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Encyclopedia SpongeBobia

"Fungus Among Us" is a SpongeBob SquarePants episode from season 5. In this episode, SpongeBob spreads an itchy fungus around Bikini Bottom.

Characters[]

Synopsis[]

Fungus Among Us 021

Gary tries to eat the fungus.

In the beginning of the episode, SpongeBob is asleep, and Gary has no food, so he wakes SpongeBob up. SpongeBob attempts to feed Gary some organic snail food, which he instantly gags at. Instead, Gary would rather eat some contagious sea fungus on the floor, much to the dismay of SpongeBob. As he tries to clean the ick off the floor, Patrick arrives at the Pineapple, where he points out the fungus stuck to SpongeBob's head. Patrick then gives SpongeBob the terrible advice of scratching his head "like there's no tomorrow." After that plan fails, SpongeBob tries to clean it off his head. He also tries not to scratch it because it is itchy, but it only further spreads across his head.

At the Krusty Krab, he flicks off some contagious sea fungus on his nose, but it grows on the wall and grows back and bigger on him. He tries scraping it off his arm into the trash, but the same thing happens. Squidward sees SpongeBob in his state and calls the SWAT team. It is claimed that SpongeBob has the most severe case of ick yet. When the team is carrying SpongeBob away in a cage, some contagious sea fungus flies off of him and lands on Squidward's head. After Squidward itches it, when giving a Krabby Patty to Old Man Walker, it gets onto him. Meanwhile, the SWAT team has SpongeBob quarantined in his house with a bubble around him with the contagious sea fungus having taken a turn for the worse.

Patrick comes in and does idiotic things that could pop SpongeBob's bubble before SpongeBob has him stop. The two then partake in a game of "Pirate Wrestling," which ends with Patrick destroying the bubble, which SpongeBob points out to him. Afterward, Patrick blows another bubble around SpongeBob. Back at the Krusty Krab, the contagious sea fungus is spreading like wildfire. Squidward unknowingly spreads it all over the food Mr. Krabs is cooking, and the customers get infected. After Squidward sees he is infected, he announces this to where a mob forms to attack him. Mr. Krabs (who is infected too) stops it and defends his restaurant to a health inspector, who snaps at Mr. Krabs for thinking everyone was healthy.

However, SpongeBob arrives in his bubble, having taken another turn for the worse. The health inspector points this out and instigates everyone to riot as Mr. Krabs blames Squidward who shifts it to SpongeBob since he technically started it. Everyone prepares to attack SpongeBob for spreading the contagious sea fungus as SpongeBob cries icky tears in his bubble.

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Everyone attacking SpongeBob.

From outside, Gary sees everything. SpongeBob notices everyone attacking is spreading the ick and warns them, but it is too late and the ick gets on everybody in the Krusty Krab when the bubble pops, releasing a huge amount of fungus, covering many areas of the Krusty Krab.

Gary then arrives and starts licking the contagious sea fungus off of Mr. Krabs, as SpongeBob scolds him until Mr. Krabs explains to SpongeBob that Gary is supposed to eat the fungus since he is a bottom feeder and that is their job. Indeed, Gary has cured Mr. Krabs and quickly eats the fungus off Squidward, curing him too. Seeing this, the customers all beg for Gary to help them as well until Mr. Krabs comes up with an easy solution. The episode ends with Gary "de-icking" the Bikini Bottomites, by simply eating all the ick off their bodies, for $5.00 to Mr. Krabs' profit, as the episode ends.

Production[]

This episode was confirmed in a TVShowsOnDVD.com article on December 24, 2006.[5]

Script[]

Music[]

