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SpongeBob's voice is different now, and not in a good way. It's like he's lost the innocence of his youth, and is trying really hard to sound chipper.
SpongeBob's voice is different now, and not in a good way. It's like he's lost the innocence of his youth, and is trying really hard to sound chipper.
Agreed! I try so hard to still love him, but it's difficult.
I'm 32 years old with 3 young kids and I love SpongeBob. I would love him if I didn't have kids. I was online actually trying to find out if the voice actor had been changed when I found this. I CAN'T STAND the sound of the new voice. The old voice could make SpongeBob sound incredibly irritating when he would laugh or cry incessantly, but this new voice is incredibly irritating on its own. I have yet to find out what happened, but I don't like it to the point where I try not to watch the new episodes. The voice has more clarity to it, like maybe it's recorded in HD or something. I don't know. I tried to find something on nick.com, place to complain or ask questions, actors list something- this is really bothering me because I'm such a fan.
The "chipperness"- I guess that could be bothering me as well about it. My kids even noticed the change in the voice. He sounds corny now. The interaction with the other characters isn't the same. Sorry for going so deep into this. It sounds sometimes like the voices (characters) weren't recorded in the same studio, there's some delay. Something's not right and I do not like it at all.
The "Atlantis" movie or whatever it's called, I won't be watching it. Can't stand the new voice. Now that I think about it, remembering "The Best Day Ever" episode is when I noticed a difference. Did the actor change (Tom Kenny)?
I totally agree. I mentioned once to my Fiancee that his voice sounded different, higher, and he insisted that it was still the same. I'm glad to see I'm not crazy after all.
Totally agree. From the very first new episode, didn't like the new voice. Love the show though.
Ok spongebob has changed just a liiiiiiittle to much
I absolsutely am disgusted with his annoying new voice, its hard to watch the new episodes but I'm not gonna start hating him just cause of his voice. They better change it though and FAST!
Oh and I checked the old/new credits, I'm 90% sure its the same voice actor! Wierd….
I believe that the actor is still the same. I'm thinking that maybe doing the voice of spongebob puts a strain on his vocal cords and he just had to alter it a bit. I certainly prefer the old voice.
yeah i totaly agree!!
i love sponge bob
It's sad, I know, when a 37 year old adult cares more than kids, but I watch this show all the time with my kids, since 2001, and I cannot stand the only voice which has changed; SpongeBob. My kids and I watch something else when I see the date of the cartoon..
The voice is not the only what has changued…
SpongeBob is other person
PD_ Im 27 years old, XD
I have always loved Spongebob, but now I can't watch any of the new episodes. That voice is grating. And the humor has become almost goofy. Even my kids don't like the new episodes. As soon as we realize that a new one is on, we change the channel. What happened? Did they get a new writer and a new person to do Spongebob's voice?
I agree, I absolutely hate the new voice. It is horrible and I have a hard time watching even though my 7 year old loves Spongebob. I always try to watch the old episodes if possible. Must be a production change, and I hope these people pay attention because whatever they changed…please, please change it back!
Exactly when did the voice change? It seems like 2003. Is it a new actor doing his voice? Whatever it is it is terrible. I'm like the rest of you when I see 2003 or newer I change the channel. The voice started to be bad in 2003, but it has progressivley gotten worse every year. Please somehow go back to the old voice!
so the voice is still tom kenny, but i agree! its SO different. and did anyone notice that in the new episode laugh box, whenever spongebob would laugh, there was a sqeaking sound? the show is totally down the toilet! i cant stand it. and i used to love it so much.
that new spongebob voice is AWFUL! it sounds way too whiny and is very annoying . the new episodes aren't very funny either, the older ones are a lot more funny. (or maybe it is just the voice is so annoying that i cannot see anything funny with the show…???)
i will not let my kids watch the new episodes.
Hey, you guys wanna start a spongebob petition? I am an adult, and I used to LOVE him, and NOW I hate it! I was waiting patiently like a child waiting in line at a toy store, for them to change back to their old selves, and nothing. I won't lose hope, though.
It also seems like they're all on a sugar high!
It makes me so sad.
The more I see others hate the voice, the more I have to say about it. I've watched more of the new episodes still trying to figure out what the difference is. Here are some things I think changed and what has changed- obviously. It sounds like a different voice actor, but I think we agree from the credits it's the same guy. It sounds like a bad imitation like a new Bugs Bunny. The humor almost seems politically correct. The voice is not only annoying now, but it still to me sounds like it's recorded in a different way. He seems to enunciate more than before, it's too proper and just not funny. There's still not the same interaction between the characters as there used to be and this is a cartoon for crying out loud! I am so very tired of all the singing. I swear it's become SpongeBob The Musical. I know it's just me with this one- there's an odd silence in between dialogue or like there's less background noise than there was before.
My favorite episode is "Opposite Day" when SpongeBob is imitating Squidward. Seeing them try the Squidward voice with the new voice makes me cringe. It shouldn't be taken so seriously but I know what I like and the new voice is definitely not it. Even with the old voice, this new humor wouldn't be funny. They're also trying to introduce too many new characters who themselves add nothing to the show like the episode where the guy's voice is Hulk Hogan. That one drives me crazy. SpongeBob is worried about his parents and he just says "parents" so many times. It has gone from a funny, silly, goofy, seemingly innocent show to something I just don't understand anymore. My kids still watch, but they don't seem to laugh at the new episodes.
Here's my final comment in this post. I'm just realizing, like other shows I'm sure SpongeBob has contracts to abide by. The new episodes with the terrible voice and dry boring humor make me think the show is about to end. Seems like they're doing just enough to stay on the air like any other show that makes bad choices.
I've gone on so much about this because I love the old Sponge and have nothing better to do. Thanks for reading.
Okay….I quit my job as a middle school choir director and now teach privately out of my home and now have time to get reaquainted with my loveable SpongeBob again. (I'm 38, no children, and I destress by watching SpongeBob from time to time!) I have been disturbed because his voice sounds like he's TRYING to sound like the old SpongeBob I know. It sounds like a BAD IMITATION or something. So this morning, I do a search to see if the actor has changed and I see different sites that say "SpongeBob voice change." I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed. I hope to GOD this isn't the same actor and his voice as been effected for being Spongebob for so long. It sounds so corny and artificial now. I'm glad I'm not the only person who has noticed it. I thought I was going crazy or something!!! I'll just keep watching and hope to see some classic episodes.
I am a babysitter for younger children and i feel that spongebob is in appropiate for young children i mean come on in one episode it's about spongebob saying a bad word i wouldn't want my kids watching that i thought nickolodean was suppose to keep children learing new things it wasn't suppose to have tv shows that have things like that on it i would like if this matter would be addressed.
Cortney Wilson
You people are all so stupid…. Spongebob is a cartoon for crying out loud!! I have two kids and I watch spongebob all the time with them. I love spongebob and I even love the newer episodes. I can hear no difference in his voice and I have been watching this show since it started. I can't believe you people, if you don't like spongebob than don't watch it.
Oh MY!! The young woman who wrote that we are all stupid, it sounds like you need to take some much needed "Me" time. Anytime you have to call people stupid for voicing their opinions for something this trivial, means that you are more than likely stressed out. Do something nice for yourself. You don't sound happy and life is too short to be so negative. I wish you the best! And none of us will take that dig at us personally because it has nothing to do with us. Be kind to yourself, sista!!
Love ya!
Thank God I'm not going crazy!! I've been asking my wife & son if they noticed this. My son could tell. I just couldn't take it anymore! So I did a search. I've totally noticed the same thing lately - it's like Invasion of the Body Snatchers or something. That's not the REAL Spongebob! It's like an old guy trying to act young. His voice seems synthesized to sound like Spongebob. They must have gotten another guy to do the voice - & the writing isn't the same anymore either. It's corny now - bummer. I remember when they brought back Gumby in the '80's & the voice had the same qualities. Maybe Tom Kenny wanted more $$ & Nickelodeon was too cheap to give the man his due.
We must find the REAL spongebob… before it's too late!!!
Wow. I really thought I was the only one who noticed the voice-change. As a once-devoted SpongeBob viewer, I can no longer watch it — at least not the newer episodes. The new voice is SO irritating. Of course, there's nowhere on Nick.com to complain or find out info on the cause of the new voice. They figure the kids won't notice it, I guess.
I refuse to believe it's the same guy! I was told that he actually left the show, but after reading these other posts, I don't think so. I can understand that his voice probably got affected from doing the show for so long, but if that's the case, they should've pulled the plug.
BUT remember, the show was made for kids and the execs probably don't expect that the kiddies will note the change. Also, the brand still makes big money and ratings for Nickelodeon.
Looks like all we adults can do is either not watch anymore and buy the DVDs of older episodes or grin and bear it.
I agree with you guys . . .the new voice is sooo annoying. I think Paige has a good idea, we should start a petition. His voice and the new cartoons are horrible!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank goodness…I thought it was just me…glad to see all the comments. The change seemed to start after the Songebob Movie. But aside from the voice (which is awful), different facial expressions, but mostly the plots are not good( of new episodes. ) Sometimes it is better to end a show if the originality isn't there…happened with the Rugrats too. I STILL laugh at the old episodes that I have seen 100 times, and rarely at the new ones. My kids even know I am happy when an "old" episode is on…thank goodness they still play them.
With all the feedback here, I wonder if Nickelodeon has an explanation or response to this?
I was thinking it was just me. I'm a 36 year old male and can't stand the new voice one bit!!! My nephews and nieces feel the same way. What the heck happened since 2003? Why change the voice? I can't stand watching the new episodes as well because the voice grates on me after awhile! Apparently Nickelodeon doesn't care that it is losing its fan base.
Spongebob not only has an annoying new voice, he also seems stupid. He used to do everything right even when not trying to. Now, he always screws up, is REALLY quick to cry, or whine, or whatever. The new ones are stupid and hard to watch. Classic Spongebob is still enjoyable.
The new Spongebob is FREAKING HORRIBLE….. I HATE HIM SO MUCH… I used to love to watch this show with my kids. Now I won't even let them watch the new episodes becuase it makes you stupid. If you watch the new episodes you acutally get dumber by the second. The plots blow, I HATE his stupid, annoying, terrible, gay, high voice… PLEASE KILL THE SHOW… It must be ended with what little dignity it has left.
I think the voice change has more to do with production quality than with the actor. All of the actors are the same… no change, there. But, the quality of production just seems different. Not for the better, either.
The big difference is in the writing. The writing has become TERRIBLE. There is just nothing good about the new episodes… the plots blow! It's like they are trying to pack too much into the 13 minute episode.
I'm glad to see that I'm not the only person to notice that Spongebob has changed for the worse!
This new spongebob voice sucks!
I read that Tibbets no longer handles the show directly (since the movie) but simply oversees the final output. The pre-movie SpongeBob was naive and at times simple, but he was never mean or downright stupid. Now he tends toward both at times, when he's not screaming. The characters are all mean to each other. "National No-Spongebob Day"?!
My 9-year-old daughter and I agree — bring back the old SpongeBob or retire the series.
you all are ridiculous. spongebob will never lose his sweet innocence. he will always be the sponge to me. if he ever were to sound less chipper its because over-critical assbags like you push him to the limits with your stupid complaints. shame on you.
I am heartbroken. The new Spongebob episodes are HORRIBLE. I miss the complexity of the old episodes. WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!! Bring old Spongebob back!!!!!!!!!!
Tom Kenny is indeed still the voice of Spongebob, so a petition to get the "old Spongebob" voice back would be useless (unless they could digitally alter it in some way). When the show first started in 1999, Mr. Kenny was 37. He'll be 46 this year. The natural aging process of his voice has probably been the biggest contributing factor to Spongebob sounding different. He's also probably had to compensate for this, making Spongebob's voice sound more forced and too bright and "chipper". At least he doesn't always talk like he did in the "Not Normal" episode. I found that "normal" voice of his to be REALLY creepy sounding!
Spongebob has definately gone downhill. Ever since this new voice was added or came along all of the series has been a dissapointment. Spongebob is ruined with this new voice. The series has gone from being entertaining and funny to sophmoric and wrtiten by a two year old. I don't know what happened if maybe a new producer took over and fired the talent of the orignal spongebob and started writing his own stories but something is definately wrong. The old spongebob will be really missed his character, his voice and the stories.
I can't watch spongebob anymore because they killed it for me with his voice so I just watch old shows.
Okay, I too thought I was losing my mind. I've been saying to my family for a while that Spongebob's voice is different, however, none of them can hear it. Lucky them, to my utter disappointment, it's the 1st thing I notice. Spongebob is one of the few things we enjoy as a whole family and I cringe when I hear the new voice. Has the real Spongebob been kidnapped and their trying to pull a wool over our eyes until his safe return? Someone save Spongebob!!
OMG!!! I am so glad to see I'm not the only one! My kids thought it was the same spongebob with just stupid storylines now, but I KNEW his voice had changed! It is just so awfully nerve grating! You know, could deal with the voice change if the storylines hadn't become so terrible, but there is nothing good about Spongebob anymore I was such a huge fan for so many years
the old episodes are amazing. when newer episodes come on, i have to change the channel. his voice goes right through me.
get a life you bastards, seriously grow the **** up!!
Does nickelodean know that so many people feel this way? Maybe since it is the same guy doing the voice, we should send him some feedback somehow.
I have to agree although if the production team does not get it by this point, it must not matter. The old episodes rock! Laugh out loud funny. Ironic, engaging, and always entertaining. The new ones definatly are lacking a writer or the writing staff was high when they sat down together. The jokes are cliche. There is no thought. Yes, it is a cartoon, but to be SpongeBob for so many years and have such an entity with young and old peopel alike to this is just a damn shame. Watching the new episodes I would agree it is a matter of timing between the dialogue. Everything is rushed. No delivery.Bad
I heard about Tom Kenny will be 47 this year and perhaps has to do with his voice changing compare to 1999 but, that didn't stop the simpsons… Besides does sounding chippier is a lot more damaging to the voice box? he's hitting that note pretty high. Maybe he want's to get replaced?? And Avatar Last Airbender Uncle Iro's voice was replace pretty well but, anways, rest in peace Mako. Not a lot of people knew you played in Lovejoy
just found out that they are ending SpongeBob in 2008, so… getting replaced is probably pointless. We will all miss SpongeBob. Avatar is the last string that ties me to nickolodean.
I agree 100%. Ever since they made the Spongebob movie, the TV show just hasn't been the same. Spongebob's voice is terrible, the colors are all brighter, the lines are drawn harder, and the plots are bad. It's so sad… The Karate Island episode (among MANY others)??? Absolutely ridiculous…
I'm so thrilled to see this thread-I really thought I was the only one who realized his voice had changed!! I HATE it!! It is so flippin' annoying; it's like nails on a chalkboard.
Since you've all pretty much said what I've been feeling about this, I'll leave it at that.
Everyone's comments (except the tone def idiots that state there is no difference in Sponge Bob's voice) confirm what has been going around our household for some time now. I am a 34 year old male with two sons, 8 and 9 1/2. I own multiple Sponge Bob articles of clothing (including the PJ bottoms I am in now). I watch SBSP even when my children are out of the room occupied with other activities. My wife teases me that I used to watch CNN in the evenings before our favorite Sponge came along. My opinion is this, I can completely understand that Mr. Kenny's voice has potentially changed from age and/or the rigors of generating one of the greatest cartoon character's voices of all time. But THIS DOES NOT excuse the shaddy, lackluster story plots of the new episodes. These new episodes have no depth or complexity in either storyline or character development as the older, original episodes. There is no longer any "Looney Tune" style adult humor that no child under the age of 15 would ever pick up on (such as when SBSP was looking for peanuts to create his "Special Sunday" and appeared at first to be looking in the bathroom toilet…Classic!). I will stay loyal to Mr. Kenny as he has given my family and I countless hours of joy through his masterpiece character. But! I feel Nickelodean, true to form for any "For Profit" organization, has cut corners to save a buck and essentially has completely screwed up one of America's most cherished cartoons that has truly met no generation boundries.
I am a mom of three who is kissin' 40. I absolutely adored my little Spongebob and know many episodes by heart. These new episodes are horrible, and Spongebob's voice HAS changed. It is grating, annoying, whiney, high pitched, and absolutely impossible for me to listen to. My three kids agree! There IS something different, and not in a good way. I wish the old voice could come back, because I do miss my old Spongebob.
Thank heavens, I thought I was the only one crazy enough to love Sponge Bob (a kids show) and now hates the new voice and has serious issues with it (well semi serious, enough to add a note here).
It's too bad that we can't get these notes to the producers at Nick (and the I suppose Tom Kenny) so they can go back to what they were doing right before and drop the new voice and the new way they are writting the show.
Hey it's worse than when they ruined th OC (oops did I write that)
i agree completely! I can't stand it! It's so sad, I love spongebob so much, but I just can't watch the new episodes!
