If it’s Wednesday, that must mean another batch of SpongeBob cartoons. The lead-off here is the is title episode, a 22-minute piece that recounts the adventures of SpongeBuck SquarePants, our hero’s 19th-Century ancestor. The rest of the episodes are an eclectic bunch, and the thematic consistency is less than that of some other collections (there is a vague adventure link that runs through several of the stories). At any rate, the silliness is just as engaging and bizarre as ever, and there are plenty of quick absurdist sight gags to keep you chuckling.
Audio
Very much on par with the other releases. The sound is clean, crisp, undistorted and lively. But it is also fairly unremarkable 2.0. The music keeps the rear speakers moderately busy, but that’s about it. Sound effects and so forth stick to just straight stereo. No problems, though, so this is certainly good enough to be getting by with.
Video
The image is extremely sharp, and the colours are gratifyingly vivid. There is no grain, but there is a problem that has been a recurring (though not universal) one with these releases, and that is aliasing, which, though not a deal-breaker, is certainly noticeable. That’s pretty much the only objection, though, and viewing is otherwise enjoyable.
Special Features
The usual animatic (for the title piece) is joined by four “Pest of the West” shorts (each a couple of minutes long). That’s it.
Closing Thoughts
Very much a business as usual release, but there’s nothing wrong with that. Plenty of laughs on tap.
