SpongeBob Square Pants Presents The Tidal Zone
Common Sense is a nonprofit organization. Your purchase helps us remain independent and ad-free.
SpongeBob Square Pants Presents The Tidal Zone
Did we miss something on diversity?
Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.
Suggest an Update
A Lot or a Little?
The parents' guide to what's in this TV show.
What Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that Spongebob SquarePants Presents The Tidal Zone is a Twilight Zone-themed special starring Spongebob and friends. It has some crude humor like burping, creepy images like floating eyeballs, and characters who regularly insult (and sometimes hurt) each other. For example, Patrick's family gets mad at GrandPat and decides to teach him a lesson by attacking and hurting him. The special is a fine parody, but lacks the heart usually found in Spongebob's world.
Community Reviews
There aren't any reviews yet. Be the first to review this title.
What's the Story?
SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS PRESENTS THE TIDAL ZONE is the crew from under the sea's zany take on The Twilight Zone, with surrealist imagery that mixes live action, vintage style cartoons, and 3D animation in a series of short-form episodes. The stories feature all three SpongeBob series: SpongeBob SquarePants, Kamp Koral: SpongeBob's Under Years, and The Patrick Star Show! and center around a variety of science fiction plots.
Is It Any Good?
This special is an unexpected Twilight Zone parody for kids, but its lack of heart really hurts the overall quality. SpongeBob SquarePants Presents The Tidal Zone takes the signature absurdism of SpongeBob and cranks it up to level 10. There's a frenetic energy in constantly switching from one chaotic situation to another, with lots of characters taking getting hurt as well as a smattering of surrealist imagery. It also features plenty of gross-out comedy, with gags about stinky socks, bug-killing breath, and a distended eyeball. While older elementary kids will undoubtedly find this funny, the special is missing the show's usual redemptive quality of focusing on friendship and teamwork.
The emotions throughout the special are, in fact, resoundingly negative, with anger, fear, and disgust with others at the center of each story. Sadly, the result is a special with limited redeeming qualities that young kids may find unsettling.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the use of violence for humor in SpongeBob SquarePants Presents The Tidal Zone. Is the violence realistic? Why not?
Talk about how this special mixes live action with different styles of animation. Do you like this style? Why or why not?
This special is a parody of The Twilight Zone. What is parody? Can you think of any others?
TV Details
- Premiere date: January 13, 2023
- Cast: Bill Fagerbakke, Dana Snyder, Cree Summer
- Network: Nickelodeon
- Genre: Kids' Animation
- Topics: Ocean Creatures
- TV rating: TV-Y7
- Last updated: January 19, 2023
Our Editors Recommend
-
SpongeBob SquarePants
Edgy, frenetic animated comedy highlights friendship, fun.
-
The Patrick Star Show
Starfish spin-off has goofy fun, lots of slapstick violence.
-
Kamp Koral: SpongeBob’s Under Years
Faithful SpongeBob prequel has same fun, slapstick humor.
For kids who love Spongebob
Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
See how we rate