The best episode of SpongeBob SquarePants is undeniably Season 3’s “Chocolate with Nuts.” This remains true, more than 21 years after its premiere; the 11-minute segment is a comedic tour de force. It’s also a prime example of how to take a simple premise and elevate it into something blissfully, unpredictably absurd. Such is the inimitable strength of SpongeBob, which has only become more off-the-wall over the course of its 24-year run. (Yes, I know, we’re all old; let’s move along.)
In “Chocolate with Nuts,” SpongeBob and Patrick try (and fail) to sell chocolate door-to-door, in the hopes of achieving “fancy living.” Thanks to hilariously escalating roadblocks—and their combined IQ of 40—the boys struggle to make back the money they spent on the chocolate in the first place.
The plot is really a means to an end, which is to give us great quips and weird character moments. “Chocolate with Nuts” has it all: It’s incredibly quotable (“Sweet, sweet chocolate—I always HATED IT;” “CHOCOLATE! CHOCOLATE!!!!!!”). It’s got Tom Kenny (SpongeBob) and Bill Fagerbakke (Patrick) giving top-notch vocal performances. There’s incredibly specific bit characters, like the guy whose intense love for chocolate sends him into a psychosis; an old woman and her even older, seemingly immortal mother; an incredibly talented scam artist, who cons SpongeBob and Patrick with incredibly obvious lies. And the sound design and animation are perfect, as is the case with all good SpongeBob episodes; the sound of the scammer’s “glass bones” (a lie!!!!) breaking, as he slowly slides down his stairs, is unforgettable.
If you have seen this episode as much as I have (100,000 times, minimum), you probably still find it hilarious. But you’ve never seen it like this before: in puppet form. As part of the recurring “Pineapple Playhouse” segment on the cartoon’s official YouTube channel, the 11-minute “Chocolate with Nuts” has been reimagined as a seven-minute puppet show.
Released last weekend, this is far from the first entry in the series—other classics that have received the puppet treatment include “Welcome to the Chum Bucket,” “Wet Painters,” and “Frankendoodle.” Still, it’s fair to be skeptical of the concept. So much of SpongeBob’s humor is derived from the flexibility of its characters’ facial expressions and movements, which come courtesy of its stellar animation. But “Pineapple Playhouse” is actually delightful and, as the “Chocolate with Nuts” installment affirms, more than just a novelty.
Titled “SpongeBob and Patrick Sell Chocolate IRL,” the video is a shot-for-shot recreation of the original episode. That’s made clear by a picture-in-picture box in the upper left and right corners of the video, which show the identical frames from the original “Chocolate with Nuts.” The puppet version also uses the original vocal track, which helps maintain the show’s spirit.
The key difference lies in the method of this short’s production, obviously, and those seams are intentionally noticeable. Puppet strings are visible when the puppets flail their little felt arms, and certain elements are recreated using cardboard and animation. It’s equally entertaining to watch how the puppeteers adapt their creations for various scenes, by using multiple versions of SpongeBob and Patrick to keep those visual jokes intact. My favorite translation is when the boys are skipping down the street, singing, “Fancy living, here we come!” The Patrick puppet suddenly has a single tooth, just like he does in the original animated moment.
The puppet based on the shriveled-up old lady fish, known only as Mary’s mother, is especially fantastic. The chocolate-hating old woman is uniquely grotesque in animation, but she’s even more disturbing to look at here: She’s a brown slug-looking piece of felt, writhing in a plastic wheelchair. The scale used for the puppets means she’s a lot larger than she appears in the cartoon too—and even more menacing!
Credit for the success of “Pineapple Playhouse” goes to the puppets’ designers. Several of them have very fun Instagram pages to scroll through, including those of builders Jamie Bressler, Laura Manns, and John Cody. Each has worked on projects for everything from Nickelodeon to Disney to Apple, and the results are adorable and spectacular to look at; if you’re interested in the craft of puppetry, I’d recommend following these folks.
While all of their work is very cool, I love these designers’ exuberant, playful SpongeBob puppets the most—probably because there are few TV shows I love more than that one. Manns recently posted some cool behind-the-scenes photos of the “Chocolate with Nuts” installment on her Instagram. If you want to see that creepy Mary’s mother puppet up-close, however, Bressler’s got a photo on her page.
That said, nothing can beat the original “Chocolate with Nuts.” Now that you’ve seen this, check it out—as well as every other episode of SpongeBob—on Paramount+.
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