I am 47 years old and I love Spongebob. The old one that is. I haven't seen a cartoon that I enjoyed as much since the Flintstones, if any of you remember them. But I have to say that I noticed the change in his voice immediately. He sounds corny and it irritates me. It is like when they changed the voices of the Flintstones toward the end of their time. It just wasn't the same. I haven't watched Spongebob in a long time and I miss him, but I can't take him anymore. I too wish they would get the old voice back. There are alot of grown ups as well as kids that would really love to have the old spongebob voice back…………
It's NEW Coke vs Coke Classic! Who do they think they are fooling? The new SpongeBob is terrible. No, it's irritating! No, HE's irritating! It is a new voice and new, cheaper animation. It's sad really, because it used to be a fun watch. Now it's just sad…and did I mention irritating??!!!! The new episodes aren't even funny. Who is writing these days? I hate it now as I am sure that I'm not the only one. SpongeBob is a pansy! Keep up the good work Nick(elodeon) - you'll soon be in reruns… and for me, not soon enough!
what the hell happened to SpongeBob's voice??? I actually won't even watch the new ones because of that voice. Come on Tom Kenny get back to the old….it worked much better.
Wowzers, it's gratifying to know I'm not the only one who noticed the difference and hates it, but it's a shame that the quality has fallen off so precipitously. It seems that every time nick gets too involved in a show's direction or decision making, it jumps the shark and goes splat. It's happened to every creative cartoon on Nick from Ren & Stimpy on, and has continued to generate bitter animation creators, as well as mass-producing passive CGI masquerading as art and humor.
Poor SpongeBob will die a slow and painfully annoying death due to cynicism from network execs and frustration by the original creative team. Sorry to see it go, but it's had a great run, and I can't stand seeing it in the condition it is now; pandering to an audience who could care less if it's Renaissance art or computer-generated stick figures. Feh!
i want spongebobs old voice back so that i can enjoy the episodes again. This voice change is really irritating and im just refusing to watch the new spongebob.
The voice has changed….even though it is the same actor. The first 2-3 seasons were great. BRILLIANT writing, great situational comedy and subtle references that adults could find funny as well. Squidwards character was especially well developed as a middleaged sophisticate whose still working fast food….good stuff. Then the movie came out…wich was HORRIBLE…that was the first time I noticed the bad voice…always high pitched….now he sounds like he is trying to be annoying. The movie not having the original neptune from the golden spatula episode was a huge dissappointment as well. That neptune was awesome. The one in the movie was rediculous.
The old episodes were well thought out and developed the new episodes LOOK and SOUND like bean counters fired the staff and hired cheaper replacements to do the whole thing because they knew they could sell the show on it's good reputation and popularity….what a SHAME that whole thing is now…I, like many others, only watch the old episodes.
The SAME thing happend to the looney toons…event though I am 31, you can see the difference from the 40's and 50's looney toons (GOOD) to the 60's and 70′ (BAD) Some higher up comes in and decides to change things….look up BILL LAVA…he is the guy who came in and screwed up looney toons.
I know how you feel, Spongebob has lost his cute innocence and just acts like a idiot now. It's like two more retarded Patrick's.
Hillenburg, despite many rumors, did not actually leave the show but has resigned from his position as the shows executive producer (this job now belongs to Derek Drymon, with Paul Tibbitt taking over Drymons job as creative director). I believe this is why the show has changed so much.
I was so weirded out by Spongebob's new voice that I had to type it up on the comp to see what the heck was going on. I completely agree w/ a lot of you!!! Spongebob's voice seems so forced and not as comical as before. My kids can tell the difference too. What's crazy is that we all used to laugh so hard at the episodes; now it's like we're all just sitting around watching some foreign cartoon. I'm always wanting to change it when it's on now and am just realizing why! I used to loooooove Spongebob. I guess it's time to stop watching~~~
I think I'm one of the only ones that didn't notice the change. I watch Spongebob all the time. In fact, I have Season 4 on right now on my dvd player. It's really making me listen to him now. I'll have to go back and watch the older ones to compare. I still love this show, though. It's my "happy place." I'll be sad if they end this year. By the way, it's SUPPOSED to be silly and corny. That's what makes it a Spongebob cartoon. It's not supposed to make any sense. So, even though everyone's entitled to their own opinions, please try to lighten up a bit. Spongebob still rocks!!!! At least for me. Have a good day all!!
Well, I'm back….UGH!! I finally noticed how different the voice is. Guess I just didn't pay much attention before now. My husband said he noticed but didn't say anything. How stupid am I not to hear the difference???!!!! I really don't like the new voice AT ALL! Maybe it was better before I found this website, when I didn't think about it. Now that's all I think about when watching him. Oh well, I'll still always love Spongebob and will continue to watch it. (But mostly the old ones!!) Bye all!!!
Kill the series soon !! Let it "die" with what little respect it has left. I no longer can watch the newer shows; the stories are horrible, the dialouge is pitiful, the artwork has gone into the toilet. I can tell you what year a certain episode was made from the animation style alone, not to mention crappy stories and the "new" voice. I can understand Kenney's aging vocal chords, but he needs to maybe lower the pitch of Bob's voice (would be better than whats used now) and it would be easier on Kenney's voice. He has a magnificent talent and range, but at this rate he will suffer a vocal chord strain that will permanantly damage him. Just a horrible, horrible overall change in the show…I watch reruns of the "older" shows, but will not ever watch the "newer" ones.
There's no way that's Tom Kenny. The new voice is different, and the person behind it does not have nearly the same comedic talent that Tom has. (Aging ? Give me a break.) Nick Jr. needs to own up and tell us what's going on !!! We're not fooled by this crappy wanna-be !!!
I'm NOT crazy! I noticed the irritating new voice about the time the Atlantis movie came out. I hate it! Evertime a new episode came on I would say somthing to my wife and kids about how Spongebob's voice changed. Nobody believed me. It's nice to see I'm not alone. I also agree with you guys that Spongebob has become annoying. He's not cute anymore. He's a spaz with an irritating voice. I miss the old Spongebob.
Well I noticed the voice difference right away. Although he isn't always the best role model we have let our three year old watch Spongebob for quite a while now & I have watched it for about 6+ years. He used to crack me up, but I Cannot stand the voice and really don't watch the new shows anymore. The story are a little different but Spongebob has an almost Gay voice and very annoying!!!
Yes the voice is SO dumb now it is so different and the new episodes have a dumb meaning as well, plus his new voice makes it even worse I hate the new spongebob's.
The new spongebob episodes are definitely a disgrace. I agree with everyone, the storylines are horribly mediocre and the artwork is terrible not to mention spongebob's annoying voice. Has anyone noticed that spongebob cries so much more often now. he is always nagging… very very annoying. and I loved the old spongebobs….
Thank God. My husband thought I was crazy! He swore up and down that the voice was still the same, and I knew it wasn't. I have three kids and am 28 and I love Spongbob…but I can't stand this new voice!
Not only is Spongebob's voice irritatingly higher than usual, but the story lines are horribly written out… and poor humor. A lot of the episodes include gross humor, like a huge wad of gum (HUGE), or… oh GOD, the splinter episode. It makes me cry inside sometimes ;~;
The new voice sucks, he is a jerk, much more of a whiner, and I feel like I am watching the episodes in fast foward. The last great episode was, Spongebob meets the Strangler, and Pranks A' Lot.
i beleive it is not the same peron doing spongy.its a stupid version of sponge bob.the writing is piss poor as well.its a shame.the show was the perfect show for parents to watch with their children.a person of any age used to be able to enjoy the show.now you have to be a toddler or mentaly challenged to watch this dribble.i would hate to be the voices of any of the other actors involved.this is dragging them down too.
What's a spongebob?
I told my husband something was wrong. I mean TERRIBLY wrong. It's like a spit bubble is stuck in Tom Kenny's throat or something. I almost think he ruined his voice or something from years of playing Spongebob so now he has to strain to do the voice. I also wonder if it's because he does so many other voices that he's lost the ability to do Spongebob's voice. I went to IMDB.com to see if the voice talent had changed and it has not. I'm sure if I dig a little more I can find Tom Kenny, a fan site or something and ask him what happened. If I get a response I will cross post… SOMETHING'S GOTTA GIVE!
Huh?? I met Tom Kenny last year at Comic Con and he talked to me in his Spongebob voice and he didn't sound any different!
Am I missing something?
I am a huge fan of the old Spongbob cartoons and find it terribly disappointing that the newer episodes have been taken over by some vanilla flavored, politically correct, talentless and clearly humorless bean counters. Spongebob's voice change is bad enough but the writing…ugh. How could anyone, even a CEO, think these new episodes are comparable to the old ones that made Spongebob famous? Obviously there were huge changes made to the staff. There must have been some artistic differences about the time the movie was being made and big changes ensued - unfortunately. I don't watch Spongebob anymore except on my DVD's from the first 4 or 5 seasons. One thing I would like to mention here is that most of my favorite episodes have the name MERRIWETHER WILLIAMS in the writing credits. It seems that when she left, the talent left with her. I don't know what other changes were made to the staff, I only know that she went to Camp Lazlo and so I began watching that and find it quite funny and original. Much like the old Spongebob cartoons that made him so endearing to all of us. Give it a try and see what you think.
GOOD. I'm glad there are other people that feel the same way I do! And that a majority of you are near my age (old Spongebob episodes were always touted because of their use of secretive adult humor). I agree with everyone's opinions here. An additional thing I can't stand about the newer episodes are the faces Spongebob makes. I mean, they were sometimes exaggerated in the older episodes (with hilarious results), but the newer Spongebob makes such needless outrageous faces. It's like everyone involved with this show is just trying way too hard to be funny, without success. Also, another way you can always tell it's a new episode is that there are 23497382 names listed after the intro to each episode. It seems like they've gathered too many people together, none of which have a bit of humor or wit about them.
Please bring back the old voice. I have been trying to watch him, because I love spongebob, however his voice is briving me crazy.Now I watch the old ones & turn the new ones.
Don't you guys think that you're a little too old to watch Spongebob!!? JUST KIDDING, I'm the one to talk, thirty something, have no kids, and I have loved Spongebob since it first aired. told my girlfriend one day that the voice had changed and that the humor had drifted, she also noticed it. And the new shows always seem to have some form of physical voilence included ( Someone getting hit with something, falling, punching, etc.) Almost like the new writers can't think of anything clever to get a laugh. Now I only watch the old shows and as my girlfriend comments (can't quite understand how you can find something funny 100 times) but I do!!. The old shows are the best, and one word for the new shows and voice change…(TARTAR SAUCE!!)…or is that two words?.
Complaining won't help unfortunatley. If you don't like it, don't watch it.
I hope the "powers that be" read these comments. I noticed his voice change when they made the SBSP Movie. I can't stand it! It also seems like they "dumbed down" his character, once sweet and naive but somewhat intellegent, now just stupid like Patrick. I've read other posters who think Tom Kinney changed it because he possibly has voice strain, but it seems like he has to strain more to make that high-pitched whine. I, too, will only watch the old ones (40-y-o mom of 2) with my kids.
This video has 4th and 5th season audio clips, and spongebob season 3 video clips, look at this video, and read the descriptoion, and you will know that spongebob's voice has not changed.
I watched a new episode, then an old one and noticed that the voice actors are the same but the problem is that the storyboard writers and artists are different people. Very sad. I remember getting excited when a commercial for a new episode of Spongebob came on before and now I feel sick when I see it. It went downhill from the movie. I also liked the first king Neptune voice. New one is lame. Also noticed I think they created that new show about the sailor kid and its the same corny dry humor and same voices.They should stop making new episodes! Just keep reruns of the fabulous old ones.
i think it doesnt matter and i think no matter if the spongebob episodes are new or old ..its the same! deal with it! because there still going to make new more episodes. and they dont cuss in there..so..they could do whatever they WANT with the show. GOT OVER IT PWEASE!
Granted, there are worse problems in the world than the changes in Spongebob, but it is too bad they messed it up! So good to see others feel the same! It WAS a great show - not anymore. I am kind of ashamed to admit how much this has bothered me, but seeing the other comments has helped me 'get it out', I am a grown (very grown) adult with 6 kids, but I looked forward to the show everyday. It was a great show to watch with my kids to relax and forget about the real world, but now - can not tolerate it. PLEASE someone out there, bring back our clueless, but lovable spongebob - not this yellow, irrtating creature you have left us with! Voice in wrong, writting is crap.
over the years i have become obsessed with spongebob - in aus we get it aired on nickelodean quite alot and its become a way for me to unwind and relax from the outer world….
i havent been this obsessed with something since the simpsons back in high school… but i agree with everyone on here — the new voice is very irratating and makes me dislike the character and the nature of spongebob.
i first thought they got a new guy to replace the voice — but after searching about on the net i think its safe to say that its the same voice actor — but its just that tom kenny cannot hold those notes anymore.
now as much as im upset - if the guy cant hold those notes - its not his fault - and im happy that its not the case that theyve replaced the actor altogether… i find it strange though that the voice actor cant hold those notes - cos its similar - and if anything - sounds pitched up higher.
anyways, it would be good if they could somehow work at fixing this problem - it is obviously becoming a detrimental issue - it would be like homer sounding like the original homer voice - disaster!
it would also be good if nick or the spongebob crew could make an official statement on whats going on — it is a BIG DEAL!
ps. by the way - ive read that this is an issue which comes as the voice actor gets older — something ive noticed similar in marges voice in the new simpsons episodes…
yes its sad that the voice of spongebob has turned into a whiny, higher pitched and gayer sounding. they also made him look and act more stupid, like as stupid or more than patrick. I used to see him as sort of like a childish or dumb ADULT, but now is portrayed as a stupid BABY or little kid
i also noticed that the writing has changed. they seem to rush the episodes, so if u miss a minute or two, you are completely lost. Too much happens and all the events are seemingly linked by nothing but a split second of transition. The beginning has NOTHING to do with the end, and if it does, it appears like as if the writers forgot but saved themselves last minute. It it also not funny anymore. Maybe, there is 1 or 2 jokes or humorous moments AT BEST in these new episodes, but for the most part, the comedy is cliche, bland, and dry. There are also no more changes in episode type, for example the krusty krab training video or one with clever use of the french narrator.
In addition to boring storyline, the artwork is subpar. there is alot more cgi and not enough still, detailed frames.(i have not seen any in the new ones) the animation drawings are more crude, for lack of a better word. the faces of expression are more gross, especially when they are mad or sad. a clear example is mr krabbs. in older episodes, there would be many different eye animations. although not more crude or gross now, they are rarely changed in shape, which aided in the humor when he expressed himself. squidwards facial expressions are seemingly intended to look more ugly and unlikable. same with plankton. and spongbob himself makes faces that make him look like a fking idiot. at times, it appears to be too many face changes too fast.
and they keep adding new characters and new non-traditional spongebob type of art and subjects. for example, the police is no longer the same as in the classic episodes. niether is neptune, as someone pointed out. an entire episode devoted to a thermostat or exaggerating something that shouldnt be, like enhanced interest in a security system or wanting to ride a roller coaster. classic spongbob episodes had to do with the krusty krab, the beach, the neighbor hood, jellyfishing, or inadvertently messing with squidward.(new episodes seem to have spongebob DELIBERATELY piss squidward off)
i agree with others that say that spongebob should either go back to the original basics that were funny and included mature humor all put together with a brilliant story, OR to just discontinue the show. Im sure youve seen the commercial for who-bob what-pants. this is a ridiculous idea and i especially hate when he says "I can't remember a thing" He sounds so gay and chippy. I know a church once opposed spongebob for promoting homosexuality. Even though they eventually accepted him in the church, NOW would be the perfect time to accuse him of being gay or promoting homosexuality. Ive always joked about him being gay, but now he sounds and acts like it too. such a shame.
Hey,,, I am 40 and have enjoyed spongebob for years. My kids love him too. I noticed the change in his voice instantly and can't stand it. I think that planktons voice is a little different also. The writing use to be intellagent, genius like and funny. Spongebob is more stupid now and the cute-ness is gone…sad to see it. I miss the old spongebob but like always everything changes. I will just watch the old ones with my kids and laugh my butt off and enjoy!
I think spongebobs voice is totally annoying now, not only that the episodes are terrible. They used to be very good and cute, but now it seems as if the got new writers or something who are trying to make it like the old spongebobb, but not succeding. The episodes are so random (not in a good way) and not as funny. I mean the old episodes didnt have much of a plot, but at least they stuck to a subject. The new ones just wander aimlessly through random events that have nothing to with eachother. I miss the old spongebob :(.
Being in the music business and also a singer I can relate to the change in Tom's voice. We know that as we get older our voices do also. The first thing that deteriorates in the voice is the upper register, (the ability to sing high notes.) This is found predominately in the male voice. Wear and tear on the vocal chords also plays a factor. The male voice also becomes slightly deeper in tone. Tom is in his late 40's now and has lost some of the high range he has used for Sponge Bob all these years. He is still doing a fantastic job! Give the guy a break!
Check out this interview with Tom K. Use the link I posted here.
Well, Tom's voice is higher pitched now than ever before, so I don't buy that explanation.
I give up.
This thread is dead on. While I completely agree that SB's voice has changed, I still think it is Kenny doing the voice. My theory is the new big-wigs in charge wanted to make SpongeBob more "exciting, upbeat" whatever, and coached Kenny to sound more energetic (which translated to more annoying an high-pitched).
