Season 2 changed that quite a bit, as we began to get some of the most brilliantly written episodes of the entire series, packed with many of the one-liners people quote today, almost two decades after this season aired. Most of the episodes in season 1 were very good but not really outstanding, save for a handful. I've seen some fans prefer the older design, but this newer design is better in my opinion, although I like both. Compare his appearance in the first season to how he looks by season 2. This leads to more refined character designs when compared to season 1. In the beginning of the second season, we see a noticeable change in the animation as they ditch cel animation. Bottom 3: (3) Ripped Pants (2) Squeaky Boots (1) The Paper.Top 3: (3) Sandy's Rocket (2) SB-129 (1) Walking Small.However, I do think that there are some episodes that were a bit duller than usual and don't remain as very memorable episodes.These are just a minority, however. Most of the episodes in this season were very entertaining, packed with some of the classic moments we've come to love.
This isn't my favorite of the animation styles they've used in the series (feels too dull, and some of the character designs are a bit primitive compared to the rest of the show), but I can't blame them, since this is the first season and they had nothing to compare it to. The animation in this season is noticeably different from the other seasons due to that this is the only season to be cel-animated. In the later seasons, all of the seasons and characters have long been established, so we lose a bit of this fresh feeling. It has a really fresh feeling due to obviously, it being the first season, but also as a result of many simple but effective plot lines that set up the world of Bikini Bottom. It introduced us to the main cast in funny ways, such as SpongeBob's meeting with Sandy in her treedome ("I NEEEEED IT!") and Plankton tapping into SpongeBob's brain to get a Krabby Patty ("shut your mouth, you mediocre clarinet player").