"The Sponge Who Could Fly", also known as "The ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' Lost Episode", is the 19th episode of the third season and the 59th overall episode of the American animated television series ''

SpongeBob SquarePants ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' is an American animated television series, animated comedy television series created by marine science educator and animator Stephen Hillenburg for Nickelodeon. It first aired as a sneak peek after the 1999 Kids' C ...

''. It was written by

Paul Tibbitt Paul Harrison Tibbitt IV (born May 13, 1968) is an American animator, writer, and voice actor, best known for his work on the animated series ''SpongeBob SquarePants''. After its creator Stephen Hillenburg resigned in 2004, Tibbitt took his po ...

Kent Osborne Kent Matthew Osborne (born August 30, 1969) is an American animator, writer, producer, director, and actor. He has worked for such animated television shows as ''SpongeBob SquarePants'', ''Camp Lazlo'', ''Phineas and Ferb'', '' The Marvelous Mi ...

and

Merriwether Williams Merriwether St. John Williams (born March 28, 1968) is an American television writer, former Nickelodeon executive and actress, who has worked on television shows such as ''SpongeBob SquarePants'', '' My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic'', ''Camp ...

, with

Andrew Overtoom John Andrew Overtoom (born May 27, 1962) is an American animation director, writer, photographer, and cinematographer. Recent credits include Nickelodeon’s '' The Patrick Star Show'' as well as the animated feature film '' The SpongeBob Movie ...

Tom Yasumi Yoshito "Tom" Yasumi (born August 20, 1965 in Tokyo, Japan) is a Japanese-born American animator and director best known for his work on ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' as well as ''Rocko's Modern Life''. Yasumi was the animation director on ''Spon ...

and

Mark O'Hare Mark Sean O'Hare (born July 18, 1968) is an American cartoonist, animator, writer and storyboard artist who created the comic strip '' Citizen Dog''. O'Hare is well known for his work on animated television shows as a writer and storyboard arti ...

serving as

animation directors An animation director is the director in charge of all aspects of the animation process during the production of an animated or television film, or an animated segment for a live-action film or television show. Alternatively, the animation directo ...

. The episode was produced in 2002 and aired on

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...

in the United States on March 21, 2003. In this musical episode, SpongeBob, who always wished he could fly with the

jellyfish Jellyfish, also known as sea jellies or simply jellies, are the #Life cycle, medusa-phase of certain gelatinous members of the subphylum Medusozoa, which is a major part of the phylum Cnidaria. Jellyfish are mainly free-swimming marine animal ...

, gains the ability to fly by putting a

hair dryer A hair dryer (the handheld type also referred to as a blow dryer) is an electromechanical device that blows ambient air in hot or warm settings for styling or drying hair. Hair dryers enable better control over the shape and style of hair, by a ...

in his pants. The episode is set within a

frame story A frame story (also known as a frame tale, frame narrative, sandwich narrative, or intercalation) is a literary technique that serves as a companion piece to a story within a story, where an introductory or main narrative sets the stage either fo ...

that features Patchy the Pirate. ''SpongeBob'' creator

Stephen Hillenburg Stephen McDannell Hillenburg (August 21, 1961 – November 26, 2018) was an American animator, writer, producer, director, voice actor, and marine biology educator. Hillenburg was best known for creating the animated television series ''SpongeBo ...

makes an on-screen cameo as a miner inside a treasure chest. The episode became available on the VHS of the same name and the ''Lost at Sea'' DVD on March 4, 2003. Tie-in promotions were made with

Burger King Burger King Corporation (BK, stylized in all caps) is an American multinational chain store, chain of hamburger fast food restaurants. Headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida, the company was founded in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacks ...

, which released a series of toys. Upon release, "The Sponge Who Could Fly" gained seven million views receiving mixed to positive reviews from television critics, especially concerning its live action segments. "The Sponge Who Could Fly" was adapted into a

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...

called ''SpongeBob SquarePants Live! The Sponge Who Could Fly!'', which toured selected cities in Asia in 2007 and the United Kingdom in 2009.

Plot

Encino, California Encino is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. History Etymology The name Encino is the misspelling in masculine of Encina, the Spanish language, Spanish word for "holm oak” (Quercus ilex). The Spanis ...

, ''SpongeBob'' fan Patchy the Pirate informs unseen children that he has lost the lost episode of ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' and tells them to forget about SpongeBob. Following an in memoriam-type tribute to SpongeBob showing a montage of clips from past episodes, Patchy wishes he had a treasure map to help him find the lost episode, and one is immediately flung through his living room window. He and Potty the Parrot follow the map to a chest buried "above the surface" of a sandy playground, from which a miner emerges and gives him a

VHS tape VHS (Video Home System) is a discontinued standard for consumer-level analog video recording on tape cassettes, introduced in 1976 by JVC. It was the dominant home video format throughout the tape media period of the 1980s and 1990s. Mag ...

containing the episode. Patchy returns home in glee to play the tape, which shows a series of SpongeBob

walk cycle In animation, a walk cycle is a series of frames or illustrations drawn in sequence that loop to create an animation of a walking character. The walk cycle is looped over and over, thus avoiding having to animate each step again. Creating a wal ...

s set to music before the

SMPTE color bars SMPTE color bars are a television test pattern used where the NTSC, NTSC video standard is utilized, including countries in North America. The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) refers to the pattern as Engineering Guide ...

appear. Feeling "betrayed" by SpongeBob, an enraged Patchy denounces his fan club, disposes of all his ''SpongeBob'' merchandise and runs out of the house. Potty then alerts Patchy that the real episode's countdown has begun; he rapidly reverses his tantrum and sits down to watch with Potty. In the episode itself, SpongeBob wishes he could fly with the

. He makes several attempts to do so using a

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...

, a winged bat costume, a lawn chair with balloons, and a giant kite pulled by a bicycle. All of these attempts fail, and SpongeBob faces ridicule from others, while Old Man Jenkins, appearing as a farmer and then as a sailor, expresses his disdain for flying machines as he falls victim to two of the accidents. He chastises them for mocking his dreams, and they respond that they all have had unfulfilled dreams, becoming an angry mob to chase him. SpongeBob runs off a cliff and falls into a truck of mud, then into a truck of feathers. In a scene only shown on TV airings, the French Narrator tells the audience to stay tuned for the second half of the episode. At home, SpongeBob has given up on his dream. He dries himself after a shower when he receives an insulting

phone call A telephone call, phone call, voice call, or simply a call, is the effective use of a connection over a telephone network between the calling party and the called party. Telephone calls are the form of human communication that was first enabl ...

and puts the

in his pants. While he talks, the dryer inflates his pants, giving him the ability to fly. He goes around helping people, earning their admiration and becoming a local hero. However, the other characters continue to ask increasingly unnecessary favors of him, leaving him no time to fly with the jellyfish. When he tries to escape to Jellyfish Fields, an angry mob forms and chases him, but is unable to catch him. Old Man Jenkins, now a cannonball stunt performer, blasts SpongeBob, destroying the pants and sending him plummeting to the ground. The people then hold a funeral for his ruined pants. Depressed, SpongeBob decides go home, but the jellyfish help him fly and take him back home. Patrick arrives and asks if he wants to fly with him to the local pizza parlor. SpongeBob declines, having learned that he should leave flying to the jellyfish. Patrick then flies away naturally. A confused SpongeBob wonders if Patrick just flew, but dismisses this and reenters his house, then looks after Patrick out of curiosity. In Encino, an overjoyed Patchy wishes to replay the episode, but his difficulty with the TV remote he receives from his neighbor Mrs. Johnson through the window causes him to accidentally destroy the tape, making the

filmstrip The filmstrip is a form of still image instructional Media (communication), media, once widely used by educators in primary and secondary schools (K–12) and for corporate presentations (e.g., sales training and new product introductions). ...

pour out of his VCR and entangle him. The narrator assures the audience that whether or not the lost episode will remain lost, the spirit and memory of SpongeBob will endure. As the stars form a constellation of SpongeBob, the narrator tells the viewers to "get lost" while bidding farewell.

Cast

Tom Kenny Thomas James Kenny (born July 13, 1962) is an American actor and comedian. He has been voicing SpongeBob SquarePants (character), the titular character in ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' and associated media since its debut in 1999. Kenny has voice ...

, Narrator, Gary, Grandpa SquarePants, Fish #86, Fish #1, Patchy the Pirate *

Bill Fagerbakke William Fagerbakke ( ; born October 4, 1957) is an American actor. He voices Patrick Star in the ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' franchise, and played Michael "Dauber" Dybinski on the sitcom '' Coach''. He also appeared in 12 episodes of the sitcom ' ...

