Season 4's weird aura

[adamboy1998]

A few weeks ago, I stumbled across a thread on 4chan's /co/ (not a good board if you're easily offended; very little is off-limits there) where someone brought up that Season 4 of SpongeBob had a very "uncanny valley" feel to it. This resonated with me a great deal. S4 began airing when I was about seven years old, and even back then I noticed something felt weirdly "off" about the show, though I couldn't quite put my finger on what.

Even now, I find Season 4 (particularly its first half or so) has this strange aura around it that not even the other post-movie seasons give off. Does anybody else feel this way and perhaps have a better idea as to why? I'm aware of Hillenburg's initial departure and the massive staff changes that occurred following the first movie, but I don't think that's entirely the reason behind why S4 feels so weird, as the seasons following that, while still very different from pre-movie, don't have this aura.

 

[JoeyBoi]

I think it's because season 4 was trying very hard to be like classic Spongebob, and while working in some cases, it didn't in others. So you get a season that almost feels like classic Spongebob but isn't quite there. This is why I'm lukewarm to alot of episodes in season 4, they kind of have that pre-movie aura surrounding them, but they don't have as much charm as the early episodes. With season 5 though, you could see that it was definitely trying to be different then anything we've seen before, because they probably knew the "almost classic Spongebob" thing was going to get stale. I still would've preferred if they went with that style though, because even though season 5 had some really stand-out episodes (some even better than season 4's highs), it had some really awful episodes, and I value consistency in most things, so I think only having a few bad episodes with most of the episodes of the season just being pretty solid and inoffensive would be better for the show. But yeah, sometimes I don't know how to feel about season 4, and it's probably the strangest season for me.

 

[Grass-Skirt-Chase]

I totally get what you’re talking about; Season 4 is one of my favorite seasons because of the weird vibe. There’s something about the episodes that feels and looks a bit off. One thing that caught my eye is how unique the facial expressions are. The characters’ faces look malleable but not overly-grotesque in their expressions like in later seasons. Another thing I noticed is how high-pitched SpongeBob’s voice seems to get, notably in Patrick SmartPants. The tone is almost cute in a sense, though it differs majorly from the deeper tone we hear in previous seasons, especially in Season 1.

 

[EM.]

Actually Stephen Hillenburg didn't leave right after the first movie, he became an executive producer, and was no longer involved with the show directly but would sometimes comment on and oversee episodes.

 

[Sara SquarePants]

Season 4 was a "changing of the guard" transitional season where Stephen Hillenburg stepped down and Paul Tibbitt took over

 

[Original Raw and Uncut]

I have a simular feeling when it comes to mid/late season 3 of regular show

 

[Yoh Manta]

Oh yes, I love the weirdness of Season 4. It feels like a strange combination of Season 3 and Season 5. A mix of the freshest season and the first season that felt stale to me. It's like what Season 8 was to The Simpsons. A good season, but definitely the first sign things were starting to go in the wrong direction.

 

[adamboy1998]

The weirdness aura is particularly persistent in the earlier Season 4 episodes. By the end of the season, it feels more like S5

 

[Original Raw and Uncut]

The weirdness aura is particularly persistent in the earlier Season 4 episodes. By the end of the season, it feels more like S5

Season 4 of adventure time is like that

 

[SpongeyMind]

agreed, episodes like squidtastic voyage, thats no lady, wigstruck, hocus pocus, i could go on

 

[SpongeyMind]

The Season's episodes had semi strange concepts, like squidward turning into ice cream, or spongebob and patrick going inside squidwards body, but as the season went on, it started becoming more post movie

 

[Grass-Skirt-Chase]

Actually Stephen Hillenburg didn't leave right after the first movie, he became an executive producer, and was no longer involved with the show directly but would sometimes comment on and oversee episodes.

Where did Steve work during that time period of just being an executive producer? Did he work on other shows? Were his bills being paid solely from the money SpongeBob brought him? I’m curious.

 

[EM.]

Where did Steve work during that time period of just being an executive producer? Did he work on other shows? Were his bills being paid solely from the money SpongeBob brought him? I’m curious.

He had vanity credit and was still somewhat involved, and I would imagine he would stop giving input or left during the production of season 6 since that's where the real downfall started.

 

[Original Raw and Uncut]

The Season's episodes had semi strange concepts, like squidward turning into ice cream, or spongebob and patrick going inside squidwards body, but as the season went on, it started becoming more post movie

The first five or so episodes still feel like a watered down version of pre-movie

 

[YouDontKnowSponge]

Yeah, Season 4 has that weird vibe but a good type of weird.

 

[adamboy1998]

I mean we all remember how weird FOAKP looked but I think that vibe extends to other episodes in Season 4

 

[Original Raw and Uncut]

Season 4's aura is the equivalent to an 8th grade boy's voice during puberty

 

[SploderEnigma]

I chalk it up to just the crew trying to get used to the show, and they did a fairly good job. Pieguyrulz's video on Season 4 and 5 came to mind when seeing this thread. Also I'd love to see that 4chan thread.
Also maybe this sort of off-topic, but it's crazy to me Paul Tibbitt oversaw the 'dark ages' of the show yet wrote some of the best episodes early on in the series.
And do we know Hillenburg's comments on any post-movie episodes?

 

[DannyWapbang]

It feels more sci-fi than the rest of the seasons. Patrick SmartPants, SquidBob TentaclePants, Squidtastic Voyage... the list goes on.

 

[KalloFox34]

I think some of it can be chalked up to the fact that Season 4 is the first season to be animated using Toon Boom Harmony, so the colors and designs are a little off.

The first season was done entirely traditionally and Seasons 2 and 3 were hand-drawn with digital ink and paint. Indeed, Season 2 had a similar odd vibe because it was the first one to be inked-and-painted digitally.