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Encyclopedia SpongeBobia

"Mermaid Man & Barnacle Boy VI: The Motion Picture" is a SpongeBob SquarePants episode from season 4. In this episode, SpongeBob makes a Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy movie.

Characters[]

Synopsis[]

Mermaid Man & Barnacle Boy VI The Motion Picture 021

SpongeBob and Patrick excited about the Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy movie.

In the beginning of the episode, SpongeBob and Patrick are at a Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy fan club meeting, where they learn that a new movie will be made based on the heroes and meet the actors who will be portraying them. SpongeBob is very furious that the movie is using actors instead of the real Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy. The actors state that this is an action movie and that the real Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy are too old for action, resulting in SpongeBob telling the fan club that they must boycott the movie. He insults the actors, but this gets him, and Patrick thrown out of the building instead.

The two then go to Shady Shoals and tell Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy that Drippy Brothers Studios is making a movie about them and using actors. The heroes find the news horrible, with Mermaid Man crying as a result, and Patrick suggests they make their own movie, which they agree with. After brainstorming ideas at the Krusty Krab, SpongeBob and the crew meet to make the movie. SpongeBob is the director, Squidward is the makeup artist, Sandy is in charge of using the dynamite for explosion scenes, Patrick is the camera operator, Mr. Krabs caters the crew Krabby Patties, Pearl is the leading lady and the invisible boatmobile, and lastly Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy are the stars of the movie. While they are filming, Plankton appears to audition for Man Ray, but SpongeBob tells him that Man Ray is not in their movie, so he gives Plankton the job of working the microphone instead. Mermaid Man has trouble with one of his lines, which takes 5,003 takes to get it right. A scene is filmed where Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy ride Pearl up a steep mountain to Kelp Thing's hideout. Pearl is too heavy to pull and slides down the mountain, crashing into the sets.

Mermaid Man & Barnacle Boy VI The Motion Picture 161

SpongeBob freaks out after learning Patrick was filming with the lens cap on the entire time.

Everything is destroyed, but SpongeBob is confident they can still salvage the footage. However, Patrick reveals that he had mistakenly been filming with the camera’s lens cap on the entire time because he thought keeping it on the camera would be the perfect way to avoid losing it, meaning they have no footage to work with. SpongeBob goes berserk with frustration, eats worms, and cries since all the work he did for the movie was ruined, but Mermaid Man gives a speech and convinces him to finish the movie.

Mr. Krabs holds the premiere of SpongeBob's production in his restaurant, hoping to make lots of money from the movie. The members of the Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy Fan Club attend, but only because the movie from Drippy Bros. Studios was sold out. The movie is then shown. SpongeBob plays with a car near a box with "Lox" on it. Then the patty vault is opened and Kelp Thing comes down, wanting to steal the Krabby Patties. But then Mermaid Man, played by Sandy, attacks him. He and Barnacle Boy unite, ending the film.

The movie proves to be terrible, and the fans are not pleased except for SpongeBob and Patrick. However, Mermaid Man is glad that SpongeBob proved that he and Barnacle Boy still have some "action" left in their old bones. They then laugh happily due to their efforts, as the episode ends.

Production[]

The episode was confirmed by New York Post on February 23, 2005, revealing that Ernest Borgnine and Tim Conway will be reprising their roles for an untitled Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy episode.[4]

Art[]

Music[]

 ) Production music
 ) Original music
 ) SpongeBob music

  The Lineman - Sam Spence [Title card]
  Death Trap - Gregor F. Narholz [Opening]
  Superfriends Wipe - Nicolas Carr ["It's Mermaid Man!"]
  Life on the Wild Side - Sam Spence ["And his young, fit servant Barnacle Boy!"]
  Caped Crusader - David Farnon [Kelp Thing's car gets towed.]
  MM & BB Brass Sting - Nicolas Carr
  Witty Fellow - Gerhard Trede [Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy Fan Club meeting]
  Showbiz Entrance [#65.04] - Harry Bluestone [surprise guests]
  PercussionAnouncement - Nicolas Carr [Drum roll]
  Vibe Q Sting - Nicolas Carr ["Actors?"]
  Pomp and Ceremony - Frank Damico [SpongeBob's speech]
  Lap Steel - Nicolas Carr [SpongeBob and Patrick get kicked out.]
  Alekoki - Kapono Beamer [Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy are playing a game of bingo.]
  Creepy String Section - Nicolas Carr ["Are you aware Drippy Brothers Studio is making the Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy movie?"]
  Dramatic Cue (D) - Ronald Hanmer [Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy gasp.]
  Kamakani (b) - Kapono Beamer [Mermaid Man cries.]
  Thats It ! - Nicolas Carr ["Patrick, once again you have exposed your brilliance!"]
  Tomorrow the World - Cedric King-Palmer ["We'll make a real Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy movie!"/"Vindication is ours! Vindi...!"]
  Hello Blues - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [SpongeBob and Patrick writing the script]
  The Tip Top Polka/The Cliff Polka - Chelmsford Folk Band ["What are ye lads doing?"]
  Hollywood Heyday - Gareth Hughes [Pan of the movie crew]
  Sergeant Jones - Larry Hochman [Makeup session]
  Tympup A - Sammy Burdson, John Charles Fiddy [SpongeBob gasps.]
  Hawaiian Link (A) - Richard Myhill ["They're beautiful!"]
  Black Empire - Gregor F. Narholz [Plankton as Man Ray]
  Wooden Bear - Gil Flat, Tony Tape, Florian Voelxen [Plankton as the boom operator]
  Hawaiian Cocktail - Richard Myhill [Pearl crying]
  Ramblin' Man from Gramblin' - Sam Spence [Pearl as the invisible boatmobile]
  Steel Licks 78 - Jeremy Wakefield [Set destroyed]
  Killer Birds [#36] - Gregor F. Narholz [SpongeBob snaps.]
  Hawaiian Link (B) - Richard Myhill ["The movie's ruined!"]
  The Four Horseman - Ronald Hanmer [Mermaid Man starts ranting.]
  Mermaidman Flamenco - Nicolas Carr ["The rain in Spain stays mainly on the..."]
  Warlord - Wolfgang Kafer ["Space! The final countdown!"]
  Of Love and Destiny - Leighton Lucas ["Stick to the, stick to the... Lou, my darling!"]
  Botany Bay (b) - Robert Alexander White [Krabs crying]
  Steel Licks 47 - Jeremy Wakefield ["The Mermaid Man, Barnacle Boy Fan Club!"]
  Arizona Fanfare - Jack Shaindlin [Movie opening titles]
  Into the Wilderness - Clive Richardson [Played during the movie]
  Fighter Pilots - Charles Williams [Played during the movie]
  Moloka'i Nui (a) - Kapono Beamer [Ending]

