J’s 25 Days of Christmas: Christmas Who? Spongebob Squarepants

The First Spongebob Christmas Special

This special has been on long enough that I don’t think I need to explain much about the plot. So let’s just go over the basics.

After Sandy teaches Spongebob about the concept of Christmas, he shares the holiday with the rest of Bikini Bottom, and soon everyone is in on it. Everyone except for Squidward, who thinks everyone is being stupid.

So Christmas Eve comes, and Squidward is being the Scrooge who refuses to celebrate the holiday. So while everyone is waiting for Santa to come, he goes to sleep. Santa doesn’t show up, and everyone becomes disillusioned with the holiday. Even Spongebob tearfully admits that Squidward was right. Feeling guilty, Squidward decides to dress up as Santa to make Spongebob happy, and then ends up giving away all his stuff as gifts. Then the real Santa shows up and thanks him.

Good Times With Spongebob

As a kid who was making the transition from Nick Jr. to Nickelodeon proper, this was one of the first Christmas specials that I saw growing up, and I loved it. I was a huge Spongebob fan throughout my childhood and tried to emulate him as much as possible. I enjoyed watching his Christmas special every year. That being said, there was one thing about the special that always bugged me: why did everyone stay up to wait for Santa?

As a kid growing up, I was always taught that if you wanted Santa Claus to show up, then you needed to go to sleep so that he wouldn’t be seen. Granted, I know that that was so that parents could put out the presents. Why wouldn’t Sandy tell him that? Most kids will know that idea.

Furthermore, I get why Squidward wanted to rub the fact that he was right in Spongebob’s face. I would be probably be annoyed by Spongebob’s attempts to get him into the holiday spirit. But being right doesn’t give him the right to be a total jackass. Even so, I think Squidward’s decision to dress up as Santa was one of the nicest things I’ve ever seen him do. Too bad I don’t see him do that any more.

In all, though, this remains one of my all-time favorite Christmas Specials, and I hope that you guys have a Merry Christmas.

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