The season's executive producers were series creator Stephen Hillenburg and Paul Tibbitt, who also acted as the series' showrunner. The SpongeBob SquarePants: The Complete Ninth Season DVD was released in region 1 on October 10, 2017, and region 4 on October 7, 2020. The ninth season is the longest-running season of SpongeBob SquarePants to date, airing for four and a half years. A total of 26 episodes were produced for the season, bringing the number of episodes up to 204. The season was first announced on January 3, 2011. This season marks the show's transition to 1080i HDTV by now having episodes produced and aired in widescreen (16:9), the native aspect ratio of high-definition. Starting with "Lost in Bikini Bottom", Marc Ceccarelli and Vincent Waller became the supervising producers and showrunners and served in that position for the rest of the season. The season was executive produced by series creator Hillenburg and writer Paul Tibbitt, the latter of whom also acted as the showrunner for the first 11 episodes of the season. The series chronicles the exploits and adventures of the title character and his various friends in the fictional underwater city of Bikini Bottom. Santa leaves Bikini Bottom, only for Patrick to put him in a jellyfish net when Santa is flying by the moon.The ninth season of the American animated television series SpongeBob SquarePants, created by animator and former marine biologist Stephen Hillenburg, originally aired on Nickelodeon in the United States from July 21, 2012, to February 20, 2017, and contained 26 episodes (49 segments), beginning with the episode " Extreme Spots"/"Squirrel Record". Meanwhile, one of Santa's elves finds the wind-up key that proves Plankton was involved with the naughtiness, and he gets piled under coal. SpongeBob fights and destroys Robo-SpongeBob with the fruitcake dispenser. Santa also says that SpongeBob is the worst of all when the Robo-SpongeBob comes to kill Santa and destroy Christmas. However, it is too late as when Santa Claus arrives, he says everyone is on the naughty list, sans Plankton, who gets the Krabby Patty formula. SpongeBob begins singing and cures everyone from their jerktonium trance, bringing back their Christmas spirit. SpongeBob begins to suspect something is up when everyone acts like jerks, and goes to Sandy, who realizes what is happening, and the antidote happens to be song.
Plankton realizes that SpongeBob is so full of Christmas spirit, he is immune to jerktonium, so he sends out a Robo-SpongeBob to commit naughty deeds to defame SpongeBob. First, he gives the fruitcake to SpongeBob to test it, but he is resistant to the jerktonium, and upset that his plan failed, gives his fruitcake dispenser to SpongeBob, who promptly distributes the fruitcake to all of Bikini Bottom, turning all the residents into jerks, like Plankton intended. However, he reveals to Karen his latest discovery: jerktonium, the substance that will turn anyone into a jerk, and cooks into fruitcake he intends to spread around Bikini Bottom. Plankton, however, is miserable, having committed so many naughty acts, he is on the naughty list and won't receive his Christmas wish - the Krabby Patty formula. It's Christmas and SpongeBob is the happiest person in Bikini Bottom, while Squidward remains grumpy and Patrick attempts to capture Santa Claus.