The SAME THING happened to REN & STIMPY, one of Nick's older cartoons!! The first few seasons were hilarious, but as time went on, the focus became Not on funny plot lines, but on Screaming, Yelling, showing Disgusting things happening–there was no funny jokes, no developed plots–just terrible plots, like we have now with SpongeBob~
Not that I don't have a life, but the new voice is awful, it has too much clarity, too whiny, and the character comes off as over-assertive. Also, the plots are really weak…….
Right before the release of the movie and after it (including the movie) the whole show changed. The whole style and animation is different and the voice is the worst part. Its even the same voice actor, he just decided to make it worse.
i hate the new voice. I thought they had fired everybody and hired all new people cause now its just stupid i like the re runs better. sponge bob what pants was not good at all to me at all. seems like now they are trying to hard to be funny
This is so wild. I agree with everyone else's comments. I used to love to watch SB with my daughter and I believe I became a bigger fan than her. I can remember watching one day and thinking what the heck has happened to Spongebob. The other voices seem a little different now as well, but SB is awful. And the whole animation and writing sucks as well. It reminds me of how in the same way, the Cartoon Network used to be great and now in my opinion totally sucks. All the new animation shows sucks. Nick should toss all the new episodes of SB and only show the great classic ones. Why did they Tom Kenny change the voice? I miss the real Spongebob…..
same with the simpsons they always swap technology for storyline…in this case funny aswell
Jesus Christ people, its a friggin' cartoon. I noticed his voice had gotten higher but everyone else I knoe disagreed. The story lines are different as well , not as creative I think but still its a greast cartoon. After all , ITS JUST A CARTOON. RELAX!
Jesus Christ people, its a friggin' cartoon. I noticed his voice had gotten higher but everyone else I know disagreed. The story lines are different as well , not as creative I think but still its a great cartoon. After all , ITS JUST A CARTOON. RELAX!
yea im defintally not feelin the new voice he sounds gay….and the show is jus not the same. Its to perky and high, im highly upset because ive been watchin spongebob since the show started and its jus weird that the voice changed…yea so they need to fix that asap
38, no kids and have watched Spongebob from day one. The first years were and still are damn funny. Spongebob never used to be angry, jealous, mad, nasty, or gross (eyeballs popping out of head are not funny nor is his head or "skin" being ripped off). He had a silly innocent subtle humor about him which is totally gone. It started with the voice a few years ago but the writing has gone completely in the toilet, it's now unwatchable. I wish they would just stop, the horse is dead. I miss him…..
Yeah, I'm guessing the writers and artists were somewhat replaced. That or they have considerably less time to squeeze in new episodes. Nickelodeon must be severely on their case or something. The change in voice–I believe it has more to do with the storyline in general. I doubt there's anything wrong with Tom's voice, since sometimes he does tend to sound like the normal Spongebob (very rarely however). Though I believe it more to be the director's and writer's faults.
These are simply uneducated guesses, but I'm led to assume that the crap all starts in the writing studio. The writers are possibly pressured to write, animate, and distribute new episodes on quick notices, making them have to throw together crap without giving it much review. Then, the crap they make is rearranged back to the audio and voice-over studios where they make haste to throw in the audio to match the animation (which sucks as well compared to the old episodes. Certain tones or show tunes seem highly misplaced in the newer episodes). As the audio is being thrown together with mis conceptual fury, the voice-overs are slowly being dragged into production. This is where the effects of the bad writing comes in I presume. Throughout the entire script, Spongebob is probably described as being 'happy', 'giddy' or 'excited'. As some can tell, he has this huge annoying smile on the whole episode, and Tom himself is probably directed to mimic this behavior. He is expected to capture the 'image' the writer's had when writing the script for Spongebob, and maintain this high pitched, semi agitating voice as they progress. Then, quickly, they move along to the next.
I admit, it could definitely be a change in staff as well, along with other factors affecting the original output of the show. Though me being a writer myself, I can guess that it had a lot to do in the writing studio. A lot of times, I write a lot of great stories (or that look great in my mind while I'm writing it), then look back during the revision to find out that I was writing a bunch of crap–requiring me to have to edit a lot of the story with excessively close precision. It seems like these recent episodes, have lacked editing and revision. They feel like they're fresh off the idea pallet, with no rereading, no second thought, no logical reasoning thrown into it whatsoever. They rushed everything–from the voice-overs, CG art, scripts, story line, show tune placements, and so on. It seems to me that they either no longer care (possibly because the show could be drawing to an end), or they're being pressured to make an excessive amount of new episodes in a short amount of time.
This could also very well affect the comedic presentation they bring with their newer episodes. The stale, childish jokes they seem to be forcing on us could be a desperate attempt at keeping their rushed work at least somewhat funny. They don't have time to brainstorm funny and subtle ideas as they used to. You can also tell through their rushed production, that they manage to drift away from the original subject of the episode. For example, an episode where Mr. Krabs started off with introducing a new 'product' at the Krusty Krab–being the new 'viking sized drinks' (which was just as big as the other cups for some odd reason… Another stale joke).This, somehow escalated to the episode ending with Spongebob preventing a viking ship from sinking by rocketing himself into the hole of a leak (Not to mention the ship sinking and water drifting aboard, when they're already underwater to begin with [though I barely minded that]). The beginning is almost completely different from the end, and as some of you have said before, there are often too many events happening in one episode, making the entire thing rushed and not entertaining to begin with.
I'm a 17 year old kid, who in all aspects loves to watch cartoons. Though I'm a natural critic, and can't help but point out every single thing wrong with the new Spongebob episodes compared to the old. It's saddening really. I miss the subtlety and mature humor of the old episodes. There were characteristics the cartoon held that no longer bind it to the mind's of its fans. There are many elements toward maintaining an excellent cartoon. The timing between words and show tunes, as well as small events within the episodes. The expressions used, the reactions made and how timely they're created. It just seems to me that if there are new writers in the studio, that they have absolutely no idea what they're doing. For me, seeing something like this feels like the world of professions is going down more and more. I've seen it too many times. It's sad when I feel like I can't trust those who I've trusted since early childhood anymore. In a world surrounded by selfishness, there's nothing much you can do if they just don't care what fans think anymore yet are still being paid for its current popularity.
Anyway, so let's review the problems with the cartoon thus far–things that we can only hope will improve over time (That's the only reason I still desperately cling to new episodes). First, the voice. There are simple reasons why the voice could be bad. Maybe Tom 'is' just losing his touch… that doesn't mean we should stop being loyal to him. He has been great for all these seasons after all. Though admittedly, I'm quite certain there are things the editors could do about the voice, seeing as it may irritate some people to no end. Two, the writing. It's ridiculous. I remember a minor Nickelodeon event (which I saw almrls talk about earlier) called Who-Bob-What-Pants. First off, that's a very sad name. It makes me sick to see that the producers are going so kindergarten with this cartoon now. The name literally doesn't even make sense to the episode. "What-Pants"? What the heck are they talking about? Since when does one repeat the word 'what' when they have amnesia? Since when does the word "What" arise at all with amnesia? It's not like he's deaf or something. Anyway, the name was ridiculous, on extremely annoying levels, as well as the episode. All in all, their writing is terrible thus far, and the story ideas are progressively random, throughout every single minute. I guess this is on behalf of either new writers, or rushed production.
Third, the audio. It no longer fits in with the episodes as it used to. No, I've noticed that some show tunes are severely misplaced within the episode. This is kinda hard to explain without the person hearing it for themselves, so I won't get into it much. But again, this problem (if identified by you) is probably due to rushed production. Fourth, the animation and artwork. A lot of new characters being introduced look much too wacky to be considered normal Spongebob material. They look like something you'd pick out of your nose at times–completely unappealing. They sound weird, make weird noises, and look weird doing it. Example, the health inspector lady that came to the Krusty Krab one faithful day (and the aweful song that was created about Krabby patties was horrible to me, killed my perception of that episode from start to end). I think her name was Mrs. Witherspoon or something. She looked like a dried out blue berry, with a face squeezed into the wrinkles. Another example would be what King Neptune turned into. At first, he was a great and powerful God of Olympia, whose voice rang out to the Heavens. Then, in the movie, he was a bald, green thing with orange hair that looked like it originated on a child's throw-up bib. Sadly enough, there are new characters–randomly so–who are quickly introduced into an episode with barely any introduction, nor interesting sequences toward how they got there. Instead of utilizing the talented and lovable characters they already have, they've resorted to creatures like the 'Vikings', or the 'Health Inspectors". The old episodes were awesome–very much so, but it's gone down the drain with curious tenacity. Fifth, Originality. It just seems like they no longer care to me. Either that, or it's too hard and they've given up trying. Originality no longer stands in any of their newer episodes, that's how it seems to me. They've lost the touch that they've created over the years, and it's saddening in all truthfulness. I mean, people say 'it's just a cartoon' but I guess they don't realize how much a cartoon can mean to someone. Cartoons give you individual feelings, feelings that you may remember over tremendously long periods of time, and cherish. These feelings are lost, dashed when faced with the reality that, the show has ceased with being the same anymore. I mean, connections are formed with that certain cartoon, and psychological binding occurs. This because a link to a certain type of pleasure one may experience when thinking about that cartoon–and once that cartoon is gone, the pleasure, tenderness, and care that once came along with it may disappear as well. This happens with greater impact when a show just plain and simply 'goes bad' on its fans. There's a lot to be said about a relationship one may have with their favorite cartoon. And those who are not as attached to their emotions as other shouldn't judge it so harshly–that's what makes this world rot with hate…
All in all, Spongebob may be changing, just like the world does. Yet I'm sure we'll all always enjoy the older episodes and memories of the show when it was in its prime. There's a lot to be said about a good show gone bad, but now, I feel like I've spoken enough~ I just wish, someone with all the answers could just come along and tell exactly what's going on–and give us a reason not to freight. Spongebob, we miss you~
This isn't the same show I used to love. I've watched every show since day one, but now I find myself watching 5 minutes and then deleting it from my tivo. The new voice is the absolute worst, and I know I'm gonna get some heat for this, but I promise you I'm not a homophobe or anything, and I've had several gay friends before. I could care less what people do with their life, as long as I'm not paying money for it. Now that I got that disclaimer out of the way, the new spongebob's mannerisms reminds me of every gay guy I've ever worked with, and being from la, I've worked with a lot. I Do I have a problem with this? It isn't the parallels between the two that irk me, it's just the whole replacement of my favorite character of all time with "something else". It's not the same spongebob; not even close. It's kind of depressing for me causeI have the plush dolls and everything. This isn't the way I wanted the show to go out.
i thought spongebob sounds gay to be honest, then l found out spongbob is a part of the "we are family" program, which is teaching kids to accept homosexuality
mayby thats why hes voice sounds gay???? lol
just a theory
I'm so glad to see that I am not alone on this one. I noticed his voice changed after the movie. He's always yelling now and it's sooooo annoying! Bring back the old voice!
The one good thing about Spongebob's voice change is it is a quick indicator that the episode is going to suck. It is much like the last couple of seasons of Seinfeld, when the writing also went downhill, the characters changed, and the plots became totally absurd — the indicator for that was Elaine's hair got darker and wavier. Hopefully, they will stop making Spongebob altogether and they won't flood the re-run pool with these new (lousy) episodes.
Incidentally, I don't think the movie was that bad. Atlantis Squarepantis is the undeniable shark-jumping point.
gggggggooooooooooooooooooooodddddddddddd gosh ppl what the hell is wrong with u guys this is sumthing nobody besides a four year old cares about i mean im 16 and i hav a 4year old and she loves spongebob and i mean theres nothing rong with spongebob hes soooooooo great and funny i mean"patrick they're not laughing at us they're laughing NEXT to us" i mean LOL its so funny and cumon if u realy care about it then u'd hav to be like $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$0000000000000000 imature Tom Kenny is a great person for doing Spongebob for all this time and i hav to but in the meantime GETTTTTTTTTTTTTTT sum HELP if u care that much about Spongebob's NOT new voice ok
love always, natali
" $h!T "
Natali, are you trying to tell us you had a kid when you were 12?
I don't like the "more updated" Spongebob. All the charters are different, they are not the same as they were in the first episodes. They are not funny anymore, just annoying and more insulting. The animation is different also. I use to love Spongebob, now i hate it and only watch it when the old episodes come on. I wish they would either, stop making new Spongebob episodes or kick the new people who create the episodes and get the old Spongebob back.
All you people need to do is a little reading to find out that Spongebob's voice was, is, and always has been done by Tom Kenny. Yes, even the new episodes.
I think where the problem probably begins is in the production. From what I understand, they ship the episodes off to Korea for production, audio syncing, etc. Perhaps they are using a different production company? A cheaper one, maybe?
All it takes is a slight change in production technique and you have a totally changed cartoon.
And for the interaction changes between the characters, it is very possible that they are either using different writers (notice that even in the OLD cartoons, they have different writers for different shows), or the writers they do have are simply running out of good ideas.
For corn's sake, the show has been around for 9+ years. It's very likely that the show is simply past its prime.
OMG; regarding the first post. I hate the new voice and also avoid watching the new episodes with the new voice. I also have small children who love spongebob but my 16 yr old and I would watch it even w/o the two little ones.
I have bought the old episodes and enjoy watching them on occasion.
I agree - the new SB sucks!!! I used to love watching him with my daughter and I still like reruns of the original. I cannot understand why in the hell they thought changing his voice and character would be a good thing. In addition to all the comments here, I know a lot of people who like the original SB, but not the new one. Change BACK PLEASE and pitch the new episodes - what a waste of someone's time and talent's!!
Well, I may have a theory behind this…I'm a Speech Language Pathology major and I've learned a great deal. An interesting fact….mens' voices are known to have a lower frequency (as we perceive it, pitch) and as they age their frequency increases (making it higher in pitch) I could almost bet that this is what is occurring. Does anyone agree?
I agree 100%. I know it's the same guy who's doing the voice. I think that the producers told him to change him voice. By making the voice more 'high pitched' it would create a more happy, friendlier tone that one would think to appeal more to the children. But that's the problem. Having a character that sounds so happy that he's high doesn't make him seem real anymore. When he cries he doesn't even sound sad. And the new voice isn't only the problem with the show. The new 'sodes are not funny at all. They're all just corny play-by-the-book jokes. Also you never see the random, realistic, humorous pictures anymore. Where did they go?
I also feel that Sandy's character has changed somehow. She's too smart and she's more of a background character. Her and Spongebob don't interact like they used to. They used to be friends who did karate together. Now it seems that he comes over and she's always busy working on some gadget. I preferred her when she was more strong than intelligent. She's just that character that has to be there so there is a female character that is "just as/more tough and smart as the boys". I guess you can say all of the characters have changed for the worse just slightly. Except for Mr. Krabs and Plankton. Anyway, I hope the show dies out soon. And I hope the next new show caries the same genuine and good humor as old Spongebob (and other old shows) did.
I hate the new spongebob cartoons. Starting about a year, year and a half ago, something changed. I hate spongebobs new incessantly high pitched voice. There's no longer any different levels to his voice according to the scene. It's always this high pitched monotoned. And the incessantly nerve racking tone to the constant ukelaleigh music sucks. And the plots and screen play suck. Did the orginal writers go on strike and/or start asking for more money and the produces told them to get lost? The original spongebob cartoons were ABSOLUTE GENIUS!
so we all agree: the voice is different, and in a bad way.
idk if anyone else noticed but the themes of the episodes are STUPID. at least before spongebob was smart and charming without even trying. now it's like there's two patricks, witht he original being smarter. i dont like it. there's no innocence to the show anymore.
I'm relieved to see that I'm not nuts. Well, maybe a little to be complaining about a cartoon's voice, but I HATE his new voice. And the new episodes have a different corny, irritating type of humor. Definitely not the same. Please bring back the "old" SB!
No, you're not nuts. There's been a big change in the show, and it's probably not ever going to be resolved to the satisfaction of old time spongebob fans. Why? Because it's probably driven by monetary considerations. I'm guessing that the original brilliant writers wanted to capitalize on the popularity of the show and asked for more money. Which in turn the producers probably told them to get lost and replaced them. Just a guess.
There's a thousand-and-one things wrong with the new shows compared to the originals. I doubt if any people responsible for producing the show are listening. Would they even heed the complaints and make changes if they did know about the current massive dissatisfaction with spongebob fans? Not likely.
Luckily there are plenty of originals to keep us laughing for quite a while yet. What makes classics "classic" is because there's no others like them, no? I'm thinking about buying original seasons on DVD.
The produces will realize they made the WRONG decision eventually… when the show goes down the tubes due to lack of interest by the viewers.
I am completely suprised at how many dissatisfied viewers there are, and how many of them are adults!
Now i really dont feel alone, make no mistake spongbob has infact changed drastically, my best guess is there is'nt anymore orginal material, and they now aim more for a adolescent audience, as opposed to more situational teenage humor of the past, humor that gave it a very broad fan base… thats all gone now.
*sigh* Just got done watching "Dumped". Doesn't it make you almost want to cry? Plots so simple yet so ingenuius. After watching seasons 1 through 3, it was like hitting a brick wall when I saw the "Patrick Smartpants" episode. Spongebob has gotten worse and worse as subtlelty has given way to shock value and creativity to chaos. "My happy place" is now 9 DVDs which I will protect with my life. I tell myself (and my family) there is the Spongebob cartoon and there is the Spongebob II cartoon. I was gonna write a nasty letter to Hillenberg asking him , how did this happpen? But I think I'd rather simply say "thank you" for the good years!
