"Unidentified Flailing Octopus" is a SpongeBob SquarePants episode from season 15. In this episode, Squidward sets out to prove that aliens aren't real... until he has a close encounter of his own.
Characters
- SpongeBob SquarePants
- Squidward Tentacles
- Squidward's eyeballs
- Patrick Star
- Tiki aliens (single appearance)
- Perch Perkins
- General Grouper
- Gary the Snail (pictured)
- Mermaid Man (costume)
- Barnacle Boy (costume)
Synopsis
Perch Perkins is reporting an alien hoax, concluding that there is an extremely small chance that they are real. SpongeBob and Patrick put on tinfoil hats and take out flashlights, going to find them. Their flashlights wake up Squidward, and they end up making a crop circle out of his flower garden. When Squidward tells them to stop, they refuse, so he pranks them by hanging a fake UFO from a fishing pole and playing a theremin. He shows up in an alien mask, then removes it, convincing SpongeBob and Patrick that aliens are not real. They decide to play as superheroes instead.
The mothership beams up Squidward's house into the mothership.
Just then, a real UFO arrives, piloted by tiki-headed aliens who want to capture Squidward's house as an artifact. They are convinced that Squidward is a parasite that needs to be exterminated. The aliens attack him in his home, but Squidward thinks they are just SpongeBob and Patrick in disguise. But when he sees them playing in SpongeBob's house, Squidward realizes the aliens are real and begs for SpongeBob to let him in. The aliens beam up Squidward's house, but he grabs onto it at the last minute, being taken into their mothership.
The aliens capture Squidward.
The aliens capture Squidward and go to probe him. After giving him an X-ray, they take out a drill, and Squidward manages to escape. He runs out into another room, only to find it is where the aliens are hatched from eggs. He heads out into space, but cannot breathe and goes back inside. The aliens take him back to the operating table, where they "probe" him by asking him about his childhood. Squidward talks for so long that they are annoyed and return him and his house to Conch Street. Panicked, Squidward tells SpongeBob and Patrick that aliens are real, but they again refuse to believe him due to his actions from earlier. The episode ends with Patrick shutting Squidward up in his mailbox.
Production
Ibrahim J. Corona submitted his storyboards for this episode prior to or on August 25, 2023.[2]
This episode was confirmed by Cartoonlounge.de on July 16, 2024.[3]
On January 1, 2025, storyboard artist Dylan King posted a story note for this episode, despite him not being credited. This is because a family emergency occurred during production of this episode, and he was unable to continue his plussing work.
Art
- Preliminary title card designed by Dave Cunningham, painted by Shane Richardson.[4]
Background design
- Layouts designed by George Nachev, traditionally painted in gouache by Amy Lewis. Scanned in with lines drawn digitally on top.[5][6]
Character design
Storyboards
- Directed by Dave Cunningham, storyboarded by Zeus Cervas, and plussed by Nick Lauer.[10]
- Story notes by Dylan King.[11][12]
Music
| ( ‣ ) Production music |
| ( • ) Original music |
| ( ◦ ) SpongeBob music |
‣ Robot March - Harry Bluestone, Emil Cadkin [Title card.]
• Bikini Bottom News Theme - Nicolas Carr [Opening.]
‣ Robot March - Harry Bluestone, Emil Cadkin [SpongeBob and Patrick watching the news.]
• Hawaiian Misadventures B - Nicolas Carr, Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [SpongeBob and Patrick look for aliens.]
• ? - Nicolas Carr [Squidward yelling.]
• Sophisticated Conversation - Nicolas Carr, Daniel Stimac ["We found an alien crop circle."]
• Hawaiian Misadventures B - Nicolas Carr, Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [SpongeBob and Patrick keep looking.]
• Tension Bits - Nicolas Carr, Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [”I’ll show you space aliens!”]
‣ Supernatural 1 [#1] - Harry Bluestone, Emil Cadkin [Squidward’s fake UFO.]
• Hot Steel and Slide Licks 26 - Jeremy Wakefield [SpongeBob and Patrick cheer.]
‣ Incident In Space - Remastered - Jimmy Leach ["Greetings, earthlings."]
• ? - Nicolas Carr [Squidward reveals himself.]
• Hot Steel and Slide Licks 34C - Jeremy Wakefield ["Space aliens don't exist!"]
• ? - Nicolas Carr [SpongeBob and Patrick apologize.]
• MM & BB Action Theme Title Card - Michael Bolger, Nicolas Carr, Pat Irwin [Superhero costumes.]
‣ Supernatural 2 [#3] - Harry Bluestone, Emil Cadkin [Alien spaceship lands.]
‣ Weightless - Fredric Bayco [Tiki aliens appear.]
‣ Haunted House [#26] - Harry Bluestone, Emil Cadkin [Aliens inside Squidward's house.]
‣ Dramatic Cue (A) - Ronald Hanmer [Squidward and his eyeballs scream.]
• Hot Steel and Slide Licks 7A - Jeremy Wakefield [Squidward's eyeballs in the toilet.]
‣ March Of The Droids - Edward White [Squidward defends against the aliens.]
‣ Space Horizons - Wolf Helling [Squidward puts on new eyes.]
‣ Heavy Duty - Wilfred Burns [Squidward jumps on the aliens.]
• Hot Steel and Slide Licks 20D - Jeremy Wakefield [SpongeBob and Patrick playing.]
‣ Dramatic Cue (H) - Ronald Hanmer [Close-up of the aliens.]
