Gross-Out In Spongebob

*snickers* So, yeah. I think we should have a topic like this. Spongebob, from the very beginning, has had elements of gross-out (the show is pretty much what would happen if Rocko's Modern Life and Ren And Stimpy had a baby). Episodes like I Was A Teenage Gary and Nasty Patty are early examples of when gross-out has been used.

Skip ahead to Post-Movie. A common complaint of Post-Movie is that it's really disgusting compared to Pre-Movie. Which is true. However, there's a reason. After the movie, a new character designer was hired because Todd White left after the movie; His name was Robert Ryan Cory. And, while the dude is an amazing artist, he has a really over the top grotesque style of drawing. His flickr (Be warned, there is some "The Splinter" level gross out stuff on there.) :

http://www.flickr.com/photos/robertryancory/sets/72157619658736293/.

If you look at that, you'll notice a lot of his designs have been included in the show.

He left around the tail end of Season 7. Which is when the show became a lot more normal. He comes back at times to help with episodes. He said he's gonna help out with a 2012 episode (possibly Season 8 or 9; it might be Face Freeze), which is where those latest designs are coming from. I like Robert as an artist, but his style is just a little too graphic for the show. I'll appreciate the man and his work, but I think him moving on to Secret Mountain Fort Awesome was for the best. He's not responsible for all the gross things on the show, nor is he the reason that the show is gross. The storyboard directors/writers (lol Aaron Springer with Pets Or Pests)

In his designs, he simply capitalizes on the storyboards. If it's gross, he'll make it grosser.
If it's cute, he'll make it cuter (aw, baby Sandy). If it's a gigantic moster, he'll make it gigantic-er. If it's a robot unicorn with lasers- Well, you get the point.

So. How do you feel about how gross-out is used in the show? Your opinions on episodes that focus entirely on gross-out (Pets Or Pests, Fungus Among Us, even Nasty Patty)? Are you glad it's mostly gone from the show now? Was it done better in Pre-Movie?

Discuss.

EDIT: I added a few things about Robert and the show in general.

Artistically, those designs are pretty fantastic! It's just that they don't really fit Spongebob at all, they look more like an Adult Swim-type show if you know what I mean.

Not a big fan of the truly gross out episodes (Splinter, Pets or Pests) but an occasional mostly simple "slightly gross out moment" isn't too bad. As long as they still look Spongebob-y.

I couldn't agree more with you guys. I like a few of his sketches; Baby Sandy, 8-bit characters, old Pat, etc. But, we need to be careful of too much graphic images. This is Season 8, and I don't want Season 8 to become like this personally.

Okay, seriously, even though this guy's designs look like a work of art, they really aren't suited for a family show like SpongeBob.
Kinda why some of the episodes in season 6 *cough*The Splinter*cough* grossed me out.

There's no denying he's an incredible artist, but like you guys said, I don't know why they hired him to work on the show.
I always thought part of the reason the show got more graphic was because Vincent Waller, from Ren and Stimpy, became creative director.

I had noticed that so far in Season 8 we've had very little gross-out material compared to S6 and even S7, which has made the show much more watchable.

He is indeed an amazing artist, but the gross out is too much for a family show.



So that's why Season 8 has less gross out.

DadMom AngryPants said:

I always thought part of the reason the show got more graphic was because Vincent Waller, from Ren and Stimpy, became creative director.

Click to expand...

Aw, but Vince wrote great episodes, like MoonCation and Texas! And, even on Ren And Stimpy, he was never a gross writer. More of an "innuendo-filled" one if anything. It's really just the storyboard directors roughing gross episodes (Aaron Springer wrote Pets or Pests. Robert said it was a gross and funny board, he capitalized on the gross elements -which he admits, weren't very grotesque in the first place- and made them even weirder. That's where all the worm sketches came from.

I do appreciate the gross out gags when used in moderation and not used to the extreme.

Spongebob: Oops, Mr. Krabs! I dropped the patty in the toilet!

Mr. Krabs: Then fish it out,and I'll dry it off with me gym socks!

Nasty Patty should be the standard for how gross-out is handled. A hint of something gross, but no veins or blood or goo or other oddities. =/ Ironically, the episodes he cites as having the most fun on are Ghost Host and Dear Vikings. Which aren't very grotesque in nature (minus that one sequence in Ghost Host with the shapeshifter).

Also, the picture with Spongebob saying, "I'm Back?". Yeah, Robert returned to the show for one last time to design an episode that's set to air this year. That's where those last sketches were coming from. I didn't detect anything graphic (they were actually really cool), so I actually look forward to whatever this episode is.

Exactly. Compare Nasty Patty (gross out done right) to To Love a Patty (gross out done horribly wrong):



Much simpler in design. It's more "so gross it's funny" than "so gross I gotta go hurl."
There's enough detail where it contrasts with the normal animation making it more humorous, but not so much detail it's just plain bad.



Just.... no. This was done all WRONG. Not only is the design completely sick (Worms, all sorts of mold, strange liquids, yuck!) but it's made even worse when SpongeBob (for no reason whatsoever) eats the freakin' patty!
This is throw up worthy, and is not funny in the slightest like Nasty Patty is.


Gross out humor was handled much better in pre-Movie because it was sparse and what gross out there was, was very funny and well done.
Now it's all about how sick you can get a person rather than making a clever visual gag.

Eeeewy! The one w/ Mr. Krabses gums was gross!