I have been watching Spongebob since day 1. I remember when I was watching the Kids Choice Awards when they announced it. I'm 17 now but I really think Spongebob should be cancelled. I love the show but they ruined it. I cannot stand seeing a show get ruined because it's sad. If they cancel it, we can continue watching it like normal, because I sure don't watch the new episodes.
Yeah the new sponge bobs are terrible. It's not just the voice thats changed. The sponge bob character itself is different. And the way the episodes are structured is also different. They flash from scene to scene much quicker then the older ones. It's like a whole new cartoon now with the same characters. If one of the new ones is on I never watch. Though I always keep it on nick if it's one of the older episodes. Im 23 male
I'm so glad that other people feel the same way I do. I notices his voice changed when I seen the spongebob squarepants movie in the theater. I was a huge sopongebob fan and saw it when it first came out. After that they started showing new episodes and his voice was the same as in the movie. The movie wasn't as good as I thought it would be and I really don't like the new voice nor some of the plots in the new episodes. I'm wondering if they had gotten new writers and if Tom Kenny forgot how to sound like the old spongebob. Some of the new episodes are funny but not as funny as the older ones. I usually watch the nicktoons channel because they don't show any of the new episodes on there. Oh yeah I'm 24.
The first instance of Spongebob's voice changing I can think of is the final episodes before production of the movie. It wasn't a severe change like we hear nowadays, and hardly noticeable, but it's there if you listen hard enough. Then comes the movie, where one can definitely hear the change in comparison to earlier episodes. Spongebob tends to raise his voice a little too much when excited, but I excused it because Spongebob's voice acting was still excellent. He would still talk normally throughout the movie, and his voice would only change when he talked in that occasional, high, excited tone.
Spongebob's voice change is much more severe in episodes produced after the movie. It wouldn't be so bad if Tom Kenny could control Spongebob's emotions and not make him talk so high all the time, because when he's talking in a normal, average tone, Spongebob's voice sounds excellent. Tom's voice acting has gotten sloppy, and not to be vulgar, but It's as if Spongebob's in a constant kick to the testicles.
So when speculated, Spongebob's voice is only half Tom Kenny's fault. Perhaps, as some have suggested, Spongebob's voice has put a gradual toll on Tom Kenny's voice abilities. But that's no excuse for desperate attempts to make Spongebob sound overly happy all the time.
im 15 and i still watch the old Spongebobs but the new ones are just fking terrible and his character just acts like a faggot the whole time please bring the old ones back
The new spongebob is terrible. Terrible writing. Terrible new voice for spongebob. Cant stand to listen that voice now. Been that way for about 2 years. I want the old spongeback back!
It's not just the new voice that totally sucks about the new episodes, it's the style of humor and the characters.
Spongebob has basically become a cartoon of his former self. I know that sounds weird being that he was already a cartoon before, but the new episodes have this exaggerated almost goofier Spongebob character. Before he was annoying and grating to the other character (like Squidward), but that interaction was funny to the viewers.
Now, he is grating and incredibly annoying to both the viewers and the characters. I almost want to punch Spongebob in the face sometimes.
Spongebob is now just plain stupid instead of innocently naive. Patrick is now completely retarded instead of innocently stupid. And Squidward just tries to hard to be, well, the Squidward of the old episodes. And Mr. Krabs, jeez. OKAY WE GET IT, he likes money. They stress his greed WAY to much in the new episodes. Sandy, since when is she a genius inventor? Her personality took a huge shift to her genius inventor side. She's like a Jimmy neutron now.
The humor in the old episodes stemmed from clever writing, subtle adult humor, and the great character interactions and dialogue. The humor now is more slapstick, goofy, and well…. more like a kids show.
And as far as his voice change goes, it was not due to him having damaged vocal chords or anything stupid like that. It's the producers fault. They think that the show will get higher ratings if he tried doing this overly high squeakier voice. They usually do this because of focus groups. They've completely sold out. Instead of making episodes through creativity, they do so only in the hopes of ratings.
I refuse to watch the new Spongebob episodes.
spongebob used to have a classy style of humor that is now gone that is why adults used to like it
ya i know me and my mom noticed that too!!!1 I hATE IT
I have to agree, I used to love watching this show with my son, now neither of us can stand the new episodes. The oddball humour of the first few seasons, up till about the time the movie came out, were awesome. In the last three years or so, the show has been re-tooled to appeal to kids only, and the writing has gotten formulaic. The new voice attack by Tom Kenny is also probably an attempt to make the show appeal to younger kids.
Maybe the writing staff has changed, or maybe they've just run out of ideas. At any rate, I don't bother to watch the new episodes anymore. The humour I liked, such as:
-"no man, I think you mean beep boop bop!"
-does this face look unsure to you?
-boring science digest
-squidward being pounded by giant pre-historic Gary, materializing with a pointed finger only to get mashed back down into a pulp
-glove flavour
-I defy you, heart man!
is gone. oh well, time to waste my life with something else.
they made a episode about slide whistling…..this show is officially dead
So now I can finally get some sleep- because I have found that I am not alone. I think the movie was the tipping point as well. The movie plot was just a rip of a bunch of earlier episodes. I don't know why this matters- to any of us, but I am sad that Spongebob's voice is so annoying. And the story lines are pretty stinky now. It only reaffirms my dedication to collecting all the earlier episodes. I wonder what show all of the old writers work for now- maybe I should watch.
Most of the voices have changed. SB, Patrick, Squidward, etc., all have changed. The characters are slightly different personality wise. It is like the original cast and writers quit and some new people came in trying to duplicate the show and they just cannot do it. I have yet to see a "new" episode that I liked. I would not doubt if it is removed from TV soon. That's how ordinary it is now. All good things come to an end, I guess.
I can't imagine that you would go and change a good thing unless you had to. And I have to think that the creators are aware of how much the adult community no longer enjoys it. Im a 46 yr old woman who works hard and loves to unwind on a Sun. morning with coffee and Spongebob but only if they are the reruns. My opinion, scrap Spongebob the family cartoon, bring back the old Monty Python humor and let's watch it at 10:00PM or right after Family Guy.
I totally agree about the new voice. I dont even like watching the new episodes anymore because of it, also the comedy doesnt seem the same. The old episodes seemed to have very witty/adult comedy, now i really dont find the new shows "clever" anymore. I have alot of spongebob dvd's that i watch alot more now because of this new change
I agree with what everyone else is saying..The show is just terrible now
I agree the voice changed right after they made the Spongebob movie. I think the actor is the same. They have also made him as stupid as Patrick or more stupid. I also do not watch the new episodes unless there is nothing else on. My husband also didn't notice the voice had changed i think that is a man issue we pay attention a little more, not to slam men!!
Ok so its the same voice actor personally i dont find the new style of voice annoying but i do find all the new episodes so awful! what happened to the originality and creativeness that was once a part of spongebob? it reminded me in the old days anyway of older nick shows like rocko's modern life/ren and stimpy/ etc.. but now the episodes are just bad.. sure the animation has improved but the stories have gone down the toilet and really badly too. the show is just so empty now.. seems so slapped together
I'm still trying to figure out why Spongebob peers onto his bathroom in search of peanuts for his sundae. And why grow peanuts there?
After seeing a new episode called "Sand Castles in the Sand" or something I have the feeling that the Spongebob crew read post like those above (and others like it) and said, "They want bad, we'll give them bad" and went ahead and created the most bazaar, in your face (and unimaginative I might add) epsisode in the History of SB. I dare anyone to watch this episode and think back to the Suds episode where SB got sick and Patrick tried nursing him back to health. ~I'm getting misty.
Every time they promote a new episode I get depressed cause that means the episode pool is being watered down even further. STOP Already!!!
Actually, I may have a good idea of what could be going on. It's just an economic thing: the managers of spongebob are just pulling the same stunt the makers of beany babies pulled–they're pulling back their product for a while to get consumers (or in this case viewers) missing what they used to distribute. Yet, since Spongebob is on a signed contract, they have to lessen the quality of new episodes instead of stop writing completely. It's an old tactic people use to get those once old fans anxious for some of the old, and once the wait is over, they'll return with flying colors to shoot their ratings back into the sky.
That may not be true, I could be way off, but it's a good guess no?
BOY I'm glad I found this………Thought I was going crazy concentrating (and wincing) at his "new" voice. All the new episodes do is focus on him getting into some kind of a wild situation with SpongeBob or SpongeBob and Patrick running around screaming. No real intellegent humor that we all loved so much in the older episodes. I can hear my kids right now watching a brand new episode in the background and all I hear is crazyness.
In a way I think they're trying too hard. There doesn't need to be a plot to each episode. Just keep it simple ideas. I dunno, like…… getting a new tie, teaching Gary a new trick, planting a garden, etc… One of the best episodes was SpongeBob and Patrick playing with a box!
My kids used to ask me if SpongeBob was a kid or an adult. Well now I know, At first he was an innocent, smart, artsy youngster………………. and now he's a grown up loner with a dead end job who's only friend lives under a rock.
AT LEAST Squirdward hasn't changed. Let's change the show to "Squirdward Long Nose" and write SpongeBob out.
"Art thou feeling it yet Mr. Crabbs?"…..now that's funny stuff.
I'm SO GLAD I found this!
I've been an SBSP fan since the first episode, and I've notice a definite change with the newer (last year or so) episodes. It's like instead of them making SB naive, yet sweet and helpful, they've made him purposely annoying and dim. One episode I just cannot STAND is the one where he and Patrick chase Squidward around with slide whistles, almost like they're actively trying to make life for Squiddy hard and all those years of incessant annoyance finally gives him a reason to really hate SB. I also miss the original laugh. They've changed it now to bump the annoyance factor, no doubt. American cartoons are definitely trash. The only half decent one left now in my opinion is The Mighty B.
Wow, I feel validated and vindicated, after happening upon this site! But, I do have to apologize to my 10 yr old for telling him that "it's has to be a different actor doing the voice" for the past ~2 yrs! I actually thought I had read that somewhere. But suffice to say, I LOVE, LOVE the "old/original" Spongebob episodes, and when his voice changed, so did my feelings. And yes, my 3 boys (ages 10-17) agreed-the "new" ones suck, the voice is annoying, the plots(?) contrived, with strained attempts at humor. I agree with another poster-that the relationship bet. SB and Squidward was great material -funny, but kind -adult innuendos/double meanings made truly enjoyable- but now, its downright mean, and you (I) not only root for Squidward, you have to explain to child why you shouldn't behave like SB! Well, thanks for listening, and yes, I do have a life. I'm a nurse, who used to tell her 3 boys, "when I'm old and gray, and can only watch TV-just put me in front of SpongeBob episodes-I'll laugh and feel good". But I have to change my last requests now.
Thats when the show jumped the shark as it were. Nick.Com has never as far as i know spoke on the issue. Sad, they had a great thing going, but just like many of the other comments I will not watch the new episodes. I just purchased the DVD set of the old ones that I came to love. SUCH A SHAME. :o(
I'm 22 and just like all of you I was like "That's not the real spongebob!" And just like all of you, everytime I see that a new episode is on I get sad and change the channel. I miss the old episodes like Graveyard Shift, Jellyfish Jam, Band Geeks, Squidville, Bubble Buddy, SB-129, and Jellyfishing! Ahhhhh! I could watch those old episodes over and over!
yeah i agree with someone who was saying that spongebob seems more stupid in the new episodes. He does, he seems a lot more clueless, especially when he is bugging Squidward. The difference is, before when he annoyed Squidward it was because he was naive and innocent and that was part of his charm. But now, he is just stupid and clueless to the point where he annoys the audience too, not just poor squidward!
Oh and I am soooooo happy I found this site! I agree with everyone's comments. I hope that the writers/producers read these comments because they really hit the nail on the head. And I hope they either do something about it (like bring back old spongebob), or….(and I never thought I would be saying this)….but cancel the show! Gah, it makes me so sad, but canceling the show is better than making the awful new episodes. Old Spongebob fans don't watch the new ones, anyway. I guess the only people that watch nowadays are kids that don't know the difference.
I know how everyone here feels. We could literally cry. :(((((
Yes I agree with all you guys about the new voice but I also think the way Spongebob expresses his face make me cringe even more. I hate when his nose goes down when he is sad instead of like the episodes when his eyes got bigger. Even his eyes has lost it charm. Every expression that Sponegbob used to make was priceless but now every expression he makes is worthless and horrible to look at. I just wish NICKELODEAN changes the way they do these shows but it seems unlikely. Also did anyone see the ad for the new episode called "the big one"– it just looks and sounds stupid and even Johnny Depp can't do anything about it.
The originality of the animation, voice, and plot have left the show.
Bring Spongebob back!!
I have always loved (and stood up for!) SpongeBob - but now this new voice / writer does not capture the essence of SB. His whole character is different: less vulnerable and innocent - more annoying and…well annoying. I had spongebob on tape before i even had a child!! now i feel like i have to defend my love for the show's earlier humor since now people only see the dumbed down version and can't imagine why i own 2 seasons on dvd! the old school spongebob will always live on in our home
Ok. Here is what happened. Stephen Hellenburg stepped down from director creative director etc and replaced it with someone else. There seems to be more violence on the show because they replaced Hellenburg with the Ren and Stimpy creative director Vincent Waller. Also, you've got to remember something. Tom Kenny (who also was also on the powerpuff girls) is getting older. The PowerPuff Girls had its 10th Anniversary in January and now the 10th Ann. for SpongeBob is in the summer. He is getting old now. And he can't do the old spongebob voice. I've noticed that the show has been getting bland. They are running out of ideas for the show, (its been almost 10 years!) and Nick probably isn't paying them for writing because of the recession. And what they are paying the crew of SpongeBob for is Animation. Not for writing. This seems to go along with the fact that Nick is "upgrading their animated shows" to really really really good hand drawn animation, or 3D computer animation. Besides, all good shows are coming to an end now. But good o'l Nick can't let go of SpongeBob just yet, so this is what we get. Cartoon Network already dumped their original library of "Cartoon Cartoons" back in 2004. As we enter the new decade, more shows are being retired that are from the late 90s. Even Toonami,(the block on CN that showcased Anime) which brought Japanese animation to the US has been closed by Cartoon Network
hi all! well, i posted last june about this subject. at that time, i didn't notice the voice as much until i started reading comments on this site. i still don't like the new voice and some of the cartoons are just plain gross (someone commented on how ren and stimpy's writers are writing now.) but no matter what, i'll still watch him until the show comes to an end. i still love sponge and all the characters, in spite of the changes. bikini bottom is still my "happy place". it's supposed to be silly and not make any sense. isn't that why we started watching in the first place? i might be 40 with no kids, but i'll continue to watch and buy the dvd's until the end of time. see ya!!
I used to LOVE spongebob!! The new episodes are HORRIBLE. They are getting violent and gross! The animation is starting to look like the stuff that was on Ren & Stimpy. It is not the same goofy show that I used to know and love!
if youu ask me i also am or was a spongebob fan when he had tha innocent voice. it was addorable and cute and some of the scenes were very very funny. im 19 years old and i been watchin the show since i was younger or when it first came out. the new episodes are freakin stupid and some dont make sense. they changed it around too much since when the hell did sandy become a damn scientist and wtf is with patrick using all these big words and im not talkin bout that episode when he became smarter…it all just seem different. and yes spongebob's voice is sooooo annoying and whoever cant tell that it has you stupid as hell or mabey u just started watchin new episodes and never saw the old ones. somebody please bring my boo spongebob back lol but seriously where is the spongebob we all use to know and enjoy????
Tom Kenny sounds like he's on helium. Someone should punch him in the throat and make his voice sound like how it used to. I cant stand his voice now, but my 6 year old doesnt care…,so the heck with it.
Sad to say, it's just a kids show now. Maybe Nick doesn't care that it's only a kids show, but the last tiem I checked, they make $ from advertising. Last time I checked, I have total control over this family's finances. Hmm that Flapjack show cracks me up…time to switch camps and support Cartoon Network?
good job Nick…it didn't have to be this way
Read the controversy of spongebob from wikipedia……
ill help you why is it became horrible for you
i still love spongebob though until now including the old episodes
Read the controversy of Spongebob at Wikipedia
I'll Help you why is it became horrible for you.
I think its from the public domain (im not politic freak)
I'm so glad to know that I, we (my husband and I) are not alone!! We have noticed the change in Spongebob's voice as well and we are NOT fond of the new difference. I find it hard to watch. Instead of paying attention to the plot, I'm paying attention to how annoying his voice is now. We have three kids who love Spongebob, they don't seem to mind, but as adults we'll always love the "old school" Spongebob a lot more!!
I thought I was the only one that hates the new epps..The show jumped the shark after the 1st feature film. I LOVED the old voice and writing. I haven't noticed anyone else comment but the animation is "cleaner" now. I just watched some of the old eppisodes and I miss the "graininess" Sponge Bob used to be a dull yellow. (Watch Hooky, and you can tell) Now he's a neon pee yellow..uugh..terrible. To quote my absolute fav.. Whaaa..Whaa..Waaaah..!!! OLD SCHOOL SB ROCKS..
