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"SpongeBob's Road to Christmas" is a SpongeBob SquarePants episode from season 13. In this episode, SpongeBob and Patrick travel to the North Pole to give Santa a present.

Characters[]

Synopsis[]

Act 1[]

SpongeBob's Road to Christmas 034

SpongeBob realizes that his present is late.

The episode begins on Christmas Eve when Santa is delivering presents. SpongeBob has a gift for him. When Santa comes into his house, he has to shrink himself to fit inside. While he is putting the presents by the Christmas tree, he accidentally kicks his gift under the sofa without realizing it. Seven months later, while SpongeBob is vacuuming his house, he notices that Santa never got the gift. SpongeBob is upset that the gift is 212 days late and tells Patrick about it. They decide to travel to the North Pole. While they are skipping and hopping, they accidentally step on Plankton. They tell Plankton that they are going to the North Pole. Plankton pitches an idea to go to the North Pole to hack into Santa's computer to put his name on the nice list. He wants to do it so Santa will give him Krabby Patty secret formula. He decides to tag along with SpongeBob and Patrick. They travel in Plankton's vehicle and it seemingly takes a day to get there. They end up at Christmas Land Theme Park. They encounter Santa and discover that it is Patchy the Pirate disguising as Santa.

Act 2[]

Patchy proceeds to tell them they are not at the North Pole but rather a theme park. Plankton admonishes the duo for getting them lost while they realize their error. The three explain that they are trying to find the North Pole and Patchy gives them a map to the North Pole. They eventually all make it to the North Pole. They see Santa's workshop and travel to it. An elf tells them that Santa is on vacation and Plankton goes to Santa's computer to put his name on the nice list. SpongeBob and Patrick cause chaos across the workshop, resulting in a fight. Santa arrives and sees that someone has made a mess. Santa sees SpongeBob and says, "You're a menace!" to him. SpongeBob reveals that all he wanted was to deliver the present to him. Santa is delighted by the gesture, as he reveals not even the elves or reindeer give him a present, to their embarrassment. SpongeBob gives Santa a bottle with a letter inside and Plankton thinks it's the Krabby Patty secret formula, but finds out that it isn't. Santa, SpongeBob, the reindeer, and the elves tell Plankton to read the letter. Plankton begrudgingly reads it and it is revealed that it is merely a thank you note to Santa for bringing joy and presents to all. Santa is touched and thanks SpongeBob.

SpongeBob's Road to Christmas 386

The following Christmas at the Krusty Krab.

Next Christmas, Mr. Krabs has a Christmas party at the Krusty Krab and he gives Plankton some coal. SpongeBob gives Plankton a photo of them with Patchy from their mission to the North Pole. Plankton says that he will destroy everyone with his coal-powered death robot, and he feeds coal to the robot. The episode ends with a shot of the Krusty Krab as everyone can be heard screaming inside while the robot attacks them offscreen.

Production[]

Kaz shared the censored script for an upcoming SpongeBob Christmas special he had just finished writing on October 28, 2020. The episode's very first draft was completed on October 2, the second on October 12, and the third on October 15. The special was set to premiere in 2021.[5]

The official first draft was completed on October 16, 2020, and the board draft was on October 26, 2020.

On December 9, 2020, Benjamin Arcand shared a cropped storyboard panel from this episode.[6]

In an interview with the Encyclopedia SpongeBobia Discord server on December 13, 2020, Dave Cunningham stated that there would be "more than one" holiday special coming up for the franchise. This episode ended up being one of them, alongside the other Christmas specials "The Ho! Ho! Horror" and "Just in Time for Christmas," as well as the Halloween specials "Are You Afraid of the Dork?" and "Terror at 20,000 Leagues."[7] He also said that Patchy and Potty would make another appearance, which also ended up occuring, as SpongeBob, Patrick and Plankton meet them at an abandoned theme park.[8]

On December 21, 2020, Arcand shared an image of a whiskey glass on top of the first half of this episode's script, celebrating his birthday. He jokingly called it the first part of forty-two.[9]

This episode's scratch draft script was completed on February 26, 2021, and the record draft was in two parts on March 26 and April 2, 2021.

The episode's title was confirmed on November 9, 2021 by Cartoonlounge.de.[10]

This episode was in the mixing phase on November 30, 2021.[11]

This episode would be later delivered to Nickelodeon Animation Studio on December 9, 2021, a day before the episode premiered.

Script[]

  • Written by Kaz.