Patrick Star Patrick Star is a fictional character in Nickelodeon's animated television series ''SpongeBob SquarePants''. He is voiced by actor Bill Fagerbakke and was created and designed by marine biologist and animator Stephen Hillenburg. He first ...

, Patrick's Grandpa, Vendor Fish *

Rodger Bumpass Rodger Bumpass (born November 20, 1951) is an American actor. He is known for his role as Squidward Tentacles on the American animated television series ''SpongeBob SquarePants''. He voices several other characters on the show as well, includi ...

Squidward Tentacles Squidward Quincy Tentacles (, ) is a fictional character in Nickelodeon's animated television series ''SpongeBob SquarePants.'' Created and designed by marine biologist and animator Stephen Hillenburg, he is voiced by actor Rodger Bumpass. ...

, Phone Fish *

Clancy Brown Clarence James Brown III (born January 5, 1959) is an American actor. Prolific in film and television since the 1980s, Brown is often cast in villainous and authoritative roles. His film roles include Rawhide in ''The Adventures of Buckaroo Ban ...

Mr. Krabs Eugene Harold Krabs, better known as simply Mr. Krabs, is a fictional character in Nickelodeon's animated television series ''SpongeBob SquarePants''. He is voiced by actor Clancy Brown and first appeared in the series' pilot episode " Help ...

* Mr. Lawrence as

Plankton Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms that drift in Hydrosphere, water (or atmosphere, air) but are unable to actively propel themselves against ocean current, currents (or wind). The individual organisms constituting plankton are ca ...

, Larry the Lobster, Anchor, Hair Piece Fish *

Mary Jo Catlett Mary Jo Catlett (born September 2, 1938) is an American actress. She is a main cast member on the animated series ''SpongeBob SquarePants'', providing the voice of Mrs. Puff. She is also known for originating the role of Ernestina in the 1964 Br ...

Mrs. Puff Mrs. Penelope "Poppy" Puff is a fictional character in Nickelodeon's animated television series ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' and every film based on the franchise. Voiced by Mary Jo Catlett, Mrs. Puff debuted in the season one episode "Boating Sc ...

Dee Bradley Baker Dee Bradley Baker (born August 31, 1962) is an American voice actor. Much of his work has consisted of vocalizations of animals and monsters. Baker's roles include animated series such as '' Adventure Time'', ''American Dad!'', '' Avatar: The Las ...

as Farmer/Sailor/Cannonball Jenkins, Fish #37b, Fish #92, Fish #41, TV Announcer *

Sirena Irwin Sirena Irwin is an American voice director, casting director, and actress. Her career in animation casting and directing began in 2017 after a career as an actress in animation and a two-year mentorship with Voice director, Andrea Romano. Her vo ...

as Mom, Girl Fish #7, Fish #6, Fat Mom * Jesse David Corti as Boy Fish #103, Boy Fish #151, Kid Fish #2 *

Sara Paxton Sara Paxton (born April 25, 1988) is an American actress and singer. She began acting at an early age, appearing in minor roles in both films and television shows before rising to fame in early October 2002. She played Sarah Tobin from '' Greet ...

as Kid Fish #1 *

as Potty, Miner * Paul Lutz as Store Clerk (scene deleted) * Jonathan Silsby as Puppeteer *

as Clown * Dylan Haggerty as Newscaster *

Jeanette Miller Jeanette Miller (July 30, 1932 – November 4, 2016) was an American character actress who has appeared in theatre, film, and television series, best known as Aunt Edie on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC comedy series ''The Middle (TV se ...

as Mrs. Johnson

Production

"The Sponge Who Could Fly" was written by

and

, with

and Tom Yasumi serving as

animation director An animation director is the director in charge of all aspects of the animation process during the production of an animated or television film, or an animated segment for a live-action film or television show. Alternatively, the animation direct ...

s. Tibbitt and Osborne also functioned as

storyboard A storyboard is a graphic organizer that consists of simple illustrations or images displayed in sequence for the purpose of pre-visualizing a motion picture, animation, motion graphic or interactive media sequence. The storyboarding proce ...

directors, and Carson Kugler, Caleb Meurer and William Reiss served as storyboard artists. Derek Drymon served as creative director. The episode originally aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on March 21, 2003, with a TV-Y parental rating. "The Sponge Who Could Fly" was one of the few episodes of the third season that aired during the production of the series' 2004

feature film A feature film or feature-length film (often abbreviated to feature), also called a theatrical film, is a film (Film, motion picture, "movie" or simply “picture”) with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole present ...