Well of course i agree with everyone else, but i've been wondering if anybody else noticed how gross its gottin? Like the skin peeling and eyes popping out and jus to much graphic stuff for a dang cartoon. And also how something seem kinda gay? im not racis or nun but in the big one the guy has a huge surfboard and its like out near his crotch and they pass out sayin oh my and crap. or when squidy was making his own music and spongebob and pat kept inturpting and doing doctor stuff, and spongebob had two fingers and pat was bent over and all yuh hear is pat say ohh or sumthing like that. i mean the show is a little gay now and too graphic, enybody else feel the same?
every now and again I need to chime in for anyone still on the fence (if there are any) on the question: has SB changed: take a look at any of he new episodes (anthing post season 3…) let's say the sipsode where Squidward and Spongebob are fused together…and compare that to "The Chaperone" episode when Sponge took Pearl to the prom. Now tell me this is the same show, from the same writers, with the same animators. My question now….is this show past the point of no return? Even if the old writers etc came back, would it be the same?
I thing spongebob rocks if you think he's too graphic try watching family guy and you'll see a big difference. and there both on a kids channel
Can't really add anything to the discussion we have here - it's spot-on. How I long for the Spongebob of old; when characters had depth; when humor was targeted towards everybody and not just my 2 and 4 year-old nephews; when my mother's fine china was safe from being shattered by unthinkably high-pitched voices.
It's just sad how, at the first sign of a big-time profit, anyone will succumb to temptation - in this case, the temptation to target the show to a much younger demographic rather than keep the faithful followers they've already established. A reality of our society? Yes, but unfortunate all the same.
RIP Spongebob, we knew you well.
i know what the problem is, its that the writer changed. the old one died, and now the jokes suck. it just doesn't have the same type of witty humor. now the show is like watching two eight year olds slap each other with rubber chickens, and whining about it endlessly. have you noticed that spongebob also acts gay? (for example)
Spongebob: bye squidward
Patrick: bye squidward
Spongebob: bye squidward
Patrick: why'd you say bye to squidward twice?
Spongebob: i like squidward.
I guess the writer is gay or something, but if you don't want your kiddies to be gay, then don't let them watch the new episodes. Also, this show is meant for 8 year olds now, and its really corny. what a pitty.
The new Spongebob episodes have become a complete, utter disgrace to the show's existence. It used to be when someone said the word Spongebob in pre 2005 time, one of us would say: "wow, greatest cartoon ever." Now it could something like: "Get that away from my mind!"
It is just sad to see one (IF NOT THE BEST) cartoon shows in history to decline to a point so low from where its popularity once was.
However, it is never too late to bring the old SBSP back to life. And there are always simple, classic plots out there for new episodes, but those new douchebag writers don't care about anything but the money they make for writing the new bull$hit Spongebob plots.
I too have noticed Patrick use words such as "predicament" or "dilemma" (and not when he was smart in that one episode). WTF happended to him!?
Oh yah, and the one with the talking spatula that could walk and move just went too far! Why did some douchebag personify the freak'n spatula?!?!
MAANN!! ive been thinking that his voice was really annoying for the past couple of years compared to the older episodes…i keep telling my girlfrend!! then i stumbled upon this page and found that many people strongly agreed. i know that its only a cartoon, but it used to be one of the frickin best cartoon at the time. but now spongebobs voice is really really annoying and the plots behind each episode are really stupid and arent as clever as before. all of the new episodes seems like sb is very hyper and in the older episodes they would end off with a funny comment or situation…not any more though!! i guess they changed the writers but they SUCK!!! i loved the older spongebob episodes…ive been a fan since i was in middle school!! so if your reading this and have any connections with the program>>>STOP MAKING STUPID SPONGEBOB EPISODES AND GO BACK TO THE WAY YOU ONCE WERE!!
I agree with all comments above. The new voice is annoying and like stated above has a forced corny chipperness. I can barely watch the new episodes. The cleverness of the older episodes is GONE. Plots are either badly rehashed or just plain stupid/corny. The old episodes reminded me of the way Looney toons were as great for adults to watch as for kids. SpongeBob has been cheapened. I hope they pay to have more creative writers and do something about the voice or else the show will loose the staying power (ie simpsons) that it could potentially have.
I think about the voice constantly when I watch the new shows. I can't help it. Everything about the show was perfect before, including Spongebob's voice, and it's almost unlistenable for me now.
If Tom Kenny can't physically do the voice the way he used to, that's one thing, but you would think if that were the case that he'd be doing the voice lower, not higher. I've searched in vain online for an interview with him stating why he changed the voice, but I can't find anything.
It's a shame, because it really does keep me from enjoying what used to be one of my favorite shows in the whole wide world. And I'm a 40-year-old guy!
If anyone does find an interview with Kenny talking about the voice change, please post it here!
I agrre with all the people who want the old spongebob back. Newer SBs are VERY RARELY even close to being good or even funny! The old Spongebob artwork looked a lot more thoughtful, like more time was put into it. To tell the truth I haven't noticed the voice change but I still think the story-lines are COMPLETELY HORRIBLE!!!
1.Patrick is suddenly smart?
2. Too much violence ( Violence was used sparingly in the old ones, so when it was used it made it funnier. An example being the strike one where Spongebob is clinging to the door and Squidward tries to rip him away and his face rips off. It was funny then because it wasn't often.)
3. The new episodes are gross. (I cry inside.)
It makes me very sad to say this but: Either put classic Spongebob back on or discontinue the show!
I can't believe I said it… It was such a great show…
there's been a noticeable change in the dynamic of the show since Paul Tibbit went from being one of the writers to the supervising producer…there didn't even used to be that title at the end of the opening credits…I don't know if that has real significance, but it's something that's clearly changed since the good old days (pre-2005)…the way it's being written now, it looks like there'll never be another simple classic like pizza delivery or bubble stand…what a shame…
My name is Erika and my grandfather is 69 and he is WILD about what he calls, " The Bob ". I go over every Saturday night , we get comfortable, and get ready to watch Spongebob!! Our favorite episodes are Pizza Delivery and Band Geeks! He cracks up laughing every time! " The Bob " never gets old, at least to us.But our favorite part about theese two episodes is the funny voices he has when he is singing!!!! Our eyes start to water and we need to catch our breaths every 10 seconds! We will never stop watching this hilarious cartoon!!
I am 32 and have two kids. Before my kids were even born I used to wait to watch this cartoon, it was hilarious. Then life went on, and the first time I noticed Spongebob to be unfunny was the "Atlantis Movie" for television. I mean I got the whole family to sit down and watch and get ready for it. Half way through, we changed it. What happened?
We are all obviously here for the same reason, the writing started to suck, and Spongebob got so ANNOYING, his voice changed, and the friendship between him and Patrick became just a little more uncomfortable for me to watch. One of them was always crying, they seemed a little more gay, the Johnny Depp episode sucked, and it is now at the point that anything after around Season 4 is not worth watching.
These new episodes move real fast, did I mention Spongebob's new voice, and on and on.
However, long live Squidward!
My comments are the same as all those that have already been posted here. The "new" Spongebob voice sounds like he's on Helium and has a wod of cotton in his mouth. I once heard an interview with Tom Kenny on NPR that you can still find on their website. He did the voice with no electronic enhancements. What you heard was how it came out of his mouth. OK so the laugh was always kind of annoying. But the older shows from 1999/2003 seems to have more dept to them. Rarely do you ever hear Spongebob talk in his lower voice like in the original shows when he was being serious. And even patric's voice sounds like it's in the basement. But as has already been stated, age does have an effect on the voice. And having worked in radio, I know this for fact. As an example, just listen to the old Mel Blanc verses the younger Mel Blanc. There's a huge difference in his voice quality, and he was the cartoon voice genius! But beyond the voice of Spongebob, the over all quality of the shows have become thin and directionless. And remember, there was a 2 year period between 2003 and 2005 when they didn't make any new SBSP cartoons. Something went very wrong during that 2 year time frame. Spongebob just wasn't the same after that when the new episodes came out in 2005. But since Tom Kenny is still doing the voice of Spongebob, there's not much to be done as far as getting the "original" voice quality back. But doing a voice like Spongebob has to eventually take it's toll on one's voice.
I agree! I can't stand the new spongebob episodes because of his voice change and personality change. even the animation is different with the heavy black outline and spongebob's nose always falling down. the new plots just seem to meander into no where. it seems like the writers are making it up as they go along and don't care if the plot makes any sense. patrick also used to be endearing with his goofy dumbness (although in earlier episodes he was smarter, he just didn't know it). Now he is just ridiculously stupid. They are repeating the same plots, with different characters and the Spongebob movie and the episode where the flying dutchman comes to live with Spongebob are too scary for kids.
I do know that it was the movie that changed everything. They began outsourcing the work to Korea or somewhere and most of the original writers left the show. I absolutely HATE the new episodes. The only ones I'll watch are Seasons 1-3. The movie kinda stunk too. You see this kinda garbage whenever anything sells out and goes corporate. It's all about selling merchandise now. Shame.
Spongebob will never be the same and these days they just overdo one trait of every character in Spongebob and express that one overdone trait throughout the whole crappy new episodes. Examples: Mr.Krab's greediness, Spongebob's annoyingness, Patrick's stupidity,Sandy's intelligence, Squidward's crappy clairent skills,etc.
(As some people above me mentioned the things points I'm about make.) The characters interactions are not the same, Sandy and Spongebob rarely do karate together anymore, Spongebob and Patrick just act straight up retarded, as well as annoy Squidward on purpose, Mr.Krab's is just a greedy jackass
But as the main point yes Spongebob's new voice is crap and he acts too kiddie,wimpy,annoying, and stupid now.
ur a ****in devil worshiper and u should die for speaking this way
u kno wut… **** all of u cock suckers i hope u all get struck with aids for being ill manered and slandering the name of a great hero
The new episodes are terrible. And so is Spongebob's voice. So annoying…
Cool, I thought that I was the only adult that noticed this. I didn't want to write about it,because I thought that the spongebob creators were going to laugh at me. Lol.. Seriously, spongebob is not funny anymore, I hate the voice, and I think the creators changed also the writers. Because the show is just completely stupid. In the old spongebob episodes, which were the best, did the stupid things but with a purpose. These new episodes are the dumbmest ever. Even my wife noticed. They have changed Spongebob's voice, they even have changed Patrick's voice. I hope you all noticed that. Man everytime I see spongebob now, I quickly turn the channel if I see in the info block any episode that is past 2005. I think that's were the old episodes,aka good episodes have ended. Well all I have left now is my Avatar. Love the Avatar. It has a japanese influence on it. I am very big into Japanimation. Anyway, if anybody agrees with me on this long drawn out point I made,lol!, please hit me up at my personal email. We have to do something so the spongebob creators can notice our unhappiness. Oh yeah, I am a 34 year old African American man. Yeah, I sure am. But anyway here's my email. email@example.com Peace everyone.
yea the writer/creator left right after the theatrical movie. Same voice actor, just new writer. i wonder if any of them suggested on making spongebobs voice higher? anyway they should just delete all of the episodes from 2005 or atleast make a classic spongebob channel. and maybe even show the movie maybe once a month?
I am so glad I thought to google this topic! I am surprised to see so many comments on this and am so glad it is not just me. I am 39 and love the classic episodes. The humor was definitely witty and made me think that a couple of adults were just having a blast writing that stuff. I have not been able to watch the new episodes for the past few years because it has all changed for the worse. Robots? Singing scenes? Talking spatulas? It all seems to be pandering to a dumbed-down audience. Sigh. Thank goodness for the dvd's of the classic years. I think the show has to end.
No, it's a different voice actor. Trust me on this. I can hear a total difference. And they also changed Patrick's voice. Man when will the show understand this. Boy I can't wait until the next book of the Avatar come out. Hopefully they won't change that show.
nope still tom kenny and bill something check imdb.
Why are you so freaked over spongebob? If you don't like it don't watch it. Come on people its a children's show. Yes the voice changed that's what happens when a show is over 10 years old. People quit and then they hire new people.
Why complain about people complaining on a website called "My Biggest Complaint"? Is it strange to like something, then complain about the thing we liked being not so cool as it used to be? Ever buy a car and NOT complain when it starts breaking down? Don't fool yourself into thinking you're something special, you're really not.
Now, back to what we're all here for in the first place….
ok assholes again his voice didnt change still tom kenny and i wish ur tongues turn to burning spiders, and ur typing fingers turn to eels that bite u everytime u speak foul of this great hero. spongebob is about carefree living and i like it that way and for everyone who swears up and down that theres a new guy doing his voice ur wrong tom kenny is the writer and producer of spongebob
…O_o… Ok then… any sane responses?
ok tony, yes it is true that Tom Kenny is still doing the voice of spongebob…..he's been doing it since the beginning…..but you can't deny that spongebob sounds different. Spongebob's voice is higher pitched and a lot more annoying. Why? Maybe it's cause Tom Kenny has gotten older so naturally his voice changes. Maybe it's cause the producers or someone told him to do it that way. Whatever the reason is, the bottom line is Spongebob's voice is indeed different AND NOT IN A GOOD WAY. That's why everyone is here….we don't know what has happened, but we all know that something is different.
And it's not just the voice, tony! The writing of the show has changed too. I'm not going to get into the decline of the quality of show because people have already talked about that here. After browsing the comments here, it looks like people have pretty much been on target about the changes they have noticed.
So, tony, stop with your cursing becuase that makes you look like the stupid one here…not us. If you disagree with us, you should TELL US WHY YOU DISAGREE. And providing examples from the show will be helpful too. If you want us to provide evidence for some of our claims, I'm sure we would be more than happy to do that. It's not hard for us to find and compare one of the old classic episodes that we love, to the more recent ones that just aren't the same.
Soooo tony,i also hope you realize that we are ALL Spongebob fans here. We wouldnt be here if we weren't! We just want what's best for the show….but we don't think the new episodes are being the best that they could be. We are here because of our love for spongebob. We just want to see him be the optimistic, naive, sweet, carefree, lovable sponge he is meant to be!!!!
Then why come spongebob sound so obviously different and irritating? I mean, it's like the crap story lines change the voice too. I promise you that spongebob was some of the biggest reason why I evened turned on the tv. Because it's so much crap on tv nowadays, and about 75-80% of it is reality tv, that I rarely watch tv. I am a 34 year old African American. I am a big kid at heart. I grew up drawing, and watching anime, and things of that nature. So you could say I was all about cartoons for a long time. I mean I watched other things too, but I probably from then until now at this age, have one of the most narrowed tv watching options out of anybody. And spongebob was one of my main tv events. LOL! Check it out, here was my tv. line up: If my sports that I like wasn't in season yet, like Football,Basketball, Tennis, I was watching, Spongebob, Family Guy,I actually stop watching this show. Even though it was funny, they got too crazy, started making fun of Jesus and God. Next was King of the Hill, Boondocks, stop watching this show too. Pretty much made my race look bad. So now I watch the Avatar, and I am waiting on the new season, which looks like it's going to be awhile. Man I long for the days of Voltron, Thundercats, Transformers, Smurfs, The Flinstones, The Jetsons, The original Dexter's Labratory,and yes, the Power Puff girls. But I am really into the serious animation, this is why I got alot of respect for The Avatar, this show have a lot of Japanese influence. So until they fix spongebob, which I feel they won't, I will be isolated here on the computer watching all my favorite shows from cartoons or what ever on youtube, or dailymotion.
man im soo glad a bunch of people agree and noticed this i used to love spongebob and the older episodes these new one just are even close to being the same one the voice i hate it like almost everyone else here and second the new episodes just suck it seems like its been dumbed down or something :/ it makes spongebob and patrick both seem like total idiots but not in the good old way, now they seem a bit… touched in the head now sadly this doesnt seem like its gunna change how has spongebob fallen from grace and now joins the fallen ranks of pokemon, power rangers and others milking them til the end
at least we still got the golden days and episodes to remember
Quote: Ed, from Ed Edd N'Eddy
Not to crash this party anyone, but I think you're all exaggerating on how much SpongeBob went downhill, seriously. I know most new episodes are dumb, and SpongeBob's voice is too bizarre now, but some of the new episodes can be very good like the wrestling one, and the one where Pearl gets a growth spurt (Especially the part where Squidward's house came to life and said, "Oh well, I needed to lose some weight anyway!). But I agree, Tom Kenny _REALLY_ needs to go back to the original voice.
I read a lot of the comments up top, then realized the last post here was YESTERDAY. You guys must really care a lot to keep it going on that long.
I'm 15, and me and my friend have noticed the change, especially with the sense of humor. I think everything about the change of voice has been said already, so I won't really comment on that. But on with the sense of humor…
The show's humor used to be great, with enough silly things for kids, and a lot of more mature, cultural references fit for teens and adults. This reminds me of one of my favorite episodes, the Idiot Box, where SpongeBob and Patrick buy the TV for the box, and Squidward keeps hearing things. Squidward's obsession with discovering what they are doing, and the exaggeration of what Squidward was hearing. Such as when an avalanche falls on Patrick and Spongebob, and SpongeBob yells in pain "I think they're going to have to chop my legs off…" In the new episodes, SpongeBob always seems pretty much as dumb as Patrick, and the episodes are just about them being annoying little kids. The SpongeBob I remember was a naive child at heart, but was still smart in a way.
