"Plankton's Intern" is a SpongeBob SquarePants episode from season 12. In this episode, Plankton needs help to steal the secret formula, so he hires an intern who knows more about Mr. Krabs than anyone else.
Characters[]
- SpongeBob SquarePants
- Patrick Star
- Sheldon J. Plankton
- Pearl Krabs
- Eugene H. Krabs
- Karen Plankton
- Queue
- Incidentals
- Nixie
- Football player (purple)
- Creature / monster[3] (single appearance)
- King Neptune (mentioned)
- E.M.I.L.P. (mentioned)
Synopsis[]
Patrick clones himself.
The episode opens with Karen leaving the Chum Bucket to visit her motherboard. She tells Plankton she put up fliers for an intern, which leads many people to apply, but they leave after they hear about the sub-minimum wage portion. Patrick applies and tells Plankton that he wants to handle the science equipment, and proceeds to enter Plankton's Duplo Maker. Plankton instructs Patrick to place a coin inside the machine, but he walks inside the machine and creates countless clones of himself. Plankton kicks Patrick and his clones out of the Chum Bucket, and gets upset because no applicants are left.
Suddenly, Pearl shows up at the Chum Bucket and applies for an internship. Plankton is initially frightened by Pearl, but he grants her the internship after he realizes that she wants to help. After she accepts the job, Plankton decides to show off his new inventions. Unfortunately, all of his inventions fail and create gigantic messes. Plankton forces Pearl to clean the restaurant each time his inventions fail, which annoys her a lot.
At home, Mr. Krabs asks Pearl about her day. When Pearl complains and says that Plankton doesn't let her do any of the "fun stuff," Mr. Krabs tells her that a good employee always follows the boss' orders. She takes her father's advice and decides to keep working for Plankton.
The next day, Pearl visits the Chum Bucket and wishes Plankton a good morning. When Pearl asks Plankton if she can help with Plankton's science experiments, he asks her if she can materialize a Krabby Patty. Pearl says she can't do that, but proceeds to tell Plankton that she can give him the Krabby Patty secret formula because Mr. Krabs is her father. Plankton is very surprised by Pearl's statement and he decides to give her a promotion. He proceeds to ask Pearl if she is free to attend a conference later that night, and she says "Oh yes." Pearl goes home and prepares for her extra shift.
Plankton and Pearl sneak into the Krusty Krab.
Later that night, Pearl thanks Mr. Krabs for the advice and leaves her home to begin her extra shift. Pearl and Plankton proceed to sneak into the Krusty Krab, and they encounter SpongeBob "sleep cooking." When Plankton jumps on top of SpongeBob repeatedly, he hits Plankton with a spatula and places him inside a Krabby Patty. Pearl throws SpongeBob into the garbage can, and he later wakes up inside the garbage can. SpongeBob calls Mr. Krabs while SpongeBob's still inside the garbage can, and tells Mr. Krabs that "Plankton and a giant goon are trying to steal the secret formula!" Mr. Krabs gets angry and visits the Krusty Krab after the phone call.
After Mr. Krabs arrives at the Krusty Krab, he catches Plankton and Pearl attempting to steal the formula. When he questions his daughter about the situation, she explains that she was simply following her dad's advice. Mr. Krabs becomes annoyed at himself due to his "big mouth," so he tries to coerce Pearl into giving him back the formula. Pearl agrees to give her dad the formula back under one condition... Mr. Krabs has to triple her allowance. He reluctantly agrees, and Pearl gives Plankton a good old fashioned launch back to the Chum Bucket via her blowhole. The end of the episode shows Karen returning to the Chum Bucket, and she comes in to see the Patrick clones working around the lab.
