The Camping Episode

If you were looking for the article about the song, then see Campfire Song Song.

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Characters

• Squidward Tentacles
• Fish on the Dance Quarterly calendar
• SpongeBob SquarePants
  • Daydream SpongeBob
• Patrick Star
  • Daydream Patrick
• Astronauts ^(mentioned)
• Sea bear ^(debut)
• Fish on The Bikini Bottom Inquirer
• Unicorn on Fake Science Monthly
• The guy that SpongeBob met and all related guys ^(mentioned)
• Clown ^(mentioned)
• Chimpanzee ^(mentioned)
• Fish on Fake Science Monthly cover
• Sea rhinoceros ^(debut)

Synopsis

Squidward is in his house preparing for bed as he looks forward to a weekend of peace and quiet, especially with SpongeBob and Patrick deciding to go camping. However, he is extremely exasperated and disappointed to learn that they are camping in SpongeBob's front yard, right outside his window.

Squidward camping with SpongeBob and Patrick

Squidward confronts SpongeBob and Patrick in their tent, pointing out they can't be "camping" ten feet away from SpongeBob's house. SpongeBob simply states it doesn't matter where you camp as long as you're in the wilderness. After getting the impression that the duo believe Squidward isn't manly or qualified enough to camp, he impulsively decides to join SpongeBob and Patrick in their "camping". Squidward attempts to demonstrate "real camping" as SpongeBob and Patrick take notes, but fails to set up his automated tent, so he decides to sleep under the stars.

The gang begins roasting marshmallows while imitating astronauts. Squidward dismisses them and plans to get a can opener from his house so he can eat a can of Swedish Barnacle Balls. However, SpongeBob stops him from doing so, saying that "it just doesn't seem to fit the camping spirit." Squidward grudgingly decides to eat the marshmallows, but Patrick repeatedly blows on his burned ones, sending them flying into Squidward's face. SpongeBob then plays the "Campfire Song Song." Squidward dislikes it and begins playing "Kumbayah" very badly on his clarinet. Suddenly, a terrified SpongeBob stops Squidward by shooting a marshmallow through his clarinet and into his windpipe, causing him to choke.

After Squidward recovers, he yells at SpongeBob for hurting him. SpongeBob claims that it's not safe to play the clarinet in the wilderness at night, as he might attract a sea bear. Squidward angrily protests that sea bears don't exist but SpongeBob and Patrick insist they're real, showing various newspaper articles as proof. Squidward attempts to disprove their existence by having SpongeBob and Patrick list all the things which supposedly attract sea bears (eating cheese cubes, wearing a hoop skirt and clown shoes, waving a flashlight, etc.). He then begins doing all these actions at once, despite SpongeBob and Patrick's pleas. SpongeBob quickly draws an "anti-sea-bear circle" in the dirt to protect himself and Patrick.

Sea Bear attacks Squidward.

Squidward then gloats how a sea bear hasn't arrived, to which SpongeBob explains he forgot one thing: wearing a sombrero in a "goofy fashion". Just then, a real sea bear appears and demonstrates how the hat should be worn, much to Squidward's horror. The bear mauls the shocked Squidward before leaving. SpongeBob and Patrick urge Squidward to jump into their circle, but he is skeptical of this and tries to flee, only to be attacked by the sea bear again for various reasons.

After being attacked for the sixth time, SpongeBob concludes the sea bear simply doesn't like Squidward. After failing to draw his own anti-sea-bear circle, Squidward finally leaps into SpongeBob and Patrick's. When the sea-bear appears again, it notices Squidward is now in the circle and growls at him in warning for now being safe, before leaving the area. Squidward is relieved the creature is finally gone and the trio celebrate. SpongeBob mentions they're lucky to not be attacked by a sea rhinoceros.

File:Sea rhinoceros.jpg

Squidward about to get mauled by Sea rhino.

