Ten Times SpongeBob SquarePants Was Censored
Nickelodeon's SpongeBob SquarePants has been around for over two decades and offers a broad
range of comedy that’s amusing for adults and kids alike.
That said, several scenes and episodes from this classic cartoon have been banned due
to their controversial nature.
Here are ten times SpongeBob SquarePants was censored.
Right off the list is Rubbing sun lotion.
In the season two episode titled “Procrastination,” SpongeBob looks for excuses to avoid writing
an eight-hundred-word essay for boating school.
He is seen procrastinating until the very last minute.
Although he gathers all the necessary material and prepares his workspace, he has huge trouble
thinking of what to write about.
But more importantly, SpongeBob gets distracted by his friends playing outside.
He looks out the window and spots everyone enjoying in his backyard- from jellyfish’s
badminton round to Squidward’s sunbathing.
But the inappropriate scene here involved Patrick rubbing Sandy with sun lotion, before
he says, “Come on, SpongeBob!”.
This part of the scene was removed by Nickelodeon in 2005 and hasn’t aired since because it
looked like Patrick was attempting to take off Sandy’s bathing suit.
Hence, it isn’t kid-friendly.
The version that aired on the network completely cut the Sandy and Patrick part.
If you look at the scene closely, you’ll quickly notice that it’s edited.
Up next, we have Axe or cookie tray?
Season four’s “Have You Seen This Snail?” shows Gary running away from home after being
neglected by SpongeBob.
He’s then taken in by an old lady called granny, who initially shows a lot of affection
and care by feeding him delicious cookies.
Later, however, Gary realizes that granny is an evil woman who has caused many snails
to die from being overfed.
He also comes across a closet full of empty snail shells that haunt him to the core.
This aspect of the episode is surely scary.
The initial version even involved granny holding an axe.
While this may not seem like much of an issue to some viewers, it can be terrifying for
a majority of kids.
So, to tone down the darker aspects in this SpongeBob episode, the axe in granny’s hands
was later replaced with a cookie tray.
Getting a feature on this list is a scene showing The Raid.
Perhaps one of the most problematic episodes, “Mid-Life Crustaceans” was pulled out
of rotation.
It’s not available with the rest of the animated series on Amazon or Paramount.
After a standards review, Nickelodeon decided to censor the episode since some parts were
not appropriate to be viewed by kids.
While the exact details which caused its removal weren’t disclosed, it’s pretty easy to
guess.
“Mid-Life Crustaceans' ' first aired in 2003 and showcases Mr. Krab going through
a midlife crisis, which is why he asks SpongeBob and Patrick if he can join them on a wild
night out.
SpongeBob and Patrick agree and try cheering him up by suggesting some seemingly fun activities,
one of which is a “panty raid.”
Soon, the SpongeBob SquarePants squad breaks into a woman’s house to steal her undergarments.
It turns out that the lady is Mr. Krab’s mother.
She catches the group and sends her son to his childhood room as a punishment.
It’s obvious that the entire raid concept should never have been included in a kid’s
cartoon, which is why the episode was banned.
Another censored episode from the show involves the Kwarantined Krab.
This season twelve episode that involves a ‘clam flu’ virus was recently pulled off
from the network due to sensitivities with the ongoing global pandemic.
In “Kwarantined Krab,” a health inspector finds the flu at Krusty Krabs and quarantines
the entire place with every customer as well as staff member inside.
While no one knows who carries the mysterious illness, chaos ensues.
Anyone who is thought to be infected with the virus is trapped in the restaurant’s
freezer.
This SpongeBob episode is no longer available to stream, and it is also excluded from season
twelve’s complete DVD set.
As per a Nickelodeon representative, the episode’s virus-related storyline doesn’t sit well
at a time when the world is battling a real pandemic.
Featured on this list is an episode where we see Larry breaking glass.
This scene portrays violence that didn’t make it past the censors.
It’s from the season nine episode “Larry’s Gym” in which Larry the Lobster opens a
new gym in Bikini Bottom.
He announces that the gym services are free for everyone for a day, considering how they’re
all out of shape.
What many fans are unaware of is that a scene was deleted from this episode.
That scene is then later revealed by storyboard artist Adam Paloian on his Tumblr page.
In the censored scene, Larry originally said, “The only thing worse than donuts is ground
glass!”
