" Help Wanted " is the first episode of the animated American animated series SpongeBob SquarePants . It was originally aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on May 1, 1999, following the television showcase of the 1999 Kids' Choice Awards. This episode follows the protagonist, a young anthropomorphic sea sponge named SpongeBob SquarePants, trying to get a job at a local restaurant called Krusty Krab. However, he was assigned to find a high-caliber spatula that did not seem to exist because his owner, Mr. Krabs, assumed he was not eligible for the position. Finally, the greedy crowd stopped at the Krusty Krab and asked for food. SpongeBob returns from his job, after meeting Mr. Krabs' request and finding a mechanical spatula. She uses a spatula to fill the hunger of anchovies. SpongeBob was then greeted by Mr. Krabs as a Krusty Krab employee against Squidward's, Krusty Krab cashier, pray.
The creator of the series Stephen Hillenburg originally concocted the show in 1994 and began working on it shortly after the cancellation of Rocko's Modern Life in 1996. To voice the SpongeBob character Hillenburg approaches Tom Kenny, who has worked with him on Rocko's Modern Life . To pitch the series, Hillenburg originally wanted the idea of ​​owning SpongeBob and Squidward on the journey, inspired by the 1989 film Powwow Highway . Hillenburg gave up the idea, and started new with the idea he and Derek Drymon came for "Help Wanted" based on Hillenburg's experience in Scouting. The original idea will be used for the next "Pizza Delivery" episode.
This episode was written by Hillenburg who also serves as a storyboard director, Derek Drymon, who also functions as a storyboard artist, and Tim Hill. The animation is directed by the director of the event director, Alan Smart. "Help Wanted" featured a posthumous musical performance from Tiny Tim who sang "Livin 'in the Sunlight, Lovin' in the Moonlight".
"Help Wanted" was issued in the DVD release of the first season of the series because Nickelodeon did not want to pay Tiny Tim's estate for DVD rights. Since then it has been released as a bonus feature for various DVD series. "Help Wanted" earned an average of 6.9 million views, receiving positive reviews from media critics.
Video Help Wanted (SpongeBob SquarePants)
Plot
The episode opens with an introductory glimpse of the waters town of Bikini Bottom. The audience was then introduced to SpongeBob SquarePants, a vibrant, hyperactive, anxious, and friendly sea sponge that is ready to fulfill a lifelong dream and passion by applying for a fried cooking job at an underwater fast food restaurant, Krusty Krab, to an annoying restaurant and neighbor SpongeBob the irritable, Squidward Tentacles. SpongeBob then felt nervous and almost reconsidered to apply for a job at the restaurant until his best friend, the starfish named Patrick Star, assured him otherwise. Tasteful with SpongeBob's vulnerability, gullible, and impenetrable enthusiasm and innocence, both Squidward and the restaurant owner, Mr. Eugene Krabs, decides to manipulate SpongeBob, who they secretly consider unqualified for that position, by sending it to an impossible destination to buy a seemingly high-caliber spatula that does not exist.
Immediately after his anxious departure, five buses containing an abundance of anchovies stopped at the Krusty Krab, the abundance of passengers eager for food. Unable to quench the hunger of anchovies and worrying by the masses, Squidward and Mr. Krabs were left helpless against a disgruntled crowd. Soon, SpongeBob returned from his duty, after meeting Mr. Krabs's request and finding a mechanical spatula, which he quickly used to whip the Krabby Patties bundle for anchovies and satisfy their hunger. After the mass subsided, SpongeBob was greeted as an employee of the Krusty Krab, which left Squidward disappointed. After Mr. Krabs leaves, Patrick orders Krabby Patty and is thrown from the overwhelming, invisible, and masculine stance, which repeats SpongeBob's performance.