Hearing this, Squidward fearfully asks what attracts them and Patrick replies, "The sound of a sea bear attack." A sea rhinoceros then appears and growls at Squidward. SpongeBob muses: "Good thing we're all wearing our Anti-Sea Rhinoceros Undergarments," except for Squidward, who doesn't have a pair on, causing him to whimper in resignation and fear.

Production

Art

Art for a deleted scene.

Art for another deleted scene.

Music

( ‣ ) Production music

( • ) Original music

( ◦ ) SpongeBob music

 ‣ Tom Fool - Van Phillips [title card]

 ‣ Lonely Heart's Club (a) - David Bell, Otto Sieben [SpongeBob and Patrick camping ten feet from SpongeBob's house]
 ‣ Tomfoolery - David Snell [Squidward joins them]
 ‣ Andy Anorak - Chris Marshall [roasting marshmallows]
 • Campfire Song Song - Dan Povenmire, Jay Lender
 ‣ Kumbayah - Brad Carow [Squidward playing clarinet]
 ‣ Dramatic Cue (b) - Ronald Hanmer ["Oh, no! I'll save you, Squidward!"]
 ‣ House of Horror - W. Merrick Farran [SpongeBob warns Squidward about sea bears/SpongeBob and Patrick tell Squidward what attracts sea bears.]
 ‣ Co Co Baby (a) - Gil Flat [Squidward doing everything that attracts sea bears]
 ‣ Dangerous A - Mladen Franko [Sea bear appears.]
 ‣ Dangerous C - Mladen Franko [First time Sea Bear attacks Squidward/Second time Sea Bear attacks Squidward/Third time Sea Bear attacks Squidward/Fourth time Sea Bear attacks Squidward/Fifth time Sea Bear attacks Squidward/Sixth time Sea Bear attacks Squidward]
 ‣ Dangerous A - Mladen Franko [sea bear growls at Squidward]
 ‣ Hula Festival - George Elliott [ending]

Release

• This episode is available on the Sponge for Hire, Complete 3rd Season, First 100 Episodes, Complete Third Season, SpongeBob SquarePants Vol. 5, Laugh Pack, From the Beginning, Pt.2, The Third & Fourth Seasons, and The Best 200 Episodes Ever DVDs.

Reception

• "The Camping Episode" was ranked #7 during the Best Day Ever event from November 9–10, 2006.
• This episode is number 4 on The Tom Kenny Collection on iTunes and Amazon.com. His description says:

"I always laugh even though I know the sea bear attacks are coming. By the way, SpongeBob singing the ever-accelerating verses of "The Campfire SONG Song" is NOT artificially sped up. (People always ask about that!)"

Trivia

General

• Although this episode premiered in 2004, it was made in 2002 according to the credits.
• This episode aired in Germany on Tuesday, September 23, 2003, before it aired in the United States.
• This episode premiered in Canada on Friday, July 30, 2004.
• This episode premiered on the same day as the 2004 Kids' Choice Awards.
  • This is the second episode (along with the sister episode "Krabby Land") to premiere on the same day as the Kids' Choice Awards. The first was "Help Wanted"/"Reef Blower"/"Tea at the Treedome" in 1999.
• This episode was originally going to be called "Squid Gets Mauled," but was then changed to "The Camping Episode," most likely because the original title of the episode was deemed too violent and unfriendly for kids. It may also be because the title would have very little to do with the actual episode.
• In the early days of the airing, this episode would be paired before "Krabby Land," but was paired two months later.
• This is the second episode, where Patrick is left-handed. When he is writing down how to set up a tent he is writing with his left hand, but in other episodes he is right-handed. The first episode to show Patrick as a lefty is "Jellyfishing."
• In the episode "Idiot Box," Squidward finds the same sombrero when he looks for a box and says, "Why haven't I worn this yet?"
• Things Squidward did that attracted the sea bear:
  • Play the clarinet badly.
  • Wave a flashlight back and forth really fast (Patrick says flashlights are a sea bear's natural prey).
  • Stomp on the ground (SpongeBob says sea bears take that as a challenge).
  • Eat cubed cheese (sliced is fine).
  • Wear a sombrero in a goofy fashion (When the sea bear came, he turned the sombrero upside-down).
  • Wear a hoop skirt.
  • Wear clown shoes.
  • Screech like a chimpanzee (Judging by the number of times SpongeBob and Patrick say "never," this is a very big attractor).
• The "Campfire Song Song" is heard in the Family Guy episode "Road to Rupert," in which Peter Griffin watches the episode's scene where SpongeBob and Patrick sing the song. The song was written by Dan Povenmire, who was also a director on that Family Guy episode. Because of this, he was able to gain the rights to his own song.
  • Unlike the SpongeBob version, Squidward is not in it.