. In 2002, series creator

, with his crew, halted production of the show to work on the film, resulting in few airings of new episodes. Nickelodeon announced nine "as-yet-unaired" episodes would be shown. During the break in TV production, "The Sponge Who Could Fly" first aired during a two-hour "Sponge"-a-thon, while the other eight were broadcast subsequently.

directed and animated the

s in the beginning of the episode. The cycle originated when supervising producer at the time

Derek Drymon Derek Drymon (born November 19, 1968) is an American animator, writer, storyboard artist, director, comedian, and producer. He has worked on numerous animated cartoon productions. Early life Derek Drymon was born in New Jersey. t=movies "De ...

called O'Hare. O'Hare said "Derek would call me out of the blue for freelance, and it was tough to know the context of stuff." He remembered the crew gave him a "bad"

synthesizer A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

song, and he was told to do "some kind of weird walk to it." He said "I animated this bizarre SpongeBob walk and turned it in, and that was that." Eventually, Drymon saw the cycle and referred to it as "The Lost Episode" walk. O'Hare had no idea what Drymon was talking about until he learned it was already used in an episode. O'Hare said "so I just figured that it ended up on the cutting room floor, like a lot of stuff you end up doing in animation. I had no idea that he was referring to the actual name of the show The Lost Episode'" The

live action Live action is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live action with animation to create a live-action animated feature film. Live action is used to define film, video games o ...

scenes were directed by Mark Osborne (brother of the episode's storyboard director Kent Osborne), and were hosted by

in character as Patchy the Pirate, the president of the fictional ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' fan club. "The Sponge Who Could Fly" was released on a

VHS VHS (Video Home System) is a discontinued standard for consumer-level analog video recording on tape cassettes, introduced in 1976 by JVC. It was the dominant home video format throughout the tape media period of the 1980s and 1990s. Ma ...

tape of the same name on March 4, 2003. "The Sponge Who Could Fly" was released on the DVD compilation titled ''SpongeBob SquarePants: Lost at Sea'' also on March 4, 2003. The episode was also included in the '' SpongeBob SquarePants: The Complete 3rd Season'' DVD on September 27, 2005.''SpongeBob SquarePants: The Complete 3rd Season''. DVD. Paramount Home Entertainment, 2005. On September 22, 2009, "The Sponge Who Could Fly" was released on the ''SpongeBob SquarePants: The First 100 Episodes'' DVD, alongside all the episodes of seasons one through five.

Marketing

To promote the episode, Nickelodeon launched an on-air campaign called "SpongeBob's Lost Episode", which culminated with the premiere of "The Sponge Who Could Fly". Nickelodeon also partnered with

to release a line of toys as a marketing

tie-in A tie-in work is a work of fiction or other product based on a media property such as a film, video game, television series, board game, website, role-playing game or literary property. Tie-ins are authorized by the owners of the original proper ...

to the event. The toy line consisted of eight figures, including SpongeBob Silly Squirter, Swing Time Patrick, Jellyfish Fields, Plankton Bubble Up, Squirt N' Whistle Squidward, Plush Shakin' SpongeBob, Karate Chop Sandy and Gravity Defying Gary. The promotion ran for five weeks, during which time one of the popular items on the "Big Kids" menu, Chicken Tender, came "in fun star and lightning bolt shapes." Craig Braasch, vice president of global advertising and promotions for the Burger King Corporation, said "These eight new, fun, seaworthy toys inside our Big Kids Meals provide hours of aquatic entertainment for our young customers." Each of the toys released included a "clue card" containing a ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' character riddle. By visiting Nickelodeon's website, the viewers could answer the riddle in order to win digital ''SpongeBob'' trading cards. They could also enter

sweepstakes In the United States, a sweepstake is a type of contest where a prize or prizes may be awarded to a winner or winners. Sweepstakes began as a form of lottery that were tied to products sold. In response, the FCC and FTC refined U.S. broadcast ...

to win an at-home ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' party for 25 people where "The Sponge Who Could Fly" was viewed on the winner's new large-screen television. Pam Kaufman, senior vice president of marketing for Nickelodeon, said "We are proud of the relationship we have built with Burger King Corporation and excited that SpongeBob is returning for his second Burger King promotion. The promotion is sure to bring the young Burger King customers all the fun they have come to expect from Nickelodeon and ''SpongeBob SquarePants''."

