Tide and Seek DVD colouring

[EmployeeAMillion]

So I rented two retro SpongeBob DVDs from Video Ezy today, Tide and Seek and Sponge for Hire. The latter is all Season 3 episodes (mostly from the latter half of the season), while Tide and Seek is all around the border for pre-movie, having 2 Season 1 episodes (Opposite Day and Sleepy Time), 6 Season 2 episodes (Bossy Boots, Big Pink Loser, Squidville, Dumped, Squirrel Jokes, Mermaid Man & Barnacle Boy III) and 2 Season 3 episodes (The Bully, Rock-a-Bye Bivalve). The only episode that I bothered to watch at this point was Big Pink Loser and HOLY CRUD SPONGEY'S ACTUALLY YELLOW!

Yeah, I'm sorta glad that it was mostly comprised of Season 2 episodes (aside from it being my favourite season from the show) because it's not rerun on Nickelodeon Australasia as much as post-movie (unfortunately), and because whenever I look up Season 2 episodes online as either pictures or videos, SpongeBob almost always seems to have this sickly pale colour which just isn't as appealling as the citric yellow that he's presented as in Season 1+3-9 episodes. Even the images in the "pictures" section of this very site don't look so hot.

I'm willing to guess that it has to do with the fact that these are mostly ripped from the Complete Second Season DVD (which came out in 2004, around the time that video was starting to rise in popularity on the internet, and is generally more convenient when it comes to choosing episodes to pick for viewing), and I don't find that to do my favourite season justice. It's not a bad boxset, I've certainly never owned it, but it's literally muddied the viewing experience of the season for me.

So wha do you think? Should we give more attention to these individual sets when it comes to how we watch retro SpongeBob, or should we just stick with the complete boxsets? Should the footage ripped from the former be the way of looking at SpongeBob as a whole from now on? (At least Season 2 and 6, because they generally have the most colouring mistakes)

 

[JerryTheSnail]

Yeah, most people seem to associate s2 with Spongebobs pale color, when really that was a mistake with the digital remasters

 

[Fondue Pot]

If this helps, here's a list of all of the Season 2 episodes which have been released on individual sets:

Spoiler

Your Shoe's Untied (Lost at Sea, Ghouls Fools)
Squid's Day Off (The Seascape Capers)
Something Smells (Nautical Nonsense and Sponge Buddies)
Bossy Boots (Tide and Seek, SpongeBob, You're Fired!)
Big Pink Loser (Tide and Seek, SpongeBob and Friends: Patrick SquarePants)
Bubble Buddy (Lost at Sea, SpongeBob on Tour)
Dying for Pie (Nautical Nonsense and Sponge Buddies)
Imitation Krabs (Halloween)
Wormy (Nautical Nonsense and Sponge Buddies)
Patty Hype (SpongeBob Goes Prehistoric)
Grandma's Kisses (The Seascape Capers)
Squidville (Tide and Seek)
Prehibernation Week (Lost at Sea, Deep-Sea Games)
Life of Crime (Sea Stories)
Christmas Who? (Christmas, Nicktoons Christmas, Nick Picks Holiday, 10 Happiest Moments)
Survival of the Idiots (Christmas)
Dumped (Tide and Seek)
No Free Rides (Sea Stories)
I'm Your Biggest Fanatic (Fear of a Krabby Patty)
Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy III (Tide and Seek, The Adventures of SpongeBob SquarePants)
Squirrel Jokes (Tide and Seek)
Pressure (SpongeGuard on Duty)
The Smoking Peanut (The Seascape Capers)
Shanghaied (Sea Stories)
Gary Takes a Bath (Sea Stories, Absorbing Favorites)
Welcome to the Chum Bucket (Halloween, SpongeBob, You're Fired!)
Frankendoodle (Halloween)
The Secret Box (Halloween, SpongeBob and Friends: Patrick SquarePants)
Band Geeks (Halloween, Home Sweet Pineapple)
Graveyard Shift (Nautical Nonsense and Sponge Buddies, 10 Happiest Moments)
Krusty Love (The Seascape Capers)
Procrastination (Christmas)
I'm with Stupid (SpongeBob Goes Prehistoric, Nick Picks Volume 2, SpongeBob and Friends: Patrick SquarePants)
Sailor Mouth (Sea Stories)
Artist Unknown (The Seascape Capers)
Jellyfish Hunter (SpongeGuard on Duty, Absorbing Favorites)
The Fry Cook Games (The Seascape Capers, Absorbing Favorites, The Best of Nickelodeon: Summer Adventures, Deep-Sea Games)
Squid on Strike (SpongeBob Goes Prehistoric)
Sandy, SpongeBob, and the Worm (Home Sweet Pineapple)

 

[Ihavedahswag]

Just watched Graveyard Shift on the 10 Happiest Moments DVD, and SpongeBob was still the pale yellow you see on the season 2 box set. I would try the same episode on the Nautical Nonsense DVD but I let someone borrow it at the moment, so I'll have to wait until I can get it back.