Part One (#1309)[]

Part Two (#1310)[]

Edited scenes[]

  • Patchy was originally dressed up as a live-action Santa, which seems to imply that he would have been live-action as well.
    • According to Vincent Waller, the short answer for the reason why he and Potty are animated instead of live-action is because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and that the crew wanted to keep "[the] actors safe from this dreadful virus."[12]
      • Waller hoped that live-action Patchy would return, although he did love what Robertryan Cory had done with the character in 2D.[13]

Model sheets[]

  • Drawn and cleaned up by Chris DeRose[3] and Brad Lewis.[4]

Art[]

Character design[]

  • Designed by Robertryan Cory.[1]

Prop design[]

  • Designed by Robertryan Cory.[1]

Background design[]

  • Designed by Sterling Ritcher.[2]

Storyboards[]

Deleted scene[]

  • In the original rough storyboard, there was a scene where SpongeBob freaks out breathing when he realizes that Santa forgot his gift, and Gary gives him a brown paper bag, in which SpongeBob freaking out is a reference to the episode "Missing Identity." The scene was cut for time.[17]

Production notes[]

Chris DeRose:

  • "This assignment was also a great learning experience on how to approach SpongeBob Designs. Godbless Benjamin Arcand's revision notes, they where really helpful!"[18]

Sterling Ritcher:

SpongeBob's Road to Christmas background 6

An example of Ritcher leaving a storyboard overlay on top of her background.

  • Ritcher sometimes likes to "[leave] the storyboard overlay on [a background design] if [someone is] wondering what the slight pencil looking sketch over it is".[19]
  • Ritcher said the episode was "[really] fun to work on [because] the [first part] was designing an abandoned looking themepark based off the north pole & the [second part] was the actual workshop".[19]

Benjamin Arcand:

  • "[This] episode was written by Kaz! Thanks again to Marc Ceccarelli & Vincent Waller (executive producers/show runners) for trusting me with this. Of course, Bill Fagerbakke (Patrick) and Tom Kenny (SpongeBob) are what makes those [storyboard] clips SO fun!"[14]

Music[]

