Spongebob ‘Square Ash’ Animated Costume

Ashley, a friend of mine, needed a costume for an annual fundraiser party. We produced a similar Spongebob costume for him the previous year that was essentially just a box with eye-holes and some vector artwork I’d drawn up of the character, which we based on measurements taken of Ash – so it fit comfortably.

This year I wanted to try something different.

I developed a rough concept allowing us to animate Spongebob’s face, so he could change expressions. The idea was to create a free-bearing flywheel attached to the centre of the costume. An aperture showed only a single face (of the four I had created) through the front. We attached retaining brackets on the inside to hold the flywheel flush, avoiding any gaps that might ruin the illusion.

Each time the flywheel was rotated 90 degrees, Spongebob’s facial expression would change. It took a bit of effort but the end result was fantastic and got lots of attention at the party. The interior had a series of stickers showing Ashley which expression he currently had selected, making it easy to switch to suit the moment. We added a few hooks inside to attach essentials like a torch for lighting and bags containing all important snacks and drinks.