SpongeBob SquarePants’ biggest controversies – banned episodes to ‘violence’

SpongeBob SquarePants may have been known and loved for the funny episodes and famous feuds on the show, but it wasn’t favoured by all.

The TV show followed a sponge in Bikini Bottom and its everyday life including hanging out with its best friend Patrick, a starfish, and frustrating their neighbour, Squidward.

READ MORE: EastEnders Lewis star unrecognisable in new Netflix role after BBC soap exit

Another common theme on the show was the feud between Plankton and Mr Krabs as he desperately tried to find the secret formula to making the famous Krusty Krab.

And while the humour in the show and some of the lessons it taught viewers – along with the many, many songs aired, it still hasn’t quite won over everyone.

The first episode of SpongeBob SquarePants aired on May 1, 1999, after the Kids’ Choice Awards, and officially premiered two months later.

The series is still ongoing, but many parents have banned their children from watching it – and some episodes have even been banned from public viewing.

To celebrate the birthday of Tom Kenny – who voices Spongebob – we’ve looked at some of the most controversial episodes of the kids show.

Banned episode

One episode of SpongeBob was actually banned from air for three years due to its nature.

The episode, which was filmed in 2019, saw a local health inspector declare a health hazard on the Krusty Krab after someone in the restaurant had the disease known as Clam Flu.

Everyone – except SpongeBob – ran around screaming and panicking, but he described it as a “mandatory sleepover”, while Squidward said it was a group of people locks in a room with a sick person until everyone gets sick.

The people who were assumed to have the virus were shunned and thrown in a freezer to wait out the virus.

Shortly before airing, the world went into lockdown following the Covid-19 pandemic, so a spokesperson said at the time: “We have decided to not air it due to sensitivities surrounding the global, real-world pandemic.”

The episode finally aired in 2022.

Sexual Orientation

SpongeBob’s sexual orientation was debated among viewers for many years, but intensified after an episode in 2002 where SpongeBob and Patrick adopt a baby scallop.

SpongeBob – whose gender was never confirmed – took on the maternal role while Patrick acted as a father.

Creator Stephen Hillenburg later stated that he considers the character to be “somewhat asexual”, with Nickelodeon sharing a tweet years later to celebrate Pride Month with a photo of SpongeBob alongside it.

The post shared characters that are allies or part of the LGBTQ+ community.

“Dumb” down

Some parents opted not to let their children watch the show because it is “dumb”.

While many children’s shows help children learn how to do things, SpongeBob isn’t actively educational.

News.virginia.edu once reported a study where 4-year-old children found their ability to pay attention, solve problems and moderate behaviour had been “severely compromised” after watching nine minutes of SpongeBob compared to nine minutes of Caillou or drawing.

“Violent and racist”

SpongeBob was also accused of being “violent and racist” by professor Holly M. Barker of the University of Washington.

In an essay, Professor Barker wrote: “By the same token, there is an absence of public discourse about the whitewashing of violent American military activities through SpongeBob’s occupation and reclaiming of the bottom of Bikini Atoll’s lagoon.

“SpongeBob SquarePants and his friends play a role in normalizing the settler colonial takings of indigenous lands while erasing the ancestral Bikinian people from their nonfictional homeland.”

“Inappropriate”

One famous episode of SpongeBob, titled Mid Life Crutacean, has been taken off streaming due to its “inappropriate” nature.

The episode aired in 2003 but has since been removed for not being “kid appropriate” after SpongeBob, Patrick and Mr Krabs go on a “panty raid”.

The trio break into a girl’s house to steal her underwear but find out they’ve accidentally gone into the home that belongs too Mr Krabs’ mother.

At the time of its removal a Nickelodeon spokesperson said: “We determined some story elements were not kid-appropriate.”

READ NEXT:

Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk