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Encyclopedia SpongeBobia

"SB-129" is a SpongeBob SquarePants episode from season 1. In this episode, Squidward accidentally freezes himself, sending him to the far future.

Characters[]

Synopsis[]

Early one Sunday morning, Squidward goes to his window to play his clarinet. However, SpongeBob's alarm clock goes off at the same time, jamming Squidward's clarinet in his throat. SpongeBob asks Squidward if he'd like to go jellyfishing, taking Squidward's squeals of protest as a "yes." After dislodging the clarinet from his throat, Squidward finds SpongeBob and Patrick waiting for him. When he refuses to come out, Patrick realizes he doesn't want to play with them, but SpongeBob believes it is because he is still preparing to play with them and so repeatedly asks him if he is ready.

Squidward asks SpongeBob why he is not at work, to which SpongeBob replies that the Krusty Krab is closed on Sundays. Squidward tells them to wait for him, closes the door, then sneaks out the back and heads for the Krusty Krab in the hopes of getting away from SpongeBob and Patrick. He finds it is indeed deserted, but SpongeBob and Patrick soon arrive calling for Squidward. He runs to the kitchen and hides in the storage freezer. When SpongeBob and Patrick cannot find him, they assume he is already at Jellyfish Fields and leave. Squidward tries to exit the freezer only to find that the door is locked, but he assures himself that someone will find him soon enough.

SB-129 060

Squidward frozen.

Squidward stays stuck in the freezer for the next 2,000 years, frozen in a block of ice. Suddenly, the door's rusted hinges give way and Squidward falls to the floor. SpongeTron, a robotic descendant of SpongeBob, sees the frozen cephalopod and thaws him out. Squidward is shocked to discover that he is in the future and begs for a way to get back to his own time. In response, SpongeTron directs him to a time machine. Squidward decides that he will travel to a time before SpongeBob has born, simply referred to as "the past."

The time machine arrives in the primordial sea. Squidward hopes that he can finally play his clarinet in peace, but he soon runs into a primitive sponge and starfish. The two remain curious about Squidward, but are soon distracted by a jellyfish, which they are frightened of. Taking his chance to get away, Squidward tries to play once more but is constantly interrupted by the screams of the primitives, who are zapping themselves with the jellyfish. Squidward has them tear pieces off their loincloths and proceeds to fashion jellyfish nets for them. Amazed by Squidward's demonstration of jellyfishing, the primitives take the nets in earnest.

SB-129 172

Squidward all alone.

Squidward begins to play at last. However, the wailing of the clarinet aggravates the primitives and they chase him down. Barely making it back to the time machine, Squidward frantically jams the lever up and down and accidentally snaps it off, sending the machine hurtling through time and space before arriving in a world of emptiness.

Squidward is glad to have found a place where he can be alone, but hearing several disembodied voices repeating the word "alone," prove too much for him to bear. He frantically tries and fails to escape (repeatedly coming back to the same spot where he started). Desperate, he stomps on the ground in frustration and crashes through the floor and back into the time machine. Squidward breaks down sobbing and begs the time machine to take him home, saying that he misses Bikini Bottom and even SpongeBob.

At his words, the time machine returns Squidward to Conch Street, where SpongeBob and Patrick await him. When they ask him if he is finally ready for jellyfishing, Squidward refuses and demands to know who invented such a foolish game. They remind him that it was, in fact, he who invented it, and Squidward, realizing he has inadvertently caused a temporal paradox, states that he is going back to rectify his mistake.

Production[]

This episode was announced on December 29, 1999,[2] along with its sister episode, "Karate Choppers."