That reminds me of one of my favorite scenes, which will never be something seen in modern day SpongeBob. He needs money, so he holds up a bank. He screams "put the money in the bag!" The clerk stays calm and bored, and says "will that be from your checkings account or your savings account?" And a naive SpongeBob goes "um… Savings." I miss that SpongeBob quite a bit, and I'm really glad I'm not the only one who noticed.
Nice commentary Samson..talking about the Idiot Box you mentioned, I think even funnier is when you hear the helicopter and then a loud cheer from SB & Patrick when the voice from the helicopter says "The chainsaws are on the way" that's the subtle stuff I'm convinced will never ever return.
Thank you for the compliment, Babio.
Today at 5, I saw SpongeBob was on. Just to my luck, it was a brand new episode. Now, after looking at these comments, I noticed the high voice even more so. Overall, it was much more shallow than the good old episodes and missed its charm.
ok i wonder if anyone else has noticed this but me. in the old episodes, spongebob and patrick werent completely stupid. they had some sort of brain. but in the new episodes it seems they have changed it so to where they have no s*** whats going on and are ret***ed. has anyone else noticed this?
I've noticed that SpongeBob is now, but Patrick was always pretty dumb.
Yay! I thought my family was the only one that paid enough attention to notice this! The voice issue is obvious, but I think I miss the subtleties of the old SpongeBob most. The show just seemed more nuanced and layered than it does now. It used to be akin to the old Ren and Stimpy for me. Witty and funny and gross and crazy all at once… something for everyone! Now, it just seems dumb and dumb and… dumb. I'm sad. My 10 year old said he really missed the "good" episodes, like the F-U-N episode. It's sad because they don't even play a lot of the old episodes anymore. Oh, well.
*sigh* at this point its just painful to watch Spongebob… but to answer why its just not the same: the series creator Mike Hillenburg left after 2004 along with a butt-load of writers. Some new guy took over and a mess of greenhorn writers were hired.
Im surprised no one has mentioned the animation spongebob has now. The reactions are so over-dramatic. Ughh new spongebob will never be like old spongebob =(
Geez, are all of you complete idiots? It has barely changed at all. You act is if this new voice is so far away from the old when it has barely an audio change at all. And sure, some of thw newer episodes have been lower par than the rest but every show has its bad seasons. Chill out and wait. You act as if this is something so horribly unimaginable that the world should actually care. Get over it. Your whining is annoying.
Im pretty sure patience isn't goin solve it. Plus that's like 3 or 4 maybe 5 bad seasons, jack.
Well, lets put it like this killuminati, people can't bear the chance to calm down with voice acting, they should be more worried about the plotlines and story, the newer episodes are getting bore snore for me, if its comedy, its a 0, for entertainment, its an 90, don't like spongebob voice, and the change in writing is worse than it used to be, people overreact cause some of them had a GOOD childhood, they are hurt to see people mess around with that and FEAR that their CHILDREN will not be happy watching shows or LEARNING the MORALITY, that USED to be there. Old shows in 90s used to have stories to tell and lessons, spongebob did too, and made sense, people just change and want eyecandy, or just **** flying around, explosions, and also just stupidity that isn't funny. Its going to be a LONG BAD season mah friend, you better think twice for waiting the show to be better
Spongebob WAS genius! I've been able to adjust to other type changes with other shows successfully. I just can't with this one. There's NO getting used to his new gay, whiney voice and the sub-par writing. Do the new producers and writers even give a crap?????? They need to clean house and bring back what works.
One last thought. If it truly is Tom Kenny that is still doing the voice, he is trying WAY to hard to do Spongebob. In hearing his real voice in interviews, it's obvious that more "Tom Kenny" is what is needed in Spongebob's voice. If he could relax and let more of his regular voice come through, I think that would fix things. More "Tom Kenny" and less on the gay, winey, and high-pitch tones.
I miss the old writing, the new one is for just freaken mindless kids, no I think it's a good show! But everything just got stupid after the movie. The show used to have BETTER writers that also worked on SpongeBob's ancestor, "Rocko's Modern Life" including the "Chowder" creator, "C.H. Greenblatt" and the writers thought of cool references and jokes that adults love, but the writers left after the movie and the creator handed the show to Derek Drymon and Derek managed to tell Paul Tibbit to direct seasons 4+ and they hired writers that thought of more "kids" humor and gross stuff. Why did the creator and the old writers have to leave? It's a sh*tty show now! They completely messed up SpongeBob's personality, he's friggin annoying now! And the new episodes don't have as much, umm…. adult humor as it used to, it's just all kids jokes now. SpongeBob used to be one of my personal faves, but NOT ANY MORE!!!!!!!!!!!! The only reason is because the newer epis are SHYIIIT! The ones from 1999 to 2004 were clever, classic, and had great innuendos, but the episodes from 2005+ just makes a fan want to cry PLEASE BRING OLD WRITERS AND HILLENBURG BAKC FOREVER!!!! And when C.H. Greenblatt cancels Chowder, BRING HIM BACK TOO! ALSO BRING THE ADULT JOKES BACK! PLEASE?!?!?!?!
Even though I love spongebob, I think they should stop creating new episodes. The characters are so one- dimensional now. it truly is a kids show now, probably only 5 year-olds enjoy it. Which I guess is why they keep making money. It's definitely different writers. The voice wouldn't bother me if the story-lines were okay. I mean, I still watch Arthur (another embarrassing confession) even though the actor is clearly different.
It all started when they made the movie. That was the last time his voice wasn't so annoying. Its like his voice is high pitched but muffled, its weird. After the movie came out the original producers, directors, etc. changed, and they wanted to appeal to a younger audience more. If you notice the first 5 or so seasons of SB were pretty much made for teens, kinda like a Rocco's modern life. Now they want your 3 year old kid watching it, its not their fault, most kids watched it because it was visually appealing, but they weren't a childs show.
Derek Drymon was the reason Spongebob was so good. Notice in the new episodes he has nothing to do with them. After the movie it all went downhill. Stardom gets to us all, even our favorite cartoons
It's not the new writers faults that the adult humor is now rarely used, it's the stupid protester's faults! Because of all the innuendo in the old Nicktoons and pre-movie SpongeBob episodes, parents waste their time complaining about the cartoons being "too dirty" and go to Nickelodeon to protest their guts out, and crapped out Nickelodeon listens to those FREAKEN protesters. Because of that, they changed their rules to make the family friendly cartoons turn into the trash that todler's watch today. You can tell, because all the crud they aire now is all "babyish", you can even see on The Fairly Odd Parents, their early episodes used to have adult jokes too but now it's all "kiddy" stuff. Why doesn't Nickelodeon just ignore the protestors and stick with their rules?! People always ruin something that's actually good:(.
i love spongebob as well and it sucks that his voice changed:(
I agree with you all, SS will never be the same.
All these comments are correct to some degree - although the best episodes of SBSP were the first three. The 'transition' episodes were around the time of 'The Camping Episode' - which was definitely old school and 'Plankton vs Krabs' which showed the beginnings of poorer animation and those 'new' style of characters (in this case, Krab's lawyer. The first of the truly awful episodes were 'Karate Island' - which unfortunately featured the voice of Pat Morita in one of his last acting performances. The list of newer episodes featuring pointless 'guest' appearances is pathetic, especially the ones wth David Bowie and Alton Brown, et al. The 'violence' became disturbing 9even by 'ren & stimpy' standards) and SB himself became a simplistic parody. Watch any episode from 1999 - 2002 and it's like watching Casablanca or Gone With the Wind compared to anything after Seasons 3 - 4: Rock Bottom, Scaredy-Pants, Suds, Born-Again Krabs, etc. Even the simplest of episodes had the pacing and direction of a small feature. Between the mindless screaming, Spongebob and cast would actually have 'moments'. Remember the 'Toulouse Letrec' reference? The voice acting of Squidward, Patrick and Krabs are still top-notch, but even the actors must have long ago realized the material was idiotic. It's a good payday of course, so they don't complain, but there is no excuse for Tom Kenny - after all, he WAS Spongebob. If anything he ought to have put his spongy foot down. Maybe, at the end of the day, they just don't want to risk losing even the seasonal work. The movie was definitely the beginning of the end, and we all agree that anything made in the last 4 years is just pure crap. The old argument the studios must trot out that they had to make it more 'kid friendly' is just bunk, of course. How did it become such a hit at the beginning if it wasn't 'kid friendly'? The pure truth is that the studio simply wanted to spend less money making each episode. So out went the 'expensive' writers and directors, and every script became a hack-written piece of drivel, with about 2 minutes of material stretched into a painful 12 minutes of mindless imitations of the well-crafted characters we once new. It's what happens when the 'suits' run the show and the main players have no power to resist - or worse, maybe Hillenberg and Drymon and the others just got tired of all the 'work' and decided to just collect their checks and pretend they're still proud of what they created. A sad yet true commentary of how studios can milk a show for money while serving up sub-standard fare.
Totally agree. It's not just the voice either. I've noticed they've cleaned it up as far as the animation and have definitely switched to higher grade recordings. The old episodes had a sort of faded look to it but it was very interesting and way better animation. It reminds me of most animated shows when they become really popular. BEST example… the Simpson's. It's so bad now… back in the day (seasons 1-9.5) were the best show ever. Then the writers left… they switched to computer animation instead of hand drawn and the rest is history.
I just sat through one of the new Spongebob shows, and his voice was so bad I nearly turned it off. His voice is much higher and more effeminate. It sounds like a really bad Spongebob impersonation. The voice is always high, like Spongebob is on helium. His voice never drops. There's no way that Tom Kenny is still doing the voice of Spongebob. Even the way Spongebob pronounces some words are totally different than in the first 3 seasons. Not sure who the "new" Spongebob is, but he sucks! And don't tell me that it's still Tom Kenny. It's not possible. That is a different person doing Spongebob's voice now.
Interesting link. For a brief period I was also one of those who thought Tom Kenny had been replaced as Spongebob - even my wife, who is a wizard at identifying voice identities, was in doubt for a while. The answer - as certified by the IMDB resource - is much simpler: the program's overhead (i.e. high-priced direction, animation, writing, etc.) has been cut to increase profit margins. The show still has the ratings (I guess) and pinache to attract celebrity guest-voices, but money talks. Maybe the rockers out there will understand this analogy: Ted Nugent's first sole album - the one with 'Stranglehold' - was a musical, critical and commercial smash. Subseguently Ted found his 'formula' and by the time 'Wango Tango' came around, he had dumped his original singer and become a parody of himself. And he was still wildly successful (until he ran out of material and social credibilty of course). The point is, and also the point why so many 'adults' are concerned about SB's metamorphosis into an irritating airhead, is that the profound talent and inspiration that embued the first three seasons are simply gone for whatever reason. Maybe Hillenberg just isn't as inspired as he used to be, maybe he's changed, or maybe he's lost his influence. Brown, Bumpass, Lawrence, Fagerbacke, and a few others are still kicking ass, voice wise, but Kenny has stone lost whatever gravitas he once gave SB's voice and word characterizations. A sign of the loss of something valuable, an obvious compromise to the 'suits, or a misdirection of acting and production talent….any of these are enough to cause disillusionment among those of us who value and enjoy honest insanity and heart-felt performances. Today there were two were consecutive episodes of second season SB episodes on the Nick network (still heavier than Nickelodian), and I watched them will relish.
after the lost episode, season 3, and the spongebob square pants movie, a new director or writer has takin over and its gay now
ok i havent read the whole blog as its too long so i may be repeating, but peoples voices change as they get older and it sounds to me like tom kenny might be trying to overcompensate and has ended up doing a bad impression of himself (happened to nancy cartright in the simpsons and she needed a vocal coach to correct) but the new voice is irritating, also the writing has gone downhill but that happens with all shows that have been on for so long. what annoys me the most is that have changed the way they draw spongebob, the curve of his cheek is towards the mouth instead of above and arround, which makes him look like a chipmunk, or marlon brando in the godfather.
This is not the Spongebob this new Spongebob falls short of even having the same spongy humor as the ORIGINAL just change it NOW or lose a viewer. - said my dad
I personally say the new voice sucks the ONLY reason I wach the new episodes is I want to still be the one in the family how seen all the episods of Spongebob.
-Marcella 11 year old
So true I HATE SPONGEBOBS new voice
I hate the new voice! It's still the same actor, but I thought they had a different one when I first noticed. I agree with everyone else; it sounds like a bad impression. The episodes after season 3 aren't funny at all, they're just stupid. I can't even watch the new episodes anymore. I'll only watch the old ones when they're on. When I watch the new ones I don't laugh at all, but the old ones can get me cracking up. They should just stop making new episodes now and pretend that seasons 4-7 never happened. Who wants to protest?
I want to protest. The new voice is most definately annoying and just listening to it makes think that this is not spongebob. I heard from a friend that the original voice died but i guess that is not true since people claim the same name is still in the end credits.
And also the story lines and general humour seem a lot more juvenile, whereas the older episodes everyone could enjoy and laugh at! RIP Sponge
Well said, Kel, if a bit emotional - yet understandable. I was going to write a veritable diatribe on what happens to things that are new and vital (I know, it's just a drawing - Patrick said in 'Frankendoodle'), and then succumb to the inevitable need for a 'cash-cow', but we all know that 'toon'. Rather like the later episodes of the 3 Stooges….we wanted to laugh but just had nothing to go on. Suffice to say Tom Kinney (SB) is alive and kicking….what left the show was literally it's direction - and maybe it's director, as well.
This past weekend I pulled out CD's 1 and 2 and part of 3 from the first 100 Episodes collection, and I was laughing out loud. Taking time to watch episodes like 'Squid's Day Off' or 'Imitation Crabs' was like watching classic comedies! Next time you have a chance to watch the episode where Mr. Crabs takes Mrs. Puff on a date, listen to the 'gravitas' in Clancy Brown's performance as Crabs - and this was the guy who was the evil villain in Highlander! This is absolutely classic writing and performing from everybody. Until of course, SB went loopy on us. I guess we won't really be happy till someone in the bizz acknowledges the truth…..yeah, that'll happen.
Ok, just had to amend part of my earlier statement: regarding the CDs in the First 100 collection, the good ones actually go up to #7 and parts of #8. After the 50th, episodes start getting a little spotty, but still the amazing Spongebob B.C. is 54th. With some exceptions, like the Camping Episode, Lost Mattress, and a few others, they get increasingly stupid and annoying (e.g. The Sponge Who Could Fly) until they get to the abysmal 'Karate Island', then it's bye-bye for reals.
Sorry for the geekness, but it had to be said.
Even my kids can tell the difference. And I can tell after watching 10 seconds if it's new, even without the horrid voice. Could you bear to watch the episode where SB and P were afraid of the dark? Since when has SB been stupid, even moronic? Never. Innocent, naive sure, overly enthusiastic, yep, but not stupid. So we get a series of worn out sight gags, including one stolen from a 50 yr old Bugs Bunny, with the light reflecting off several objects to finally shine in Squidward's eyes. The kids are watching the 'Pretty Patty' episode now. That was great! SB's keen sense of customer desires allows him to develop the pretty patty. His innocence allows Crabs to take the business from him. But that's ok, because the patties turn people purple. Great!
Frankly, there are no good cartoons on TV. I used to enjoy watching with my kids Dexter, Power Puff Girls, Courage, etal. and now they are all gone. They seem to have been replaced by endless repeats of unwatchable iCarleys and Suite Lifes and Wizards (Disney, I know). But where the cartoons had some wit and cleverness and graphic design, these shows are just awful. My father would have said it's a communist plot. Perhaps he would be right.
excellent points. As pathetic as this sounds, I'm forwarding the post to my wife in the next room. (hey, we're busy working). We have had this same discussion many times. It's more than an adult obsession with a cartoon. The realities of the TV bizz and animation in general are involved. 'Pretty Pattys' was great. Reference to Squidward makes me think of 'Just One Bite'. I read part of it in a voiceover class a couple years ago. The other people in the class - who were unfamilar - were cracking up, especially the "…they're good for your soul…" line.
Allright - I'm on a SpongeBob jag this week - BUT - I remember when Ren & Stimpy came out and the noise that show made. As an old-time lover of Warner Bros. classics and yet a a fan of R&S, in the first 3 or 4 years, SpongeBob capitalized on all the best of those two predecessors, and outdid them both in the voice performances. As a VO professional myself, it KILLS me to hear every major release film give the lead voices to "actors", in the mistaken concept that they will draw viewers. Did we know who Mel Blanc was when we were kids? And he was definitely not a 'star'. Just the most talented animation VO that ever lived.
i want the old spongebob back. i thought that maybe the dude was sick and they had to use to another guy to go in for him. i noticed it and like ahhh i turned off my tv. i really dont like the show any more…..i also wonder if spongebob and patrick are gay.??? but thats another topic, but if somebody does know can you e-mail me at email@example.com thank you….!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i love you all.!!!!!
I love Spongebob, and I always have, it is such a funny show, but I cannot figure out why Spongebob's voice sounds so different, it is so irritating to me, and I miss the old voice, It aggrivates me a lot, and his old voice was so much better and more realistic, instead of sounding over done and weird.
Spongebob…Oh spongebob. He's gone from an intresting kitchen sponge with personality with a range of emotions, to some crappy, always happy, stupid moldy sponge. I wish they could change him back…
2 years of posting….old Spongebob is still not back.
