The Under-Appreciated Highbrow Humor of SpongeBob SquarePants (A Video Essay)
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- Äas pĆidĂĄn 24. 05. 2024
- Hey! Hi! Hellođ
Thank you so much for watching! Hope you enjoyed! This is only the first of hopefully many more videos. So, stick around! Iâm more than happy to have you here with me!
Turns out i coukd post the sources here due to needing verificationâŠSorry folkđ
If youâd like Follow me on instagram @Buttercandraw for more art!!
For my ProfessorâŠ.
My artist statement
I chose to make the subject of my project SpongeBob SquarePants because itâs one of my favorite cartoons. I believe SpongeBobâs humor is amazing but because of it modern day reputation many people have forgotten that. SpongeBob as a character is always someone Iâll be at the ready to defend and this video allows me to open a dialogue about this concept. My target audience would be SpongeBob fans but also folks who may not like SpongeBob. I also hope this video reaches young parents, debating wether they should let their kids watch SpongeBob or not. I honestly hope to capture as many peopleâs attention as possible. SpongeBob is so universal, I feel anyone can benefit from giving this video a watch. I decided to discuss my subject in video format because video essay are pieces of media that I personally enjoy quite a lot and it feels really cool to be contributing to that community. Although Iâve clearly got a lot to learn, I really do love this genre and hope to continue adding to it. In terms of how I did⊠well there are certainly some parts that are rough around the edges. The hardest part for me was properly reading my script. I naturally speak very quickly so I had to keep that in mind while recording. It was hard to keep just the right tempo and I think I can do better with a little more practice. I also think my editing skills can use some work, but we all start somewhere. The only way I can go from here, is up and thatâs what I hope to do! All in all, this was probably the most fun Iâve had doing a project for an English class, ever! Seriously So much thanks Professor. Sorry this is coming in a little late, I certainly bit off more than I could chew with this one but it wouldnât be a âmeâ thing if I didnât. I still hope you enjoyed and that it gets me a good score. Thanks again for such an awesome semester! It was a true pleasure getting to know you and learn from you. I canât wait to hopefully see you around campus next fall. Have a wonderful summer!đ
I think part of what elevates Spongebob is that it really doesn't do a lot of Pop culture references. So it's relatively timeless.
I disagree. There were definitely references in the first three seasons, including several episodes that were obvious homages to movies. âClamsâ is âJawsâ. âI Was a Teenage Garyâis âI Was a Teenage Werewolfâ. âClub SpongeBobâ is an obvious homage to Lord of the Flies. What makes it timeless is that the references and homages arenât the entire joke. For example, in Band Geeks, thereâs a reference to the finale of the musical âA Chorus Lineâ that goes:
SpongeBob: When do we get to start kicking?
Squidward: No, SpongeBob. Thatâs âA Chorus Lineâ
Patrick: Kicking? I wanna do some kicking!
He then kicks sandy who beats him up outside, shoving him through a trombone.
A lot of shows would have just left the reference as the setup and the name drop, but in this case, the reference leads into a comedic misunderstanding, which leads into slapstick. Itâs funny if you donât get the reference, but if you do get it itâs funnier.
I think what great about the show is that itâs makes very obscure references! The writers didnât follow trends and such, instead they made jokes calling back to really old movies and other pieces of media. And the best part! The references donât take away from the show! Great comment!
@@masalanicholoff3593 i get what you're saying! but, the references that spongebob used back in the early days (using the ones you listed as examples) were used in a way where you didn't need to understand the source material of the reference to laugh at the way the theme/joke presented itself on the show. these days, in a lot of shows (and even modern spongebob), if you don't understand a current trend or style of humor, a bit has more of a likelihood to be lost on people. again, i totally get what you're saying! it's just that older spongebob really used their own storytelling as a crutch, where newer spongebob uses modern humor and trends that involve overused shock value.
this is a good debate, though! gave me something to think about.
watching this made me realize that i've never really watched an analysis on spongebob's humor. it was very interesting to see all of the information you gathered for this. great video!
Thank you so much! Itâs honestly so much fun overthinking and diving down rabbit holes like this. You can do it with any show really. Iâm so happy you liked it.
I figure the reason why squidwsrd has stayed consistent is because itâs incredibly easy for a Nickelodeon storyboarder to put themselves in the shoes of an overworked underpaid artist. This video was really good, at times it felt even academic. The first thing that came to mind when I saw the video was the episode where squid was acting like a ghost. âToo hot, too cool, Toulouse lautrec,â that joke took 20 years to be funny to me! I agree with your point that we all have a little SpongeBob left in us, should we choose to channel him. Just because weâre older and more informed doesnât mean we canât be content with what we have. Hell spongebob has been working as a fry cook at a local burger place for 30 years and look how happy he is. Thereâs a zen in that I hope to achieve one day
Yes! Wonderful take away! I so happy I was able to get that across! And thank you! I totally agree that Squidward is much easier to write for, heâs too realisticđ But SpongeBob and his energy must be so fun for the writers too. Thank you for the comment!