• In the "Campfire Song Song," the part where SpongeBob bounces on the letters may be a reference to the SpongeBob SquarePants Theme Song.
• This episode and "Krabby Land" were the last episodes where the closed captions appear before the lines are actually said.
• Like in the episodes "Unreal Estate," "To Save a Squirrel," "The Great Snail Race," "Party Pooper Pants," "Snowball Effect," "Procrastination," "The Fry Cook Games," "Life of Crime," and "Ugh," fire is able to exist underwater despite physical limitations.
• This is a rare time, where SpongeBob tells Squidward that he's terrible at the clarinet, another time was in "Jellyfish Jam."
• The drawing of SpongeBob and Patrick on the calendar shows pine trees, but it is impossible since they do not inhabit the ocean. There was support that pine trees can't exist underwater but, not without air in "I Had an Accident." Forests under the seas were kelp, as proven in several episodes, such as "Club SpongeBob."
• On the contrary, there have been several episodes where forests of pine trees were visible, such as "To Save a Squirrel" and "Bummer Vacation."
• The drawing of an anti-sea bear circle, which is a perfect circle that Squidward can't draw as SpongeBob mentioned, is similar to that on "Artist Unknown."
• There is an online game based on the sea bear attack called Camping Chaos!
• In the Indonesian version, on the line where SpongeBob asked Squidward about can openers, it's instead turned into asking him about sea bears.
  • Also, the "Campfire Song Song" was originally cut due to time constraints and longer ad breaks before this episode begin, though in recent airings, the song occasionally included.
  • Patrick's line "It may be stupid, but it's also dumb!" is changed to "This may sounds stupid and even preposterous!"
    • This likely because "stupid" and "dumb" have similar meaning in Indonesia.
  • SpongeBob's line "Good thing we're all wearing our anti-sea-rhinoceros undergarments." is changed to "Good thing the rhinoceros isn't around here."
• The part where SpongeBob says, "I met this guy who knew this guy..." has become a popular internet meme. Some YouTube videos even have SpongeBob saying it for 10 hours.
  • In Indonesia, instead of saying "I met this guy who knew this guy...," SpongeBob says "I met this guy who knew his cousin..."
• In the French dub, The Campfire Song is left untranslated with the exception of "Oh, yeah!"
• This episode premiered on Alec Baldwin's 46th birthday, Alton Brown's 42nd birthday, and Sebastian Bach's 36th birthday.
• According to The Tom Kenny Collection, the description he gives for this episode revealed that he sang the "Campfire Song Song" very speedily during the recording session. When SpongeBob sings fast, it was purely Tom Kenny, it was not edited to be fast. There were no artificial speed filters used; thus revealing that Tom Kenny can sing very speedily.
• This is one of the few episodes to take place completely at night.
• In the Polish dub, the episode's title is "Biwak w dziczy" (Camping in the Wilds)

• This episode could possibly take place after "Christmas Who?," because in that episode Patrick doesn't know how to write on a piece of paper, but in this episode, he does.

