SpongeBob HorrorPants: Electric Boogaloo, Season Two Terrors
Anchors away! We're diving back to Bikini Bottom for the second installment of SpongeBob HorrorPants
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Welcome back to one of my favorite things that I have ever done, exploring the horrors of my favorite cartoon, SpongeBob SquarePants! And, holy shrimp, I am deeply appreciative of the love for my Season 1 piece. I’m thrilled to deliver the second installment of this series. Anchors away, we’re diving back in!
Season Two Horrors
With the second season, we see a creative shift in the show’s production as digital ink and paint is utilized rather than cel animation, a noticeable difference visually speaking. But what remains consistent is the show’s ability to reference and create unique themes of horror. The social horror of isolation, the bleakness of conformity, classic creature-features, and other robust genre-adjacent themes can be found in this season.
Something Smells - Season Two, Episode 2
“Something Smells” may not be a conventional horror pick, but this episode has stuck with me, simply because the social horror of being smelly is not discussed enough. SpongeBob wants to indulge in his favorite snack, an ice cream sundae. Unfortunately, he’s out of the usual fixings so he makes his own from hellish options: peanuts and onions. Gross, yes. Horrific, not yet.
SpongeBob goes about his day, only to be met with extreme social shunning and destruction. I’m talking about people (fish?) running away, screaming, crying, throwing up. It’s extremely upsetting to see even if we know that it’s just because SpongeBob’s breath reeks. Patrick makes things worse by telling SpongeBob all of this is because he’s ugly. A whole mess through and through.