11:22 EDUCATIONAL TELEVISION? OHHH NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
-no free rides, s2e30a
HA! Oh my gosh I should have put that somewhere in the scriptđthatâs one of my favorite jokes!
Really great analysis
I hate that episode tbh it has barely any few jokes there's only 1 really good one
Awww man! Thatâs wouldâve been a great episode to have mentioned! It fits the theme so perfectly! And thank you so much for the compliment! I love drawing the little guy! Heâs so precious!đ
Futurama had some pretty good highbrow humor, especially with how educated the staff are
Great work. Hope this blows up.
Thank you so much!
your art is so pretty!
Thank you so much! I really appreciate itđ
"It'll make your kids dumb"
No it'll make your kids kinda weird, but surprisingly good at Marine Biology concepts.
It seems we're also very skeptical of bullsh*t studies, so there.
I love this! I would love to see a study done on how many kids SpongeBob has inspired to peruse a career in Marine biology! I can only imagine. Thank you for the comment and for watching!!
Im gonna say what nobody has the courage to say: every single era and season is funny even the worst seasons have good jokes and the last thing, say the modern seasons are the funniest the show has been ever
I love this! Iâll be honestâŠI think I sound I little harsh in the video but I agree. I think each era has great things about. Heck even the bad episodes that Darzii talked about have some really funny jokes in them. So itâs not totally black and white! Thanks for this comment!
@@buttercandraw even my least favorite episodes have some good jokes (Atlantis squarepantis has the Mario 64 reference, one coarse meal has the wacky bucks, choir boys on one hand?? that's the only episode with no good jokes
Thought this video was made by a channel with 5000 subs, love the video good job.
WOW! Thatâs a huge complimentđthank you so much! Iâm so happy you enjoyed it! Thanks for watching!
Great video. I wish the best for you and your channel â€
Although you can use some tips.
Speak faster with less gaps in between your sentences. Get to the point faster. It makes the video more entertaining đâ€
Thank so much!đand yes youâre totally right. Iâm awfully at script reading. Im a naturally fast talker actually but I wanted to slow down cause I thought folks wouldnât be able to keep up. *Curse my Hispanic rootsđ*, Iâm joking but Iâm hoping that with more practice Iâll get better at it. Thank you so much for the advice and for watching!
no wonder i was always ahead of my class in spelling/grammar in elementary school. it's all that spongebob i watched đ
lol! Same! I was always using unnecessary big words as a kidđ
Youâre part of the club!
There are not only adult jokes about work and politics and school and prison but also jokes related to Marine Biology in the first 3 seasons.
The pacing is a bit off with the video (like talking too slowly or having pauses that are too long), but I'm sure you'll figure that out as you make more videos
Thank you! Yeah, thatâs something I definitely gotta work on! Iâm gonna keep practicing until I find what works for me. Thank you for the advice!đ
@@buttercandraw hey, I'm sure you're going to keep improving. At least you're putting yourself out there. I can't even hear a recording of my own voice without wanting to rip my hair out, so props for that lol
GREAT VIDEO! I've been wanting to do commentary on my channel! I love the topic of SpongeBob and I'm rlly glad u covered this so well! I feel like the humor of SpongeBob is a little over looked and ur analysis on the topic is amazing! Made it stand out!! Also the art in the background is great I'm a sucker for art content >:]
Nice start to a channel
I recommend a low pass filter to get rid of a bit of the hiss from your mic. And maybe some side chain compression with the music to make your vocals pop against it a bit better.
Visuals and content are great! Can't wait to see more đ *subscribed*
Woah! I had no idea of any of this! Iâm such an amateurđ but seriously thank you! I appreciate the advice! Iâll try this in my next video! Thank you for subđ
@@buttercandraw no problem đ„ł can't wait to see more
The compression is a bit finicky so I recommend familiarizing yourself with it before using, but the low pass filter is simple. You just adjust the frequency till you hear less hiss and it doesn't cut into your voice
absolutely. chocolate with nuts, for example, is a parody of marketing and capitalism (along with the KK itself) that I find to be insanely intellectual for a kids show
I always like to introduce friends who didnât grow up with SpongeBob the strike episode first. It uses a lot of adult vocabulary about the âcost of laborâ or âinstant gratificationâ. Really smart jokes that any adult can identify with. Also the Alaskan bull worm episode is the one that plays after and that one is just a classic.
