Two Thumbs Down

If you were looking for the article about the song, then see Two Thumbs Down (song).

"Two Thumbs Down" is a SpongeBob SquarePants episode from Season 9. In this episode, SpongeBob loses the use of his thumbs.

SpongeBob SquarePants
- SpongeBob's thumbs
Patrick Star
Gary the Snail ^{(in a picture)}
Chubby customer
Male judge
Incidental 36
Eugene H. Krabs
Incidental 94
Squidward Tentacles
Sandy Cheeks
Incidental 107
One of the skateboarders
Incidental 114
Cross-walker ^(debut)
Fred ^(blue)
Raven ^(debut)
Crying baby ^(debut)
Baby Billy
Incidental 67
Incidental 7
Incidental 105
Incidental 9
Incidental 152
Incidental 151
Incidental 64
Incidental 103
Incidental 41
Incidental 48
Incidental 82
Incidental 6
Incidental 60
Incidental 22
Incidental 46
Dr. Manfish ^(debut)
Incidental 102
Incidental 37B
Incidental 40
Incidental 108
Monkeys ^(mentioned)
Apes ^(mentioned)
Hitchhiker ^(debut)
Incidental 14
Plum Puller ^(debut)
Thumb ^(debut)
Thumb Con patrons ^(debut)
- Incidental 186
- Bus driver (Sand Castles in the Sand)
- Cashier (orange)
- Lady caretaker
- Hillbilly father
- Incidental 48
- Boy fish
Incidental 69
Incidental 31
Incidental 8
Incidental 5
Incidental 3
Incidental 158
Incidental 18
Old Man Walker
Incidental 153
Incidental 73
Incidental 85
Incidental 16
Incidental 27
Incidental 47
Incidental 155
Incidental 92
Incidental 10
Incidental 104
Sandals
Incidental 2
Crow

Synopsis

The episode starts at SpongeBob's house, SpongeBob and Patrick engage in a thumb war and SpongeBob wins. He gives Patrick a thumbs up, making him feel good. He then goes to work at the Krusty Krab and gives some customers thumbs up. He gives Mr. Krabs a thumbs up and Squidward two thumbs up. He later talks to Sandy on the street and gives her the thumbs up as well. Sandy asks SpongeBob if he feels like he is using the thumbs up too much, but he denies it and goes to cross the street, giving everyone a thumbs up. However, after he does that for a long time, people get creeped out.

He does another one and breaks both his thumbs. He then goes to the hospital and Dr. Manfish tells him he cannot say for certain if he will be able to use his thumbs again. He goes to the Krusty Krab where he cannot cook Krabby Patties anymore due to his injury. Mr. Krabs then puts Patrick in charge as fry cook until SpongeBob can cook again. SpongeBob is upset and walks through the Bikini Bottomites using their thumbs. He then mopes around his house. Sandy finds him and tells him he needs to find a purpose in life again.

SpongeBob then mends his thumbs through training and goes to the Krusty Krab, where Patrick has taken his job. They then have another thumb war to determine who gets the job. SpongeBob wins and gets his job back happily, as the episode ends.

Production

Vincent Waller confirmed the episode on Twitter on October 10, 2015.^[5]

Art

Music

( ‣ ) Associated production music
( • ) Original music
( ◦ ) SpongeBob music

• Jovial Pirate's Jig - Michael Bolger, Nicolas Carr [Title card]
‣ Sword Fight - Sam Fonteyn [Opening.]
‣ ? ["Thanks, SpongeBob, that means a lot."]
• Lap Steel - Nicolas Carr ["Giving someone a thumbs up feels great!"]
• The Krusty Krab Jig - Michael Bolger, Nicolas Carr ["Boy, these Krabby Patties are delicious."]
‣ Fantasy Princess [#52] - Harry Bluestone, Emil Cadkin ["That thumbs up really touched my heart."]
• Hot Steel and Slide Licks 34 - Jeremy Wakefield [SpongeBob walks away.]
• Daily Chores Jig - Michael Bolger, Nicolas Carr [Krabs asks if SpongeBob counted the cups.]
‣ ? ["Yes, sir!"]
• Another Krusty Krab Day - Michael Bolger, Nicolas Carr ["Do you have one of your precious thumbs up for me?"]
‣ ? [Two thumbs up.]
• Hot Steel and Slide Licks 2D - Jeremy Wakefield [SpongeBob goes back to the kitchen.]
• Hot Steel and Slide Licks 10 - Jeremy Wakefield [Transition to next scene.]
• Rip Tide - Nicolas Carr, Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [SpongeBob gives Sandy two thumbs up.]
• Hot Steel and Slide Licks 21 - Jeremy Wakefield [SpongeBob leaves Sandy.]
‣ Jungle Baby - Hans Ehrlinger [SpongeBob giving everyone thumbs up.]
‣ Sword Fight - Harry Bluestone, Emil Cadkin [SpongeBob's thumbs break.]
• Soapy Organ - Hiram Titus [SpongeBob in the hospital.]
• Jovial Pirate's Jig - Michael Bolger, Nicolas Carr [SpongeBob trying to take the spatula.]
• Hot Steel and Slide Licks 9A - Jeremy Wakefield ["I'm sorry, son."]
• Hot Steel and Slide Licks 9B - Jeremy Wakefield ["I'm gonna have to let you go."]
• Clowning Around Again Short - Nicolas Carr, Barry Anthony [Patrick enters the kitchen.]
• Poor Ol Sod Shanty - Michael Bolger, Nicolas Carr ["Patrick, I'm glad it's you."]
◦ Two Thumbs Down (song) - Kaz Prapuolenis, Eban Schletter [Original song.]
‣ Crazy Mind - Harry Lubin [Sandy visits SpongeBob.]
‣ Fates [#61] - Gregor Narholz ["Don't give up, SpongeBob!"]
‣ Giant Steps - Ramon Codas ["Enough sitting around feeling sorry for myself."]
• Galley Cooks Shanty - Michael Bolger, Nicolas Carr [Patrick cooking patties.]
• Blazing Baloney Western - Nicolas Carr ["The job's taken."]
‣ Sword Fight - Sam Fonteyn ["Thumb war."]
‣ Sword Fight Alt. End - Sam Fonteyn [SpongeBob wins the thumb war.]
• Another Best Day Ever - Nicolas Carr, Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [Ending.]