SB-129 promo art

Promo art for the episode

Art[]

Model sheets[]

Storyboards[]

Music[]

 ) Production music
 ) Original music
 ) SpongeBob music

  Sounds of Science 1 - Josef Mundigl [Title card]
  Lonely on the Beach - The Hawaiian Serenaders, Jan Rap [Opening]
  Squid Clarinet23 - Brad Carow [Squidward tries to talk with his clarinet stuck in his mouth]
  Closing Theme 2 - Steve Belfer [SpongeBob and Patrick at Squidward's door]
  Cream Pie - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [Can be faintly heard for a few seconds when Squidward quietly skadaddles his way onto the Krusty Krab]
  Grass Skirt Chase - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [Plays for a second]
  The Rake Hornpipe - Robert Alexander White [Squidward hides in the Krusty Krab freezer]
  Death Trap [#25] - Gregor F. Narholz [The door is locked]
  Hawaiian Link (B) - Richard Myhill ["I'll be out of here in no time."]
  House Of Horror [#10.5] - W. Merrick Farran [Squidward is frozen as the latch comes off]
  Sounds of Science 1 - Josef Mundigl [Squidward in the future]
  Closing Theme - Steve Belfer [SpongeTron appears]
  Sounds of Science 1 - Josef Mundigl [The future is chrome.]
  Closing Theme - Steve Belfer ["Of course I'm right, Squidward."]
  The Gypsy Violinist - Dick Stephen Walter ["I don't belong here."]
  Aloha Oé - Hans Haider, Queen Lili'uokalani ["I got to get home to my own time period."]
  Dorothy - Tony Tape [Inside the time machine]
  Time Machine - Nicolas Carr [Time machine disappears]
  Kurosawa FX - Nicolas Carr [Squidward in the past]
  Lovely Scenery C - Mladen Franko [Prehistoric SpongeBob revealed]
  Squid Clarinet23 - Brad Carow [Squidward trying to play clarinet]
  Closing Theme - Steve Belfer [Squidward invents jellyfishing]
  Squid Clarinet25 - Brad Carow [Squidward playing clarinet]
  Dangerous B - Mladen Franko [Prehistoric SpongeBob and Patrick chase Squidward]
  Dorothy - Tony Tape [Inside the time machine]
  Time Machine - Nicolas Carr [Time machine disappears]
  Space Work 14 - Vladimir Kos Jr ["I gotta get out of here!"]
  Dorothy - Tony Tape [Inside the time machine]
  Time Machine - Nicolas Carr [Time machine arrives]
  Grass Skirts Blowing (Hilo March) - Jan Rap, The Hawaiian Serenaders [Ending]

Release[]

Reception[]

Trivia[]

General[]

SB-129 listed as SpongeBob 129 on SpongeBob Season 1 on Amazon Prime Video

"SB-129" is listed as "SpongeBob 129" on Season 1 on Amazon Prime Video.

Download by sb 129

Animation cel marked with the "129" production code.