Production[]
John Trabbic posted a rough storyboard panel from this episode on February 8, 2019.[4]
The episode was confirmed by Vincent Waller on June 29, 2019.[5]
Script[]
Storyboards[]
Production notes[]
Ian Vazquez:
- Vazquez said that the creature was "the first time [he] got to really change a character from the boards" and was "so glad they kept the hot pink lighting in this scene too!"[3]
- They were also glad that the animation team made Plankton's eye reflection move as well.[7]
- Vazquez said that in this episode, Plankton "was one of the easiest and most fun characters to draw, and [Mr. Lawrence's] line deliveries [were] a gift."[8]
Music[]
| ( ‣ ) Production music |
| ( • ) Original music |
| ( ◦ ) SpongeBob music |
‣ Old Hilo March - Kapono Beamer [Title card]
• A Simple Conversation 1 - Nicolas Carr, Barry Anthony [Opening at the Chum Bucket]
‣ Buying Spree - William Loose [Patrick offers to be Plankton's intern]
• Lap Steel - Nicolas Carr [Transition to next scene]
‣ Stealthy Panto Creep - Max Saunders [Plankton orders Patrick to put a coin in his double maker's chamber]
• Grass Skirt Chase - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [Many doubles of Patrick come outside from the double maker]
• Clowning Around 2 - Barry Anthony [Plankton kicks all of Patrick's doubles out of the Chum Bucket]
• Hot Steel and Slide Licks 37A - Jeremy Wakefield ["Ah... Great, not a single applicate left."]
‣ Hippomania - John Fox, Mac Prindy [Pearl shows up at the Chum Bucket frightening Plankton]
• Clowning Around 2 - Barry Anthony [Pearl tells Plankton she wants to have the intern job / "As the junior intern of Chum Bucket Labs, you're responsible for extremely important tasks."]
• Hot Steel and Slide Licks 7A - Jeremy Wakefield [Plankton uses Pearl as a ladder]
‣ Mutations (a) [#53] - Trevor Duncan [Plankton controls his evil robot]
• Clowning Around 2 - Barry Anthony ["No one asked you, junior intern."]
• Hot Steel and Slide Licks 20A - Jeremy Wakefield [Pearl gets hit in the face with a broom]
‣ Alien Spacecraft A - Gregor Narholz ["The power of my mighty, eh..."]
‣ Arnold Is Back 1 - Gregor Narholz [Plankton shows Pearl his laser]
• Hot Steel and Slide Licks 19A - Jeremy Wakefield [Safe box gets melted]
• Hot Steel and Slide Licks 31C - Jeremy Wakefield [Pearl goes cleaning the safe box's melts]
• Hot Steel and Slide Licks 31D - Jeremy Wakefield [Transition to next scene]
‣ Alien Spacecraft A - Gregor Narholz [Plankton pours monster maker's powders into a tank full of water]
‣ The Creature (a) - Gregor Narholz [Big monster emerges from the tank full of water/Monster grabs Plankton and launches him away]
• Whats This Sting - Nicolas Carr [Laser shoots the monster and explodes]
• Hot Steel and Slide Licks 35 - Jeremy Wakefield ["Ew! Gross!"]
• Hot Steel and Slide Licks 37A - Jeremy Wakefield ["You're gonna need a mop."]
• Sad Sailor Waltz - Michael Bolger, Nicolas Carr [Pearl complains Krabs about his boss]
‣ Fraidy Cat - Fredric Bayco [Plankton working on a machine the next day]
• The Pollywog Strut - Nicolas Carr, Barry Anthony [Pearl asks Plankton if she can work on science]
• Parting of the Clouds Sting - Nicolas Carr ["What?! You can get me..."]
• Birth of the Krabby Patty - Nicolas Carr ["... Krabs' secret formula?!"]
• The Pollywog Strut - Nicolas Carr, Barry Anthony [Plankton realizes Krabs is Pearl's father]
‣ Hide And Seek - Arthur Wilkinson [Pearl tells Krabs she got a promotion to work at night]
• Hot Steel and Slide Licks 25A - Jeremy Wakefield ["Remember! The boss always knows best!"]
• Mission Improbable - Nicolas Carr, Barry Anthony [Pearl gives Plankton a boost so he can enter at the Krusty Krab]
‣ Hide And Seek - Arthur Wilkinson [Pearl and Plankton hide after SpongeBob shows up]
‣ Comic Walk - Sidney Torch [SpongeBob sleep-cooks Plankton at the kitchen]
‣ Deep Cover - Carlo Giacco [Pearl and Plankton approach Krabs' office]
• Hot Steel and Slide Licks 37A - Jeremy Wakefield [SpongeBob wakes up inside the trash can]
‣ Deep Cover - Carlo Giacco [SpongeBob spots Pearl and Plankton]
• Sponge Tango - Nicolas Carr, Steve Marston [SpongeBob calls Krabs]
‣ Hercule Poirot - Gerhard Trede [Pearl opens Krabs' safe]
‣ Battle March Link (1) - Keith Mansfield [Krabs and SpongeBob show up at the office.]
