Seriously, this was surprisingly charming. With the series becoming so mean-spirited ever since season 5 started, this was kind of uplifting. Here, there's a reason for the characters to act like jerks, well, except for Patrick who's still kind of a jerk even without having eaten Plankton's fruitcake. The songs are quite good and actually add to the plot, unlike Atlantis Squarepantis where every single number except for maybe the first one was a complete waste of time and effort. The humour is actually good and while Squidward does get tormented at one point, at least it's the film's antagonist doing it and not one of the protagonists, who the episode would likely want us to believe is in the right. The only downside is that, honestly, I wish this had come out earlier. This special more-or-less pretends that every episode leading up to it never happened. It feels more like something you'd expect from season 2 as the jerkish behaviour of the citizens is implied to be out-of- character for them despite a boatload of recent episodes proving otherwise. Also, the animations are really good, and even the Patchy segment wasn't anywhere near as painful to sit through as they usually are. All-in-all, for Spongebob fans, I think this is worth checking out, especially if you've been as annoyed by recent episodes as I've been. Seriously, if you haven't seen it, give it a go.
7 Reviews
OK, But I Liked the First One Better
StephenBurg25 December 2012
Warning: Spoilers
It's a SpongeBob Christmas/Tis the Season to be Jerky-In a stop-motion world of Bikinni Bottom, Christmastime is coming once again and everyone's excited...except for Squidward, but this episode's not about him. Plankton wants to ask Santa Claus for the secret formula to the Krabby Patty, but he's too evil to get it, so he creates a fruitcake that contains the aptly named element "Jerktonium" and which SpongeBob foolishly gives to everyone in Bikinni Bottom.(In my opinion, they're already jerks, they're just nice around Christmas). However, SpongeBob's too merry to turn into a jerk, so Plankton builds an evil robot that's based on SpongeBob (the design really is bad and off, but it's enough to fool Bikinni Bottom)to act rudely. It's up to SpongeBob to destroy his evil counterpart and bring the joys of Christmas back to Bikinni Bottom. The story sounds very familiar to me, so it's not very original. I don't think the stop-motion was really necessary, but he didn't hurt the show too much, but the Bikinni Bottom citizens as jerks looked a little gross and for, some reason, Pearl just dosen't look right here. This episode was based on the song "Don't be a Jerk, It's Christmas," which SpongeBob sings at the end, like the "Best Day Ever," (In my opinion, this was better than "Best Day Ever")and includes another decent song at the beginning: "Santa's Got His Jolly Little Eyes on Me." This is a decent SpongeBob episode, but it's not one of the best.
Is it possible to cover your behind by pretending other terrible episodes didn't exist without seeming hypocritical?
adampkalb14 August 2018
Warning: Spoilers
I don't usually review Spongebob episodes, but I have something extra special to say about this one. I almost expected a lot of complaints about how there are other episodes like Stuck in the Wringer and Someone's in the Kitchen With Sandy about how the citizens of Bikini Bottom were bigger jerks than Plankton or One Coarse Meal when Plankton was sympathetic and Mr. Krabs became a lot worse than him, but none of that ruined this episode for me or Mr. Enter. In my experience, you can have a positive episode pretending that other terrible episodes don't exist as long as you have a decent plot and it's not a moment of hypocrticial heartwarming like Family Guy's Screams of Silence had with Glenn Quagmire, and it makes me really sad to realize how hypocritical it is to worry about his sister as a person/woman when he treats other women like objects. In contrast to that episode, Forget-Me-Not was a good Family Guy episode that had a decent plot, so it was okay to pretend that other terrible episodes where Peter was a bad friend to Brian didn't exist.
The Bikini Bottomites are a lot nicer and caring to each other like they were in Pre-Hibernation Week when they were searching for Spongebob. If you bring your A-game with characters and story, only the most negative of reviewers would let what has happened get in the way of what should and did happen here. In many ways, this is the opposite to Miracle on Evergreen Terrace because it doesn't come out of nowhere when nice people turn mean on Christmas and there's another real bad guy causing this. Spongebob also had a good reason for being immune to the jerktonium. He was too kind to be turned bad by it. I actually found the plot of this episode to be better than Christmas Who because it was less boring, and Sandy and Plankton both appear in It's a Spongebob Christmas a lot more than Christmas Who. There are a couple of plotholes like Santa Claus falling for the jerktonium and the Spongebob robot, but I can forgive this episode for those because Plankton got what he deserved at the end. If you want to be nice and get the Krabby Patty formula for Christmas, use the opposite of jerktonium to make yourself good. If only Miracle on Evergreen Terrace had another song with a message like this about not being a jerk, it might have been nearly as good as this one.
The Bikini Bottomites are a lot nicer and caring to each other like they were in Pre-Hibernation Week when they were searching for Spongebob. If you bring your A-game with characters and story, only the most negative of reviewers would let what has happened get in the way of what should and did happen here. In many ways, this is the opposite to Miracle on Evergreen Terrace because it doesn't come out of nowhere when nice people turn mean on Christmas and there's another real bad guy causing this. Spongebob also had a good reason for being immune to the jerktonium. He was too kind to be turned bad by it. I actually found the plot of this episode to be better than Christmas Who because it was less boring, and Sandy and Plankton both appear in It's a Spongebob Christmas a lot more than Christmas Who. There are a couple of plotholes like Santa Claus falling for the jerktonium and the Spongebob robot, but I can forgive this episode for those because Plankton got what he deserved at the end. If you want to be nice and get the Krabby Patty formula for Christmas, use the opposite of jerktonium to make yourself good. If only Miracle on Evergreen Terrace had another song with a message like this about not being a jerk, it might have been nearly as good as this one.