Release[]

Reception[]

  • "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy VI: The Motion Picture" was ranked #53 during the Best Day Ever event from November 9–10, 2006.
  • "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy VI: The Motion Picture" was ranked #49 during the SpongeBob's Top 100 event in the UK and Ireland from June 4-8, 2012.
  • This episode is number 14 on The Tom Kenny Collection on iTunes and Amazon.com. His description says:

"When SpongeBob's heroes are considered too "old" to portray themselves in a Hollywood-type movie, he decides to make his own. As a comic book fan, I've sat through horrible movies based on classic comics, wishing I could 'do it right!'."

Trivia[]

General[]

  • This episode has the longest title of any episode of the series with 41 characters. This may be a reference to how superhero movies' titles are usually longer than other movies.
  • This is the only episode out of the six original Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy episodes to not have the black and purple fish scale background on the title card.
    • It is also the first one to have a subtitle.
  • This is the first episode for a few things:
    • Casey Alexander's first episode working on the show.
    • The first episode Chris Mitchell worked on since "I Was a Teenage Gary" from season 1, and his first episode as a storyboard director.
      • This was also the first of a total of 10 episodes that Casey Alexander and Chris Mitchell worked on together.
    • The first episode in which someone has been proven incompetent at handling recording equipment and accidentally stuck a boom mic into someone's mouth. The second is "Tentacle-Vision."
    • The first episode where Barnacle Boy's nose has a brown outline instead of a black one.
  • Between this episode and the episode "Lost in Bikini Bottom," in terms of US airdates, it took 2,839 days for Sherm Cohen to return as a storyboard supervisor.
  • This is the last episode for two things:
    • The final episode released on VHS before its discontinuation in 2006. It was released on the Lost in Time VHS.
    • The last episode of the Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy sub-series with the episodes being titled with the Roman numeral numbers.
  • This is the second episode for two things:
  • In SpongeBob's movie, the patty vault from "Just One Bite" is seen again.
  • The leader of the Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy fan club is one of the nerd fish from Weenie Hut Jr's in "No Weenies Allowed."
  • SpongeBob telling Patrick he has exposed his brilliance is similar to when he told him his genius is showing in "Texas."
  • The following scenes of this episode have become memes on the internet and YouTube:
    • The close-up where SpongeBob says, "Actors."
    • Sandy saying "Did somebody say boom?"
    • Mermaid Man saying "We have to get back to those stolen Naggy Daddies!"
  • On the November 10, 2006 airing, this episode was paired with "Opposite Day."[5]
  • Frames from this episode was later used in "Friendiversary" when SpongeBob remembers Squidward.
  • In this episode, during the scene where SpongeBob goes berserk over having no footage of the movie he and his friends worked hard on, Squidward watches SpongeBob and has a facial expression with a mixture of sadness, shock, and concern, making this another episode where he has standards, along with "Pizza Delivery."

Cultural references[]

  • Drippy Brothers Studios is a parody of Warner Bros. Pictures, an iconic Hollywood film studio which owns the rights of DC Comics superheroes. As Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy are largely parodies of DC characters such as Aquaman and Batman, this is fitting.
  • Mermaid Man quotes multiple iconic lines while trying to encourage SpongeBob:
    • "The rain in Spain stays mainly on the..." is a reference to the Broadway musical and 1964 movie, My Fair Lady.
    • "Space! The final countdown!" is a reference to the classic Star Trek line, "space: the final frontier."
    • "Stick to the... stick to the... Lou, my darling! Lou!" is a reference to the partner-stealing dance "Skip to My Lou."

Errors[]

  • In the Polish, Latin American Spanish, and Romanian versions, the narrator mistakenly reads the title as "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy IV: The Motion Picture" instead of "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy VI: The Motion Picture."
Mermaid Man & Barnacle Boy VI The Motion Picture 152

Patrick's miscolored pants.

  • When Patrick says, "Good morning SpongeBob," his pants are miscolored.
  • During almost all of the filming, the lens cap is not on the camera, contrary to Patrick claiming it was.
  • When the Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy fan club is coming to the Krusty Krab and before the movie, the fan club kids are the same. After the whole movie, most of the Bikini Bottomites are in the seats.
Mermaid Man & Barnacle Boy VI The Motion Picture 187

Patrick's eyebrows are missing.

  • When SpongeBob and Patrick start eating popcorn, Patrick's eyebrows are missing.


References[]


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