  • The episode's finalized title, "SB-129," is a reference to its production code. "SB" stands for SpongeBob, and this was the 29th segment produced for season 1, hence "129."
    • Model sheets, backgrounds, and animation cels for each episode are often labeled with their production codes in the "SB-___" format. For example, "Squeaky Boots" was the second segment produced for season 1 and was marked "SB-102." "SB-129" is the only time the code was used in place of an actual title.
    • Even though the official name "SB-129" represents that it is the 29th episode in production order, it was the 26th episode in airing order, and the 28th episode in packaging order.
  • The scene when Squidward slams the door on SpongeBob and Patrick has become a popular internet meme on YouTube, replacing SpongeBob and Patrick with another character.
  • This episode premiered on New Year's Eve in 1999 along with several other Nicktoons episodes with futuristic themes in celebration of the new millennium.
  • This is the first episode for many things:
    • The first episode to use an animated title card.
    • The first episode where the words in the title card move.
    • The first episode where a time card is read out.
    • The first episode where the opening credits do not appear in an underwater background.
      • "Reef Blower" also applies technically, but it does not have any opening credits for that matter.
    • The first episode where SpongeBob does not play a major role.
      • This is also the only episode of season 1 where SpongeBob does not play a major role.
    • The first episode where the Krusty Krab appears without Mr. Krabs, as it was closed at that time.
    • The first episode where Aaron Springer is a storyboard director instead of a storyboard artist.
    • The first episode to air on a holiday (New Year's Eve).
    • This and its sister episode "Karate Choppers" are the first episodes to fall under 2 million viewers, as well as the lowest-rated episode of the series until "Sanctuary!," which earned 1.28 million viewers on its premiere.[11]
  • After Squidward is stuck in the freezer for 2,000 years and finds himself in the future, a calendar in the background reads "March 6, 4017." This means the present-day before Squidward sees the world after two millennia is set on March 6, 2017, which was the future when the episode originally aired.
    • The narrator and SpongeBob say it is Sunday at the beginning of the episode, but said date occurred on a Monday in real life.
  • In the Serbian dub, the episode is called "SB-192." This is a pun on the Serbian TV channel B92, which originally aired SpongeBob in Serbia.[citation needed]
  • The German name for this episode is "Die Zeitmaschine," which means "The Time Machine."[citation needed]
    • The French name for this episode is "Voyages Dans Le Temps," which means "Time Travel."[citation needed]
  • The ending, which arises from Squidward time-traveling and inventing the game of jellyfishing, is a time paradox known as a causal loop. This occurs when someone is inspired or driven by an event to time travel and, whether or not intentionally, causes the event which will facilitate their initial time-traveling trip.
SB-129 059

"2000 Years Later."

  • The "2000 Years Later" time card uses a recolored version of the background for the title card of "Pickles."
  • In Nickelodeon Southeast Asia, during the marathon of Squidward's big holiday contest, this episode was known as one of its working titles, "SpongeBob 3000."[citation needed]
    • Interestingly, in the Thai dub, the episode is also titled "SpongeBob 3000," albeit rendered in Thai glyphs.
  • When Squidward is in the Nowhere dimension, his footsteps make different sounds than usual, the footsteps instead have the sound of dress shoes walking.
  • SpongeTron mentions that he has 486 clones, one for each letter of the alphabet.
    • This means that over the course of the two millennia, 460 more letters have been added to the alphabet.
    • However, in the Russian dub, SpongeTron says that he has 500 clones.
  • In the future, the entirety of Bikini Bottom is covered in chrome, except for the hinges on the freezer door, the freezer's interior, the time machine's interior, and the Bikini Bottom civilians.
55181940

Surprised SpongeBob (primitive) meme.

Sbprimitive

Official stock art.

  • The primitive SpongeBob from this episode became a meme in 2014 and became fairly popular in the spring and summer seasons of 2016. Specifically, the scene where Squidward says, "What are you simpletons doing?" and SpongeBob primitive turns around while making a surprised face.[12] Most people who use this meme often confuse him with SpongeGar.
  • During the 2,000 years that Squidward was frozen in the Krusty Krab freezer, it is ironic that nobody in Bikini Bottom noticed his disappearance and tried to search for him.
  • In the Polish dub, SpongeTron is called "SpongeBot" and PatTron is called "PatrickBot."
  • The scene with the primitive jellyfish is shown before the play menu appears on the DVD main menu of SpongeBob Goes Prehistoric.
  • According to the "Show Design" special feature on the Nautical Nonsense and Sponge Buddies DVD, it's stated by Nick Jennings how this episode was originally going to be about SpongeBob and Patrick time traveling, but it was replaced with Squidward.
SB-129 137
  • This is one of two season 1 episodes after "Jellyfish Jam" with a small scene that tests digital ink-and-paint animation. In this case, the short scene of Primitive Sponge and Primitive Star drooling was done digitally.
  • A clip from this episode was used in a Nickelodeon bumper aired on March 7, 2020, reminding the viewer to change forward their clocks for Daylight Savings Time.[citation needed]
  • Three scenes in this episode would later appear in the season 3 episode "Ugh," specifically during the song "When Worlds Collide":
    • SpongeTron saying, "I am SpongeTron" in a robotic way.
    • Squidward laying down and saying "Future!"
    • Primate Sponge and Prehistoric Starfish being confused and drooling after holding a jellyfish.
  • The scene of Squidward opening the door and SpongeBob asking if he is ready to go jellyfishing is used in one of the 2023 Paramount+ promos for the show.[citation needed]
SB-129 Reference in Hats Off to Space

The quote being reused in the episode "Hats Off to Space."

