Template:Episode/70a
Characters
- Patrick Star
- SpongeBob SquarePants
- Norton
- Goofy Goober (mentioned)
- Squidward Tentacles (Heard Only)
- Sandy Cheeks
- Peanut (debut)
- Fully Automated Nutcracker (debut)
- Alternate-Universe SpongeBob
- Jellyfish
- Manta Ray (debut)
- Dr. Marmalade (debut)
- Lord Reginald (debut)
- Professor Percy (debut)
- Bus driver
Synopsis
The Chimpanzee beneficiaries of Sandy's undersea treedome are paying a visit to see what progress she has made with her inventions, but Sandy doesn't think any of her work will satisfy the chimps, and if they don't like what she's invented, Sandy could lose her funding, forcing her to leave Bikini Bottom. SpongeBob and Patrick decide to help their distraught friend by taking over her work and finishing her inventions for her.
At first, Patrick has ideas of things that have already been invented, such as a pencil and a mirror (which ironically is actually a parallel universe). After hours of hard work, SpongeBob and Patrick invent a back-scratching, hair-combing, nose-picking ukulele-tuner. When the chimps arrive, Lord Reginald is the first to test it (though never wanted to, as Patrick forced him). Shockingly, the invention works, but when tuning the ukulele, the machine malfunctions, hits Reginald with the ukulele, slaps him, then starts attacking him with all sorts of weapons.
Meanwhile, Sandy hears the screaming of Reginald and arrives just as the machine spits out Reginald. The chimps decide to close down the treedome, but when Dr. Marmalade holds out a banana, Sandy's "nutcracker" peels it for him. It is revealed that this is an invention that Chimps have been searching hundreds of years for. They chatter excitededly and decide to let Sandy stay for 20 more years, including a higher salary.
After the chimps leave, Patrick decides to test out the machine that injured Reginald, which, of course, malfunctions on him, yet he still yells out "Alright!"
Production
Music
| ( ‣ ) Production music |
| ( • ) Original music |
| ( ◦ ) SpongeBob music |
‣ The Drunken Sailor - Nicolas Carr [title card]
‣ Intro Fanfare - Raymond C. Jones [Goofy Goober backscratcher]
‣ Unknown Track 42 - choir
‣ Sweet Perfume - Joe Sherman [SpongeBob scratching his back]
‣ Steel Sting - Jeremy Wakefield ["Oh, sorry."]
‣ Steel Licks (a) - Jeremy Wakefield ["To Squidward's house!"]
‣ Steel Licks - Jeremy Wakefield ["To Sandy's house!"]
‣ Lurching Monster [#4] - Harry Bluestone, Emil Cadkin [broken inventions]
‣ Hawaiian Cocktail - Richard Myhill ["None of my inventions are any good."]
‣ Martial Links - Sam Fonteyn [SpongeBob talking to a peanut]
‣ Taps - Nicolas Carr [peanut ground up]
‣ Busy Life - Cedric King-Palmer [Sandy's nutcracker]
‣ Domestic Fun (b) - Ernest Tomlinson ["I can't even make a simple nutcracker."]
‣ Sweet Perfume - Joe Sherman [Patrick scratching his back]
‣ O Makalapua B - Kapono Beamer ["Oh, it's no use, SpongeBob."]
‣ Marlin March - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [Patrick's "inventions"]
• So Long, Bikini Bottom - Luke Brookshier, Peter Straus
‣ Power Plant - Cecil Milner [SpongeBob and Patrick working on an invention]
‣ Goofy Conversation - Nicolas Carr, Barry Anthony [Sandy's bosses arrive]
‣ Proud Fanfare - David Farnon [SpongeBob and Patrick's invention revealed]
‣ Vibe Sting - Nicolas Carr ["This is where our research money went?"]
‣ Earl's Revenge - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield ["Step right up!"]
‣ Unknown Track 40 - Nicolas Carr [machine malfunctions]
‣ Solo Steel - Jeremy Wakefield [bus pulls up]
‣ Dramatic Impact 5 - Ivor Slaney ["What in tarnation?"]
‣ Dramatic Cue (d) - Ronald Hanmer [Sandy gasps]
‣ Steel Licks (b) - Jeremy Wakefield ["Lord Reginald, are you all right?"]
‣ South Pacific Island II - Victor Cavini ["I'm sorry, Sandy."]
‣ Busy Life - Cedric King-Palmer [nutcracker peels bananas]
‣ Hall of Fame [#4] - Harry Bluestone, Emil Cadkin ["Oh! It is!"]
‣ Hall of Fame [#9] - Harry Bluestone, Emil Cadkin ["It is! It's the banana peeler we have been searching 117 years for!"]
‣ Earl's Revenge - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [ending]
Release
- This episode is available on Whale of a Birthday, Season 4 Volume 2, First 100 Episodes, and Complete Fourth Season DVDs.
Reception
- As of February 1, 2019, The Internet Movie Database (IMDB) gives this episode a rating of 7.8/10 based on 303 ratings by users.[1] TV.com users give this episode a rating of 7.7/10 based on 129 votes.[2]
Trivia
Template:Trivia
General
- Although this episode premiered in 2006, it was made in 2005 according to the credits.
- The back scratcher that SpongeBob buys at the beginning of the episode costs him 52 box tops.
- This is the first episode to have actual land mammals in it besides Sandy, Mermaid Man, and Barnacle Boy.
- This is the first episode to reference the Goofy Goober franchise outside of the first movie.