 ) Production music
 ) Original music
 ) SpongeBob music

  Deck the Halls (ukulele & steel) - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [Title card.]
  Jingle Bells (d) - Simon Benson [SpongeBob singing about bringing a present to Santa Claus.]
  Hollyberries - Wilfred Burns [Santa goes to SpongeBob's house.]
  Lap Steel - Nicolas Carr [Seven months later...]
  A Short Fishy Conversation - Nicolas Carr, Barry Anthony [SpongeBob vacuums his living room.]
  Oh My Neptune! - Nicolas Carr ["The present I left for Santa last Christmas!?!"]
  Doloroso - Remastered - Paul Fenoulhet [SpongeBob crying with his present.]
  Defeat - Keith Nichols ["But I can't go on!"]
  A Fishy Conversation - Nicolas Carr, Barry Anthony [Patrick claps for SpongeBob.]
  Hawaiian Misadventures B - Nicolas Carr, Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [Patrick pushes SpongeBob out of his house.]
  Vibe & Harp Hits - Nicolas Carr ["Um, it's July?"]
  A Simple Conversation 1 - Nicolas Carr, Barry Anthony ["Ah, it's a good day to be bad!"]
  Born to be Dumb - Nicolas Carr [Plankton's tattoo.]
  Wait A Minute 3 - Nicolas Carr ["If I can break into Santa's lair..."]
  The Fruitcake Vendor 1 - Nicolas Carr, Barry Anthony ["We are going in style!"]
  Jive Sucker Funk #1 - Nicolas Carr [Plankton reveals his ride.]
  Task Improbable - Nicolas Carr, Steve Sechi, Kostas Varotsis [Plankton configuring the GPS.]
  Dash Along - Sherief Abraham ["Of course, safety first!"]
  Uh Oh Flutter-Eyed - [ProjectSAM Symphobia Colours: Animator] ["Hey! Get back to your seats!"]
  Victory Chords - [ProjectSAM Symphobia Colours: Animator] ["The seatbelt sign is off."]
  Hot Steel and Slide Licks 25D - Jeremy Wakefield [Plankton looks at the seatbelt sign.]
  We Wish You A Merry Christmas (ukulele & steel) - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield ["Well he seemed happy to see us!"]
  Humorous Conversation Full Mix - Nicolas Carr, Barr Anthony [Plankton cracks his back.]
  Silly Bob Conversation 2 - Nicolas Carr, Barry Anthony [Plankton wakes up.]
  Tis the Season to be Silly - George Shilling [Distorted version of "Deck the Halls" plays over the loudspeaker.]
  Adventure - Ronald Hanmer ["Cabin crew, prepare for landing!"]
  Christmas Pressies - Daniel Teper ["The North Pole!"]
  Hear the Bells - Cedric Palmer ["We made it!"]
  Lap Steel - Nicolas Carr [Transition to next scene.]
  Reindeer Ride - Arthur Wilkinson [SpongeBob, Patrick, and Plankton walk around the "North Pole."]
  The Merry Gentleman's Organ - John Rowcroft [Animatronic elves working at their workshop.]
  Christmas Pressies - Daniel Teper [SpongeBob, Patrick, and Plankton go to meet Santa.]
  Let it Snow - Aaron Wheeler [Santa (Patchy) talking to SpongeBob and Patrick.]
  'Er Indoors - Johnny Hawksworth ["It's me, Patchy the Pirate!"]
  Bad Slide - [ProjectSAM Symphobia Colours: Animator] [Plankton shakes his fists in anger.]
  Deck the Halls (ukulele & steel) - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield ["I'm gonna destroy you two!"]
  Got It - Nicolas Carr ["Ooh! I can help with global positioning!"]
  A Christmas Suite - Richard Harvey [Patchy gives them a map.]
  Hot Steel and Slide Licks 19A - Jeremy Wakefield ["Polly want a smacker!?"]
  Glamorous Christmas Party - Gary Hughes [SpongeBob, Patrick, and Plankton head out.]
  Santa's Sleigh Ride - Gary Hughes [SpongeBob, Patrick, and Plankton journey to the North Pole.]
  Happy Holiday Cheer - Nicolas Carr, Hiram Titus [The ship lands at the North Pole.]
  Winter Sleigh Ride - Simon Benson [SpongeBob knocks on Santa's door.]
  Surfing Stooges - Nicolas Carr [The elves having a party.]
  Down in Davey Jones Locker 2 - Nicolas Carr ["I have to get Santa's present under his tree." / SpongeBob thinks / "I know! We'll go in Santa style! Down the chimney!"]
  Hot Steel and Slide Licks 25A - Jeremy Wakefield ["Fine, we'll go with your idea."]
  The Donut Dilema - Nicolas Carr [Plankton searches for Santa's mainframe.]
  Raindeer Games 1 - Nicolas Carr [Heavy metal music.]
  Horse and Hound - Donald Thorne [The reindeer play hacky sack using Plankton.]
  Clowning Around - Barry Anthony [SpongeBob and Patrick fall down the chimney.]
  Christmas Traditions - Gary Hughes ["That's it! Santa's Christmas tree!"]
  Disruption - Max Saunders [The alarm sounds off.]
  Bluesy Bender - Nicolas Carr [Plankton gets up after being crushed by the reindeer.]
  Greenhorn Rag 2 - Nicolas Carr, Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [The elves throwing toys at SpongeBob and Patrick.]
  Cirque Du Clich - Nicolas Carr, Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [Santa's elves and reindeer get into a fight.]
  Stealth and Capture - Wilfred Burns ["Oh no, Patrick."]
  Nothing Going On - Daniel Stimac [Plankton adds himself to the Santa's nice list]
  Dramatic Cue (A) - Ronald Hanmer [Santa arrives home.]
  Very Sad Jingle Bells - Nicolas Carr, Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [Santa gets upset.]
  Magical Holiday Morning - Nicolas Carr, Hiram Titus [Santa sees SpongeBob.]
  Deck the Halls - Simon Benson [SpongeBob gives Santa his gift.]
  Waiting for Santa Claus B - Gregor Narholz [Plankton sees Santa holding the "formula."]
  Spongemonger - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [Plankton tries to steal the "formula" from Santa.]
  Born to be Dumb - Nicolas Carr ["...I was born to be naughty."]
  Clowning Around - Barry Anthony ["My bad. I mean good. My good. I'm being nice, not naughty."]
  Holy Night - Alan Moorhouse [Plankton reads SpongeBob's letter.]
  Nude Sting - Nicolas Carr ["Happy holidays to me!"]
  Jingle Bells (ukulele & steel) - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [The Next Christmas at the Krusty Krab.]
  Snug in a Buggy - Vivian Kennard [Plankton opens his gift.]
  Scorched Earth - Trevor Duncan [Plankton fills machine with coal.]
  Jingle Bells (a) - William Henry Harris [Ending.]

