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Encyclopedia SpongeBobia
If you were looking for the article about the box, then see Patrick's secret box.

"The Secret Box" is a SpongeBob SquarePants episode from season 2. In this episode, SpongeBob wants to see what is inside Patrick's secret box.

Characters[]

Synopsis[]

As the episode begins, SpongeBob runs towards Patrick's house, ready to go jellyfishing. Patrick says he will go with him, but must put away his "secret box" first. SpongeBob tries to peek inside, but Patrick refuses to let him see. SpongeBob entices Patrick by sharing his own secrets, but this only convinces Patrick to keep his secret box even more closely guarded. SpongeBob tries to distract him with many of his own secret possessions, but Patrick only pays attention to his own box.

The Secret Box 072

"If you ever come near my secret box again, we won't be friends anymore!"

As Patrick explains the lengths he must go to keep his box safe, he fails to notice SpongeBob sneaking off with it, giddily preparing to look. Patrick stops him just in time and struggles with SpongeBob over the box. The sight of SpongeBob's arms popping off while still desperately clinging to the box disgusts Patrick, making him question the validity of their membership in the Best Friends Forever Club. He threatens to end their friendship if SpongeBob continues trying to look at his secret. SpongeBob begs Patrick for his forgiveness and promises to respect Patrick's right to secrecy, and they remain friends.

That night, SpongeBob cannot sleep, still thinking about Patrick's secret box and wondering about its contents. He convinces himself that sneaking into Patrick's house while he is asleep would prevent Patrick from getting upset and he will be able to look at the secret without feeling guilty. Despite Gary's admonitions, SpongeBob puts his plan into action, pulling on a silk stocking for a mask and slipping under Patrick's rock.

Inside, the box lays in full view on Patrick's nightstand. Trying to tiptoe across a floor covered in potato chips, SpongeBob fears waking Patrick with every step. Finally making it to the bedside, SpongeBob reaches for the box but Patrick sleepily grabs hold of it. SpongeBob, conveniently cube-shaped, gently slips himself in place of the box just as Patrick attempts to take something from it, yanking SpongeBob's tongue in the process. Patrick then places SpongeBob next to him on the bed, allowing SpongeBob to get back onto the floor. As he prepares to leave, SpongeBob trips on his shoelace and begins crashing and bouncing around the rock in a cacophony of noise, culminating in slamming against the wall and breaking a framed photo of him and Patrick in half. Despite all of this, Patrick remains fast asleep.

The Secret Box 187

The friendship ring.

SpongeBob quietly remarks how heavy a sleeper Patrick is, which causes Patrick to finally wake up and catch the masked SpongeBob with the box. Thinking him to be the "Clam Burglar," Patrick prepares to assault him with a pillow until SpongeBob confirms his identity with his Best Friends Forever ring. In shock and distraught, Patrick declares their friendship to be over. Immediately afterwards, Patrick changes his mind and finally allows SpongeBob look inside the box.

SpongeBob eagerly opens the box, only to find a piece of string. Thanking Patrick for letting him look, SpongeBob heads home, laughing at how he should not have been surprised. Alone once more, Patrick ponders alone the true secret nature of the box: when the string is pulled, a secret compartment opens and reveals an embarrassing picture of SpongeBob at a Christmas party, and Patrick laughs at it, joking a Merry Christmas to SpongeBob, not that it matters as the two houses are out of earshot, thus ending the episode.

Production[]

This episode was shipped to Nickelodeon Animation Studio on April 11, 2001.

SB 035 Slate

Art[]

Storyboard[]

Music[]

 ) Production music
 ) Original music
 ) SpongeBob music

  Grass Skirts Blowing (Hilo March) - Jan Rap, The Hawaiian Serenaders [Title card]
  Film Fanfare (a) - Dick Stephen Walter [Patrick appears.]
  Idea Sting - Nicolas Carr ["Secret box?"]
  Closing Theme 2 - Steve Belfer ["Hands off, Peeping Bob."]
  On the Beach - Kapono Beamer [SpongeBob telling Patrick all his secrets]
  Vibe & Harp Hits - Nicolas Carr [Spilled milk]
  Spongemonger - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [SpongeBob's "secret stuff"]
  Gator - Steve Belfer [Patrick looking inside his secret box.]
  Tymp Roll - Nicolas Carr [Timpani roll]
  Dramatic Climax - Mike Sunderland ["Nobody must know the mystery of the box!"]
  Like Strange - Kenny Graham ["Not even... Squidward's house!"]
  Steel Licks 22 - Jeremy Wakefield [Shot of the Best Friends Forever ring]
  South Pacific Island II - Victor Cavini ["I feel so filthy."]
  Ulkereien - Gerhard Trede ["After all, this is a pretty great secret."]
  House Of Horror [#10.1] - W. Merrick Farran [SpongeBob worried about what is in the box]
  Thats It ! - Nicolas Carr ["That's it!"]
  Tomfoolery - David Snell ["How do you look into a secret box?"]
  Kommissar X - Gerhard Trede [SpongeBob sneaks into Patrick's house at night.]
  Footsteps of Horror - W. Merrick Farran [Patrick sleeping/Wall starts to crack/Nail falls off/SpongeBob makes a loud noise upon touching the floor/SpongeBob steps on a potato chip/SpongeBob steps making loud noises again/Patrick falls back to sleep/SpongeBob trips on a shoestring/Box lands on SpongeBob.]
  Danger Zone - Mike Sunderland [Patrick wakes up.]
  English Country Garden - Curtis Schwartz ["It's the Best Friends Forever, Best Friends Forever ring!"]
  Paradise Isle - Jan Rap ["How could you do this?!"]
  Revelation - Dick Stephen Walter [SpongeBob looks inside the box.]
  Steel Licks 46 - Jeremy Wakefield [Secret string]
  Like Strange - Kenny Graham [Patrick laughing]
  Jingle Bells (ukulele & steel) - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [The ending.]