Release

This episode is available on the SpongeBob SquarePants Vol. 16, SeaSide Story, Complete Ninth Season, Next 100 Episodes, and The Best 200 Episodes Ever DVDs.

Trivia

General

Despite this episode being advertised, its sister episode "Mall Girl Pearl" premiered first during the original airing.
The title card background is similar to those of "Mrs. Puff, You're Fired," "Ditchin'," and "Stuck in the Wringer."
When SpongeBob and Patrick declare a treaty and press their thumbs up to the paper, Patrick's fingerprint is like a human's, while SpongeBob's fingerprint looks like a kitchen sponge mark, referencing how SpongeBob is designed to look like an actual kitchen sponge.
When SpongeBob's thumbs break, the following live-action scenes are shown:
- Two steam locomotives colliding (footage owned by Prelinger Archives) (also seen in "Karate Island")
- The 1940 Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapse (footage owned by Petrified Films) (also seen in "To SquarePants or Not to SquarePants")
- A tree collapsing (footage owned by Oxford Scientific Films)
- A crow's call (footage owned by NHK Video Bank) (supposedly an omen for death or disaster)
- A baby crying (footage owned by SimonKr)
One of SpongeBob's thumbs mentions the episode's title when he says, "We got two thumbs down. Repeat. Two thumbs down!"
This is the fourth episode in the series where Sandy has been referred to by her real first name, "Sandra." The first is "Patrick SmartPants," the second is "Atlantis SquarePantis," and the third is "Kenny the Cat."
This is the fifth episode where Patrick works at the Krusty Krab and the second time he is fry cook. His first time working at the Krusty Krab in general is in "Big Pink Loser," his second overall and first time as a fry cook is in "Bummer Vacation," his third time is in "No Hat for Pat," and his fourth time is in "Restraining SpongeBob."
This is one of the few episodes where Squidward displays care and concern for SpongeBob, as he offers to help SpongeBob flip the Krabby Patties and takes pity on him when Mr. Krabs sends SpongeBob home.
This is the last episode to play the APM track "Sword Fight Version 2."
This episode premiered on the same day as the 2016 Kids' Choice Awards and the premiere of School of Rock TV series.
- This is the ninth episode, along with the sister episode "Mall Girl Pearl," to premiere on the same day as the Kids' Choice Awards. The first was "Help Wanted"/"Reef Blower"/"Tea at the Treedome" in 1999, the second was "Krabby Land"/"The Camping Episode" in 2004, the third was "Krusty Towers"/"Mrs. Puff, You're Fired" in 2006, the fourth was "Born to Be Wild"/"Best Frenemies" in 2007, the fifth was "Nautical Novice"/"Spongicus" in 2008, the sixth was "Sentimental Sponge" in 2011, the seventh was "Are You Happy Now?"/"Planet of the Jellyfish" in 2012, and the eighth was "Kenny the Cat" in 2014.

Cultural references

This episode's title is a pastiche on the late Roger Ebert's trademark gimmick of "Two Thumbs Up!"
A line from the song, "or pull out a plum!," is a lyric from Little Jack Horner.
The music that plays while SpongeBob trains his thumb is similar to the song "Eye of the Tiger" from the 1982 movie Rocky III.
The video game controller SpongeBob uses seems to borrow elements from the Super Nintendo Entertainment System controller and the PlayStation controller.

Errors

The red parachutes on the thumbs that show when SpongeBob falls down with his broken thumbs are somehow already burned in the next scene.
The mother and the baby on the bench appear during the Two Thumbs Down song, but they disappear when they zoom out and show the Thumb Con convention.
There is a scene where SpongeBob is shown walking outside of Bikini Bottom. Then the next scene shows him immediately walking to his pineapple house, which is located in Bikini Bottom.