Reception

Upon its release, "The Sponge Who Could Fly" was viewed by over seven million people. However, the episode received mixed reviews from critics. David Kronke of the ''

Los Angeles Daily News The ''Los Angeles Daily News'' is the second-largest-circulating paid daily newspaper of Los Angeles, California, after the unrelated ''Los Angeles Times'', and the flagship newspaper of the Southern California News Group, a branch of Colorado ...

'' criticized the special as being a standard episode that has been padded out to an extra length, with the live action Patchy the Pirate segments being "not terribly funny" and "what should be ''lost''." In his review for

DVD Verdict DVD Verdict was a judicial-themed website for DVD reviews. The site was founded in 1999. The editor-in-chief was Michael Stailey, who owned the website between 2004 and 2016, and the site employed a large editorial staff of critics, whose revie ...

, Bryan Pope criticized "The Sponge Who Could Fly" as "The one misstep" in an otherwise strong third season, as he felt it "veers too far away from Bikini Bottom and into unfunny live action territory." Tom Maurstad of ''

The Dallas Morning News ''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation in 2022 of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885, by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the ' ...

'' said "The Sponge Who Could Fly" was "not a very good episode," describing it as "another SpongeBob-and-his-love-of-jellyfish story" that does "not

ave is a Latin word, used by the Roman Empire, Romans as a salutation (greeting), salutation and greeting, meaning 'wikt:hail, hail'. It is the singular imperative mood, imperative form of the verb , which meant 'Well-being, to be well'; thus on ...

enough laughs" and having "too much drippy sentimentality." Dana Orlando of the ''

Philadelphia Daily News ''Philadelphia Daily News'' is a tabloid newspaper that serves Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper is owned by The Philadelphia Inquirer, LLC, which also owns ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', a daily newspaper in Philadelphia. The ''Dail ...

'' expressed the opinion that both the cartoon and the live action segments of the episode were funny, and described "The Sponge Who Could Fly" as one of the best episodes to date. In 2003, the episode received a Hors Concours Honor for Recently Telecast Programs at the Banff Rockie Awards.

Musical adaptation

"The Sponge Who Could Fly" was adapted into a

called ''SpongeBob SquarePants Live! The Sponge Who Could Fly!''. It was launched in Singapore at The Singapore Expo Hall on May 31, 2007, and was the first customization of ''SpongeBob'' into a live musical event, joining a list of TV-inspired live offerings from Nickelodeon that includes ''

Blue's Clues ''Blue's Clues'' is an American interactive educational television, educational children's television series created by Traci Paige Johnson, Todd Kessler, and Angela Santomero, Angela C. Santomero. It premiered on Nickelodeon's Nick Jr. block ...

'' and ''

Dora the Explorer ''Dora the Explorer'' is an American media franchise centered on an eponymous animated interactive fourth wall children's television series created by Chris Gifford, Valerie Walsh Valdes, and Eric Weiner, and produced by Nickelodeon Animation ...

''. The musical also marked the first time Nickelodeon premiered a live tour outside the United States. The show is a story of courage and coming of age which tells of SpongeBob's desire to fly with the jellyfish of Jellyfish Fields. It traveled to five cities across Asia, including Singapore,

Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a Federal Territories of Malaysia, federal territory of Malaysia. It is the largest city in the country, covering an area of with a census population ...

Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

, and

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

, before it toured cities of Australia and New Zealand. A

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

-language version toured China and

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

in the fall. The script was written by

Steven Banks Steven Craig Banks (born November 27, 1954) is an American actor, musician, comedian, and writer of television, plays, books and cartoons, including ''CatDog'', ''Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi'', and ''SpongeBob SquarePants''. Performing In 1987, Banks ...

, who had become the head writer for the series in

Season 4 Season 4 may refer to: * "Season 4" (''30 Rock'' episode), an episode of ''30 Rock'' See also * * Season One (disambiguation) * Season 2 (disambiguation) Season 2 may refer to: * ''Season 2'' (Infinite album), 2014 * ''2econd Season'', an album ...