• The sea bears return in "Pineapple RV" to attack Squidward.

Cultural references

• Swedish Barnacle Balls are a parody of the famous Swedish Meatballs.
• The Bikini Bottom Inquirer is a reference to The National Inquirer, a tabloid newspaper notorious for printing exaggerated or outright false stories.
• When Patrick was taking down notes, He drew a Tic-Tac-Toe.

Errors

• When Squidward does stuff SpongeBob told him not to do, he is not playing the clarinet again, like he does before this scene. However, he is screaming like a chimpanzee, which is a no-go that SpongeBob and Patrick stressed more than the others, so Squidward was probably trying to do something that would be more likely to attract the sea bear (even though he did not believe it existed) to prove them wrong.
• When Squidward looks at his cup of tea while in bed, the wrinkles on his forehead are gone. When he looks at his book, they reappear, but when he imitates SpongeBob's laugh, his wrinkles are gone again.

  

  Squidward's wrinkles are missing

• After SpongeBob and Patrick "force" Squidward to come camping, Squidward changes (from pajamas to a shirt) (he could have changed while packing) and packs instantly. When he sets his backpack down and pulls out his tent, the screen changes to only Squidward's face. When it shows the ground by his feet again; his backpack is gone.
• When SpongeBob starts the song, he is sitting on a log. When he sits back down; the log is gone.
• Despite claiming he had "done everything to set a sea-bear off," Squidward had never eaten the cubed cheese as he was supposed to. It is possible, however, he ate it off-screen when the screen was focused on only SpongeBob and Patrick when they were freaked out that a Sea bear will come and when they drew the circle into the dirt.
  • Probably the fact that Squidward had cubed cheese on him visibly in the first place was enough to attract the Sea Bear,
• When the Sea Rhinoceros snorts, one of the bubble groups stops in mid air.
• When Squidward tries to set up his tent, he rips it. After the tent is put up; the rip is gone.
• When SpongeBob said: "Nope! We got something even better!," Patrick and the tent were next to SpongeBob. But when SpongeBob pulled out the marshmallows, they were gone.
• After Squidward shows up with a sombrero, a hoop skirt, clown shoes, a flashlight, and a plate of cubed cheese, he walks up to SpongeBob and Patrick, when the flashlight and cheese are gone.
• The last time Patrick blows his marshmallow, he did not put it in the fire.
• When the sea bear attacks Squidward for the first time, he is shown with bandages on his arms and legs. In the next scene, they disappear, only showing an arm cast. In the end, they reappear.
• The marshmallow cannot go through the clarinet that easily because the reed is smaller than the marshmallow itself.
  • Also, although SpongeBob told Squidward to chew the marshmallow that was lodged in his throat, the whole marshmallow is seen going down his esophagus.
• When Squidward attempts to organize his tent, SpongeBob is on the left observing him via binoculars while Patrick (even donning a pair of eyeglasses) writes how to set up a tent down. But when the two are clapping, they switch sides.
• When SpongeBob said "SpongeBob to Patrick. Help yourself. Over." if the audience counts the number of static noises, if they were taking turns to make static noises and say things, it should have been Patrick's turn to say something.

  

  Molten marshmallows on Squidward's face

• The molten marshmallow mess looks far too similar to chocolate-chip cookie dough. In particular, the molten marshmallow mess appears too yellow (as opposed to orangy-brown of actual molten marshmallows).
• In the French dub, after Squidward chews the marshmallow, there is about a three-second pause on Squidward with no dialogue before SpongeBob says "Meilleur," which means "Better" in French.

  

  SpongeBob's left arm is connected to his outlline for a split second.

• SpongeBob left arm is connected to his outlline.

Running gags

• The sea bear mauling Squidward offscreen.

Videos

Family Guy - SpongeBob Campfire Song Song

‘Campfire Song Song’ Remix Music Video ⛺️🔥 Trap, Metal & More! SpongeBob