be the worst thing I'd ever hope to see on the tube, or something altogether fresh and original.

It didn't take me long to decide that it was clearly the latter. I became very enthusiastic very fast about the series, and began telling all my friends about it, most of whom looked at me with blank stares. Several sampled it -- a few loved it, a few did not (the lamest sight in the world? Two fifty year old men engaging in a heated discussion over which is the better show, SpongeBob or the Power Puff Girls? Yes, I straightfacedly partook in that embarrassingly geeky argument -- and still prefer my guy to the Power Puff Girls, a show that's never much appealed to me).

Now, all these years later, I feel somehow vindicated -- possessive, even -- by the character's massive success. I derive a tremendous amount of satisfaction from the fact that I, ahem, discovered the character before anybody else did (except Julie, natch), but that's all personal hubris. The important thing is the overwhelming popularity of SpongeBob is based, at its core (beyond brilliant and aggressive marketing) on a uniquely conceived concept that'scarried out with a surprising intelligence.

SpongeBob can be funny with gags that are, almost simultaneously, stupid, silly, surreal, and smart -- but never lewd. Look, I'm no prude, but I find it refeshing to find at least one program on TV that's capable of getting genuine laughs without going the easy route taken by virtually every other comedy series extant. SpongeBob the character is, yes, sweet, but never in a syrupy way. The clever visual gymnastics the imaginative animators put him through won't allow time for things to slow down long enough to teach the viewers any lame-ass lessons, and Tom Kenney's outstanding vocal characterization is almost enough to garner laughs all on its own.

The stories are simple, yet filled with all sort's of wild humor. One episode (unlike most of today's current toons, there are usually two cartoons per half hour) had several of the characters working a newly inaugerated night shift at The Krabby Patty eatery, and it gave the writers a chance to fill the tale full of gags based on your typical haunted house-type scenarios (as there really weren't any customers coming in during the wee, wee hours). As the story is just about to wrap up, all the previous mysterious goings ons having been logically explained -- well, all that is, save one. There was still no clue as to why the lights had been flickering on and off all thoughout the night. Suddenly, one character says, "Look", and the scene switches over to where they're all gazing. It's a still photo of Max Shreck as Nosferatu from the 1922 horror classic, slightly animated so as to be giving the impression that he's messing with the light switch! Cut back to SpongeBob and pals, each one sporting a big goofy grin, and they all say happily in unison, "Nosferatu!!", as if to indicate, well, that sure explains that!! One more quick shot of the ancient vampire, and the end title comes up, and let me tell you, when I first saw that, I was laughing for quite awhile afterwards! It was silly, surreal, and smart -- and that's why I think SpongeBob has managed to have the sort of impact he's had in such a relatively short time -- there's something for audience members of all ages to enjoy in his antics! That, and an unforgettable name and a brilliant design, aided by a bright and intrinsically happy color scheme.

Julie is fourteen now. She's, heaven help us, recently discovered South Park. She even talked me into taking her to that infamous marionette movie when it hit the theaters recently. Neither of us laughed much during it (despite some undeniably clever touches and a great look), but when I subsequently took her and four friends to see the SpongeBob movie, we all laughed steadily throughout. Yeah, I know it's not The Incredibles (which he hope to finally see over the Christmas break), but despite it's financial success and it's generally positive reviews, I'm somewhat puzzled to hear the total lack of buzz about the film in the comics blogoshere. You'd think I was the only one who went to see it, going by the silence among the bloggers! Curious...

Look, you may not care for the show, Tom. It'd be near inexplicable to me, sure, but hey, it happens. Not everybody's gonna love everything. But in my experience with my kid and her pals, SpongeBob has been enthusiastically embaced by an entire generation, and there are more waiting on the horizon! Get used to it -- he's The Mouse of the 21st century!

Fact is, your question shouldn't have been why did Scholastic move half a million SpongeBob books, but why they failed to move a MILLION?!?

(...yeah., for reasons even I don't claim to understand, I feel the need to prosletize SpongeBob every opportunity presented to me -- and it's not like they need my help overmuch, now is it? Well, that's all I got, except -- go see the movie if you haven't already! It's pretty darn good!...)


Tom Spurgeon Responds: I have nothing against Mr. Squarepants, with whom I'm not acquainted. I'm aware of the popularity of the character, and was judging these cinemanga sales relative to similar efforts.