Maps Help Wanted (SpongeBob SquarePants)
Production
Development
"Help Wanted" was written by the creators of the Stephen Hillenburg series, Derek Drymon, and Tim Hill, and the animation was directed by the director of the show's director, Alan Smart. Hillenburg also serves as a storyboard director, and Drymon works as a storyboard artist. Hillenburg initially conceived the show in 1994 and began working on it shortly after the cancellation of Rocko's Modern Life in 1996.
Hillenburg's original idea for pitch was that the author would write a storyboard for possible episodes and toss them into Nickelodeon. One of the original ideas was to write episodes with SpongeBob and Squidward on the way, inspired by the 1989 movie Powwow Highway . Eventually, the idea grew as they worked on it but Hillenburg gave up on the storyboard idea for the initial pitch. The crew evoked the idea of ​​a road trip during the first season and used many ideas for an episode called "Pizza Delivery".
Originally the character was named SpongeBoy and the show was called SpongeBoy Ahoy! . However, the legal department of Nickelodeon found that the name SpongeBoy has been used for mop products. It was discovered after a voice acting for the original seven-minute pilot was recorded in 1997. Upon learning of this, Hillenburg decided that the name of the given character still had to contain "Sponge" so the viewer would not mistake the character for "Cheese Man." Hillenburg decided to use the name "SpongeBob." He chose "SquarePants" as his surname because it refers to the square shape of the character and has a "nice ring to it".
Hillenburg and Derek Drymon dined and came up with the idea for "Help Wanted" based on the Hillenburg experience at Scouting. Hillenburg and Hill writers put it into an outline. In 1997, when throwing cartoons at Nickelodeon executives, Hillenburg wore Hawaiian shirts, carrying an "underwater terrarium with character models," and Hawaiian music to set the theme. The arrangement was described by Eric Coleman, Nickelodeon's executive as "extraordinary". When given the money and two weeks to write the pilot episode, Drymon, Hillenberg and Jennings returned with what Nickelodeon officially Albie Hecht describes as "the [show] I want [I] have on tape". Despite being described as stressed by creative director Derek Drymon, the pitch was "excellent"; Kevin Kay and Hecht had to step outside because they were "exhausted from laughing", making cartoonists worried. With help from Hill and art director Nick Jennings, Hillenburg completed the field and sold SpongeBob SquarePants to Nickelodeon. Drymon said "the network agreed - so we're ready to go."
In an interview with Cyma Zarghami, he says "their direct [Nickelodeon executives'] reaction is to see it again, both because they like it and it's nothing like they've seen before." Hillenburg said the character's construction in the episode was loose. But character development is already "pretty strong."
Design
When the crew started production on the episode, they were assigned to design a stock location where "the show will come back again and again, and where most of the action will take place, such as the Krusty Krab and SpongeBob pineapple house." Hillenburg has a "clear vision" of what he wants from the show. The idea is "to keep everything nautical" so the crew uses ropes, wooden boards, ship wheels, nets, anchors, and boilers and rivets.
The pilot and the rest of the series feature "sky flower" as the main background. When the background designer Kenny Pittenger's series was asked "What is it?", He replied "They function as a cloud by the way, but because the show goes underwater, they're not really clouds." Because the show is influenced by the tiki, the background painters have to use many patterns. Pittenger says, "So in fact, the sky's flower is largely a strange design element that Steve (Hillenburg) makes to evoke the look of a floral Hawaiian shirt-or something like that." I also do not know what it is. "
Casting
While Drymon and Hill were writing the pilot, Hillenburg also auditioned to find a voice for the character of the show. He has created a SpongeBob character with Tom Kenny, where he takes advantage of Kenny's personality and others to help create his personality. Drymon said, "Tom came a couple of times so we can tell you what we're doing to help him find the right voice.She has done many other animated shows, and Steve wants to find a sound that sounds genuine." SpongeBob's voice was originally used by Kenny for a very small female crocodile character named Al in Rocko's Modern Life . Kenny forgot his initial voice as he created it only for that single use. However, Hillenburg remembers when she came up with SpongeBob and used an episode video clip to remind Kenny of the sound. Kenny said that SpongeBob's high-pitched laughter was specifically aimed at being unique, stating that they wanted an annoying laugh in the traditions of Popeye and Woody Woodpecker.
