During one of his shifts at the Krusty Krab, SpongeBob amuses himself by overusing the restaurant's order up bell, much to the dismay of his grumpy co-worker and neighbor, Squidward. Squidward takes apart the bell, but SpongeBob tapes its pieces back together, making him furious. Squidward destroys the bell in multiple ways while a saddened SpongeBob watches, then dumps the remains into SpongeBob's head. SpongeBob discovers he can still make the bell's sound by hitting his nose, causing Squidward to run out of the Krusty Krab screaming.
Order Up was directed by Sean Charmatz, who served as a storyboard director, writer, and artist on the main SpongeBob SquarePants television series.[2][5] Charmatz co-wrote it with series veteran and former showrunner Paul Tibbitt. Other credits include Tibbitt and series creator Stephen Hillenburg as executive producers; Jennie Monica Hammond as producer; Vincent Waller as creative director; Alan Smart as animation and supervising director; Peter Bennett as art director; and Alvaro Zalaya as production manager.[1]
Wilson Chapman of IndieWire opined that the short was better than the feature film it was attached to, Smurfs, referring to it as a "fun, charming, and mercifully brief adaptation of a beloved cartoon".[6] Travis Hopson of Punch Drunk Critics shared a similar opinion, saying that Order Up was the only reason to see Smurfs in theaters.[7] Joe Bendel of Cinema Daily US called the short a pleasant bonus to the main feature.[8]