Your channel already rocks, subscribed!
Itâs only getting started! Thank you so much!đ
I remember vividly the episode squirrel jokes confused me as a kid and had to ask an adult about it to understand the plot and why the characters did what they did, and it got me ruminating on a pretty useful life lesson even at that age, the show did help me think more at times
One thing I REALLY like about your video is that you allow there to be natural pauses and you take your time instead of rushing through your speaking. It actually helps me focus more on the content even as the video is in the background while Iâm gaming. đ
Oh wow! Thank youđđI thought my script reading was really bad. And some of the comments say so too but your comment makes me feel a lot better about it. Iâll keep this in mind as I practice. Thank you so much!
This is such a great video! Hope this channel really takes off sooner rather than later
Thank you so much!! Iâve got some things planned! I appreciate itđ
Thank you for your service.
HOLY SHRIP!!! HELLO TO ALL OF YOU!!! I was not expecting this video to reach as many of you as it has! Thank you so much for watching everyone!!đđđ©·
we all just really love spongebob !!
i love spongebob and i love this video ^_^
Thank you so much! I love SpongeBob too!!đ
Very solid, glad the algorithim keeps throwing me smaller channels, i agree with the other dude about pacing but thats definitely a learned skill over time, you present your ideas fully and with sourced research, big ups for that, you earned that sub like a mf đ
Thank you!đ Iâm hoping to get the hang of script reading eventually. But Iâve got faith, the way to go from here is up after all! I put a lot of love into this project so thank you! Thanks for the support!đ
i agree wholeheartedly ~
good video ~
The song at 11:28 is Undertow by Sage Guyton
It a beautiful track! Had to use it somewhere! Thanks for naming it for folks!!
@@buttercandraw for sure! It's awesome
that's a pretty good thumbnail man
im subbed. keep it up. this video will probably hit 1k in a month.
Wow! Thatâs huge compliment to me! Thank you so muchđ
@@buttercandraw and check it out you hit 4.5 k
Amazing. Just subscribed.
Thank you so much!đ
Me clicking on the video excitedly and then clicking off when I see (video essay)
Oh nawđ it be like that sometimes. âThe nostalgia guyâ on here has some good compilations of SpongeBob clips!
@@buttercandraw thank you for the tip
10/10 video :3
Oh my goshđthank you!!đ
This a really great video but if I had to give one slice of advice, it'd be that it moves wwwwwwwwaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyy too slow, SpongeBob is a very quick show on it's feet so having a video essay in the same vein would do it a lot of justice.
i canât believe this is your first video!! so entertaining and well edited! i talk about how universal spongebob and its humor is between my gen X parents my millennial sister my gen z self and my gen alpha cousins. we all love it and make references to it all the time and this video articulated that so well. great work!! :)
Thank you! Thatâs the true beauty of SpongeBob, We can all appreciate it and laugh along! That makes me so happy! And thank you so much for your kind words!đ
Good video! Keep it up!
Definitely got more up my sleeve! Thank you so much!đ
s q u a r e p a n t
I really became squidward
Awww donât worry, youâve still got that SpongeBob somewhere. Itâs all about finding himđ
9:11 What's going on with the text?
Oh- thatâs just text from the speed paint lolđunused assets.
Sadly, the reality is that Spongebob hasnt been it's true self in 20 years. And without Steven Hillenburg, it never will be again. This show continues to drive itself further into the ground, especially with things like all the spinoffs and whatever all those Netflix movies they are doing are... Do I think it should have ended after the first movie? Not necessarily as we have gotten some good stuff out of post movie Spongebob, but was it worth having a large percentage of all the rest of post movie being kind of terrible? Hard to say. All I know is that modern Spongebob is for literal babies now and has no point in continuing. But Nickelodeon will hold onto the show as long as they possibly can because what even are they without Spongebob? Cable tv itself is just hanging by a thread anyway so I think Spongebob will last as long as cable tv does and after that we'll continue to get terrible Spongebob streamed exclusively on Paramount Plus.
i'm 2 mins in and the pacing is really slow and boring i really liked the premise of this video but i gotta leave due to the delivery of the material
Thanks, this is really valid criticism! I can agree that my script reading abilities are not all that good yet. Iâm a naturally fast talker so it was very hard to balance my speech. Iâll wake on it thoughđ
yeah the delivery was a bit awkward and the introduction to what SpongeBob and the definitions felt unnessecary and boring but she def has potential
10/10 video :3
Thank you so muchđđ