"Under the Small Top" is a SpongeBob SquarePants episode from season 13. In this episode, Squidward's house becomes infested with a mail-order flea circus meant for SpongeBob.
Characters[]
- SpongeBob SquarePants
- Squidward Tentacles
- Circus Sea Fleas (single appearance)
- Unicycle flea
- Canonball flea
- Juggling flea
- Clown fleas
- Trained flea
- Trapeze flea
- Tightrope flea
- Tumbler fleas
- Ring master
- High dive flea
- Purple teen fish (blue-green)
- Boy fish (orange-yellow)
- Bummer Dude Action Figures (single appearance)
- Sad Sponge action figure
- Incidentals
- Incidental 154
- Incidental 12 (cameo on TV)
- Incidental 13 (cameo on TV)
- Incidental 48 (cameo on TV)
- Incidental 115 (cameo on TV)
- Aerobics fish (single appearance)
Synopsis[]
Squidward throws SpongeBob's flea circus away.
The episode begins with fleas performing in a circus. It is revealed that SpongeBob is watching it on his TV outside. A Bummer Dude commercial plays as the mailfish comes to SpongeBob to give him his mail. He hopes that the flea circus is in his mail, but it is not, making him sad. Meanwhile, Squidward is watching an aerobics instructor on TV when the mailfish goes to his house to give him a package. Squidward gets the package and sees that it has SpongeBob's name on it. Instead of giving the package to SpongeBob, Squidward throws the package away. Right when he walks away, fleas start flying out of the box.
Squidward is oblivious to the fleas going around his house, as he has headphones on and his eyes closed. He eventually notices the fleas and starts freaking out. He goes to sleep and then notices that a flea circus has been set up on his bed. He is angry and decides to take a look at the circus. The fleas start going after him and biting him. He falls down the stairs and into his living room. He looks in a mirror and sees that the fleas are making it look like he has hair. However, they continue to bite him. They then hit him with a bag of flour and spray him with water, which knocks him into his oven. He eventually jumps out of it.
Outside, SpongeBob is still waiting for his flea circus to arrive when he hears something coming from Squidward's house. He goes inside and realizes that his flea circus was delivered to Squidward by mistake.
SpongeBob takes the fleas back to his house.
SpongeBob brings all the fleas back to his house, but Squidward notices there was a whistle left behind. He blows it, and all the fleas come back to his house, attacking Squidward, and the episode ends.
Production[]
According to storyboard artist Savannah Reeves, this episode, alongside its sister were in the storyboard plussing stages during early March 2020, as that was when she was hired for a short time to freelance on the show.[1]
The episode was confirmed by Vincent Waller on December 28, 2020. He confirmed that the episode was written by Ben Gruber[2] and storyboarded by Mike Dougherty.[3]
On January 24, 2021, Dave Cunningham said in an interview with The Art of SpongeBob Discord server that there were four episodes he and Sherm Cohen were not involved in during the early stages of season 13, as they were busy on Kamp Koral: SpongeBob's Under Years, causing them to overlap in production.[4] This episode was one of them, as it was supervised by Vincent Waller and Marc Ceccarelli.
Script[]
- Posted by Vincent Waller,[2] written by Ben Gruber.
Art[]
Character design[]
- Design by Maddie Carter.[5]
Storyboards[]
- Plussed by Dylan Bozic.[6]
Production notes[]
Dylan Bozic:
- Bozic said that "Mike Dougherty knocked it out of the park with his boards for [this episode]."[6]
Music[]
| ( ‣ ) Production music |
| ( • ) Original music |
| ( ◦ ) SpongeBob music |
• Cirque Du Cliche Full Mix Title Card - Nicolas Carr, Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [Title card.]
‣ Charivari Clowns - Daniel Jean Jeannin [Circus sea fleas commercial on TV.]
‣ Flash Harry - Dick Walter [Bummer dude action figures commercial on TV.]
‣ March Of The Plotters (a) - Frank Thomas [Mailman gives SpongeBob stuff but no packages.]
• Hot Steel and Slide Licks 8C - Jeremy Wakefield ["What makes you think I'm disappointed?"]
‣ Four More Comical Cuts - Ronald Hanmer [Sad sponge action figure commercial on TV.]
• Chiho O's Disco - Nicolas Carr [Squidward trying to exercise following the leg movements on TV/"Feel the burn!"]
• Hot Steel and Slide Licks 12E - Jeremy Wakefield [Squidward opens his house's door to the mailman.]
‣ Eccentric March - Peter Hope [Mailman gives Squidward a package.]
• Hot Steel and Slide Licks 6A - Jeremy Wakefield ["Uh... He's right."]
‣ Guitar A Go Go - Stuart Crombie ["Hello, fashion school? I'm coming back! I'm reborn!"]
‣ Zoo Doings - Jack Shaindlin [Squidward notices the package is for SpongeBob and throws it into the trash can.]
• Hot Steel and Slide Licks 19E - Jeremy Wakefield [Camera zooms to the trash can.]
‣ Circus Life - Laurent Couson [Circus sea fleas come outside the package and hide at Squidward's house.]
‣ Capering Clowns - Max Saunders [Squidward preparing his breakfast and notices his house items are in movement.]
• Ghostly Theramin - Nicolas Carr [Ghosts are in my bowl?]
‣ Aloha - Dick Walter ["Calm down, Squidward. You're just seeing things because you're so tired."]
‣ Space Horizons - Wolf Helling [Circus sea fleas enter Squidward's bedroom and climb onto his bed.]
