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Encyclopedia SpongeBobia

"Mimic Madness" is a SpongeBob SquarePants episode from season 10. In this episode, SpongeBob learns that "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery" — too bad no one told him how to stop.

Characters[]

Synopsis[]

In the beginning of the episode, Mr. Krabs makes some new rules and goes to his office, while Squidward imitates him behind his back, but Mr. Krabs hears him and confronts him about this. However, Squidward lies that he was imitating him out of flattery and he is let off the hook. SpongeBob believes this lie and decides to mimic/imitate people because he heard that "imitation plus flattery equals happy people." He first imitates a father yelling at his kids. The father and the kids become impressed with SpongeBob's mimicry. SpongeBob then imitates Squidward, who also likes his imitation. He then imitates Patrick, who thinks he is looking at his real self.

Mimic Madness 108

SpongeBob's imitations go too far.

SpongeBob then imitates Sandy and Plankton, while they are playing a game of chess. Sandy admires the imitation, but Plankton says that he got his voice incorrect. He also imitates the French Narrator by reading the "80,000 Impressions Later..." time card in his voice as the narrator complains about it.

After a while, SpongeBob's imitation of everyone starts to get annoying, as everyone tries to persuade him to stop, but he gets a thing called "Mocking Mimicry Madness" and ends up forgetting who he truly is. SpongeBob's friends attempt to help, but they only make matters worse, as SpongeBob happens to mimic all of them at once, much to their disgust and horror. Sandy tries to get SpongeBob to come back to his senses, though her attempts cause him to have a breakdown of several imitations and he leaves town calling himself a freak.

Mimic Madness 199

Everyone imitates SpongeBob.

SpongeBob goes to live in a cave in regrets of not remembering himself. His friends find him and end up mimicking him in order to bring back SpongeBob. It ends up working, but the others get the Mocking Mimicry Madness as well and end up acting like SpongeBob. At first, SpongeBob is shocked, but gets adjusted to it as they all laugh crazily like him.

The episode ends with a focus of a laughing Squidward's eyes, as his distraught real self is demanding to be let out of his subconscious.

Production[]

The episode name was confirmed in a tweet by Vincent Waller on August 11, 2016.[1]

Storyboards[]

Music[]

