It was written by Paul Tibbitt, Kent Osborne and Merriwether Williams, with Andrew Overtoom, Tom Yasumi and Mark O'Hare serving as animation directors.

Upon release, "The Sponge Who Could Fly" gained seven million views receiving mixed to positive reviews from television critics, especially concerning its live action segments.

He makes several attempts to do so, including a biplane, bat wings, a lawn chair with balloons, and a giant kite pulled by a bicycle.

[2] In California, an overjoyed Patchy wishes to replay the episode, but his difficulty with the TV remote causes him to accidentally destroy the tape, making the filmstrip come pouring out of his VCR and entangle him.

"The Sponge Who Could Fly" was written by Paul Tibbitt, Kent Osborne and Merriwether Williams, with Andrew Overtoom and Tom Yasumi serving as animation directors.

[4] In 2002, series creator Stephen Hillenburg, with his crew, halted production of the show to work on the film,[5] resulting in few airings of new episodes.

[8][9][10] "The Sponge Who Could Fly" was released on the DVD compilation titled SpongeBob SquarePants: Lost at Sea also on March 4, 2003.

[15][16] The promotion ran for five weeks, during which time one of the popular items on the "Big Kids" menu, Chicken Tender, came "in fun star and lightning bolt shapes.

"[15][16] Craig Braasch, vice president of global advertising and promotions for the Burger King Corporation, said "These eight new, fun, seaworthy toys inside our Big Kids Meals provide hours of aquatic entertainment for our young customers.

[15][16] By visiting Nickelodeon's website, the viewers could answer the riddle in order to win digital SpongeBob trading cards.

[15][16] They could also enter sweepstakes to win an at-home SpongeBob SquarePants party for 25 people where "The Sponge Who Could Fly" was viewed on the winner's new large-screen television.

The promotion is sure to bring the young Burger King customers all the fun they have come to expect from Nickelodeon and SpongeBob SquarePants.

David Kronke of the Los Angeles Daily News criticized the special as being a standard episode that has been padded out to an extra length, with the live action Patchy the Pirate segments being "not terribly funny" and "what should be lost.

"[18] In his review for DVD Verdict, Bryan Pope criticized "The Sponge Who Could Fly" as "The one misstep" in an otherwise strong third season, as he felt it "veers too far away from Bikini Bottom and into unfunny live action territory.

"[12] Tom Maurstad of The Dallas Morning News said "The Sponge Who Could Fly" was "not a very good episode," describing it as "another SpongeBob-and-his-love-of-jellyfish story" that does "not [have] enough laughs" and having "too much drippy sentimentality.

[19] In 2003, the episode received a Hors Concours Honor for Recently Telecast Programs at the Banff Rockie Awards.

[29][30][31] The musical toured the UK from March 2009 for six months with performances at the Hammersmith Apollo, Southend, Edinburgh, Birmingham, Reading, Salford, Sunderland, Nottingham, Liverpool, High Wycombe, Plymouth, Bristol, Cardiff, Oxford, Killarney and Dublin.

[29] Alison Pollard choreographed and directed the UK adaptation and said that the episode already had a few songs in it, which helped with the conversion to a musical.

"[33] The energetic performances and colourful set design more than make up for this and at 90 minutes (including the break) the show is short enough to prevent little ones from getting itchy feet.

Blackhurst said "The fast-paced tale of courage and dreams kept both entertained with plenty of hilarious moments for the children and a sprinkle of gags which flew over younger fans' heads but brought a wry smile to mums and dads' faces.

"[34] Viv Hardwick of The Northern Echo said "Younger ones are just pleased to see a colourful collection of characters, vaguely resembling the ten year-old TV show cast, cavorting around the stage.

"[36] Hardwick praised the role of Charles Brunton as Squidward Tentacles while John Fricker (Patrick Star) and Martin Johnston (Mr. Krabs) were said to "win the biggest costume contest.