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One day, out of the blue, my niece (who, I believe, was four at the time) announced, “Auntie, I’m not into Dora anymore.”
“No?” I replied. “Who do you like now?”
“SpongeBob,” she told me. And with that, my young niece had shifted her cartoon allegiances—from a bilingual explorer to a silly yellow sea creature who flips burgers at the Krusty Krab, near his pineapple home in Bikini Bottom.
And, really, I can’t blame her. It’s pretty funny stuff.
SpongeBob SquarePants: Friend or Foe?, the latest in the expansive SpongeBob DVD collection, features seven short and sweet SpongeBob episodes—all of which are about 10 minutes in length, except for the double episode, “Friend or Foe.”
In the title episode, SpongeBob’s money-hungry boss, Mr. Krabs, tells the sad, sad story of his falling-out with his old friend, now his arch nemesis, Plankton. The episode features some live action scenes, featuring SpongeBob’s number-one fan, a burger-flipping pirate—who, with his parrot pal, only takes away from the fun of the episode. The pirate and his parrot eventually hit the high seas, however, leaving only fun behind. In the remaining episodes, SpongeBob battles both his fear of the dark and a severe case of ick in “Night Light” and “Fungus Among Us.” In “Rise and Shine,” we learn about SpongeBob’s best pal, Patrick’s daily morning rituals (which, admittedly, seem a little bit like my own). And in “Spy Buddies,” which is by far my favorite episode on the disc, Mr. Krabs sends SpongeBob and Patrick on a twist-filled Bond-like spy adventure to see what his arch nemesis, Plankton, is up to.
If I had kids, SpongeBob would be a show that I wouldn’t mind having to watch with them repeatedly—and Friend or Foe? is a collection that I wouldn’t mind popping in the DVD player every once in a while. It may not be especially educational—and there may not be an important lesson to be learned at the end of each episode—but it’s just good old-fashioned silliness. The characters are cute, the stories are entertaining, and they’re always good for a giggle or two.
I was initially surprised that the episodes were extremely short. In fact, the seven episodes on this disc only come to a total of 84 minutes. And I’ll be honest here. I was even a little disappointed when it was all over—because I wanted to watch more. But that makes it the perfect disc to pop in when you have a few minutes before dinner—or to watch back-to-back on a rainy Saturday afternoon. Fans of SpongeBob and newcomers alike won’t be disappointed.
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