SpongeBob Squarepants: Halloween

Enjoyable underwater adventures continue with the entire Bikini Bottom gang in SpongeBob Squarepants: Halloween, a compilation of five episodes from the hit Nickelodeon series, which follows the wacky antics of a rascally sea sponge and his friends. "Scaredy Pants" finds the nasally-voiced SpongeBob the brunt of everyone's jokes on Halloween, until he inadvertently scares them all, including a pirate ghost. In "Imitation Krabs," SpongeBob is baffled by a charlatan who, trying to steal the secret formula for krabby patties, poses as his fast-food boss Mr. Krabs; in "Frankendoodle," SpongeBob and starfish pal Patrick stumble across a special pencil that makes drawings that come alive; in "I Was a Teenage Gary," SpongeBob's pet snail Gary gets mistreated by crotchety neighbor Squidward, who also has tricks up his sleeve in the final feature "Squidward, the Unfriendly Ghost." Fresh and entertaining, with a nice balance of fun antics for kids and plenty of tongue-in-cheek jokes for adults, this is recommended (even if it's not completely Halloweeny). Aud: P. (J. Williams)