SpongeBob SquarePants season 6
The sixth season of the American animated television series SpongeBob SquarePants, created by former marine biologist and animator Stephen Hillenburg, aired on Nickelodeon from March 3, 2008, to July 5, 2010, and contained 26 half-hour episodes, being the first season with a different number of half-hours. The series chronicles the exploits and adventures of the title character and his various friends in the fictional underwater city of Bikini Bottom. The season was executive produced by series creator Hillenburg and supervising producer Paul Tibbitt, who also acted as the showrunner. In 2009, the show celebrated its tenth anniversary on television. The documentary film titled Square Roots: The Story of SpongeBob SquarePants premiered on July 17, 2009, and marked the anniversary. SpongeBob's Truth or Square, a television film, and the special episode "To SquarePants or Not to SquarePants" were broadcast on Nickelodeon, as part of the celebration.
The show itself received several recognition, including the Kids' Choice Awards for Favorite Cartoon in 2009 and 2010. At the 2009 ASTRA Awards, the show was nominated for the Favourite International Program category, but did not win. At the 37th Daytime Emmy Awards, the show won for Outstanding Special Class Animated Program, while the directors of the show were nominated for Outstanding Directing in an Animated Program. The show was also nominated at the 2009 and 2010 BAFTA Children's Awards for the Kids' Vote – Television and International category, respectively. The episode "SpongeBob vs. The Big One" was nominated at the 2010 Golden Reel Awards. At the 37th Annie Awards, SpongeBob SquarePants was nominated for Best Animated Television Production for Children, while Tom Kenny won Best Voice Acting in a Television Production for his work on SpongeBob's Truth or Square. Furthermore, at the 38th Annie Awards, the show won for Best Animated Television Production for Children, while the crew members, Jeremy Wakefield, Sage Guyton, Nick Carr, and Tuck Tucker, won the Music in a Television Production category. SpongeBob SquarePants also won at the 2011 ASCAP Film and Television Awards for Top Television Series. The episode "Dear Vikings" was nominated at the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Special Class – Short-Format Animated Programs. Furthermore, Alan Smart was also nominated at the 36th Annie Awards for Direction in an Animated Television Production or Short-form for "Penny Foolish".
Several compilation DVDs that contained episodes from the season were released. The SpongeBob SquarePants: Season 6, Volume 1 and 2 DVDs were released in Region 1 on December 8, 2009, and December 7, 2010, respectively, while the complete set was released in Region 2 on November 29, 2010, and Region 4 on December 2, 2010. On November 13, 2012, The Complete Sixth Season DVD was released in Region 1.
Production
The season's executive producers were series creator Stephen Hillenburg and Paul Tibbitt, who also acted as the series' showrunner. Upon the announcement of Nickelodeon signing the new show The Mighty B! on December 12, 2006, it renewed SpongeBob SquarePants for a sixth season with 26 episodes in order, surpassing the 100-episode mark. Cyma Zarghami, president of Nickelodeon, said "One of the great things about animation is that you can play it over and over again, and kids will still watch it With live action they won't." On March 3, 2008, the season premiered with the episode "Krabby Road". It was written by Luke Brookshier, Nate Cash, and Eric Shaw, while Alan Smart served as animation director.In 2009, Nickelodeon began celebrating the tenth anniversary of the show with Square Roots: The Story of SpongeBob SquarePants, a documentary special by filmmaker Patrick Creadon, that discusses the history of the show and the ascent of the "absorbing character's journey to pop culture stardom". Creator Stephen Hillenburg, speaking by phone from Southern California, said "Ten years. I never imagined working on the show to this date and this long. I really figured we might get a season and a cult following, and that might be it." In an interview, Tom Kenny told that "What I'm most proud of is that kids still really like it and care about it They eagerly await new episodes. People who were young children when it started 10 years ago are still watching it and digging it and think it's funny. That's the loving cup for me."
Nickelodeon also broadcast a -hour television marathon titled "The Ultimate SpongeBob SpongeBash Weekend". The marathon featured the ten most memorable episodes as picked by its viewers on Nick.com. The night capped off with a television encore of The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie at 8 PM. On July 19, ten new episodes including the special episode "To SquarePants or Not to SquarePants" premiered. Paramount Home Entertainment released a 14-disc DVD titled The First 100 Episodes on September 22, 2009. The DVD runs approximately 2200 minutes and includes the first 100 episodes of the series. A second SpongeBob SquarePants television film, titled Truth or Square, aired on Nickelodeon on November 6, 2009. Several celebrities made live action cameo appearances on the film, including Rosario Dawson, LeBron James, Tina Fey, Will Ferrell, Craig Ferguson, Robin Williams and P!nk, while Ricky Gervais provided opening and closing narration for the film.