It's a Spongebob Christmas! indeed (Edit read update below)
travelertoon30 December 2019
It's a Spongebob Christmas! Is Spongebob's second Christmas special, and now they are in claymation. This special is about the Bikini Bottomites turning into jerks from eating fruit cake laced with Jerktonium, made by Plankton. Spongebob needs to find a cure so that the townsfolk can become nice on Christmas. This a really good Spongebob episode, and a really good Christmas special.
The reasons why this special is good is because the claymation is a neat concept, and it pays homage to other Christmas specials like, "Rudolph the Red Reindeer." Also the songs are really good like, "Don't Be a Jerk (It's Christmas)," and it has a lot of good jokes like when Patrick was trying to get Santa. The characters are decent in this special, from Spongebob's Christmas spirit, Plankton's role as a villain, and all the other characters. I will give this a 10/10, but I do think Christmas Who is the better Christmas special.
Next Year I'm going to review other cartoons besides Spongebob.
Update Dec 7, 2022: This is one of my earlier reviews and I was too soft on this special (partly from how I was way too soft on Spongebob when I was starting out). Don't get me wrong this is still a great episode, but went from a 10 to a 9 from how it has a few problems. These include Santa thinking that the Bikini Bottomites are naughty; when really they got mind screwed over eating that cake. As well as thinking that Spongebob was naughty, when it was a robot that looks different from him, Spongebob was just nice as ever and even when there near each other Santa still thinks there the same Spongebobs. Santa is just dumb here. Also the Patchy segments aren't really that great. Still would consider it one of the best Spongebob episodes from seasons 4-8 though.
The reasons why this special is good is because the claymation is a neat concept, and it pays homage to other Christmas specials like, "Rudolph the Red Reindeer." Also the songs are really good like, "Don't Be a Jerk (It's Christmas)," and it has a lot of good jokes like when Patrick was trying to get Santa. The characters are decent in this special, from Spongebob's Christmas spirit, Plankton's role as a villain, and all the other characters. I will give this a 10/10, but I do think Christmas Who is the better Christmas special.
Next Year I'm going to review other cartoons besides Spongebob.
Update Dec 7, 2022: This is one of my earlier reviews and I was too soft on this special (partly from how I was way too soft on Spongebob when I was starting out). Don't get me wrong this is still a great episode, but went from a 10 to a 9 from how it has a few problems. These include Santa thinking that the Bikini Bottomites are naughty; when really they got mind screwed over eating that cake. As well as thinking that Spongebob was naughty, when it was a robot that looks different from him, Spongebob was just nice as ever and even when there near each other Santa still thinks there the same Spongebobs. Santa is just dumb here. Also the Patchy segments aren't really that great. Still would consider it one of the best Spongebob episodes from seasons 4-8 though.
Better than christmas who!
jcabezashidalgo28 November 2023
Ok just hear me out... THIS EPISODE IS SO MUCH BETTER THAN CHRISTMAS WHO OMG, It has a better plotline, better songs and better animation this is one of my favorite episodes!, Ok i just have 1 problem and its the fruitcake didn't they establish a big deal of now eating fruit cake in christmas who?, But since spongebob isnt know for its continuity THIS EPISODE IS SO GOOD OMG GO WATCH IT RIGHT NOW AND ITS GOOD FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR! Please i cannot belive how good this episode is than christmas who im sorry. All of you just have nostalgia goggles on for christmas who So please go watch this now!
A little bit disappointing...
Lolliepopp996 December 2012
I'm 13, and I love sponge bob very much! Though "It's A Spongebob Christmas!" was quite disappointing in my opinion. What I love about sponge bob is the random plot lines - I hate things where there is a crisis and the main character always seems to win somehow. Spongebob Christmas was like that. It didn't feel like sponge bob! The claymation only made it worse. I also didn't like the fact it didn't have the comedy that sponge bob usually has, and they always seem to sing for no apparent reason... Though the only good thing about it was the claymation was quite sweet and I like the fact that sponge bob was an actual sponge. I think sponge bob Christmas was aimed for littler children as my 2 year old brother was sat watching it until the end!
Better as a cartoon, but decent.
MistyNoble198711 December 2012
This was the first Spongebob Squarepants episode ever to air on CBS, which is very exciting because that means we can add one more channel to our list for catching Spongebob reruns on! Not so sure I like the claymation style Christmas special for Spongebob, because there are many Spongebob antics that cannot be shown through claymation. However, Spongebob is wonderful as ever in his holiday adventure for the young and old!!! Bound to be a classic that CBS will show year after year. Join SpongeBob Squarepants, Patrick Starr, Squidard Tentacles, Sand Cheeks, Mr Krabs, Plankton and the rest of the Spongebob crew on their Christmas adventure through Bikini Bottom!
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