‣ Comedy Punctuations And Bridges 3 - Fredric Bayco [Pearl takes off the ski mask]
‣ Tales From The Swamp (C) - Ron Goodwin ["Pearl?!! What are you doing with me bitter enemy?!"]
‣ Hawaiian Party - Peter Dennis ["I was just doing what you said. Remember? A good employee follows her boss's orders."]
• On Fire - Nicolas Carr [Pearl gives Krabs a condition to give him the formula back.]
• Hot Steel and Slide Licks 12D - Jeremy Wakefield [Krabs accepts Pearl's condition.]
• You're Nice - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [Pearl quits working for Plankton.]
‣ Domestic Fun (A) - Ernest Tomlinson [Karen comes back to the Chum Bucket.]
‣ Domestic Fun (C) - Ernest Tomlinson [Ending.]
Release[]
- This episode is available on the SpongeBob SquarePants Vol. 21 digital collection and The Complete Twelfth Season DVD.
Trivia[]
General[]
- When asked about the episode in April 2020 if Plankton's intern would be Pearl, he denied it, saying that Pearl is too young. He said this likely to not spoil any details about it, although at that point, the episode had already been leaked in South Africa 2 months prior.[9]
- This is currently the only known episode of the series to have standalone supervising direction by Marc Ceccarelli.[2]
- He previously wrote and storyboard directed (aka rough storyboarded) the season 9 episode "Gary's New Toy" by himself.
- This episode was paired up with a rerun of "Knock Knock, Who's There?" during the original American airing.
- Both were released on The Complete Twelfth Season DVD on January 12, 2021, three months before airing on American television.
- Plankton has a fear of whales in this episode like he does in "One Coarse Meal" and "The Ghost of Plankton"; however, in "Jailbreak!," Plankton is not afraid of the whale cellmate.
- Plankton also does not seem to know that Pearl is Mr. Krabs' daughter in this episode until she says that he is her father. In "The Algae's Always Greener" and "One Coarse Meal," however, he does know that Pearl is Mr. Krabs' daughter.
- A clip from this episode was used for a COVID-19 promo from around April 2020.[10]
- Another clip from this episode was used for a Patrick marathon in November 14, 2020 with a new episode of It's Pony.[11]
- This episode and "Who R Zoo?" are the only season 12 episodes not credit their supervising directors.
- According to Ian Vazquez, this episode potentially implies that the Chum Bucket serves kids meals, as the Monster Maker packet features the restaurant's branding.[12]
Cultural references[]
- The dinosaur on the Monster Maker packet was redesigned in the final storyboards to look like a mix between Reptar and the '80s-'90s trading card pack, Garbage Pail Kids.[12]
Errors[]
- When Pearl and Plankton hide in the file cabinet, the doors of the cabinet have a dent. When they leave the cabinet, however, there is no longer a dent.
- When SpongeBob is in the trash can, he is covered in trash. However, when he sticks his head out of the trash and leaves, he is no longer covered in trash.
Videos[]
References[]
- ^ a b SB1247_Sc37 Sample Work - Google Drive
- ^ a b c Ian Vazquez on Instagram - "Selections from my plusses on..."
- ^ a b Ian Vazquez on Twitter - "THE MONSTER!!! The first time I really..."
- ^ a b John Trabbic on Instagram - "Prolly spent too much time..."
- ^ Vincent Waller on Twitter - "All real"
- ^ Ian Vazquez on Twitter - "BEHOLD! Some stuff..."
- ^ Ian Vazquez on Twitter - "More PINK! Love that..."
- ^ Ian Vazquez on Twitter - "Thank you!! He was..."
- ^ Vincent Waller on Twitter - "No, Pearl is still very..."
- ^ SpongeBob New Footage - YouTube
- ^ Best of ‘Patrick’ Episodes + BRAND NEW It’s Pony | SpongeBob SquarePants 🧽 Official Promo - YouTube
- ^ a b Ian Vazquez on Twitter - "I think the monster design..."