‣ Entry Of The Gladiators - Eric Banks [Squidward sees the sea fleas acting in their circus.]
‣ Clowns' Cavalcade - Dick Walter [Sea fleas take a whistle to their circus and blow it.]
‣ Punctuations - Ralph Dollimore ["Lunch time!"]
‣ Invasion - Oleksandr Rodin [Circus sea fleas start biting Squidward and make him run away.]
‣ Furioso No. 1 - Anthony Lowry [Squidward being chased by the fleas.]
• Where Did They Go - Nicolas Carr [Circus sea fleas form a beret on Squidward's head.]
‣ Return Of The Keystone Cops - David Lindup [Squidward notices circus sea fleas biting his head.]
• Where Did They Go - Nicolas Carr ["I look amazing."]
‣ Damsel In Distress - David Lindup [Circus sea fleas continue biting Squidward's chin.]
• Tension Bits - Nicolas Carr, Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield ["You're trying to cook me! Get me out of here...!"]
• Hot Steel and Slide Licks 7A - Jeremy Wakefield [Squidward spits out the parsnip and gets out of the oven.]
• Shop O Rama - Nicolas Carr, Fabian Fernandez [Squidward uses lemons and pepper as the ingredients to serve himself and gets back in the oven.]
• Get Me Out of Here - Nicolas Carr ["Oh, let me out of here!"]
• Chiho O's Disco - Nicolas Carr [Squidward running hysterically around his house while circus sea fleas chase him.]
• Humorous Conversation Full Mix - Nicolas Carr, Barry Anthony [SpongeBob still waiting for his package outside his house.]
• Carrol Chimes - Nicolas Carr [SpongeBob's suit sparkles.]
‣ Circus Clowns - Ronald Hanmer [SpongeBob hears circus music coming from Squidward's house.]
• Hot Steel and Slide Licks 37A - Jeremy Wakefield [Squidward's face full of circus sea fleas' bites.]
‣ Travelling Circus - Eric Jupp [SpongeBob sees circus sea fleas' package at Squidward's trash can.]
• Whats This Sting - Nicolas Carr ["Hey, this box is empty. Where'd the fleas go?"]
‣ Danse Comique - Kenny Graham [SpongeBob discovers his circus sea fleas biting Squidward's body.]
• Cirque Du Cliche Full Mix Edited Bounce - Nicolas Carr, Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [SpongeBob takes his circus sea fleas to his house.]
• Hot Steel and Slide Licks 25A - Jeremy Wakefield ["Hm... Stupid circus fleas..."]
• Vibe & Harp Hits - Nicolas Carr [Squidward sees a whistle in his bed.]
• Cirque Du Cliche. Full Mix - Nicolas Carr, Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [Circus sea fleas go back to Squidward's house and start biting him again.]
Release[]
- This episode is available on the SpongeBob SquarePants Vol. 21 digital collection and The Complete Thirteenth Season DVD.
Trivia[]
General[]
- This is Mike Dougherty's first full episode as a storyboard director. He previously storyboarded the first one and a half minutes of "Swamp Mates" in season 12.
- This episode originally had the packaging number of 269b, but it was later switched around to be 269a.[7]
- This is the second episode where Squidward's house becomes infested, with the first being "Jolly Lodgers."
- This is the second flea-focused SpongeBob SquarePants episode, with the first being "A Flea in Her Dome."
- After the fleas hit Squidward with flour, he breaks the fourth wall by asking the viewers "Why is this happening to me?"
- SpongeBob is seen whistling with his nose in this episode, a reference to the show's theme song.
- This is the first episode in over a year since "Who R Zoo?" to premiere in the US without being leaked or aired in another country first.
- The title card is similar to the title card of "ChefBob," but the rocky background is replaced with a blue background.
- The blue background is similar to "The Clash of Triton."
- This is the third episode Squidward has his dancing outfit, the first two being "Slimy Dancing" and "I ♥ Dancing."
- However, his wristbands and headband in "I ♥ Dancing" are orange, and in this episode and "Slimy Dancing," they are pink.
- This episode marks the purple teen fish's first appearance since the season 6 episode "The Clash of Triton," except she is now colored green.
- SpongeBob stays by the mailbox the entire time waiting for his flea circus. In "Waiting", SpongeBob says he wants to stay by the mailbox to see the mailman delivering his mail because if he's not there, the mailman will deliver and he will miss him delivering it.
- This is the tenth episode in which, at no point, SpongeBob wears his normal clothes.
Cultural references[]
- Kelp Loops are a parody of the popular cereal Froot Loops.
- The fitness instructor on Squidward's television bears a resemblance to Richard Simmons.
Errors[]
- In the Indonesian dub of this episode, the title card music is slow and low pitched in the December 31, 2023 airing.
- When Squidward escapes the oven haft, his teeth turn gray for a single frame.
Videos[]
Names in other languages[]
| Language | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| German | Unter dem Zelt | Under the Tent |
References[]
- ^ Savannah Reeves on Twitter - "The little SpongeBob and Patrick..."
- ^ a b Vincent Waller on Twitter - "Both are Ben Gruber..."
- ^ Vincent Waller on Twitter - "Big Top was Boarded..."
- ^ File:Kk13 overlap.jpeg
- ^ Maddie C. - Animation
- ^ a b Dylan Bozic on Instagram - "Some of my plussing work for..."
- ^ SBM Updates | SpongeBuddy Mania Forums