‣ Heavy Duty - Wilfred Burns ["Those nimrods were right! Aliens are real!"]
‣ Misty Void - Fredric Bayco [Aliens return to their ship.]
‣ March Of The Aliens [#7] - Harry Bluestone, Emil Cadkin [Aliens beam up Squidward's house.]
‣ Lost In Time - Fredric Bayco [Squidward on the spaceship.]
‣ Haunted House [#26] - Harry Bluestone, Emil Cadkin ["Don't talk to him."]
• DP07 HELLO BABY - Nicolas Carr ["Looks like somebody failed eradication class."]
‣ Heavy Duty - Wilfred Burns [Aliens cover Squidward in goo.]
• ? - Nicolas Carr ["We're doing a probe!"]
‣ Supernatural 2 [#3] - Harry Bluestone, Emil Cadkin [Aliens examining Squidward.]
‣ Dramatic Cue (C) - Ronald Hanmer [Squidward escapes.]
• ? - Nicolas Carr [Alien blows horn.]
‣ The Terror Strikes - Remastered - Cedric Palmer [Aliens chasing Squidward.]
‣ Haunted House [#26] - Harry Bluestone, Emil Cadkin [Alien cloning room.]
‣ House Of Horror [#10.5] - William Farran [Baby alien hatches.]
• Lunar Birds - Nicolas Carr [Squidward floating in space.]
‣ Interstellar Flight - G M Hughes [Aliens capture Squidward.]
‣ Borborygmus - Jean-Jacques Perrey [Alien explains the probe.]
• Sophisticated Conversation - Nicolas Carr, Daniel Stimac [Squidward sharing his memories.]
• A Pinapple Luau - Nicolas Carr, Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [Ending.]
Trivia
General
This episode and "UpWard" listed as the first episodes of season 15 on Amazon Prime Video.
- On Amazon Prime Video, this is listed as the first episode of season 15 along with its sister episode due to season 15's premiere episodes "Sammy Suckerfish" and "Big League Bob" being listed as season 14 episodes on Amazon Prime Video due to being added there when they premiered in July 2024 before being moved to season 15.
- This episode's title is a pun on unidentified flying object or UFO.
- Squidward's scream while confronting two aliens was reused from "The Goobfather."
- Squidward has previously met aliens in "SquidBob TentaclePants" (the male alien), "Atlantis SquarePantis" (Atlantean citizens), "Planet of the Jellyfish" (the Jellien leader), "Out of the Picture" (Martians), and some crossover video games (Zim).
- He also mentions aliens in "Whirly Brains."
- This episode marks the return of the following tracks:
- "Robot March" since "Mermaid Man vs. SpongeBob."
- "Supernatural 1 [#1]" since "Selling Out."
- "Haunted House [#26]" since "The Curse of Bikini Bottom."
- "March Of The Aliens [#7]" since "Once Bitten."
- Squidward did not believe aliens were real in the beginning, but in "Whirly Brains", he mistook SpongeBob and Patrick's brains as aliens from Mars and freaked out as if he did believe in them.
- This is the fifth episode to have three animation directors, following "Truth or Square," "Hello Bikini Bottom!," "Senior Discount," and "SpongeBob's Big Birthday Blowout."
- This is also the second standard-length episode to have three animation directors, following "Senior Discount." The other three episodes were two TV movies and a half-hour special, respectively.
- This is also the first episode where Eric Bryan is credited as an animation director.
Artwork depicting Ibrahim's OC (original character) waving goodbye to Bikini Bottom, while riding on Squidward's bicycle.
- This is the final episode with storyboard plussing by Ibrahim J. Corona, ending their two and a half year tenure with the series. They were a storyboard artist on Dave Cunningham's plussing team since "There Will Be Grease" from season 13, which was in the process of being plussed in 2021.
- This is also the first episode with storyboard plussing by Nick Lauer after four years since his last storyboard plussing job on the series, which was season 12's "Krusty Koncessionaires"/"Dream Hoppers."
Names in other languages
| Language | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Russian | Неопознанный лютующий осьминог Neopoznannyy lyutuyushchiy os'minog |
Unidentified Raging Octopus |
| Slovenian | Neznana leteča hobotnica | Unidentified Flying Octopus |
| Spanish (American) | Pulpo volador no identificado | Unidentified Flying Octopus |
| Spanish (European) | Pulpo agitado no identificado | Unidentified Agitated Octopus |
References
- ^ Nick Press Schedules
- ^ Ibrahim J. Corona on Twitter - "After 2 and a half years of..."
- ^ Unidentified Flailing Octopus - Episode 308b (SpongeBob SquarePants) - Cartoonlounge
- ^ Dave Cunningham on Bluesky - "Sometimes the supervising directors provide..."
- ^ Amy Lewis on Twitter - "A few background paintings from newly released..."
- ^ Amy Lewis on Instagram - "A couple more backgrounds I painted..."
- ^ Jim Soper on Twitter - "#characterdesign for #spongebob..."
- ^ Jim Soper on Instagram - "#characterdesign for #spongebob..."
- ^ Jim Soper on Instagram - "#characterdesign for #spongebob..."
- ^ Nick Lauer on Bluesky: "Some of my drawings from recent SpongeBob episodes. Original rough..."
- ^ Dylan King on Twitter - "After watching the episode, it looks like..."
- ^ Dylan King on Twitter - "Might as well throw another on the pile..."