 ) Production music
 ) Original music
 ) SpongeBob music

  Marlin March - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [Title card]
  Up She Rises - Sam Spence [Opening.]
  Fight for Ol' Schaefer U. - Will Schaefer ["Whoo! You tell 'em, Mr. Krabs!"]
  Hot Steel and Slide Licks 7A - Jeremy Wakefield [Squidward is actually sleeping.]
  Up She Rises - Sam Spence ["Open the doors and let the consuming commence!"]
  Hot Steel and Slide Licks 12E - Jeremy Wakefield [Mr. Krabs goes to his office.]
  Creeping Up [#63] - Harry Bluestone, Emil Cadkin ["I heard that, Mr. Squidward!"]
  Hot Steel and Slide Licks 23A - Jeremy Wakefield [Krabs dives into the cash register.]
  Is This Heaven - Nicolas Carr, Jeremy Wakefield ["Close and warm." / "Imitation plus flattery equals happy people." / SpongeBob grins.]
  Jolly Little Roger - Michael Bolger, Nicolas Carr [SpongeBob imitates Tom.]
  ? [Rimshot.]
  Jolly Little Roger - Michael Bolger, Nicolas Carr [Kids laugh.]
  Comic Drum Drops - Nicolas Carr [Rimshot.]
  Starlight Revue - Alan Braden ["Oh, swoon! That imitation stuff really works!"]
  Film Fanfare (a) - Dick Stephen Walter ["Look out, world, I'm gonna flatter your socks off!"]
  Gator - Steve Belfer [SpongeBob imitates Patrick.]
  Lap Steel - Nicolas Carr ["Wait, what?"]
  The Donut Dilema w Triangle - Nicolas Carr [Sandy playing chess with Plankton.]
  Skipping to School - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [SpongeBob imitates Sandy and Plankton.]
  Hot Steel and Slide Licks 13D - Jeremy Wakefield ["Oh, those impressions are making everyone so happy!"]
  Jolly Little Roger - Michael Bolger, Nicolas Carr [SpongeBob imitates Nathiel Waters and Squidward.]
  A Simple Conversation 1 - Nicolas Carr, Barry Anthony [Squidward quits working at the Krusty Krab.]
  Voodoo Victim - Gilbert Vinter ["SpongeBob has lost touch with reality."]
  Tales From The Swamp (A) - Ron Goodwin [Krabs screams after SpongeBob imitates him.]
  Lap Steel - Nicolas Carr [Transition to next scene.]
  Silly Bob Conversation 2 - Nicolas Carr, Barry Anthony ["This is an intervention, so we need to make sure that above all, SpongeBob knows how much we all care about him."]
  Wargames Linking Section (f) - Keith Mansfield ["Spread out!"]
  Hot Steel and Slide Licks 12E - Jeremy Wakefield ["Right, guys, that's... almost the spirit."]
  The Annoying Salesman - Nicolas Carr [SpongeBob answers the door.]
  Vibe Q Sting - Nicolas Carr ["Five at once, huh?"]
  Drama Link (D) - Hubert Clifford [SpongeBob imitates Patrick, Sandy, Squidward, Mr. Krabs, and Plankton at once.]
  Space Horizons - Wolf Helling ["Aye! Love to! About what? Who cares?"]
  Mutations (d) - Trevor Duncan [SpongeBob morphing between imitations.]
  Tragic Bridge 3 - Phil Green ["I can't do it! I'm a freak! A freak!"]
  Hot Steel and Slide Licks 40A - Jeremy Wakefield [SpongeBob runs away crying.]
  Who Am I? - Eban Schletter, Doug Lawrence [SpongeBob sings this.]
  Where Am I? - Gregor F. Narholz [Patrick, Squidward, Sandy, Mr. Krabs, and Plankton find SpongeBob.]
  Marlin March - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [Patrick, Sandy, Mr. Krabs, and Plankton imitate SpongeBob.]
  Nude Sting - Nicolas Carr [Krabs squishes Plankton.]
  Where Am I? - Gregor F. Narholz ["It's not working, fellers!"]
  Tension Bits - Nicolas Carr, Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [Patrick, Squidward, Sandy, Mr. Krabs, and Plankton imitate SpongeBob at once.]
  Honolulu March - Hans Haider [SpongeBob is back to normal.]
  Clownfish Capers - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [The ending]

Release[]

Trivia[]

General[]

  • The title card background for this episode is similar to that of "Culture Shock," only this one is in widescreen.
  • In the first shot of the inside of the Krusty Krab, the roof above the kitchen/office is made of metal. However, in "Squidtastic Voyage," the roof of the kitchen/office is made of the wood from the floor of the Krusty Krab.
  • The last time SpongeBob could make different-shaped faces was in "Face Freeze!"
  • In this episode, Patrick eats food from the garbage in front of the Krusty Krab. Usually, he does so in the dumpster at the back of the restaurant.
DeletedKarenLaugh
  • In the original storyboard, when Sandy and Plankton are playing chess and SpongeBob mimics them, Karen comes out of the Chum Bucket and laughs at SpongeBob's impression of Plankton. She does not appear in the final cut.
  • This episode marks the only instance so far where the French Narrator directly talks to SpongeBob. The fourth wall is broken here.
    • Ironically, SpongeBob and the French Narrator are both voiced by Tom Kenny.
    • This implies that the characters are aware of his existence in the show as the narrator.
    • SpongeBob's disguise as the French Narrator may also imply what he looks like under his helmet.
    • Another fourth wall break occurs at the end, when Squidward bangs his own eyes to get himself out.
  • SpongeBob makes an imitation of Pearl in this episode, so if that appearance counts, this would have been the first appearance of Pearl in season 10.
  • When Sandy asks how many fingers she is holding up, SpongeBob says, "B." Ironically, the way that Sandy's hand is in that part of the scene is roughly in the shape of a lowercase d. Therefore, it could be possible that SpongeBob may have also been dyslexic during his Mocking Mimicry Madness.
  • This and "House Worming" were the first season 10 episodes to premiere in 2017, as part of the Saturday Morning Hang Zone with Lincoln Loud event.
  • This is the second episode where Mr. Krabs gets painted with gold. The first was "The Masterpiece."
  • This is the third episode where SpongeBob loses his memory. The first was "What Ever Happened to SpongeBob?," and the second was "Salsa Imbecilicus."
  • This is the only season 10 episode to play the original track "Marlin March," and the APM track "Honolulu March."