New Squidward Emote


Cultural references[]

  • The episode title "SB-129" is a likely homage to the 1971 sci-fi film THX 1138.
    • One of the original working titles, "How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Sponge," is a reference to the 1964 black comedy film Dr. Strangelove (also known as Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb).
  • The shot of Squidward's face after being in the freezer for 2,000 years is somewhat similar to the shot of Jack Torrance's face after freezing to death in The Shining.
  • The time machine in this episode looks similar to the TARDIS from Doctor Who, except that it does not look like a police telephone box.
  • The plot of this episode is similar to the Futurama pilot episode "Space Pilot 3000," where the main character, Fry, falls into a cryogenic freezing tube and is frozen for the next 1,000 years. Coincidentally, this episode premiered the same day as the main setting date as the aforementioned episode.
  • SpongeTron's mention of the time machine being "Down the hall, and to the left" is a likely reference to Donald Trump's cameo appearance in the 1992 family Christmas film Home Alone 2: Lost In New York, where he tells Kevin (played by Macaulay Calkin) that the hotel lobby is "Down the hall, and to the left."

Errors[]

SB-129 002

One window on SpongeBob's house.

  • At the start of the episode, SpongeBob's pineapple house only has one window, as opposed to two.
  • Before SpongeBob's alarm clock goes off, it is facing the bed. When it goes off, it is facing Squidward.
  • Squidward wonders why SpongeBob is not at work. However, he should know the answer because they share the same work schedule.
  • When Squidward runs to the Krusty Krab and SpongeBob and Patrick peek inside, both the Chum Bucket and the pathway leading to it are missing.
  • Squidward was unnoticed by everyone in town while he was frozen, even though his face is visible from the freezer window and the possibility of someone encountering him in the countless years that passed.
SB-129 041

SpongeBob's black tie.

  • When Squidward is running to the Krusty Krab, SpongeBob's tie is black instead of red.
  • Even though the Krusty Krab is closed, the doors remain unlocked.
  • When Squidward closes the freezer door, the doorknob disappears.
  • The rusty hinges door keeps appearing and disappearing after Squidward is unfrozen.
  • When Squidward exits the can opener room, there is a spot between his legs and his shirt flickers from blue to brown for a few frames.
  • When Squidward enters the time machine in the future, there is one red and one green light above the door. When he next exits the time machine in the past, there are two red lights at the top.
    • The first time Squidward enters the time machine, the switch reads future on the top and past on the bottom. The next time he enters, the two are reversed.
    • When Squidward enters the time machine, the doorknob changes sides.
  • When Squidward goes up to the bush where Primitive Sponge is, he puts one arm towards it, but in the close-up, he uses two arms.
    • Also, he would have needed to put his clarinet down. However, he does not put it down in the prior scene.
No Voice Error

Squidward appears to be saying, "What's going on?" with no voice.

  • When the machine malfunctions just before it brings Squidward to Nowhere, during the scene with the color change effect, Squidward's lip movement does not match when he says "What's going on?" with no voice.
  • When Squidward says "No more!", the outline of his head clips through his mouth.
  • When Squidward runs in Nowhere, his clarinet disappears, but when he falls back into the time machine, it reappears. It then disappears when he exits the time machine.
  • When SpongeTron says "Hi PatTron!," it comes out as "Hi PatTon!"
  • When Squidward falls through the ceiling of time machine, the labels "Future," and "Past," and key are no longer seen.
  • When Squidward arrives in his time period, he comes out from time machine and door is clearly open, but in the next shot it's closed.


Videos[]

References[]

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