Oh boy oh boy oh boy, today I’m covering a real special episode, the 20th anniversary special—"SpongeBob's Big Birthday Blowout"! Let me just pull up my “Truth or Square”
review, because I know I mentioned this episode a couple times when I reviewed that one, and maybe I want to address some of those things again, now that it’s been 6 months. But first, let’s go through the episode. Then we’ll have a lengthy discussion at the end.
You already know we’re in for a treat when the title card disappears and instead of the normal sand background we get a flyover of Encino, California. And yes, Encino, because Patchy’s back! Oh it’s been too long. I usually split the Patchy segments and the animated segments, but I think the structure of this episode doesn’t lend itself to that, so I’ll just go chronologically. So, firstly, the Patchy segments clearly got a production value boost. But I love how there’s still a commitment to the low-budget aesthetic. It’s a tasteful update to modern standards without sacrificing the bit.
Now, let’s talk about SpongeBob! His section begins with a gorgeous background
alert, already a great sign, and then with Gary already ready to give SpongeBob a present, also great. Like the Patchy segment, the animated parts of the episode are also chock-full of previous plot points and call-backs. Gary’s present to SpongeBob is a jellyfishing net. Additionally, this episode features all of the main characters, which is a rare event. So this episode clears “Truth or Square” on that. Everyone is planning a surprise party for SpongeBob, and for some reason they’re using Patrick to distract SpongeBob, even though he’s clearly dumber than a box of rocks. But it’s done funnily here so I’m cool with it. SpongeBob and Patrick go on a sightseeing bus tour so everyone else can decorate SpongeBob’s house (the beginning stages of this are amusing, especially when they move all of the stuff into Squidward’s house…Sandy’s lack of Fs to give is always funny). And who else is on this tour but Rube, one of my favorite new characters! And their tour bus is boosted by none other than the French Narrator, who ends up holding a time card. I’m loving all of these references. Not only that, but guess who appears right after this scene? That’s right, David godd*** Hasselhoff. Oh I’m
loving this.
The section of SpongeBob and the tour group up on the surface during the dance party is probably the part of this episode I like the least. I mean it doesn’t fit with the show. The bean theming of this party is kinda funny though. Also, there are certain…trends…that I notice in this scene that annoy me and make me think too much, so that’s another point against this scene. Patrick ends up causing a bit of disaster for a second, making the bus lose all its water, but they’re eventually able to fill it back up. Everyone freaking out because of the dog was amusing though. We cut back to everyone else trying to prepare SpongeBob’s surprise party, but they’re all arguing about it, thinking that they know him better than the rest. So they end up all just putting their own ideas into the party. It’s just like “Home Sweet Rubble”. But this cooperation does cause a little bit of chaos for a second, amusing chaos. And I love the continued confirmation that Mr. Krabs and Mrs. Puff are a thing. And then we later see the line to SpongeBob’s birthday party, and there’s so man references here, I love it! The bit between Larry and Slappy was hilarious. I really love what they’ve done with Larry as a character, he’s so funny now. Sandy also continues to be especially hilarious in this episode. There’s really just so much here and I can’t talk about it. The very weird business meeting portion of the episode is also something else.
Alright, let’s talk about the part we all know—the voice actors playing live action versions of their characters. This is…amazing???? I have nothing else to say. This is literally amazing. Now this is something you’d expect to see in a 20th anniversary special! Everyone here is perfect of course, but Tom Kenny’s just something else. I love everyone’s costuming here too. Plankton’s is really funny. I can tell the voice actors had fun doing this. And I love how Sandy was the one to save the day. Also I loved the shots with everyone in the tour bus being toys in the aquarium.Speaking of aquarium, SpongeBob and the gang get mistaken for one, leading to them getting put into a fish store. And then we get an uncomfortable segment of Patrick falling in love with a random fish. My eyes are rolling out of my head.
Finally, SpongeBob and co. head back to Bikini Bottom. Which means this episode is almost over. But hey, in many ways, this is the best part of the episode. And you know why? Because SpongeBob finally gets to have his birthday celebration...kind of. His house is destroyed, but all the main characters are there, even if they’re sleeping. SpongeBob then has a whole little speech basically saying he loves his life, and honestly the episode could’ve ended right here and been fine. But it didn’t, because there’s just one last little bit we gotta do…SpongeBob’s gotta open his gift from one Patchy the Pirate. One Patchy the Pirate who
finally gets to see his hero. And SpongeBob finally gets his birthday song! Which is better than the normal birthday song, as it’s a remix of the theme. Yeah, this is perfect. And all the random celebrities saying happy birthday to SpongeBob is great. And then we get the best part of all, the episode referencing SpongeBob not having a canonical age. We get a wonderful ending that calls to mind “Krusty Krab Training Video”, SpongeBob getting ready to say his age before we cut to black. Well…not quite black.
Okay, as promised, let’s have that lengthy discussion. Like I said in my “Truth or Square” review, “SpongeBob’s Big Birthday Blowout” has a double duty. It’s the 20th anniversary special of the show…but it’s also Stephen Hillenburg’s dedication episode. And without fail, that “Thank you Steve Hillenburg” at the end gets me feeling a bit emotional, no matter how many times I watch this episode. And not just because of the statement itself, although that’s a huge part, but because this episode was just such a statement. It was such a testament. It was such a tribute to this show and the creator himself. Was it meant to be a tribute to just the show? Yes. But that just shows how much Stephen Hillenburg was dedicated to the creation of this show, even if he stepped back later on. It is truly saddening that we lost one of the most well-known show creators of all time so early on.
Anyway, back in April I said that this episode had more “heart and soul” put into it than the 10th anniversary. I think that wording was slightly wrong, though even in the original review I further clarified what I meant by saying that this episode was more about the show’s history and legacy (well, I didn’t say legacy but I’m saying legacy now), while “Truth or Square” was about the show’s impact and popularity. And this second statement is what I stand by now. To me, it makes complete sense that this episode took a different direction than “Truth or Square”. Not just because it wanted to make a departure from that episode and differentiate itself, but like…10 years is pretty good for a cartoon show. But it’s not so long from the beginning of the show that you want to take a retrospective in the way that this episode did, you know? And also, because these later seasons are known for calling back to previous episodes, it makes even more sense that the 20th anniversary special would follow these trends.
And I still stand by my preference of this episode over “Truth or Square”. Don’t get it twisted, I liked that episode a lot. But this one just means a little more to me for all the reasons stated above. And, in general, it’s a more enjoyable episode. But not by very much. I’m just a sucker for when the show celebrates its own existence, what can I say?
Episode Tier: Amazing
Episode Score: 9.2/10