Kenny also provides Gary's voice, sea slug Meong SpongeBob, and narrator in the episode. According to him, "It was always Steve's intention that the narrator became the beloved Jacques Cousteau's nod." Kenny describes Cousteau's voice as "very unpleasant, very removed, very flat, even when he describes something magical and beautiful." At first, they found that the narrator "sounds bored," so they decided that "it should sound a bit fun and fun." Kenny said, "Eet ee is the most amazing thing I've ever seen that I've seen in my life." We found that after a while we had to make the narrator a bit more cheerful than that. "
Bill Fagerbakke voiced SpongeBob's best friend, starfish named Patrick Star in the episode. She auditioned for the role after Kenny was cast as SpongeBob. Fagerbakke said, "Steve is a very nice guy, and I have absolutely no feelings for the material." She described her experience in auditions, saying "I just went in for another audition, and I do not know what's in there in terms of incredible visual intelligence and really kind of humanity like a kid in a show." I can not take that from the material audition altogether.I'm just trying to give the guy what he wants. "For the Squidward section, Hillenburg initially had Mr. Lawrence in mind for the role. Lawrence worked with Hillenburg and Drymon earlier in Rocko's Modern Life, so when working on the episode, Hillenburg invited him to audition for all the characters. Drymon said, "We showed Doug the storyboard, and he started reading it back to us in the voice of Tony the Tiger/Gregory Peck.That's really funny, and we ended up using SpongeBob using a deep voice when he entered Krusty Krab for the first time. Hillenburg decided to give Lawrence a part of the series villain, Plankton, instead.
Music
This episode featured a song entitled "Livin 'in the Sunlight, Lovin' in the Moonlight" by Tiny Tim. By the time the pilot had finished, music editor Nick Carr was asked to retool the music on it. Carr said, "When I first started with SpongeBob , my job was primarily music editorial, but it would quickly propel me into the composer/watchdog." The production team has no budget and no music but they put the budget on a song called "Livin 'in the Sunlight, Lovin' in the Moonlight". Carr said, "This is a very familiar scenario with most cartoons for television, and when he thinks of considering music, his budget is blown."
The idea of ​​using "Livin 'in the Sunlight, Lovin' in the Moonlight" originated when an anonymous send Hillenburg recording with "a band of music." While the authors are developing performances outside of Nickelodeon, Hillenburg plays the song for Drymon as an example of the enthusiasm he sought. When it was time to write a pilot, they had an idea to use the song in the third round. The crew finally got the right to use the song for the pilot, but all they had was "a lousy copy on Steve's old record." The authors were able to use music, as one of the women who worked at Nickelodeon at the time "knew somebody somewhere that had access to something," and he brought a copy of the song on the CD. Drymon said, "We are really lucky because he has contacts, otherwise we will not be able to use it." The sad part is that Tiny Tim died right when we were writing the pilot, so he never knew we were using the song. "
Jeff Hutchins with Hillenburg at Rocko's Modern Life worked on sound animation. Hutchins was approached by Hillenburg to perform music for the show. He was asked "20 things, like the horn of a ship," and Hutchins knew he had the music Hillenburg sought. Hutchins said, "I offered him a choice and, in some cases, several options, we agreed to meet at the Warner Bros. gate near the water tower in 20 minutes." He recorded a voice to a tape and met Hillenburg at the gate. Hutchins said, "He's as happy as you think he is, and off he goes.The next thing you know, I'm working on the show." Hutchins became the regular sound designer of the series.
Release
SpongeBob SquarePants aired its first episode, "Help Wanted", along with sister episodes of "Reef Blower" and "Tea at the Treedome", on May 1, 1999, following the television showcase of the 1999 Kids' Awards selection. The series then made its "official" debut on July 17, 1999 with the second episode of "Bubblestand" and "Ripped Pants".