Release[]

Reception[]

  • Benjamin Arcand's storyboard for this episode received the 2022 Children's Emmys Award for for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Children's Animation in the "storyboard" category.[16]

Trivia[]

General[]

  • This episode is alternatively called "SB's Road to Xmas" in the script.
  • This is the least viewed special in the main series, with only 438,000 U.S. viewers.
  • This is the third official Christmas special in the series, after "Christmas Who?" and "It's a SpongeBob Christmas!," and the fifth episode to feature a Christmas theme after "Christmas Who?," "It's a SpongeBob Christmas!," "Goons on the Moon," and "Plankton's Old Chum," despite the last two episodes not being directly about Christmas.
    • It is also the third season in a row to have a Christmas-related episode.
    • Including The Patrick Star Show and Kamp Koral: SpongeBob's Under Years, this is the franchise's seventh episode to include a Christmas theme, and the seventh season in a row to have a Christmas-related episode.
    • This is also the first Christmas episode where Squidward appears, but does not actually say anything outside of screaming.
    • The first Christmas special to not have a song (not counting music in the background).
    • The first Christmas double-length special to not have a holiday version of the theme song.
    • The first Christmas special not to be worked on by Stephen Hillenburg since his death in November 2018.
  • Both times Plankton says he was "born to be naughty," a track with the similar name "Born to be Dumb" plays.
  • This is the first episode for several things:
    • The first 2D animated appearance of Patchy and Potty, as well as their third animated appearance overall, after "It's a SpongeBob Christmas!" and "SpongeBob Moves In!."
      • This is also the second episode in which Patchy meets SpongeBob, after "SpongeBob's Big Birthday Blowout," but the first time he meets Patrick and Plankton.
      • Potty also meets SpongeBob, Patrick, and Plankton.
      • Coincidentally, both Plankton and Potty are voiced by Doug Lawrence.
    • The first physical appearance of Santa in the main series since the episode "Goons on the Moon."
      • He briefly appeared on one of SpongeBob's VHS tapes in the episode "Appointment TV."
    • The first Christmas episode not written by Doug Lawrence.
    • The first episode to be both storyboarded and supervised by the same person.
      • The first episode where Benjamin Arcand is a supervisor, although he also storyboarded.
    • The first episode to credit the line producer Joe Crowley.
    • The first episode Plankton wears a water helmet.
    • The first and only episode where Encino appears in 2D animation.
    • The first episode where water helmets appear without Sandy and her treedome.
  • Santa's line "You're a menace!" is referenced from "Goons on the Moon."
  • The scene where SpongeBob blows his nose to release Plankton off of it is similar to a scene in "Krabby Road."
  • In this episode, the water helmets have an opening at the top, like they do in "Tea at the Treedome," "Chimps Ahoy," "Squidtastic Voyage," and "What Ever Happened to SpongeBob?"
  • This is the third episode where the surface world is fully animated rather than being in live-action, the first being "Mermaid Man Begins" and the second being "Whale Watching." This is also the first time where it is fully animated but still has the live-action sky.
  • This is the only double-length episode of season 13.
  • SpongeBob says Santa's present is 212 days late; since the opening scene takes place on Christmas Eve, it is July 24 when SpongeBob finds the present and he and Patrick deliver it.
  • Like "The Ho! Ho! Horror!," Santa also needs an air helmet to breathe underwater, despite being shown to breathe underwater without one previously. There's also still the argument on how Santa's magic could allow him to breathe underwater.
  • This is the only season 13 episode where Patchy the Pirate and Potty the Parrot appear.
  • Patchy and Potty's 2D designs from this episode were reused in "A Very Patchy Holiday Stream Special."

Episode references[]

  • In the original rough storyboard, there was a scene where SpongeBob starts crazily breathing after realizing Santa forgot his gift. This is an honage to a scene from "Missing Identity," where he does the same thing after realizing he's missing his nametag.[17]

Cultural references[]

Errors[]

  • When SpongeBob is talking to Plankton, his left eyelid turns blue for a split second.
  • At one point when Plankton is walking, his mouth duplicates itself.
    Plankton with two mouths error in SBSRTC

    Plankton with two mouths

  • When Plankton's vehicle crashes into the welcome sign for Christmas Land Theme Park, the branch covering the sign was connected to a tree. In the next scene though, the tree is gone and only the branch is left.
  • After SpongeBob says, "Aw, that's very sweet of you, Santa," he instantly turns his head upward, almost as if something was cut out.
  • In the scene where SpongeBob and Patrick see the elves throwing a party, a shot has one of the dancing elves and the sleeping elf colored differently than the previous shot they were in. The sleeping elf's head is also erroneously colored as that of his eyebrows.
    Vlcsnap-2023-06-01-18h50m58s329
  • When SpongeBob, Patrick, and Plankton are in an aircraft flying to the North Pole, there is one frame where Plankton's eye disappears.