- Sandy will be able to remain in Bikini Bottom for 18 more years, before her next expiration on October 23, 2026.
- Based on the comparative size of SpongeBob and Patrick when compared to the humans depicted in The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, the chimps depicted in this episode would only be 2-3 inches tall.
- The chimps have been searching for the banana-peeling nutcracker since 1889.
- The things holding SpongeBob's invention together:
- Bandages
- Screws driven into bottle caps
- Pieces of tape made into an X
- A taped-down lollipop
- Chewed-up bubble gum
- The towns for those that have nowhere else to go, as mentioned by the bus driver, in which the bus makes stops to:
- Quittersville
- Failuretown
- Loserburg
- SpongeBob's invention is called the "Automatic Back Scratcher, Hair Comber, Nose Picker, and Ukulele Tuner 9000."
- The peanut SpongeBob talks to says, "It's dark in here."
- The inventions Patrick thinks of:
- Pencil: a stick that can be used to draw or write stuff with
- Light bulb: a glass ball that lights up so the user can see in the dark
- Mirror: a parallel universe
- In this episode, SpongeBob and Patrick's water helmets are worn with the openings facing up, the same as how they are shown in the episode "Tea at the Treedome."
- The list of items shown when "The Automatic Back-Scratcher, Hair-Comber, Nose-Picker, and Ukulele-Tuner 9000" goes haywire include:
- An electric saw with a circular blade
- A flamethrower
- A pair of scissors
- A corkscrew
- An aerial poison dart
- A taser
- Inventions the chimps have been searching for many years:
- Banana peeler
- Poop thrower
- The chimps exclaimed they searched 117 years for a banana peeler, so they should be older than that, making them the oldest mammals in the show.
- When Sandy sings the "birds that fly upon the ground" line, a manta ray swims by, releasing a bird call. This is strange because most birds are depicted as scallops.
- Patrick often insultingly refers to SpongeBob as an "unpaid intern" in this episode. Strangely, he is perfectly fine with actually being an unpaid intern (and referred to as so) in "Bummer Vacation."
- When SpongeBob talks to Patrick about his mouth moved before the reflection.
- In Sandy's song, string squeaks can be heard camouflaged in the background of her music. Although in "Texas," one can hear that the guitar strumming sounds distorted, so the string squeaks can't be heard.
- SpongeBob's reflection has a Ukrainian accent.
- In Greek, this episode is called "Έρχονται οι πίθηκοι," which means "The apes are coming."
- This episode premiered on John Rhys-Davies' 61st birthday and five years after "Life of Crime" and "Prehibernation Week" premiered.
- In Croatian dub, the episode name is "Majmunska Posla," translating to "Monkey Works."
- This episode marks the first usage of the APM tracks Goofy Conversation and Marlin March.
- This episode premiered five years after "Prehibernation Week" and "Life of Crime" premiered, ten years before "CopyBob DittoPants" would premiere, eleven years before "Mimic Madness" and "House Worming" would premiere in Hungary, twelve years before "Drive Happy," "Old Man Patrick," "Fun-Sized Friends" and "Grandmum's the Word" would premiere in France, and the same number of years before "SpongeBob's Place" and "Plankton Gets the Boot" would premiere in Japan.
- There are 26 monkeys on the title card.
- This episode is the second time that Sandy sings a song that upsets SpongeBob and Patrick. The first time is "Texas."
- The song she sang is also similar to that of "Texas."
Cultural references
- This episode title is a parody of Chips Ahoy!, a popular cookie snack.
- The helmet Sandy invented is similar in style and design to the helmet worn by Noodle, guitarist of the British cartoon band Gorillaz.
- The Automatic Back Scratcher, Hair Comber, Nose Picker, and Ukulele Tuner 9000 resembles the Cortex Vortex from the Crash Bandicoot series.
- Lord Reginald appears to be a parody and resemblance of Cranky Kong from the Donkey Kong Country series.
- The chimps arrive in a yellow submarine. This is a possible reference to the 1966 Beatles song "Yellow Submarine."
- The Hasbro toy Barrel of Monkeys appears on the title card.
- An element of this episode, Sandy's funding potentially being cut, bears similarities to the Mystery Science Theatre 3000 episode "Laserblast," in which Dr. Clayton Forrester's funding is cut, forcing him to disconnect the Satellite of Love and leaving Mike Nelson and the Bots to what Purple Doctorfish thinks will be an eventual demise.
Errors
- When SpongeBob looks in the mirror, he is wearing his water helmet. However, in the mirror, it is gone.
- In the closing credits to this episode, Christopher Ryan, who played Professor Percy, is mysteriously uncredited.
- If one were to look at Sandy playing her guitar, they'll see she's playing with her left hand. However, in other episodes, such as "Band Geeks," she plays with her right.
- When the machine spits out Lord Reginald, he is bald from the accident. However, when Professor Percy says to invent the Poop Thrower, Lord Reginald's hair is all grown back.
- When SpongeBob and Patrick say "It's here!," the closed-captions say "It's Eric!"
- In the beginning of the episode, Sandy says that the chimps are coming that afternoon. When SpongeBob and Patrick want to help, they work all night, and the chimps come the next day.
- The phrase on SpongeBob's invention reads "Dr. Professor Patrick Rulez!" However, the invention was finished before Patrick started calling himself "Mr. Dr. Prof. Patrick."
Running gags
- Patrick wants people to call him "Mr. Dr. Prof. Patrick."