Book Review - SpongeBob SquarePants: The Art of an Undersea World
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- 7 min read
March 3rd 2026
More than 25 years after his debut in 1999, SpongeBob SquarePants became a multi-generational hit with his adventures in Bikini Bottom and eclectic group of friends. Any fan will immediately break out in song just from hearing “Are you ready kids?”, and the voices are iconic in the cartoon space. You can’t have a cartoon without the artwork though, which can now be fully explored in the new book SpongeBob SquarePants: The Art of an Undersea World.
The book was released by publisher IDW Publishing on March 3rd and celebrates the long history of everyone’s favourite sponge through art. A copy has now joined the collection, so I can let you know what to expect from this new release.
Build Quality
This release comes as a 24.2cm x 28.5cm hardcover and with 416 pages, making it a larger artbook compared to most. The publisher opted for thinner paper than found in most artbooks though, likely to prevent issues with the weight on the binding, so it’s not too much thicker than other titles with 250 pages or less. I don’t mind this in practice, because larger books can have pages become loose over time and the pages don’t always fully open up. However, despite the paper choice, the pages still don’t lay flat because there is no flexibility in the binding and this does have an impact on some of the artwork as you will shortly see.
What I do love about this book though, even before it arrived, is the cover art. It perfectly encapsulates the fun and colourful nature of SpongeBob and having him creating his own artwork is perfectly themed, making this one of my favourite covers in the collection.
As a side note, the book was delivered without a plastic shrink wrap and although better for the environment, in a cold and damp climate of somewhere like here in the UK, it warps the pages as seen below. Those that have experienced this know how much of a pain it is to correct the wavy effect, if it can be at all. If you live in a colder climate, it’s worth keeping this in mind.
Content
The Art of an Undersea World features artwork and insights for not just the show, but the movies and spin-offs too, covering the weird and wonderful adventures of SpongeBob, Patrick, Gary, Squidward, and more from 1999 to 2025. There is a lot to cover which ends up being both a positive and a negative.
It starts with the inception of SpongeBob, what was once called ‘SpongeBoy, Ahoy!’, from creator Stephen Hillenburg, showcasing some early concepts that are great to see from as early as 1996. It highlights Hillenburg’s early life and career, before getting into the creation of the show, from funding to making the pilot with the voice cast. It includes interviews with artists, writers, and voice actors for an engaging look at its inception.
From here it focuses on the art, beginning with the original show. Here you get some early sketches, a few drawing guides, line art, final designs, and final stills for the main characters. SpongeBob and Patrick get a couple of spreads each with the others coming with just one, alongside notes on their characters with more interviews with the creators and cast as well. The artwork is fantastic and shows the designs that help make the characters special, including some that don’t look like the final result. However, it does feel like a missed opportunity to show more of the unused concepts from the earliest history of the characters, because most are what we all recognise.
The wider cast of recurring characters, such as Flying Dutchman and Larry the Lobster, get between half a page and a full page each, but lack the early sketches seen before. These pages feature line art and final designs only for the most part, with the exception of some small storyboards, but this is an unfortunate result of covering so much in one book. Locations fair much better with some nice concept art and maps of Bikini Bottom, though some places again only showcase what you have seen in the show.
It’s a similar situation for sections for The Patrick Star Show and Kamp Koral: SpongeBob’s Under Years, although the latter includes 3D models as well. Some more early concepts would have been nice to see, but there is only so much space in the book and so it would be hard to fit them all in, but to have very little is disappointing.
The movie chapter covers 6 releases; The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water, SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run, Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie, Plankton: The Movie, and 2025’s The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants. There is a better mix of artwork, with more concepts shared for each release, particularly for the more recent movies, and 3D models shown for those that used it as well.
It’s here you get the best showcase of the art that makes the shows and movies great to watch, with the character designs that are inventive and full of personality, wonderful key frame concepts that capture the essence of SpongeBob, the unique locations, and some assets too. The early drawings of expressions and animation as seen below is the stuff that’s always a joy to see and so I was happy more of it was included in this chapter.
Over 100 pages are dedicated to Search for SquarePants, making it my favourite part of the book as a result. With so much more space to dive into the work of the artists, you get a lot more development art, from unused designs to movie beats that capture the tone of a scene. There are a lot more full-colour pieces for key moments too, that while not final, look just as good as what you get on screen, just with a more painterly style that shows off the talent of the team. Many of these will likely be favourite pieces for readers of the book.
There isn’t a huge amount of reading to do after the early chapters of the book, but more interview quotes from the teams are sprinkled throughout for some insights into the shows and movies. This includes lore of the characters and locations, but also intentions and ideas behind the stories and designs. With so much to fit in, I like that they didn’t flood the book with text and kept it very art focused. Small notes are also included on each page to describe the artwork too, such as what they depict and at what stage of production they are, from conceptual to a final frame.
Credits
The artist credits are not shown on each page, so it’s not possible to know which artist created each image. I tend to give more leeway on this for books that cover a long history of a series or franchise though, as the information may not be available for artwork created over 20 years ago.
What IDW did do though that I appreciate, is list artists on the last page with the following note; “The publisher has to the best of its ability identified and credited those artists whose work is features in this volume.”. This is a thoughtful approach in a situation where they did not have all the information available and I like that they included it.
Use of Space
Despite having over 400 pages, there is still a huge amount to fit in to cover so much SpongeBob, so it’s a good thing that the designers made the most of each spread and didn’t waste the space available to them. Pages are full of artwork and insights with clear layout designs and a balanced use of pieces that take up a full page. Backgrounds are kept simple which always works well when there is very little empty space as it keeps them from becoming distracting. The team at IDW have done an excellent job in this regard.
One of the things that holds this book back though is the binding as mentioned before. Without the flexibility that allows the pages to lay flat, there is more image loss in the centre fold than is ideal. Of course, this only has an impact on double page spreads and some fare better than others, but as the focal point is often in the middle of the art, it can spoil them. It’s a tough problem to avoid and there are trade-offs with more flex in the binding, such as the potential for page signatures to separate over time, but there are ways of working around this like picking art that has less of a focal point on the centre line. Below is an example.
Value
This release comes with an RRP of $49.99 or £45, which is the norm in the US, although more expensive in the UK at the equivalent of around $60 due to exchange rates. In the US you are getting a lot packed in for the same price as books with half the number of pages, making it very reasonable from a value perspective. A price drop is recommended more for UK fans though.
Good news then that discounts are already available for the book, with a 10% reduction on Amazon US and a huge 37% off on the UK site. This brings the book below £30 and hugely improves the value for money and makes it much easier to recommend. Discounts come and go, but does show that you can find yourself a very good price point, even at release.
Verdict
SpongeBob SquarePants: The Art of an Undersea World is a mixed bag when it comes to how I feel about it. Some sections are superb and showcase early concepts and art that holds the personality of the show that captured the hearts of many. However, other sections lack the same range of images, only highlighting the developed designs. It does a good job at covering SpongeBob’s history, but that does mean some releases get more of a focus than others.
Overall, despite some issues, fans will find a lot to enjoy in this book’s charming artwork and creator insights, making it a nice addition to the shelf. For those interested in the concept and development art it boasts in the description on the back of the book, it’s a little more hit and miss, but sections that do include it make up for those that don’t. It’s easy to recommend to those that watched the shows and all of the movies. If you only watched the original show, you'll likely still find yourself enjoying the wonderful artwork of the newer releases as well.
If you need more from Bikini Bottom and want to add this to your shelf, you can add a copy of SpongeBob SquarePants: The Art of an Undersea World here;