Videos[]

References[]

Awards and nominations for SpongeBob SquarePants VE

Emmy Awards Cup Emmy

Primetime Emmy Awards

Outstanding Animated Program (for Programming Less Than One Hour)

Nominees: Sean Dempsey, Derek Drymon, Juli Murphy Hashiguchi, Sam Henderson, Stephen Hillenburg, Jay Lender, Mark O'Hare, Kent Osborne, Alan Smart, Paul Tibbitt, Tom Yasumi (for "New Student Starfish"/"Clams," 2003)Derek Drymon, Juli Murphy Hashiguchi, Stephen Hillenburg, Kent Osborne, Andrew Overtoom, Alan Smart, Paul Tibbitt (for "Ugh," 2004)Mike Bell, C.H. Greenblatt, Stephen Hillenburg, Alan Smart, Paul Tibbitt, Vincent Waller, Tom Yasumi (for "Fear of a Krabby Patty"/"Shell of a Man," 2005)Casey Alexander, Luke Brookshier, Stephen Hillenburg, Tom King, Dani Michaeli, Chris Mitchell, Andrew Overtoom, Alan Smart, Paul Tibbitt and Tom Yasumi (for "Bummer Vacation"/"Wigstruck," 2007)Steven Banks, Charlie Bean, Stephen Hillenburg, Dani Michaeli, Chris Reccardi, Alan Smart, Aaron Springer, Paul Tibbitt, Tom Yasumi (for "The Inmates of Summer"/"The Two Faces of Squidward," 2008)

Outstanding Short-format Animated Program

Nominees: Dina Buteyn, Stephen Hillenburg, Dani Michaeli, Alan Smart, Aaron Springer, Paul Tibbitt and Tom Yasumi (for "Dear Vikings," 2009)Luke Brookshier, Dina Buteyn, Nate Cash, Stephen Hillenburg, Doug Lawrence, Andrew Overtoom, Alan Smart and Paul Tibbitt (for "That Sinking Feeling," 2011)Marc Ceccarelli, Stephen Hillenburg, Kyle McCulloch, Jennie Monica, Jack Pendarvis, Alan Smart, Paul Tibbitt, Vincent Waller, Tom Yasumi (for "Company Picnic," 2016)Luke Brookshier, Marc Ceccarelli, Stephen Hillenburg, Jennie Monica, Adam Paloian, Alan Smart, Vincent Waller, Tom Yasumi (for "Plankton Paranoia," 2019)


Daytime Emmy Awards

Outstanding Directing in an Animated Program

Directors: Andrew Overtoom, Andrea Romano, Alan Smart and Tom Yasumi (2010)Casey Alexander, Luke Brookshier, Nate Cash, Zeus Cervas, Sean Charmatz, Andrew Overtoom, Andrea Romano, Alan Smart, Aaron Springer, Paul Tibbitt, Vincent Waller and Tom Yasumi (2012)

Outstanding Special Class Animated Program

Animators: Dina Buteyn, Stephen Hillenburg and Paul Tibbitt (2010)

Outstanding Children's Animated Program

Nominees: Stephen Hillenburg, Jennie Monica Hammond and Paul Tibbitt (2012)Stephen Hillenburg, Marc Ceccarelli, Vincent Waller and Jennie Monica (2018)

Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program

Voice actors: Rodger Bumpass as Squidward Tentacles (2012)Tom Kenny as SpongeBob SquarePants (2018)Tom Kenny as SpongeBob SquarePants (2020)Tom Kenny as SpongeBob SquarePants (2021)

Outstanding Sound Editing – Animation

Nominees: Todd Brodie, Nicolas Carr, Mishelle Fordham, Chris Gresham, Matt Hall, Jeffrey Hutchins, James Lifton, Paulette Lifton, D.J. Lynch, Aran Tanchum and Kimberlee Vanek (2012) • Mishelle Fordham, Vincent Guisetti, Jeffrey Hutchins, James Lifton, Paulette Lifton, D.J. Lynch, Wes Otis, Monique Reymond and Aran Tanchum (2013) • Devon Bowman, Nicolas Carr, Mishelle Fordham, Jeff Hutchins, Aran Tanchum and Vincent Guisetti (2014)

Outstanding Sound Mixing for an Animated Program

Nominees: D.J. Lynch, Justin Brinsfield, Ryan Greene, Manny Grijalva, Jeff Hutchins and Aran Tanchum (2020)

Outstanding Voice Directing for an Animated Series

Nominees: Tom Kenny (2021)


Children's and Family Emmy Awards

Outstanding Voice Performance in an Animated Program

Voice actors: Tom Kenny as SpongeBob SquarePants (2022)Tom Kenny as SpongeBob SquarePants (2023)

Individual Achievement in Animation - Storyboard

Nominees: Benjamin Arcand (for "SpongeBob's Road to Christmas," 2022)

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