He is then shown violently teaching a donut-eating fish a lesson.
He forcefully breaks a glass cup in the fish's mouth.
Yikes!
This just proves how intense and short-tempered Larry’s character was.
Perhaps that’s the reason he wasn’t included as much in the cartoon.
But more importantly, the censored scene from “Larry’s Gym” clearly displayed violence
which wasn’t appropriate for the younger audience.
Moving forward, an episode that needed to be censored involves Squidward and the explosion.
The classic season three episode “Just One Bite” has been a topic of conversation among
countless fans.
And rightfully so, since it’s quite a fun one to watch.
After SpongeBob becomes obsessed with the fact that Squidward has never tried a Krabby
Patty, he convinces Squidward to take one bite.
Although Squidward angrily tells SpongeBob that he absolutely hates the patty, he later
realizes that he likes it and wants more.
In a deleted scene from the episode, Squidward tries to sneak into Krusty Krabs when he triggers
a burglar alarm consisting of a bucket of gasoline that he mistakes for a bucket of
water.
The gasoline spills, causing Squidward to end up setting himself and the entire place
on fire.
This scene was reportedly cut out three months after the original episode aired to prevent
children from attempting to use a match and gasoline at home.
Next, we are including on this list a scene showing SpongeBob under the blanket.
Perhaps one of the most bizarre episodes from the show was “Sleepy Time” from season
one.
In this episode, SpongeBob suddenly possesses the ability to visit the dreams of his friends
and co-workers, something he thoroughly enjoys.
One by one, he enters the dreams of Gary, Squidward, Sandy, Pearl, and then Plankton.
SpongeBob then goes back to his own dream cloud, where the angry faces of everyone whose
dreams he entered appear around him.
When he wakes up, his friends and co-workers are in his house, complaining that he messed
up their dreams and telling him to stay out.
Originally, the episode contained a scene where SpongeBob got into Pearl’s bed and
covered half of his body with sheets.
Showing him in a teenage girl’s bed just as he invaded her dreams indeed pointed towards
something inappropriate for kids to see.
Hence why the scene got deleted.
The show also removed a scene involving a certain inappropriate line in The Flying Dutchman’s
reply.
Have you ever wondered what it’s like to live with a ghost?
SpongeBob tells you exactly that in the episode “Ghost Host.”
When the Flying Dutchman fails to scare and startle everyone, he stays at SpongeBob’s
house to reclaim his dignity.
The episode features hilarious and interesting adventures that SpongeBob has with this unique
ghost.
However, it can’t be ignored that “Ghost Host” went through quite several changes.
One deleted scene that stands out involves the Flying Dutch’s party where Susie Fishbowl
asks him when she’ll be seeing him again.
The green ghost creepily replies, “When you least expect it, baby.”
The subtle yet clever adult innuendo made here was probably why this scene got censored
and was later removed from the original episode.
Making it to our list is the hidden nickel.
Every SpongeBob SquarePants fan knows how much Mr. Krabs is obsessed with money and
how he’s always greedy for more.
In numerous instances, we’ve seen cash hidden in several different places around his house.
From obvious places like a safe to unexpected ones like money in walls and under the mattress,
Mr. Krabs surely values wealth more than anything.
In the season five episode “Money Talks'' it's established that he even hides an extra
nickel in his belly button.
But, according to original storyboard concepts, a weird and inappropriate secret spot in Mr.
Krabs’ body was chosen for the nickel instead: his behind.
Good thing that scene was censored.
Finally, concluding our list of censored Spongebob episodes is the one showing us Squidward’s
burnt face.
It’s no surprise that Krusty Krabs has had a ton of incidents involving complete destruction
and multiple hazards.
When the crazy Krabby Patty incident causes a fire, SpongeBob makes things worse by stepping
on Squidward’s head while reaching for a chimney vent.
As a result, Squidward’s face is stuck to the burning hot griddle.
His facial skin literally comes off, revealing a horrifying sight.
The network realized this was too much for the kids watching the show, so they decided
to delete that part.
The gruesome scene was even supposed to show Squidward’s face getting stitched in an
ambulance.
Kids should definitely not witness that.
But let us know in the comment section: WHICH CENSORED EPISODE OF SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS
CREEPS YOU OUT THE MOST?
And tell us what we should cover next.
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But most importantly, stay wicked.