 ) Production music
 ) Original music
 ) SpongeBob music

  Happy Sponge Chase Vibes - Nicolas Carr [Title card]
  Pacific Romance - Jan Rap [opening]
  PercussionAnouncement - Nicolas Carr [Gary climbs the ladder]
  Hawaiian Party - Jan Rap, Peter Smid [SpongeBob gets the bag of organic snail food]
  Steel Licks 47 - Jeremy Wakefield ["Oh, company!"]
  Goofy Conversation 2 - Nicolas Carr, Barry Anthony [ick is on SpongeBob's head]
  Housewives Choice - Harry Bluestone, Emil Cadkin [SpongeBob taking a shower]
  The Jitters - Raymond C. Jones ["Itch!"]
  The Tip Top Polka/The Cliff Polka - Chelmsford Folk Band [at the Krusty Krab]
  Graveyard - Johnny Pearson [fungus grows on SpongeBob's arms]
  The Tip Top Polka/The Cliff Polka - Chelmsford Folk Band [SpongeBob puts on rubber gloves]
  Drama Link (D) - Hubert Clifford [Squidward sees SpongeBob scratching the fungus]
  Tomfoolery - David Snell ["SpongeBob, why are you all... puffy?"]
  Drama Link (F) - Hubert Clifford [Squidward sees more ick on SpongeBob's nose and screams]
  Dramatic Cue (E) - Ronald Hanmer ["Help me...!"]
  Command Post 1 - Harry Bluestone, Emil Cadkin [Squidward calls SWAT team]
  The Escape - John Scott [the SWAT Team captures SpongeBob in a cage and hauls him away]
  House of Horror - W. Merrick Farran [the camera shows the ick on Squidward's head]
  Keel Row - Brian Peters [Squidward gives change covered in ick]
  Orchestrated Devices C - Raymond C. Jones ["What was that?"]
  Twilight Zone - Harry Bluestone, Emil Cadkin [SpongeBob in a protective bubble]
  Lonely Stranger - Laurie Johnson [SpongeBob breathing heavily inside his bubble]
  Seaweed 1 - Steve Belfer [Patrick enters SpongeBob's house]
  Hgliss & Bell - Nicolas Carr ["I've got an idea!"]
  Mission Improbable - Nicolas Carr, Barry Anthony [Patrick blows another bubble]
  Lap Steel - Nicolas Carr ["Patrick, you're a genius!"]
  The Rake Hornpipe - Robert Alexander White [Squidward spreads fungus to customers]
  Wild Eyes - Ronald Hanmer [Squidward finds out he has the ick]
  Orchestrated Devices B - Raymond Jones [angry mob forms around Squidward]
  The Dreadnought Tea Clipper (B) - Tim Laycock, Robert Alexander White [Mr. Krabs is informed about the status of the hygiene of the Krusty Krab]
  Death of the Alien 1 [#38] - Harry Bluestone, Emil Cadkin [SpongeBob returns]
  Rescue - Cecil Milner [the customers at the Krusty Krab go after SpongeBob]
  Farewell to the Islands - Kapono Beamer [Gary slithers into a dumpster]
  Rescue - Cecil Milner [everyone attacks SpongeBob]
  Dramatic Impact (6) - Ivor Slaney [SpongeBob's bubble bursts]
  Chief Taravana - Kapono Beamer [Gary eating fungus]
  Nostalgic Hawaii - George de Fretes, Jan Rap [ending]

Release[]

Trivia[]

General[]

Vincent Waller credited as a technical director in Fungus Among Us on DVD releases
  • Just like "Rise and Shine" and "Spy Buddies," Vincent Waller is credited as a technical director instead of a creative director on all DVD releases.
    • This is most likely done because "Waiting" has Vincent Waller credited as a creative director, even when that episode premiered on February 19, 2007.
  • The ick is an actual disease that affects fish.
  • No one seems to notice the ick on Squidward or the Krabby Patties until Squidward finds out he got infected.
  • Since SpongeBob owns Gary, he did not really need to pay Mr. Krabs to have Gary remove his ick, but did so anyway.
  • This was Richard Pursel's first episode as a writer.
    • It was also the first episode in production order where Casey Alexander, Zeus Cervas, and Richard Pursel were all writers of an episode.
  • This is the last episode to play the APM track "Nostalgic Hawaii."
  • This is the only season 5 episode where Gary plays a major role.
  • There is a minigame called "Clean the Ick" based on this episode in SpongeBob's Game Frenzy. Also, Sandy appears in that minigame despite her not appearing in the episode itself.
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German title card.

  • In the German dub, the title card has a pink background instead of a purple one.
  • In the Welsh dub, this episode is called "Haint yn y Pant," which translates to "Infection in the Pants."[citation needed]


Cultural references[]

Errors[]

Fungus Among Us 001

This shot of SpongeBob's house is entirely mirrored.

  • At the beginning of this episode, the shot of SpongeBob's house is mirrored. This can be noted by the chimney and the windows being on the wrong sides.
  • When SpongeBob says, "Just don't scratch it and it'll go away… Eventually," the spatula he's holding in his right hand disappears in-between shots.
  • When Old Man Walker leaves after getting his change, Squidward Tentacles calls himself "Mr. Squidward," even though Squidward is his first name. A more proper way of saying this would be "Mr. Tentacles."
  • When SpongeBob wakes up in his quarantine house, he sees two silhouettes of hazmat fish with "eye" holes. In the next shot, the workers have a singular glass visor.
Fungus Among Us 102

His side belt is missing.

  • When SpongeBob says, "Where's my snail, Gary?," his side belt is missing.
  • When SpongeBob says, "SpongeBob SquarePants returning for duty, sir," his sleeves are colored yellow instead of white.
  • Gary is shown to be trapped in a bubble at SpongeBob's quarantined house, but later in the episode, Gary appears at the Krusty Krab without being trapped in a bubble. It is never shown exactly how Gary got out of his bubble.
Fungus Among Us 178

Fancy fish's head color is the same as the sleeves of his shirt.

  • When the fish are about to jump on SpongeBob for the last time before the bubble explodes, the fancy fish's head is the same color as the sleeves on his shirt.
  • Patrick, Squidward, and Mr. Krabs all disappear when the angry customers attack SpongeBob only for them to reappear when SpongeBob's bubble breaks and splatters the ick all over them.
  • When the Bikini Bottomites jump on SpongeBob's bubble and on the scene when the bubble explodes, Patrick is not seen by the doors, in the next scene he is seen getting "the ick" all over him.
  • In real life, the Krusty Krab would have been temporarily shut down until the ick was under control as Squidward would have been at risk of infecting other customers.
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The incorrect writers are listed.

  • In the Welsh dub, Luke Brookshier, Tom King, and Steven Banks are all listed as writers of this episode, even though none of them wrote this episode. Brookshier and King are also erroneously listed as storyboard directors.


References[]

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