 

[BenPaz: Act Zero]

I personally never notice the grayer color and I kind of like it in its own unique way.

Spoiler

Then again I like post movie so.......

 

[Fondue Pot]

I dug out my Halloween DVD and all the Season 2 episodes on there have the correct coloring:

 

[BrickSponge2015]

I have Nautical Nonsense/SpongeBuddies, Halloween, Lost at Sea and Christmas so I could pull those out and check later.

 

[ExtraAbsorbent]

Here's some I have. http://imgur.com/a/Da8tB

 

[Fondue Pot]

Just watched Graveyard Shift on the 10 Happiest Moments DVD, and SpongeBob was still the pale yellow you see on the season 2 box set. I would try the same episode on the Nautical Nonsense DVD but I let someone borrow it at the moment, so I'll have to wait until I can get it back.

I have the Nautical Nonsense and Sponge Buddies DVD and took a screenshot. SpongeBob has the correct coloring:

 

[Ihavedahswag]

I have the Nautical Nonsense and Sponge Buddies DVD and took a screenshot. SpongeBob has the correct coloring:

Interesting. So I guess this means that not all the individual DVDs have the same colouring. It seems that the later DVDs use the same colouring as the box sets. :)

 

[Jibbix]

It's not the DVD's. Some episodes in Season 2 have SpongeBob colored a bright yellow, some episodes like Procrastination have him that pale shade. It was an episode by episode inconsistency (I guess because they were new to digital paint?) but the DVD colors are very much the same as the TV episodes.

You'll find that no matter what, on any compilation DVD, the episodes notorious for the sickly, almost grey SpongeBob will still feature him.

 

[Ihavedahswag]

It's not the DVD's. Some episodes in Season 2 have SpongeBob colored a bright yellow, some episodes like Procrastination have him that pale shade. It was an episode by episode inconsistency (I guess because they were new to digital paint?) but the DVD colors are very much the same as the TV episodes.

You'll find that no matter what, on any compilation DVD, the episodes notorious for the sickly, almost grey SpongeBob will still feature him.

That's not true. Here is a screenshot I took of Graveyard Shift from the 10 Happiest Moments DVD. Compare it to Fondue Pot's screenshot and you can see the difference in colouring.

 

[JerryTheSnail]

It's not the DVD's. Some episodes in Season 2 have SpongeBob colored a bright yellow, some episodes like Procrastination have him that pale shade. It was an episode by episode inconsistency (I guess because they were new to digital paint?) but the DVD colors are very much the same as the TV episodes.

Procrastination/IWS was the exception, because the whole episodes are pale, not just Spongebob. It wasn't a problem with the actual colouring in the episodes, something is definitely up with the print Nickelodeon airs (without the deleted scene). On top of that, the only other version of those episodes that don't have the blurry pale dirty look are the digital remasters which have the same coloring issue as the rest of s2.

If I can find screenshots of old TV airings I'll post them, but Spongebob definitely was originally yellow in those episodes.

 

[The Tide and Seeker]

Procrastination/IWS was the exception, because the whole episodes are pale, not just Spongebob. It wasn't a problem with the actual colouring in the episodes, something is definitely up with the print Nickelodeon airs (without the deleted scene). On top of that, the only other version of those episodes that don't have the blurry pale dirty look are the digital remasters which have the same coloring issue as the rest of s2.
If I can find screenshots of old TV airings I'll post them, but Spongebob definitely was originally yellow in those episodes.

I have 2002 tv airing of Procrastination, I could probably post that.

 

[JerryTheSnail]

I have 2002 tv airing of Procrastination, I could probably post that.

Cool, go ahead! But when did they stop airing the full episode with all the scenes?

 

[The Tide and Seeker]

Cool, go ahead! But when did they stop airing the full episode with all the scenes?

Around 2006. My copy has the deleted scene.

 

[JerryTheSnail]

I found a couple screenshots (the top one from Procrastination, the bottom from IWS)

 

[BeanoSponge]

Sure, if it isn't too much trouble.

 

[Invincibubble]

Actually, on my "SpongeBob on Tour" DVD, SpongeBob also has the same grey pale coloring as the Season 2 DVDs.

Spoiler

 

[JerryTheSnail]

Actually, on my "SpongeBob on Tour" DVD, SpongeBob also has the same grey pale coloring as the Season 2 DVDs.

Spoiler

wow, it's really odd seeing season 8 episodes with Spongebobs pale color.