"Help Wanted" was released in SpongeBob SquarePants: The Complete 1st Season DVD, featuring the rest of the first season episode, since it was released on October 28, 2003. It was not included because Nickelodeon did not want to pay Tiny Tim's estate for the rights DVD, because the music in the episode is copyrighted. Drymon says "'Please Wanted' must be abandoned [...]" However, on the German release of a one-season DVD, the episode "Help Wanted" is actually included. "Help Wanted" was later released on SpongeBob SquarePants: The Complete 3rd Season DVD as a bonus feature on September 27, 2005. It was also released at SpongeBob SquarePants: The First 100 Episodes DVD , in addition to all season episodes one through five. The DVD includes a featurette called "Help Wanted" Seven Seas Edition that displays "Help Wanted" in multiple languages. This episode is also a bonus feature in the DVD series called SpongeBob SquarePants: 10 Happiest Moments released on September 14, 2010. On April 29, 2014, "Help Wanted" was released on "SpongeBob, you're fired!" DVD compilation episode.
In 2013, the main characters of the series, including Tom Kenny, Clancy Brown, Rodger Bumpass and Bill Fagerbakke, performed live read-throughs of episodes during the SpongeBob event called SpongeBob Fan Shellabration. The reading was done at the stage of sound effects at Universal Studios Hollywood on 7-8 September. The event also hosts the winning video screening of SpongeBob SquareShorts competition: Original Fan Tributes.
Reception
Upon release, "Help Wanted" scored 6.3 Nielsen, or 6.9 million total viewers, including 3.6 million children aged 2-11 years. Furthermore, the episode received a general review from media critics. Michael Cavna of The Washington Post rated "Help Sought" in No. 3 in Big Five SpongeBob Episode: We Select 'Em list. Other episodes on the list are "Band Geeks", "Ripped Pants", "Just One Bite", and "Idiot Box". Cavna recounted the episode in 2009 and said "so many styles and polishes already exist." Nancy Basile from About.com says "[The] humor and SpongeBob's optimistic essence is evident even in this first episode." Maxie Zeus from Toon Zone says that the episode is a "winner". In the Associated Press article, Frazier Moore praised the song featured in the episode titled "Livin 'in the Sunlight, Lovin' in the Moonlight" calling it "kookie part."
Author Kent Osborne, considers episode one of his favorite episodes and calls it "very good." Eric Coleman, vice president of animation development and production at Nickelodeon, praised the episode and called it "one of the best pilots" because "it conveys a strong personality."
In the first season DVD review, Jason Bovberg of DVD Talk was disappointed at the set, saying "Where is it? This may be the only disappointment of the set.I am slightly aggravated by the loooong animation menu that introduces all the characters, one at a time, but it's true the missing episode that pisses me off. "Bovberg described the set as" annoying "for missing the episode. Bill Treadway from DVD Verdict, with the exception of episodes on DVD, says "This is a minor error in the top notch package." In a DVD review of the third season, Bryan Pope from Verdict DVD, on the episode as a bonus feature, said "The most interesting extras are series test episodes, 'Help Sought'." He asked in his review "Why release it now instead of in the natural spot with the first season?" In the end, he said "Anyway, SpongeBob experts will appreciate the inclusion here."
References
Further reading
- Banks, Steven (September 24, 2004). SpongeBob Exposed! Insider Guide for SpongeBob SquarePants . Schigiel, Gregg (Illustrator). Simon Spotlight/Nickelodeon. ISBN: 978-0-689-86870-2.
- Neuwirth, Allan (2003). More 'Toons: Inside Most Popular TV Show and Animated Show . Allworth Communications, Inc. p.50, 252-253. ISBNÃ, 1-58115-269-8.
External links
- "Help Sought" in IMDb
- "Help Searched" on TV.com
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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