Released Screenshot Of Kamp Koral Revives Dread Over SpongeBob Spinoff

A potentially leaked screenshot of Kamp Koral has revived dread over the upcoming SpongeBob SquarePants 3D-animated spinoff that Nickelodeon will release this summer.

On Monday, actor, writer, and Twitter user Jace Diehl posted a picture saying it was the "first look" at Kamp Koral: SpongeBob's Under Years. The picture shows SpongeBob and Patrick in summer camp uniforms. There is no official word from Viacom or Nickelodeon if the still is indeed from Kamp Koral.

FIRST LOOK – "Kamp Koral: SpongeBob's Under Years" pic.twitter.com/y9AF4jYYKp

— Jace Diehl (@JaceDiehl) May 18, 2020

In a subsequent tweet, Diehl noted the entire voice cast of SpongeBob will return to reprise their roles in the series. He also provided another still image of what looked like a promotional photo from Kamp Koral, though it was later confirmed by a Nickelodeon storyboard artist to be a press photo for the upcoming SpongeBob film, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run.

Premiering this July, the CG-animated prequel series (13 episodes) follows 10-year-old SpongeBob during his summer at sleepaway camp and stars Tom Kenny, Bill Fagerbakke, Rodger Bumpass, Clancy Brown, Carolyn Lawrence and Mr. Lawrence, all of whom are reprising their iconic roles pic.twitter.com/sj1o7KBLUX

— Jace Diehl (@JaceDiehl) May 19, 2020

The prequel series, which will follow SpongeBob as a 10-year old at the titular sleepaway camp and evidently feature child versions of the original cast, has been derided ever since it was announced in June of 2019. Many believe the shows very existence goes against the wishes of the series creator Stephen Hillenberg, who passed from ALS in 2018. Hillenberg stated in 2009 that he "did not see" any spinoffs in the cards for SpongeBob, and his former coworkers believed Hillenberg would have hated the idea. Former showrunner Paul Tibbitt tweeted that the show was "greedy, lazy executive-ing." In a Longreads piece he wrote in 2018, Tibbitt recalled:

In the animation business, you know, there always used to be a sort of joke. When you run out of ideas, you just do Muppet Babies. Steve [Hillenburg] would always say to me, ‘You know, one of these days, they’re going to want to make SpongeBob Babies. That’s when I’m out of here.'

I do not mean any disrespect to my colleagues who are working on this show. They are good people and talented artists. But this is some greedy, lazy executive-ing right here, and they ALL know full well Steve would have HATED this. Shame on them.

— Paul Tibbitt (@paultibbitt) June 4, 2019

The screenshot, official or not, was enough to remind people that Kamp Koral is almost here, and a flood of opinions from the divided fanbase spread through Twitter. Many expressed disappointment at what they saw as Nickelodeon wringing cash from SpongeBob despite Hillenburg's wishes.

Just for the record, I ain't watching, supporting, or endorsing Kamp Koral. I am pretty sure the directors, animators, and writer are good people and wanted to make the best out of it. But I can't help but feel uncomfortable watching a show that went against the creator's choice.

— Crimson Mayhem (@mayhem_crimson) May 19, 2020

Kamp Koral has the same "yes, he finally died so we can do what we want" vibe as TATMR.

— PolkaDotSideplates 🇺🇸🇲🇫✝️ (@PSideplates) May 19, 2020

never forget that the only reason this is just now happening is because stephen hillenburg explicitly said he never wanted spongebob spin-offs and the instant he died nickelodeon put this shit into production https://t.co/5QuF9glcHU

— clay λ (@_claypot) May 19, 2020

Others were more cautious about piling on the show before it was released.

I have to say his show is going to look great and have the same absurd wacky humor as the original. Made by the same people making the 2d show. cg people had to work super hard to make this nonsense work in a reality based in logic and math without losing what makes it sb. https://t.co/psrqD3DNIs

— Brian Morante (@BrianMorante) May 19, 2020

It’s unfortunate the majority of people of spreading Kamp Koral misinformation because they don’t like the concept. The Kamp Koral hate might be worse than the Thundercats Roar hate

— weeaboowholikestoons (@weeblovestoons) May 19, 2020

I'm… Really, really not looking forward to when Kamp Koral releases.

Forget whether or not Hillenberg knew, that's the least of my concerns. It's that you know SB fans are going to be extremely elitist about the property now and endlessly complain about retcons.

— Toon4Thought (@Toon4Thought) May 19, 2020

Though Twitter seems divided on how to react to Kamp Koral, it's safe to say that very few people appear to be actually looking forward to it.