SpongeBob SquarePants: Lost at Sea
April 2003 Reviewed by: Marc Mickelson Format: DVD	(all ratings out of 5): Overall Enjoyment Picture Quality Packaged Extras Sound Quality

Welcome to Bikini Bottom, home of the Krusty Krab and Chum Bucket restaurants, and residents Patrick the Starfish, Mr. Krabs, Squidward, and SpongeBob SquarePants, whose adventures are the basis for Lost at Sea and the series of Nickelodeon cartoons that bear his name. Few families with young children and cable TV don't know SpongeBob, but those unfamiliar with this cute, clever, and very funny series of cartoons can pick up this DVD, which includes eight cartoons and one double-length episode. What are these cartoons like? Imagine the sugary innocence of the Teletubbies crossed with the hip edginess of Pee Wee's Playhouse. SpongeBob and pals may live underwater, but their world does not resemble such Disney fare as The Little Mermaid. The humor is more adult, but not so much so that little ones won't get it.

What makes these cartoons work for kids of all ages are the scripts, which develop the characters and put them into comic situations instead of running them through a series of gags. Take "Plankton," for instance, in which Bikini Bottom's resident villain, the one-eyed Plankton, takes over SpongeBob's brain in order to steal the secret formula for the krabby patty, Bikini Bottom's favorite eat-out delicacy. In "Mermaidman and Barnacleboy II," SpongeBob rubs elbows with Saturday morning's favorite crime-fighting duo (voices provided by Ernest Borgnine and Tim Conway), who resemble an aged Batman and Robin down to the invisible Boatmobile. In "The Chaperone," SpongeBob agrees to take Mr. Krabs' teenage daughter, Pearl, to her prom, but only after a makeover ŕ la daytime TV.

There are so many meaningful small touches to these cartoons, giving the series real, uh, legs. There's SpongeBob's pet snail, Gary, who meows; Mr. Krabs' har-ty pirate laugh; Squidward's squishy gait; and of course SpongeBob's naiveté and favorite pronouncement, "I'm ready, I'm ready." The characters also have good comic timing, something you realize only after laughing aloud at such utter silliness.

Lost at Sea is short on extras, providing commentary for only the double-length episode on each disc along with storyboards and a special short feature: "SpongeBob's 7 Life Strategies." But this disc is for kids who want to watch the cartoons, not discover every nuance about the characters and the making of the series. The running time of 110 minutes is more than adequate.

If I were a kid, I'd be into SpongeBob. The fact that I am all grown up (in most ways) and still find these cartoons interesting is testament to their high quality. Nickelodeon has a star in SpongeBob SquarePants, and I'll be looking to buy the other DVDs -- of which there are three, including the newly released Tales from the Deep -- just to see what I have missed.

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