, with songs by Eban Schletter. Gip Hoppe served as director, with choreographer and associate director Jenn Rapp, and the set was designed by Rialto vet David Gallo. The musical was produced by Nickelodeon and MTVN Kids and Family Group, partnered with Broadway Asia Entertainment. In 2009, the show toured the United Kingdom and Ireland with the name of ''SpongeBob SquarePants: The Sponge Who Could Fly! A New Musical''. It opened at the

Hackney Empire Hackney Empire is a theatre on Mare Street, in Hackney in the London Borough of Hackney. Originally designed by Frank Matcham it was built in 1901 as a music hall, and expanded in 2001. Described by ''The Guardian'' as "the most beautiful theat ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England on February 3, 2009. The musical toured the UK from March 2009 for six months with performances at the

Hammersmith Apollo The Hammersmith Apollo, currently called the Eventim Apollo for sponsorship reasons, and formerly and still commonly known as the Hammersmith Odeon, is a live entertainment performance venue, originally built as a cinema called the Gaumont Pa ...

Southend Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in south-eastern Essex, England. It lies on the nor ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

Salford Salford ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Greater Manchester, England, on the western bank of the River Irwell which forms its boundary with Manchester city centre. Landmarks include the former Salford Town Hall, town hall, ...

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

High Wycombe High Wycombe, often referred to as Wycombe ( ), is a market town in Buckinghamshire, England. Lying in the valley of the River Wye, Buckinghamshire, River Wye surrounded by the Chiltern Hills, it is west-northwest of Charing Cross in London, ...

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

Killarney Killarney ( ; , meaning 'church of sloes') is a town in County Kerry, southwestern Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The town is on the northeastern shore of Lough Leane, part of Killarney National Park, and is home to St Mary's Cathedral, Killar ...

and

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

. Alison Pollard choreographed and directed the UK adaptation and said that the episode already had a few songs in it, which helped with the conversion to a musical. She said "The episode chosen for the show already had four or five really catchy tunes in it, and the idea that he wants to fly with jellyfish is nice for the stage as well." The adaptation includes twelve songs of various styles. English actor Chris Coxon played the role of SpongeBob. Coxon was a fan of the series and said "If I'd been told a year ago that I would be playing SpongeBob today I would have loved it, although I'm not sure I would have believed it." Coxon admitted it was difficult to adapt the show into a musical. He remarked "It is difficult because you are trying to recreate this character that is so fluid on screen. For example I'm just getting used to my square costume, although it does have an incredible design, so that, although I am restricted, I can do a lot of the things he does in the cartoon."

Critical reception

The musical was well received by most critics. In his review for '' The Sentinel'', Chris Blackhurst brought along a seven-year-old child called Dylan Brayford, and Dylan's 34-year-old godfather, James Humphreys, from Nantwich to watch the musical. The two "weren't disappointed." Blackhurst said "The fast-paced tale of courage and dreams kept both entertained with plenty of hilarious moments for the children and a sprinkle of gags which flew over younger fans' heads but brought a wry smile to mums and dads' faces." Brayford summed it up, saying "It was good, but not quite as good as the TV show." Gordon Barr and Roger Domeneghetti of the ''

Evening Chronicle The ''Evening Chronicle'', now referred to in print as ''The Chronicle'', is a daily newspaper produced in Newcastle upon Tyne covering North regional news, but primarily focused on Newcastle upon Tyne and surrounding area. The ''Evening Chronic ...

'' described the show as "a silly riot of colour ..as you'd have to expect from an adaptation of a cartoon TV show." They lauded the song called "Ker Ching" performed by

, saying " tstands out above the rest." Viv Hardwick of ''

The Northern Echo ''The Northern Echo'' is a regional daily morning newspaper based in the town of Darlington in North East England, serving mainly southern County Durham and northern Yorkshire. The paper covers national as well as regional news. In 2007, its the ...

'' said "Younger ones are just pleased to see a colourful collection of characters, vaguely resembling the ten year-old TV show cast, cavorting around the stage." Hardwick praised the role of Charles Brunton as

while John Fricker (

) and Martin Johnston (Mr. Krabs) were said to "win the biggest costume contest."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sponge Who Could Fly, The 2003 American television episodes 2003 television specials SpongeBob SquarePants episodes 2000s animated television specials 2000s American television specials Television episodes with live action and animation 2007 musicals 2009 musicals