Animation was handled overseas in South Korea at Rough Draft Studios. Animation directors credited with episodes in the sixth season included Andrew Overtoom, Alan Smart, and Tom Yasumi. Episodes were written by a team of writers, which consisted of Casey Alexander, Steven Banks, Luke Brookshier, Nate Cash, Zeus Cervas, Sean Charmatz, Derek Iversen, Tom King, Dani Michaeli, Richard Pursel, Chris Reccardi, Aaron Springer, Eric Shaw, and Paul Tibbitt. The season was storyboarded by Alexander, Brookshier, Cash, Cervas, Charmatz, King, Reccardi, and Springer.
Cast
The sixth season featured Tom Kenny as the voice of the title character SpongeBob SquarePants and his pet snail Gary. SpongeBob's best friend, a starfish named Patrick Star, was voiced by Bill Fagerbakke, while Rodger Bumpass played the voice of Squidward Tentacles, an arrogant and ill-tempered squid. Other members of the cast were Clancy Brown as Mr. Krabs, a miserly crab obsessed with money and SpongeBob's boss at the Krusty Krab; Mr. Lawrence as Plankton, a small green copepod and Mr. Krabs' business rival; Jill Talley as Karen, Plankton's sentient computer sidekick; Carolyn Lawrence as Sandy Cheeks, a squirrel from Texas; Mary Jo Catlett as Mrs. Puff, SpongeBob's boating school teacher; and Lori Alan as Pearl, a teenage whale who is Mr. Krabs' daughter.In addition to the regular cast members, episodes feature guest voices from many ranges of professions, including actors, athletes, authors, musicians, and artists. For instance, in the episode "House Fancy", television personality Alton Brown guest starred as the character of Nicholas Whithers, the host and judge of a show of the same name. In an interview, Brown described the work as "a blast". He said "I came up with this voice that didn't sound anything like me. I channeled this very strange person. Only three people I know figured out it was even me when they saw it." Actor and musician Johnny Depp guest starred in the episode "SpongeBob SquarePants vs. The Big One" as the voice of Jack Kahuna Laguna, a surf guru that taught SpongeBob how to surf. According to Sarah Noonan, vice president of talent and casting for Nickelodeon, Depp accepted the role because he and his kids were fans of the show. The episode was also guest starred by musician and The Monkees' Davy Jones who starred in the episode as himself, appearing at the bottom of the sea with his locker, and Bruce Brown providing vocal cameo as the episode's narrator. Brian Doyle-Murray also reprised his role as the Flying Dutchman for the episode. In "The Card", Ernest Borgnine returned, reprising his role as Mermaid Man. Borgnine later reappeared in the episodes "Ditchin'" and "Shuffleboarding", voicing his recurring role, with Tim Conway as Barnacle Boy. In "Dear Vikings", English actor Ian McShane voiced Gordon, the leader of the large group of Vikings outside of Bikini Bottom. Dennis Quaid also appeared in the "Grandpappy the Pirate" as Grandpa Redbeard, Mr. Krabs' grandfather. Furthermore, Dee Snider, the frontman of the heavy metal band Twisted Sister, guest starred in "Shell Shocked" as Angry Jack. Snider said "I knew they must be fans because in the SpongeBob movie, they took my song 'I Wanna Rock' and changed it to 'Goofy Goober Rock.' I flipped at the opportunity to be in the show. I have four kids, and everybody loved SpongeBob." In the entry "The Clash of Triton", English singer Victoria Beckham guest starred in the episode as the wife of King Neptune, Queen Amphitrite. The writers created the role of a Queen Amphitrite especially for Beckham. The former Spice Girl accepted the role because her sons, Brooklyn, Romeo, and Cruz, love the show, were excited when their mother told them of the role, and looked forward to watching the episode with her. Beckham recorded the voice-over in late-2008 in a day, and claimed that she was "thrilled" to provide the vocal cameo. Other guests in the episode included Seinfeld actor John O'Hurley as King Neptune and Skid Row heavy metal vocalist Sebastian Bach as the voice of Triton.
Moreover, in the television film SpongeBob's Truth or Square, various celebrities guest appeared, including Rosario Dawson, Craig Ferguson, Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, LeBron James, Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, and Robin Williams as guest actors appearing as themselves in the live action sequences, while Ricky Gervais provided vocal cameo as the narrator.