The Philosopher and the Sponge
What Aristotle and Spongebob Can Teach Us About Writing for Animated Comedies
In his famous work Poetics, Aristotle argued that the essentials of good storytelling lie in a narrative propelled by dilemmas. Writers should place their characters in situations where they are forced to choose between two bad options. We call this a dilemma.
Since we just wrapped up the Christmas Season, a good example of a dilemma can be found in the film It's a Wonderful Life. George Bailey has a lifelong dream to travel he world. As a young man, he is finally ready to leave for college and his trip, but as he's leaving he learns that his father has had a stroke. After his father's death, George gives his college fund to his brother and stays to run the family building and loan, saving it from dissolution. He finally readies to leave for his trip yet again, only to be told that the board wants him to remain as the banks head. If he stays, his trip may be delayed for years. If he leaves, the bank his father built to support the community will be dissolved.
Aristotle teaches that as your plot progresses, every solution to a dilemma should result in a new, more serious problem. This more serious problem can only be solved through... another dilemma. Dilemmas are an invaluable tool for any writer because they provides a simple yet deep understanding of what stories hook us — and why we just can't look away.
In animated comedies, dilemmas play a very similar role, except that instead of resulting in a more serious situation, they should result in a more ridiculous situation. Animated comedy isn't about coming up with a good solution — it's about what happens when your characters fail spectacularly. Some of the best episodes of Spongebob Squarepants pull this off very well.
For example, in the episode Survival of the Idiots, Spongebob and Patrick go to Sandy's house, an underwater air-filled dome with a tree. Upon entering, they are warned by a video that Sandy is hibernating and should not be disturbed. Patrick ignores the video and the two go in, only to be faced with snow, somehow magically happening inside of this glass dome. After frolicking in the snow, the two realize the door back home is frozen and they need a way to stay warm. So they go to Sandy's home while she's still hibernating. They use duct tape to remove her fur to keep themselves warm. When Sandy wakes up and sees what they've done, she wears Spongebob and Patrick as a substitute for her fur. The episode is ridiculous and every time Spongebob and Patrick try to get around the cold, they are beaten, sometimes quite violently.
If you want your cartoon characters to end up in ridiculous situations, you should first give them dilemmas. The trick is, instead of two dire options like a drama, you either want one dire, serious option and one ridiculous one, or two ridiculous options. One of the most ridiculous, high-stakes and critically acclaimed episodes of Spongebob is Shanghaied. SpongeBob and Patrick are in the brig of the Flying Dutchman's ghost ship. The Dutchman tells them he will eat them later that evening ("See you at dinner!"). They realize they need to escape, and are faced with two choices: Find a way out of the locked door (serious option) or go through the mall perfume department (ridiculous option). I'm sure you can guess which one they chose.
Comedy has its basis in storytelling, and Aristotle's poetics is an invaluable tool for any writer looking to make engaging and funny stories. Comedy relies on a balance of serious and ridiculous dilemmas that result in more and more ridiculous situations. Give your characters a dilemma — and see how ridiculous your character's choices can get.