The comment above mine depresses me….
How true this is, I guarantee the producers told the cast, artists, and writers that the whole show needs to market to babies now.
Tom Kenny could still do the old spongebob voice but I think theres some legal bindings as to why he cant. He's a very talented voice actor still because he has been in other things recently. The VERY adult (almost past rated R) rob zombie film "the haunted world of el superbeasto" for instance! He was a gorilla (he was the monkeys in an episode of spongebob with very similar voices to the gorrilla) and some other characters and none of them sounded the same. I dont know how he does it, but hes talented and the spongebob/nickelodean team need to let him go back to the old voice! I guess they wanted to go in a new direction, but the old spongebob was fine! I hope they bring the old voice and humor back because spongebob is not funny anymore. the new voice is absolutely atrocious! and theres very dry humor that doesnt seem to go anywhere or make anyone laugh!
It's not just the voice… it's the story. All of the new episodes take place in a new place now, or there's a new minor character being present. All the time. The art style has changed too. It's now clearer and more "colorful". But it's the 90's touch of quality that gave the show its feel… I wonder what happened to that episode where Spongebob finds the paper and uses it in all kinds of different ways. That episode right there just describes Spongebob's old personality completely. But now, he's just…. different….
Everyone in this forum talks about SpongeBob's irritating high voice, but I just saw the "Greasy Buffoons" episode, and SB's voice sounded lower than in other episodes, as if the character had a cold. In fact, the voice sounded so distinctively different from other episodes that I Googled the terms "SpongeBob voice" to find out what the deal was with that. It was from that search that I found this forum site.
I do agree with the opinions about the decline with the stories being written over the past couple of seasons. The comedy went from being clever to being vulgar/gross.
One thing can be taught from the SB series: If a child ever asks what it means to be "Bi-polar", just ask the child if he/she knows the SB series and how SB can go from being maniacally cheerful to tearfully depressed . . . now that's an example of being Bi-polar.
I agree with everyone! I hate that new voice! My kids haven't noticed it so i'm not saying anything about it, but when they are watching it, i have to leave the room because i hate that new voice so bad!
I skimmed through the blog and agree with the majority of the complaints. I thought I was alone in thinking this show has gone downhill. Spongebob's voice is the least of my concerns in the new episodes. The writing is terrible. It's all about shock, too many gross things happen now.
In one episode where Plankton turns his Chum Bucket into a colossium, people are puking from being forced to eat chum, you see the characters go off screen and here all the gross sounds of vomitting. What is this?
In another new episode, Squidward is moving furniture around his house, gets his foot caught under the sofa, drags it off and you see his toe nail get ripped of with a small hint of blood and a nerve sticking out. This is gross and completely appalling for a show geared towards 8 year olds.
I'm 19 and grew up watching Spongebob, but I avoid watching any of the new episodes twice, or I'll watch them with my gf just to point out how disgusting they are. I hate to see what a fun show has turned into and I'm glad so many people feel the same. Hopefully, although I'm doubtful, this show will return to its roots and become funny and witty again, until then, I'm done with it.
there is something going on with cheeks. looks like he has a bad plastic surgent:( plus his face is to smashed together in one space.PLEASE DRAW AND MAKE SPONGEBOBS VOICE BETER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I miss the pre-movie spongebob. Im fifteen now, and I was in Spongebob's 6-12 demographic when it first premiered. I love watching the old episodes now, just to realize how much funnier they are than the new ones. Spongebob and Patrick use to act like kids even though they're adults; now, they act like babies most of the time unless spongebob's singing a horrible song/dancing or giving some wierd, unfunny monologue. Squidward used to be annoyed at spongebob some of the time, and even seem to get along with him. Now, squidward is either having a mental breakdown, or just acting aquard. Mr. Krabs used to be a stingy boss that could try to tolerate spongebobs antics; now, he acts childish also, almost as annoying as spongebob. Even Plankton used to be funny, I cant even describe how he acts now. To everyone wondering why the entire show has changed, its a generatiol split. I was a councelor at a summer camp with 9 year olds who love the new spongebob; half havent even seen the old episodes. To them, it would be like watching a foreign language. This show definetly jumped the shark right when the producer stepped down
It pleases me, oddly, to read jl1125's comments - mainly because I agree with them completely, but also because someone of the "original" demographic has the same perception of SB's demise as my wife and me. I have developed a theory which coincides with jl's assertion that the decline is post-movie in origin. Dig: I have the Nick box-set of SB's first 100 episodes, but only recently did I watch the special features in the final CD. It contains an entertaining 'documentary' of SBSP's origins and development, with many out-takes of Mr. Hillenberg's explanations, and observations by all the talented voice actors, including SB himself - Tom Kinney. Obviously no one mentions or acknowledges the decline in flat-out entertainment and inspiration. However, the story comes out that after the first movie, Hillenberg decided to step into the background and hand the directorial control over to his lead animator (who's name escapes me now….Peter, Jeff….?). Every one in the 'docu' praises the decision, but if you check the episode chronology (as I have done) the emergence of "Stupidbob Queerpants" begins roughly around this time. Allowing for ideas that were in pre-production or had already been pitched by then, the apparent blame for the superficial and self-parodying nature of the 'newer' episodes lies squarely with this new producer. (I know - I'll look at the video again and get this guy's name straight). So, and not that it does any good, the whole bizarre twist of events is clearer, it would seem. Obviously this new producer/director does not have the same sensibility, talent and motivation as Hillenberg, but with such a cash-cow going full-bore, who would have the nerve to say something? Certainly not the actors, and Mr. Hillenberg, deserving of praise as he is, is too busy walking down some un-crowded beach to worry about it anymore.
Final note: jl mentioned the Squidward-SB relationship. Bravo. Many episodes that pre-date 2005 exemplify this, but if you want to see one of the true masterpieces, both in execution and character relationships, check out "Pizza Delivery". IMO, one of the top ten.
Carry the flame. -Cyrano
Yep, it's not just the annoying, fast-paced, high-pitched voice, it's the storylines, the music, the drawing…totally not the original awesome Spongebob I grew up with. The storylines are incredibly corny, no longer witty. I absolutely hate the way Spongebob doesn't even look like Spongebob anymore. His nose is often drawn hanging down…he's just no longer cute. I'm 24 and have been watching him since he first debuted. Like some ppl mentioned earlier, whenever I see a new one, I just sadly change the channel =(
hillenburg (producer of spongebob) also worked on rocko's modern life with tom kenny (another great show) and if im not mistaken, he also worked on ren and stimpy but im not sure on that one… either way hillenburg is a genius and needs to come back to spongebob as head producer because whoever the new producer is, sucks! the entire show was completely ruined the day hillenburg stepped down, now he needs to step back up to the plate. It's not right what spongebob has become! it's not funny, has no plot, horrible/stiff dialogue and the new voice is atrocious. I find no joy in watching new spongebob, in fact, it's quite painful. the oldies were so funny and had great plots/dialogue. Spongebob and Patrick acted like kids and everything jl1125 said was true. Very well thought out and educated comment, especially from a 15 year old…just gos to show that smart people watch old spongebob and anyone who watches new spongebob is either too young to remember/know the old ones or too dumb to care. If there's any way that Hillenburg can come back and make the new episodes just like the oldies it would be MUCH appreciated! And I think Nickelodeon's ratings would skyrocket everytime it came on
I love spongebob, i watch it all the time, but ever since his voice changed and they got a new producer, the show has really gone downhill. I remember when the jokes were funny and had hidden humor that only an older audience would get, it was much deeper in its comedy and i used to chuckle along with it. Now when i watch the show i cringe at the shallow and pathetic humor. Its almost seems like they dont try to write any real dialogue, its all a mash up of cheesy "funny" reactions and no real plot to the stories.
I agree that his voice has become just plain odd and awkward, it used to be high pitched and silly when he talked and annoyingly funny when he laughed but it worked for his character! now it just makes me shake my head in amazement that the producers have not changed this yet!
I wanted to also comment that SB plots use to revolve around some kind of more mature theme then the new episodes. Like the episode where SB becomes a lifeguard, and he comes to the revelation that he has to "guard peoples' lives". Or my favorite episode, Chocolate With Nuts. SB and Patrick were conned 3 times by the same person, but never realized it, always attempting to be great salesmen. It seems like Hillenburg treated spongebob and patrick like adults, while the new writers want to treat him like a toddler.
PS-My favorite quote from that episode:
Trying to think of how to sell thier chocolate better:
Patrick: "Let's get Naked!"
SB:"No, let's save that for when we're selling real estate…"
Hilarious! Also, the entire bit with the old lady and her even elderly mother was probably the best spongebob/patrick/bikini bottom resident conversation ever. Much better than the new writing, all the bikini bottomites lines sound akward, and just aren't funny.
Not just the voice has changed to annoying, but the animation has changed too! And Spongebob looks… different, also in a bad way. But the worst, is the way the whole feel of the show has changed. The plots are waaaaay dumber, Spongebob acts totally different, and everyone in general acts dumb. Also, before the show seemed smart, and appealing, now it's, I don't know the word, maybe hyper! Yeah, it has become more hyper, and sillier! I think it is supposed to appeal ti a younger crowd. =/
Also, maybe, I feel like he acts… Gay. I'm not saying anything bad about the Gay peeps, they are good and all, but it all depends on the individual person. But you guys cannot deny that he sounds more, you know? Idk, hopefully no one gets mad or disturbed at my comment, I mean it doesn't matter, but he definetely sounds, Gayer.
Btw, i agree with jl1125's comment.
It's funny how we have to apologize for calling s gay person gay just so they don't get offended. Yea Spongebob now acts gay. It shouldn't offend anyone because it's true.
around 2003, tom kenny (the voice of spongebob since it started in 1999) took a job with cartoon network to voice eduardo on fosters home for imaginary friends. the show started in 2004, which is around when spongebob's voice started changing. if you've heard eduardo's voice you'll know why tom kenny began speaking in a higher pitched voice.
Regarding MuyLoco's comment on the use of the 'gay' descriptive and whether or not we need to "apologize" for using the term, etc. Calling something or someone's behavior 'gay' is not the same as saying that someone is actually gay. It is in fact utilizing the metaphor of "over the top" behavior that is both irritatingly affected and embarrassingly air-headed, either one of which is indicative of being less than 'manly. To suggest that SB was ever manly at all, is of course, ridiculous (not counting the episode 'Prehibernation' where SB works up the nerve to tell Sandy he can't "play" with her any more by holding a shaving razor in one hand and stating "I am a man!"). But calling him 'gay' in newer episodes, as both my wife and I have many times, is a reference made in the current vernacular. What it really says is that the new creative director (post-hildenberger) does not have the skill to be outrageously creative and still convey subtle nuance without resorting to a one-dimensional stereotype. And not to belabor this one point, but even gay people use the term 'gay' to describe exactly the same thing. Now I've got to get back to watching 'Sandy's Rocket' online.
Absolutely!! His new voice is not only annoying but he's not even funny to me anymore. I use to enjoy watching with my kids even if it were the 89th rerun! New voice sucks…
SPongebob was fantastic because it was appropriate for young children, interesting to young children and entertaining for adults to watch with their children.
I bought a best of type DVD a few weeks back for a road trip and the last few episodes have the new Spongebob. The voice was so irritating I had them start over at the beginning episodes. It was too distracting while I drove.
I am a grown up that loves Sponge Bob. I have endured the changed voice and really miss the original voice. Not only is he high pitched and whiney, but he sounds like he has a close pin on his nose. The old voice had depth and character. Did they change actors? What happened? Please fix it. Yes, I have a 12 year old and we watch together, but I sometimes watch on my own too. Really, really miss the original voice!
wow im 18 and a huge fan of spongebob. Right after season 3 i think they changed spongebob's voice and made the shows a lot goofier and strange. It is horrible. It seems as if the target audience has been changed for younger kids where just a bunch of goofy things happen and make them laugh. I do not watch spongebob on tv anymore since 85% of the episodes on are now season 4+.. i resorted to buying season 2 and will watch them repeatedly untill i buy seasons 1 and 3! I wish Bill Flagerbakke would reply to this post so we know whats goin on cause it seems like there are a bunch of us who share the same opinion.
I just watched the Valentines day episode of spongebob, that is one of the episodes back when the show was amazing. The humor was creative and well thought. This is when Spongebob had an innocent and often troublesome persona but now… He is just an annoying square block of dissapointment. I still watch the show and always am really excited to see an old episode is on. When the new episodes are on.. I am in such dissapointment but I still watch… and hope that someday it will return to its once amazing glory. btw, I'm 21 and love the show. I watch it whenever I am eating if it is on.
Perhaps Hillenburg decided to take a back seat when he realised he had taken the Spongebob concept as far as he could based on on his original ideas and so decided to hand control over to the other guys.
Remember though that it is a big team effort when it comes to making shows like this…perhaps they had simply run out of original ideas or maybe like some say Nickelodeon decided to target a different age demographic…no one knows for sure. But I do agree that the first 3 seasons where superior.
Regarding Spongebobs voice, it could be any number of reasons. Tom's ageing voice or perhaps he was asked to change it so that it was more like it is now in order to appeal more to children (who seem to respond better to higher pitced voices).
All in all, I love Spongebob. I am a 31 year old male with 4 children and we all love the programme through good and bad.
yes, i think we all agree that the new voice is pretty friggin awful.
what i've found though is that the comedy has changed to reflect cartoon network, specifically, shows like flapjack.
while flapjack is good, its not the Godliness of spongebob in any sense, and i have no idea why they tried to give spongebob a new style.
now they focus waaaaaaaaaaaaaay too much on the LOOKS of things instead of the actual COMEDY. just look at old episodes compared with new. old ones had clever, brilliant jokes and regular characters. the voices were all pretty straightforward and it was all like a cesspool of genius. it was true to itself.
now they just throw out whatever tiny little joke they can come up with on the spot and draw tons of incredibly detailed, overly defined characters who, qutie frankly, look disgusting.
for example, look at ANY new character they released in the past few seasons. like all the octopus' in squidward's cult. they just look stupid and gross. if they were truly their older selves, they would have made every one look and sound like squidward, like they did in the neighborhood episode.
they need to stop trying to be HD and stop trying to fit in with all the other cartoons out there. I think it's obvious that the new makers of the show have never heard the term 'age gracefully.'
This is incredible, I have been complaining to my friends about spongebobs new voice and how it seems like there are new writers on the show and my friends roll there eyes and say, it's exactly the same. I totally agree, they should bring spongebobs old voice back and the old humor. The humor in the new episodes is too obvious as though they are overdoing it. The old episodes were simpler and spongebob as a character was naturally quirky not so hyper and obnoxious.
Spongebob's voice has changed because Tom Kenny smokes. Simple as that.
The Voice is Tom Kenny Still Same
He Is getting Older
So It's Logical his voice is Different
I Agree The New SpongeBob SUCKS BALLZ
I had the pleasure of talking to Tom Kenny a couple months ago, and when he did the Spongebob voice, it was the same thing: too "childish." The original Spongebob voice represented a naive TEENAGER. Spongebob is supposed to be a TEENAGER. His entire attitude in the new episodes is different as well. Really childish, feminine, etc. Same goes to Patrick. I remember an episode where he suggested dressing up as "fairy princesses." What the F***?????? That is NOT Patrick. I have no affiliation in the creation of the show, and even I know his personality better than some of the newer writers! Sheesh. It's an extremely good show put to waste if you ask me.
sb used to be smart a show that even grown ups could watch and laugh because even though he did funny things on the show the jokes were well thought of . things have changed ever since the movie i honestly hope spongebob gets cancelled just like rug rats and many other shows before it Nick couldnt leave good shows be
i totally agree or at least put some real Thought into the jokes like they used to now they do some of the dumbest jokes im 13 i grew up watching this show and i LOVED IT it was the best feeling ever when i saw the opening credits and when it was on i couldnt stop laughing but now im happy if i chuckle at the new episodes
i agree with alex i know spongebob like hes my twin brother hes scared of the dark and night he LOVES jellyfishing and his job as a fry cook at the krusty krab and he thinks squidward is his friend when he isnt hes weak and he gets freaked out by halloween need i say more i just want the spongebob i grew up with back
Well I certainly agree with the last two remarks. I have thought for a long while that the biggest factor in the Downfall of the Sponge was the poor writing. It coincides with the timing of Hellengerger's (or whatever) handing over creative direction after the first Movie. I was watching an old episode the other day - 'Boating School' - and even just as an average episode, it seems like Shakespeare compared to anything after '05. I tried watching a newer one the other day as an experiment, and I couldn't take more than a couple of minutes. It was so insulting, not only to me, but to Spongebob! I also agree that tis new SB is nothing like the one I used to know. What happened to that smart-yet-dumb guy who once said "Shave me down, make me round!"? (that was from 'Scaredy Pants)
Hi. Spongebob ate my dog. His sound is wack, yo. Can I buy some cheese from your site? Plz, yo, hommie. I want to find a google for my facebook. Can youz helps me? plzzzzzz. thanks a bunch, fer lunch. Nit-niteeee
Well, I still love Spongebob. Sure, the episodes were better when the old writers were there but I still look forward to watching the new episodes. I really don't want them to axe the show so I will refrain from complaining too much.