Release[]

Reception[]

  • "The Secret Box" was ranked #68 during the SpongeBob's Top 100 event in the UK and Ireland from June 4-8, 2012.

Trivia[]

General[]

"The idea came to Drymon because he, too, had a secret box as a child." "He started telling us about it. We wanted to make fun of him and use it."

  • This is the first episode for several things:
  • Foreshadowing:
    • After SpongeBob replaced the box in Patrick's hands who's asleep, Patrick talks in his sleep and pulls on SpongeBob's tongue, mistaking it for the piece of string inside, showing that you need to yank it to reveal what's inside. After SpongeBob is allowed to see the inside of the box, he does not pull the string, and so he does not know there's a secret compartment in the box.
    • When the picture of SpongeBob and Patrick splits into two halves, with SpongeBob on one half and Patrick on the other, it foreshadows the consequences of stealing the secret box following the moment Patrick wakes up, and the imminent end to their friendship due to the distrust SpongeBob is giving his best friend (though Patrick ultimately reverses his decision to end their friendship).
    • When SpongeBob sees the string, upon close inspection the farthest end appears to be fastened to the box, foreshadowing its function.
  • In most episodes, Patrick, being a starfish, sticks to the bottom of his rock (which is also considered the ceiling to his house) while sleeping. However, in this episode, he has a bed.
  • A few parts of this episode have become popular internet memes.
    • SpongeBob's "secret channel" (replacing the SMPTE color bars in the episode with other content)
    • Patrick saying, "The inner machinations of my mind are an enigma," followed by imagining a live action carton of milk spilling.
    • Squidward's house trying to peek into the box.
  • According to The Ultimate SpongeBob SpongeBash, Victoria Justice rated this episode as her favorite.
  • This episode reveals that SpongeBob and Patrick have been friends since they were babies.
  • SpongeBob's "secrets" are as follows:
    • He loves his job at the Krusty Krab.
    • He sleeps with his shoes on.
    • He likes jelly on both sides of his toast.
    • He has an overdue library book.
    • He has a high opinion on jellyfishing and bubble-blowing (it is never revealed what exactly his opinion is since it is interrupted through transition).
    • Something about his overbite.
    • He has never been late to work. (However, he is shown late for work in some episodes, most notably in the episode "New Digs," and an episode before, from season 1, "Hooky.")
    • He had said "fancy" in conversation before.
    • He likes to dance to loading zone announcements.
    • He still does not have his driver's license.
    • He is a little bit on the short side.
    • He was wearing three pairs of underwear at the moment.
  • In the Polish dub, the episode's title is "Super tajne pudełko," which translates to "The Super Secret Box."
  • In the 2005 movie War of the Worlds, Rachel, Tom Cruise's daughter, is shown watching this episode on TV. However, the audio and video are out of sync.
  • This is the third episode where SpongeBob is revealed to have shoes with shoelaces. The first was "Rock Bottom" and the second was "Your Shoe's Untied."
  • Whenever Patrick opens his secret box, he does not pull the string to open the secret compartment; instead he just looks in the box and laughs.
    • He might have done this deliberately to divert SpongeBob, and the audience, away from learning the real secret.
  • During the November 6, 2009 airing, this episode was paired with "SpongeBob Meets the Strangler."[2]

Cultural references[]

  • Patrick says, "Hands off, peeping Bob!" which is a reference to the phrase "peeping Tom."
  • Patrick mistakes SpongeBob for the Clam-burglar, a parody of the McDonald's character Hamburglar.

Errors[]

20200504 075816

Squidward's house is missing.

  • When SpongeBob sneaks over to Patrick's house, Squidward's house is missing.
  • The potato chips on the floor, including the one that SpongeBob steps on, are present in one scene, but in subsequent scenes, they are missing.
  • When Patrick says, "And to think we joined the 'Best Friends Forever' club?!" his lips are off-sync.
  • After SpongeBob's arms come off, Patrick grabs what appears to be SpongeBob's right arm to point to him with. But when he is pointing at SpongeBob with the arm, it becomes the left arm.
TSB Error

SpongeBob with double the amount of freckles on his cheek instead of the usual three.

