Note: This article contains a lot of spoilers from the 2012 Spongebob Christmas special Christmas Who? If you would like to watch or rewatch this episode before reading this article, you can do so here: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6kmyfo
In a world where Christmas has become focused around presents and material things, the SpongeBob Christmas special Christmas Who? captures the true meaning of Christmas. I have been obsessed with this since it came out in 2012 and watch it every year around Christmas time. The opening song immediately gets you into the Christmas spirit by being redone as a Christmas carol. Patchy The Pirate then provides a comedic opening and informs us that Christmas wasn’t always celebrated in Bikini Bottom. That is how the story begins…
SpongeBob learns about Christmas from Sandy after he sees her decorating her tree with lights. He then proceeds to tell Patrick, Squidward, and Mr. Krabs about the holiday and about Santa Claus. He asks them to write letters to Santa telling him what they want for Christmas. Mr. Krabs is excited that he has this “blank check” from Santa, while Squidward is skeptical about the whole idea of a man breaking into homes and leaving presents. SpongeBob shows Patrick how to write a letter to Santa. But instead of asking for any presents, he simply asks for Santa to visit the people of Bikini Bottom. SpongeBob’s childlike innocence is an admirable quality in my eyes.
SpongeBob designs a machine that will shoot the bottles with everyone’s letters to the surface for Santa. It works. Soon, everyone in Bikini Bottom is sending their letters to the surface. Squidward is still a skeptic and criticizes SpongeBob in front of everyone. SpongeBob is undeterred and responds with the funny comment that Santa should bring him a dictionary so he can understand everything Squidward just said. SpongeBob and Patrick then prepare to celebrate Christmas by decorating and shopping while singing “This Christmas Feels Like the Very First Christmas to Me.” They are not shaken by Squidward’s scrooge-like attitude. On Christmas Eve, SpongeBob tries to convince Squidward to write a letter to Santa because he doesn’t want Squidward to be the only one who doesn’t get a gift from Santa. Squidward ultimately refuses and tries to sleep while everyone else stays up to welcome Santa. Their song loses vigor during the night until everyone is tired and upset in the morning that Santa did not show up. They all criticize SpongeBob and leave.
SpongeBob is all alone and cries when Squidward starts to make fun of him. SpongeBob gives Squidward a present while he cries and says he made it for Squidward so he wouldn’t feel left out when Santa came. It is a wooden clarinet that SpongeBob made for him. Squidward’s attitude then begins to change because he realizes what a jerk he has been. He dresses up as Santa and SpongeBob is elated because he thinks Santa has finally arrived. He only dressed up as Santa to make SpongeBob feel better, but soon everyone in Bikini Bottom comes by to see what Santa has brought them. He proceeds to give out all of the things in his home throughout the day, tailoring them to everyone’s specific needs. At the end of the day, he is worn out and upset that he gave away all of his stuff. He then receives a letter from the real Santa Claus telling him that he has been good this year, and Squidward sees him flying away in the sky.
I enjoy this Christmas special so much because it has good themes about the true meaning of Christmas. It is not about how much stuff you have or don’t have, but about bringing joy to others and being around good people. Simply seeing “Santa” made SpongeBob very happy and he told Squidward how happy he was that Santa came to Bikini Bottom. SpongeBob’s innocence and kind-heartedness is always refreshing to see. This year, we should all take a page out of SpongeBob’s book and celebrate the holidays with the same purity and kindness we always see from him.
