Nickelodeonfans, rejoice! A piece of the cartoon giant’s history has been recovered and uploaded once more onto the Internet Archive.The Best of Nicktoons 1998, a VHS exclusive only to employees that was once long-lost, is available to watch now for free in its entirety through the non-profit digital library. Packed with episodes from some ofNickelodeon’s most popular series, it’s most notable for containing the original version of theSpongeBob SquarePantspilot “Help Wanted,” which didn’t hit home television screens until 1999.
It’s worth noting that this isn’t the first timeThe Best of Nicktoons 1998has wound up online in recent memory. Just last year, the VHS was uploaded to the Internet Archive by a separate user but was later taken down. Previous attempts at posting the whole collection online have largely been scrubbed from the internet, meaningthere are no guarantees it’ll remain on the Internet Archive this time around. For the time being, it’s another chance to look back at the beginning ofone of the longest-running and most beloved animated seriesto ever grace television.
Penned by series creatorStephen Hillenberg, storyboard artistDerek Drymon, andTim Hill, “Help Wanted” acts as an introduction to Bikini Bottom and SpongeBob (Tom Kenny) himself as he prepares to apply for a job as the new fry cook of the Krusty Krab. To impressMr. Krabs (Clancy Brown), he is sent on a seemingly impossible task to find the perfect spatula, setting him up for failure. However, the tables quickly turn when five buses packed with hungry anchovies arrive outside the restaurant, forcing SpongeBob to save the day by slinging enough Krabby Patties to sate them all. Also featured on the VHS are other cartoon classics likeCatDogandHey Arnold!, as well as the Halloween-themed “The Day The Earth Got Really Screwed Up” fromThe Angry Beavers, among other things.
‘The Best of Nicktoons 1998’ Is a Window Into the Past of Nickelodeon
Plenty of Nicktoons have come and gone since theBest of Nicktoons 1998compilation was put together, but the tape revisitsa golden age of cartoonsfor fans of a certain generation. Alongside other classics likeDoug,Rugrats,Rocko’s Modern Life,The Ren & Stimpy Show, and evenunderrated darlings likeAaahh!!! Real Monsters, the shows featured are part of the foundation that Nickelodeon would build itself upon and used to become a mainstay in television.SpongeBob,in particular, still casts a long shadow with new content on the way, likeSaving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie. It’s vital to continue preserving pieces of these shows and uncovering more lost media related to them to ensure that their full story can be told to anyone curious about the happenings of Bikini Bottom, Hillwood, Nearburg, and Wayouttatown in the generations to come.
Catch up on a piece of Nickelodeon history withThe Best of Nicktoons 1998tapenow on the Internet Archive.