  • Before Patrick mentions Squidward's house, SpongeBob has double the freckles on his cheek than he normally does.
  • When SpongeBob gathers the "secret" stuff, he goes towards Patrick's house, not his own.
  • When the screen "rumbles" after SpongeBob acquires the box, there is a light blue border, as the effect was shot in 60Hz rather than 24/29.97Hz, which clearly arose during post-production, since most of the episode's original audience viewed on CRT TVs that are common at that time, in which most of it was hidden through overscan. A similar incident would occur in the sister episode, "Band Geeks."
Erik Weise and Carson kugler error in The Secret Box

Two errors in the opening credits: the "K" in Carson Kugler's surname is lowercase and Erik Wiese's surname is misspelled as "Weise."


References[]

Awards and nominations for SpongeBob SquarePants VE

Golden Reel Awards StatueStraight

Best Sound Editing in Television Animation – Music

Nominees: Stephen Hillenburg, Donna Castricone, Nicholas R. Jennings, Alan Smart, Peter Burns, Doug Lawrence, Derek Drymon, Alex Gordon, Donna Grillo, Jennie Monica, Krandal Crews, Jim Leber, Justin Brinsfield, Tony Ostyn, Nicolas Carr (for "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy"/"Pickles;" 2000)Nicolas Carr (for "Fools in April"/"Neptune's Spatula" in 2001; for "Jellyfish Hunter"/"The Fry Cook Games" in 2002; for "Wet Painters"/"Krusty Krab Training Video" in 2003; for "The Great Snail Race"/"Mid-Life Crustacean" in 2004) • Jimmy Lifton, D.J. Lynch, Jeff Hutchins, Tony Ostyn and Paulette Lifton (for "Mid-Life Crustacean;" 2004)

Best Sound Editing in Television Animation – Sound

Nominees: Nicolas Carr (for "Karate Choppers;" 2000) • Andrea Anderson, Jimmy Lifton, Monette Holderer, D.J. Lynch, Vincent Gutisetti, Jeff Hutchins and Gabriel Rosas (for "Rock Bottom"/"Arrgh!;" 2001)

Best Sound Editing in Television – Animation

Nominees: Timothy J. Borquez, Jeff Hutchins and Daisuke Sawa (for "The Secret Box"/"Band Geeks;" 2002)

Best Sound Editing in Television Animation

Nominees: Jimmy Lifton, Jeff Hutchins, Tony Ostyn and Chris Gresham (for "Nasty Patty"/"Idiot Box;" 2003)

Best Sound Editing in Television: Animated

Nominees: Jimmy Lifton, Nicolas Carr, D.J. Lynch, Jeff Hutchins, Tony Ostyn, Chris Gresham and Paulette Lifton (for "Pranks a Lot"/"SpongeBob Meets the Strangler;" 2005) • Vincent Gutisetti, Jimmy Lifton, Nicolas Carr, Monique Reymond, D.J. Lynch, Mark Howlett, Jeff Hutchins, Aran Tanchum, Mishelle Smith and Paulette Lifton (for "Have You Seen This Snail?;" 2006)Nicolas Carr, Mishelle Fordham, Monette Becktold, Jeff Hutchins, Timothy J. Borquez, Tom Syslo, Jason Stiff, Tony Orozco and Kimberlee Vanek (for "SpongeHenge;" 2008)

Best Sound Editing: Television Animation

Nominees: : Chiho Oyamada Carr, Nicolas Carr, Mishelle Fordham, Daisuke Sawa, Monette Becktold, Jeff Hutchins, Timothy J. Borquez, Tom Syslo, Eric Freeman, Dan Cubert, Lawrence Reyes, Jason Stiff, Tony Orozco and Kimberlee Vanek (for "Suction Cup Symphony;" 2009) • Chino Oyamada Carr, Nicolas Carr, Mishelle Fordham, Monette Becktold, Jeff Hutchins, Timothy J. Borquez, Eric Freeman, Tom Syslo, Keith Dickens, Jason Stiff, Sergio Silva, Tony Orozco and Kimberlee Vanek (for "SpongeBob SquarePants vs. The Big One;" 2010)

Best Sound Editing – Sound Effects, Foley, Dialogue and ADR Animation in Television

Nominees: Devon Bowman, Justin Brinsfield, Nicolas Carr, Andrea Anderson, Mishelle Fordham, Monette Becktold, Jeff Hutchins, Eric Freeman, Tony Orozco and Danny Tchibinda (for "Gary's New Toy;" 2013) • Mishelle Fordham, Monette Becktold, Jeff Hutchins, Timothy J. Borquez, Tom Syslo, Eric Freeman, Bobby Crew, Keith Dickens, Gabriel Rossas and Tony Orozco (for "It's a SpongeBob Christmas!;" 2013)

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