I’ve always been fascinated by CG animation in SpongeBob, since it was tested in Sponge Out of Water, and its full TV debut in the very good Kamp Koral: SpongeBob’s Under Years. Now the mainline show has a CG animated episode, and that naturally piqued my interest!
“Go Fetch!” is an episode featured in season 16 of the main show, paired with “The Haunted Bucket”. It centers around SpongeBob playing fetch with Gary, which takes a dark turn.
The episode starts with SpongeBob receiving the ball from Gary having waited 45 minutes (a well worn snail joke, but I loved it). Upon throwing the ball again, it lands on the edge of a trench. The relief is short lived as a small boy comes and kicks the ball down into the darkness below. It being Gary’s childhood ball, the pair take the plunge to retrieve it.
SpongeBob jumps down holding Gary, in a seated pose akin to The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (one of many awesome movie references I feel like), landing on a pile of balls lost down the trench. SpongeBob spots Gary’s ball ahead on a pile of skulls. Before they can retrieve it, they come face to face with an anglerfish, unhappy at the new guests. The creature perks up when seeing the ball, but as SpongeBob walks away, a chase ensues.
We have some beautifully animated sequences here as Gary is abducted by a UFO shaped jellyfish and SpongeBob boards a spaceship fish (spacefish?) and gives chase. The anglerfish catches up to them in a minefield and when those mines explode, it all kicks off as SpongeBob and Gary find themselves in the colourful, digestive tracts of another fish. They’re later hypnotised by an eyeball which turns out to be a large octopus creature that looks like Squidward (remeniscent of the lost Battle for Bikini Bottom boss).
The creature launches the pair to the surface. Thinking they’re safe and sound, SpongeBob celebrates before the anglerfish is face to face with him again. The creature chomps him into pieces, but is stopped when Gary replaces the anglerfish’s light bulb with his ball, which sends the fish away happy. SpongeBob feels bad that Gary doesn’t have his long lost baby toy, before Gary says it’s the memories that matter, not the object. A beautiful moral by the way, very well executed in the short six minute runtime. SpongeBob throws a new ball for Gary, and of course our resident young boy kicks it down the trench again.
The short is animated by Pinreel Inc., which is an animation studio founded by former SpongeBob crew member, Adam Paloian. I can say right now: this is up there with the best SpongeBob has looked in CG. Sponge on the Run very fluid and quick, but the lighting and textures made it look like a dark, gritty action movie, which I dig in its own way. Kamp Koral was very bright and colourful, which fit in well for its younger target audience.
“Go Fetch!” matched the aesthetic of the main show perfectly though. The textures and lighting felt warm and really made SpongeBob as a character feel more innocent and kindhearted. It took me back to the early days of the show, and made me think of the lighting from the sunset scenes in “Dying for Pie”. The animation style was suitably fluid, but there was a good balance with on-model stuff too. I made the comparison to the first movie before, but the trench scenes were a great homage to that, with the dark depths contrasted with the bright and colourful exteriors (and interiors) of the deep sea creatures.
SpongeBob should always be a 2D show at heart, but this short was the best possible example for how to use CG for this franchise. CG has its perks in creating depth and immersion, and it was a great use of it when exploring the trench. Props to the entire team who put this episode together, and I really hope Paramount/Nickelodeon work with the folks at Pinreel again! We are in a golden-age of the show, which is exploring new ideas with different animation styles and storylines, while paying homage to the show’s past, such as with the excellent Season 16 opening episode, SpongeBob and Patrick’s Timeline Twist-Up.
I’m ready for more in the future!
Chris.
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