To be honest, the voice doesn't bother me. New or old!
Maybe its a bit different but its still Tom Kenny.
I wish Hillenburg would re-join the show but I understand why he left. He is awesome and was why the old Spongebob episodes were pure gold!
If any of the voice characters left it would be super hard for Nick to replace them and I think most die-hard fans (like me) would lose interest. So fingers crossed they will stay for a while longer!!!
hey!i am a girl and can't bear to read your comments.the person who says you get stupider in the new shows is a lie! cause i still remember a years work of 5th grade honors and i watch these shows.there is a change in Spongebob's voice but it is because tom kenny is aging. his voice isn't what it used to be..it isn't annoying you guys just have to get used to new voice because when the show ends you are gonna forget the shows you love.i am a 11 year old and still love spongebob.when i grow up the new shows WILL BE THE OLD SHOWS!!!!!!!
You can tell that you are 11. You make no sense.
Spongebob is NOT the same show, and now it deserves to be canceled. It has become a sellout, something that only exists to scrape as much profit as possible with the least amount of artistic effort. Tom Kenny IS aging. But I spoke with him for a while back in January, and his voice is NOT being effected that much. Besides, do you think its logical for a voice to become more stressed and higher in pitch with age? No. It would become more relaxed, and possibly DROP in pitch. Tom Kenny was forced to start voice acting this way around 2005, when you were 6. Of course YOU are used to this unworthy GARBAGE. As far as I'm concerned, this show should be put out of its misery. It has been useless for years. Tom has been a great asset for the animation industry, and I don't blame him for this rubbish. Its sad to see crap like this still on the networks, but good shows like "My Gym Partner's A Monkey," also a show with Kenny, being cancelled. It just shows that people can be stupid.
I also adore spongebob BUT the voice has changed and I to look to see if an old showing of spongebob or one or a new one if old we watch if new move on.The plots and the humor are not as cute and origional they are dull, not funny and just annoying.Bring back our spongebob
yeah, i don't like to watch new episodes of spongebob anymore. it's like i'm watching a completly different show. and it's not just the voices, the jokes are not funny. it's not creative, it's just annoying. it's almost like any other bland kids show. i miss the earlier episodes, because they was so unique and they appealed to everyone. i feel bad for all these kids who are just starting to watch tv and have to watch the new episodes, people like my 5 year old brother. i want the original spongebob back, the one from seasons 1-3.
Over the years, you are able to notice a slight change of voice in the spongebob character. It didn't bother me but it has gotten to the point where the voice of the original spongebob and even patrick's is completely unrecognizable. The shame…
It just makes me sad.
I whole-heartedly agree, Spongebob's new voice is horrible and nerve-grinding. Not just the voice… The show itself! The episodes' plots look like they've been copied from famous movies or TV series (examples of famous movies or TV shows: Gone with the Wind, Home Alone, St. Elsewhere, St. Elmo's Fire, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987), Hawaii Five-0), the jokes are not funny, and Spongebob's new voice sounds like a whiny, over-excited parrot diagnosed with ADHD! Either bring the old voice back, or cancel the show, Viacom.
OK if I may shed some light on this subject. My son and I have watched SB for a very long time and we are annoyed with the difference too. You all have pretty exhautively taken the producer to task. So here is a theory on why the voice and timing have changed.
My brother is a voice actor and a writtter/programer for Cartoon Network. I know that you can put people in the studio and have them read together which gives you the dynamic and timing that you really want as a creative show. However, scheduling all your actors and flying them in for the process is costly and time consuming. You have to have multiple scripts written so the actors can do several shows at one sitting so you are not blowing a network budget on plane fares and other overhead. Voice actors are basically payed for thier voice, if your really good that means you are payed by the minute. That can really rack up with the other expences. I think they are using the cheap alternative of over the phone recording. This was done for lesser spot recordings or limited character appearences, but I think they may be doing whole episodes like that. In an ensamble cast with comedy interaction needed in a show like spongebob all the elements everyone is complaining about (timing, lag, wierd voice quality) would be effected by single line phone delivery or even confrence call type set ups. I know my brother has done, and had done by other actors small phone delivery bits, so it is not out of the realm of possibility.
I like Matt's take on the issue of SB's voice change, etc. As I am a 'voice actor' also living in Burbank (where both Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network are located), and while I don't do animation I can add few comments along those lines. The use of either a direct phone patch or ISDN is an everyday thing. I doubt it's an actual phone recording we're hearing - even the best phone would sound like crap compared to a direct digital hook-up, even if the actor was in China. ISDN is fairly inexpensive in this town, anyway, and some of the more successful actors have it in their home-studios. My impression was always that a change in studio or even microphone was the reason for SB's voice change, and certainly would be affected by cheaper production budgets as well 'cheaper people' producing the sessions. My guess (based on the auditory evidence as well as watching the 'Making of SB' documentary on DVD) is that Steve Hillenberger (sic), the creator of SB along with Mr. Lawrence, decided to step out of his creative director role to spend more time on a real beach around the time that the first SB movie came out. His vital input was handed over to one of the people on his staff - I don't recall the guy's name - and the precipitous fall in production, writing, and even the actors' performances pretty much coincide with that occurrence. So while the character voices, especially SB's, do sound different, my opinion is that the real culprit is less talented people doing the writing and directing, and much less money being spent on production and editing. Yet big name celebrities are still lining up to do guest appearances on the newer shows. Go figure. Ironically, one of the first 'new and bad' episodes was 'Karate Island', with the late Pat Morita guesting as a conniving karate instructor.I knew something was definitely up when I saw that one. we should all treat ourselves to anyone of the ealier episodes as often as possible - I saw 'No Free Rides' the other day, and it seemed like Shakespeare in comparison. Happy Lief Ericson Day!
Maybe we should start a petition to end the show?
When C.H. Greenblat left Spongebob to start his own show, the infamous Chowder series on Cartoon Network, the whole production sequence began to change with Spongebob and that's when everything began to change. If you watch Chowder, you will notice a hint of the wittiness we used to see in Spongebob between the years of 1999 and 2003-esh.
I refuse to watch the newer episodes of Spongebob because I get so very annoyed and cringe on how stupid he has become. The show has become more of how they want to ruin Squidward's day versus the older shows, which had more interaction between all the characters. The new writers are just horrible, the voice is God awful because of the use of higher quality recording, and the animation went from simple to just God awful flashy.
This is why I watch Chowder now, rather than watching the grotesque
Spongebob we all are starting to hate. Shame because the show WAS funny, now it's just how long it takes before the writers can annoy you.
I agree with a lot of people on here: Spongebob's voice is annoying as hell, and the new episodes are extremely stupid. The characters had a bit more common sense in the earlier episodes. The were more "normal". Another thing that bothers me that may sound weird is the new soundtrack. To me, it adds more stupidity to all the scenarios.
Not only is Spongebob's voice annoying now, the show has gotten very very lazy! Using simple gags like so many of nickelodeon's other shows. I still remember one of the earlier episodes i saw, when he was looking for peanuts and craned his head towards his bathroom with a smile on his face, then he grabs the little potted peanut plant on the window. Subtle humor like that is what made the show so hilarious in the first place.
Now we have instances such as "Ok patrick, we gotta be quiet, so dont make any noise…" Then patrick immediately makes a loud noise with an expressionless look on his face.. It's so predictable and bland.
And the cheeks….oh god the cheeks…why does everyone have those little round puffy cheeks now? Krabs, plankton, patrick, spongebob, gary…everyone doesn't need the cheeks!
One more thing and i'll stop, PATRICK'S ONE TOOTH THING! God i hate this most of all, why does he get that goofy looking 1 tooth now? He didnt used to have it, its like they were trying to kid the show down even more than it was.
Actually I think Patrick had one tooth expressions in earlier episodes, but it was funny. An example is in the episode "I'm With Stupid".
There is a committee room where these horrible episodes are being pooped out. It's obvious.
Recycling old material or throwing back to old episodes is a sure sign that the franchise has run it's course.
Give it up Nick… you will never figure out what made the old episodes special.
Plus you guys forgot how to do Spongebob's voice.
Nails to a chalkboard every time I hear it.
There needs to be a Spongebob only channel that has 24/7 of seasons 1 through 3.
Hear, hear! That would be excellent. There are a mix of episodes from season 4 that rank with the best of them, however…I suspect it was the same team that put them together. In my 'First 100 SB Episodes'
DVD collection (which goes up to around '08), I can only watch up to #50, and it gets kind of spotty before then anyway. The rest is just 'drek', as my wife says. To which I agree completely.
Well your all right Im going to say write now and keep it true I still kind of watch spongebob but some episode are either very anyoing or kind of to girlish for spongebob since he is a boy I mean some of these new episodes will tell you like when spongebob and patric chased squidward around for an whole episode with thoses whitsel things it was soo anoying and stupid not goofy funny like it used to be and it's like plankton changed a liltle to I think the main issue with these new spongebob episodes is they're geting less funny and goofy and more anoying it's like the peole that used to write the scrip don't work for nick anymore if they don't I wonder why they didn't just tell there fans they were leaving because it has become obvious it's change big time and PS.stop showing patricks one tooth I think most get the fact that he's dumb ok gezzzzz!
It's not only his voice that's changed but he's also become real whiny and quite frankly a little whinger. I think most people would agree we loved the old spongebob which was displaced from the world's troubles and how he interprets things in his own little world. I just don't understand why they would think people would want to watch a ear piercing little brat.. he's not funny he's just annoying and I hope they change real soon! PLUS IT'S 2010!! Jeez enough with the letterbox view.. how much money has the show made?? surely they can afford to make it widescreen?? Give something back to fans who made it a success!
spongebob just simply sux balls now
I loathe the new spongebob episodes. Everything about the show changed, it's not funny or witty anymore, it's just plain stupid and annoying now. I refuse to watch any new episodes… It's a shame they had to change something that didn't need any changing.
THANK YOU!!!! I have been irked by this for YEARS! I am 42 years old and own every Sponge Bob DVD there is because my three boys and husband love it so much. I noticed it about 3 years ago and thought I was nuts. Then, I took this summer off and started noticing the new voice all over again and decided to do some research. Such a disappointment.We now refer to the episodes as "old Sponge Bob" or "new Sponge Bob"(which we refuse to watch due to the new voice and the awful writing…the end of an era….
So glad to find this. I was online looking for information on who is the new voice of Spongebob because I was convinced it was someone else trying to sound like the original Spongebob. It's unbearable to me now ~ completely distracting & unenjoyable.
Something is definitely wrong with spongebobs voice. I HATE IT. I cant stand any new episodes. And is it just me or are the newer episodes not really about spongebob and his "adventures" anymore? Its something that deals with Patrick or Mr Krabs and Spongebob will just make an appearence somewhere. Also the episodes have just become pointless, and a little gruesome. The illustrators go way way way into detail into what they draw, like that one episode where spongebob gets a splinter? We get the point he had a splinter, you didnt need to add disgusting puss to it thats just gross and no one wants to see that. The old spongebobs are just amazing and the comedy is origional. Now its just stupid.
I HATE HIS NEW VOICE. I though I was the only one. I mean spongebob's voice was always exaggerated, but now it seems he only talks in a high-pitched squeeky voice. His voice used to be hilarious. And also when did they start changing the drawing scheme so much. Now his nose falls, he gets lumps around his cheeks, and he dosen't even look square. Ok, maybe I'm going overboard, but I only watch it now when it is an older episode. When I see the new ones I automatically change it.
ok to the person who wrote about how his nose falls and how his cheeks look weird thank you for pointing that out because i hate that so…………………………………………….much he looks weird and you can never go over board when u have something to say about these new episodes it crazy how nickeloden is downgrading very far
I dont know spongebobs old voice from new but I really wanna. Im gonna see.
I cant stand that new voice
I just watched the first 2 minutes of an episode and sponge cried the whole time. Turns out it is an episodes that he has bet that he can go the whole day without crying. You know, I noticed a difference after the first movie. It seemed like they decided to take all off what made the old sponge good and cram it into one episode and every episode. He still hits the same notes, They have changed his deflection, delivery and personality. The writing sucks too. I read awhile back that they changed writers and producers some time after the first movie. Seems to happen with every cartoon. I can't watch it anymore.
yeah i hate it when his nose goes down too
Referencing the last several postings (or every one since '07 for that matter), the specifics mentioned are all on point, e.g. what's up with the down-turned nose? In short, Hillenberger has not been at the helm since after the first SB movie.
My former favorite Sunday mornings were breakfast with "Robert" Squarepants at 9:00 am, and the crossword afterwords. Nowadays I do the crossword with my First 100 Episode CD's playing instead. And here's a clue for you all: CD's 1 thru 6 contain ALL of the classics, and are the best. "Karate Island" was the harbinger of all badness to come. though in truth, there are several post-Hill episodes that are quite good. 'Skill Crane', 'Spongebob Meets the Strangler' are examples that almost meet the previous standard, but CD's 7 and 8
are spotty at best and the rest just suck completely. Success needs no explanation, and the fact that Johnny Depp lobbied to get a voice role in "The Big One" episode, only shows that these celebrities haven't really been paying attention. For pete sake, the episode with David Bowie was pathetic! Watch the "Frycook Games" episode if you want to see what Neptune was really like.
As a special treat this morning, I played the first disc, starting off with "Help Wanted". It don't get better than that.
Anyway, you all get my drift. SBSP forever! (the first 3 1/2 seasons that is)
@BOB: I couldn't have said it any better myself. Kudos, sir!
I hate Mr. Krabs he annoys the crap out of me. He is soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo GREEDY!
Like in the episode where like almost everyone gets the ICK he makes people including SPONGEBOB pay him to have spongebob's pet Gary the snail get rid of the ick. And in another Episode they have to pay him for working there and to tie there shoes and goin to the bathroom. Ughhh and how he treats his daughter on her birthday! party favors Bubble wrap!!!!
I could go on but i wonrt because my stomach hurts cause just had my appendix taken out. Who else agrees with me!!!???
Oh and i dont like the new epiodes either
No one agrees with you. Mr Krabs is a great character. I dont think you quite understand the point of this String of comments. We're discussing the changes that have been made to the show overtime and what we dislike about the newly evolved show. This is my 2nd time posting a comment. In my opinion the show now belongs on Nick jr instead of the flagship channel. His voice is annoying regardless and I dont quite know why they decided to change it. Obviously they must of brought some pros in to make the show better not knowing anything about the show or having done any research. Shame on you Nick!
I have to agree with Kel. I'll admit Nichole, Mr. Krabs is a little more greedy than usual in these new episodes (in one episode he obsesses over a penny spongebob picked up… We've seen him overreact over a penny before, but this was just ridiculous), but every character has been exaggerated in these new episodes, not just him. And he is by no means the most annoying of them. If you're discussing why you dislike Mr. Krabs in general, then you probably want to find another topic. However, if you're discussing how bad he has become in these new episodes, then that's a perfectly fine topic for this discussion and I'll have to agree. Although I feel much more strongly about the other changes than just him.
Finally!!! My son & I have been saying this ever since the mysterious change in SB's voice. We thought it had something to do with the shows' headquarters moving from Universal Studios in Orlando out to LA, which seemed to coincide with the first Spongebob movie. I've just been surfing to find out whether it caused any ratings drop, but it's hard to say–Sponge is still one of the top Nielsen shows. Who knows whether it's because new viewers keep coming out of their cribs, while those of us who watched from the beginning, and can't stand to watch the new ones anymore at all, left relatively abruptly.
Anyway, the show used to be intelligently funny, even hilarious. I can still LOL watching a rerun of a classic episode. But the new ones can't raise a single laugh in 11 minutes apiece. I suppose it takes intelligent and funny writers, artists, directors, etc., and those who created the show (credit Hillenberger, et al) have long gone, replaced by the industry machine cranking out the cheap, sad imitation we are left with today. Thanks for letting me vent with you all.
Indeed Chuck! And no, I do not agree with Nichole. I actually think Mr. Krabs is less funny in recent episodes because he is not as greedy as he used to be. the only somewhat consistant character in my opinion is Squidwad………I mean Squidward.
Robust, i dont completely agree.
Mr. Krabs is so greedy, its not even funny anymore. He's so greedy, he makes some stupid, annoying decisions that would actually end up making him LESS money. For instance, on the episode where the food critic praises SpongeBob, Krabs seems to think it smart to make spongebob sit on a miniature train while squidward dresses like SpongBob and frycooks! Wouldn't it be smarter to just get squidward to dress like Sponge and be the one to sit on the train?
It's just getting annoying.
(sorry for any grammatical errors. im typing this as fast as I can.)
And while we're at it, a couple more "classic spongebob" recommendations: 'Spongebob B.C. (Before Comedy)', and 'SB129′.
They both feature Squidward (or 'Squog'). Hilarious and full of ironic commentary.
Very true Alex. I guess before the movie came out, he was more consistent in his character. Remember when he took Misses Puff on a date. He went back and forth with spongebob. Gosh I still love that one. Thanks
So does anyone on here think that there is a difference with Spongebob's voice??
No man. all sounds good to me. Why?
Now if you wanna talk Bugs Bunny, I think Daffy has gone way down hill. What do you think Jeremy?