Episode references[]

  • When SpongeBob tells Mr. Krabs to "bring it around town," this is a reference to the bubble-blowing technique in "Bubblestand."
  • When SpongeBob uncontrollably imitates his friends at his house, when he imitates Plankton, he says, "I went to college!" This is a reference to a quote from the episode "Plankton!," where Plankton makes his debut.

Cultural references[]

  • When imitating the French Narrator, SpongeBob wears a red toque and has gray hair on his head, referencing French filmmaker Jacques Cousteau. Quite fitting, as he was the main inspiration behind the Narrator, as well as Stephen Hillenburg's interest in marine biology.

Errors[]

  • In the French opening credits, there is no supervising producer credit. This was most likely a mistake from the editor.
Mimic Madness Squidward Smiling Error

Squidward still appears smiling for a few frames, even after the mask was taken off.

  • As Mr. Krabs is talking with SpongeBob and Squidward, Squidward is awake, frowning (like usual), but when he goes to slap SpongeBob and Squidward, Squidward is asleep with a mask of him smiling.
    • Also, when Mr. Krabs takes off Squidward's mask, the latter still appears smiling for a few frames.
  • When Mr. Krabs walks into his office, he walks in like the door is closed and he is opening it.
Mimic Madness 067

Plankton's king is not there.

  • In chess, the only way to win is to checkmate the king, not capture, and Plankton's king was also missing, so he should have lost.
Mimic Madness 065

The wrinkles on Squidward's forehead are missing.

  • When Mr. Krabs says, "All right, you scurvy dogs, SpongeBob needs us, and more importantly, I need him... to stop imitating me customers!," Squidward is shown with no forehead wrinkles.
    • The scene before he says this, Plankton is nowhere to be seen before the scene starts (the picture on the right, under the Squidward's wrinkles error picture).
20200507 144116

SpongeBob's house is missing one of the windows and then it reappears.

  • During the intervention, the bottom right window on SpongeBob's house is missing, and then it reappears.
    • In the same scene, Plankton is nowhere to be seen, but then he suddenly appears in the next shot.
SpongeBob error in Mimic Madness

SpongeBob's reflection mouth is open, but the real SpongeBob's mouth is closed.

  • In the song "Who Am I?," when is SpongeBob is a pineapple, for a split second in the reflection SpongeBob's mouth is open, but the real SpongeBob's mouth is closed.
  • During the song "Who Am I?," SpongeBob's impressions hit their heads on his bell hand, but as they ring it, SpongeBob's Sandy does not ring it nor appear.
  • When SpongeBob says, "I don't know!" while the camera zooms out, his legs are a bit too thick.
    • He is also in his normal form in that scene.
  • When Sandy paints her suit yellow, her flower is normal. But when she paints herself yellow, her flower is painted, but Sandy hasn't painted it yet.
  • In the Irish dub (TG4), the two small Squidwards in Squidward's eyes that are saying, "Let me out! Let me out!" at the end of the episode is undubbed.


Videos[]

References[]

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