"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)
- Purple teen fish (blue-green)
- Boy fish (orange-yellow)
- Bummer Dude Action Figures (single appearance)
- Sad Sponge action figure
- Incidental 154
- Aerobics fish (single appearance)
- Incidental 12 (cameo on TV)
- Incidental 13 (cameo on TV)
- Incidental 48 (cameo on TV)
- Incidental 115 (cameo on TV)
Synopsis
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.
SpongeBob is still waiting outside 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 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.
Running gags
- Bummer Dude Action Figures commercials on SpongeBob's TV.
- Aerobics fish and the others copying what Squidward does.
Production
The episode was confirmed by Vincent Waller on December 28, 2020.[1]
Music
| ( ‣ ) Production music |
| ( • ) Original music |
| ( ◦ ) SpongeBob music |
• Cirque Du Clich - 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 3D - 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 31 - 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 9C - 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 19 - 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]
‣ 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]
‣ Ensemble Gliss - [ProjectSAM Symphobia Colours: Animator] [Circus sea fleas form a beret on Squidward's head]
‣ Phrases 3 - [ProjectSAM Symphobia Colours: Animator] ["Oh! Hmm... Not bad..."]
‣ Return Of The Keystone Cops - David Lindup [Squidward notices circus sea fleas biting his head]
‣ Tiptoe Quick Peek - [ProjectSAM Symphobia Colours: Animator] [Circus sea fleas form a beard on Squidward's chin]
‣ Short Trills - [ProjectSAM Symphobia Colours: Animator] ["I look amazing."]
‣ Phrases 2 - [ProjectSAM Symphobia Colours: Animator] ["Please, don't ruin this by biting my face."]
‣ Phrases 1 - [ProjectSAM Symphobia Colours: Animator] ["Please, don't ruin this by biting my face."]
‣ Damsel In Distress - David Lindup [Circus sea fleas continue biting Squidward's chin and get him in the oven]
• Tension Bits - Nicolas Carr, Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield ["You're trying to cook me! Get me out of here...!"]
• Hot Steel and Slide Licks 1A - 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]
‣ Oh My Trill! - [ProjectSAM Symphobia Colours: Animator] ["Oh, let me out of here!"]
‣ Uh Oh Flutter-Eyed - [ProjectSAM Symphobia Colours: Animator] [Squidward runs out of the oven]
• Chiho O's Disco - Nicolas Carr [Squidward running hysterically around his house while circus sea fleas chase him]
• Humorous Conversation - Nicolas Carr, Barry Anthony [SpongeBob still waiting for his package outside his house]
‣ Circus Clowns - Ronald Hanmer [SpongeBob hears circus music coming from Squidward's house]
• Hot Steel and Slide Licks 28 - 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]
• What's This - 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 Clich - Nicolas Carr, Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [SpongeBob takes his circus sea fleas to his house]
• Hot Steel and Slide Licks 25B - Jeremy Wakefield ["Hm... Stupid circus fleas..."]
• ? Vibes - Nicolas Carr [Squidward sees a whistle in his bed]
• Cirque Du Clich - Nicolas Carr, Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [Circus sea fleas go back to Squidward's house and start biting him again]
Trivia
General
- This is Mike Dougherty's first episode as a storyboard director. He has previously been a storyboard artist and character designer.
- This is the second episode where Squidward's house becomes infested, with the first being "Jolly Lodgers."
- This and "Squidward's Sick Daze" are the first season 13 episodes to premiere in 2021. They are also the first episodes of 2021 not to be released on DVD at the time of airing.
- 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 third Nicktoon episode involving a flea circus, the first being The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius episode "Jimmy Goes to College," and the second being the Pig Goat Banana Cricket episode "The Ding-A-Ling Circus."
- This is the first episode in 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 is the tenth episode in which, at no point, SpongeBob wears his normal clothes. The first was "Ripped Pants," the second was "Walking Small," the third was "The Fry Cook Games," the fourth was "SpongeGuard on Duty" (not counting live-action SpongeBob costume), the fifth was "Mermaid Man vs. SpongeBob," the sixth was "The Inmates of Summer," the seventh was "Jailbreak!," the eighth was "Don't Wake Patrick," and the ninth was "High Sea Diving."
- 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.
Cultural references
- Kelp Loops are a parody of the popular cereal Froot Loops.
- The fitness instructor on Squidward's television bears resemblance to Richard Simmons.
Videos
References
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