SpongeBob and Patrick are given the task of pet-sitting Sandy's pets while she is out of town. One of the many animals left in their care is a small Monarch caterpillar named Wormy. Despite it requiring the least attention, SpongeBob and Patrick
SpongeBob and Patrick looking after Wormy
quickly befriend the caterpillar and enjoy a day of play together. As the two leave, they vow to have even more fun with Wormy the next day.
Overnight, Wormy goes through quick metamorphosis and becomes a monarch butterfly. When they return the following morning, SpongeBob and Patrick search for their new friend but merely see what looks like a beautiful winged creature instead. Upon opening the jar and finding only Wormy's discarded chrysalis and best friend ribbon inside, they come to the grim conclusion that this "horrific beast" has devoured Wormy and is now on the loose. They try to trap the supposed monster by disguising Patrick as bait. When this fails, SpongeBob manages to encase the butterfly in a bubble and releases it outside the Treedome, in attempt to "save" Sandy's pets. However, now the butterfly is loose in Bikini Bottom, so SpongeBob and Patrick chase after it.
"That flying monster has eaten three friends too many."
Beating the creature to the Krusty Krab, SpongeBob warns Mr. Krabs and Squidward, both of whom scoff at the tiny insect. However, with one good look at its face, the two are scared senseless and run away, their discarded undergarments leaving SpongeBob and Patrick to believe they were also eaten.
SpongeBob and Patrick begin to spread news of the "terrible monster" throughout Bikini Bottom. Mass chaos erupts with every tiny flap of its wings, and as a result of the people's hysteria, the whole town ends up destroyed in a fire.
A few days later, Sandy arrives back at the ravaged town, saying it looks like a twister hit it and wonders where everyone is. Wormy then flies up to her and she recognizes him saying that he wasn’t supposed to change until her return, and places him inside a jar. All the townsfolk cheer and celebrate the capture of the so-called monster, Sandy believing it to be just because they missed her that much, and thinks maybe she should go out of town more often.
Production
Art
Music
( ‣ ) Production music
( • ) Original music
( ◦ ) SpongeBob music
•12th Street Rag 3 - Nicolas Carr, Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [Title card]
‣Dreamy Hawaii - Terry Day [opening] •Earl's Revenge - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [Sandy's pets] ‣Children 2 - Dave Hewson ["Hey, little fella."] •Puka A - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [playing hide, seek] ◦That's What Friends Do - Peter Straus ‣Youthful Days - Mike Sunderland ["Gee, SpongeBob, I don't want today to end ever."] ‣Code Dead End - Gregor F. Narholz [Wormy turning into a butterfly] ‣On the Beach - Kapono Beamer ["Here I come, Wormy!"] ‣House of Horror - W. Merrick Farran ["I think something bad happened to Wormy."/SpongeBob and Patrick scream.] ‣Flight in Panic 1 - Gregor F. Narholz [SpongeBob and Patrick running to the door/SpongeBob and Patrick running backwards] ‣Hangman (b) - Dave Hewson ["Now what?"] ‣Action Cut (a) - Gregor F. Narholz ["He's eaten Patrick!"] ‣Footsteps of Horror - W. Merrick Farran [phone in jar/Patrick on a dinner plate/Patrick runs away] ‣Death Trap - Gregor F. Narholz [SpongeBob traps the butterfly in a bubble] ‣Bridgehead Alt. End - Sam Fonteyn ["Yeah!"] ‣Lovely Scenery (c) - Mladen Franko ["...headed straight for the Krusty Krab!"] ‣Hit and Run - Sam Spence [secret entrance] ‣Frankenstein's Niece A - Gregor F. Narholz [SpongeBob warns Krabs about the "monster"] ‣A Sad Affair - Mike Sunderland [SpongeBob and Patrick crying] ‣Frankenstein's Niece A - Gregor F. Narholz ["That's the monster?"] ‣The Rake Hornpipe - Robert Alexander White ["Get a load of the scary monster."] ‣Frankenstein's Niece A - Gregor F. Narholz [Squidward and Krabs scream/"It ate them! And there it goes!"] •Idea Sting - Nicolas Carr [thumbs up] •Seaweed - Steve Belfer [SpongeBob, Patrick warning everyone] •12th Street Rag 3 - Nicolas Carr, Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [everyone running from the butterfly] ‣Bridgehead Alt. End - Sam Fonteyn [ending]
"Wormy" was ranked #57 during the Best Day Ever event from November 9–10, 2006.
Trivia
General
Although this episode premiered in 2001, it was made in 2000 according to the credits.
At the beginning, Patrick whistles and SpongeBob remarks "I didn't know you spoke bird," to which Patrick replies, "No, that's Italian, SpongeBob." In the Italian version, he says that it is Spanish.[1]
The quote "Why does this keep happening to me?!" was later used in the online game Dirty Bubble Busters.
Wormy is able to complete the full transformation from a caterpillar to butterfly in just one night. In real life, this is impossible, and the length varies with different species of butterfly. In Wormy's case, Monarch butterflies spend 10 to 16 days in the chrysalis stage when changing into a butterfly.
Sandy lampshades this by saying "You weren't supposed to change 'till I got back.
This is the first (Season 2) episode that Sandy's tail was out of her diving suit, right after Season 1 as her tail was inside of her diving suit.
The warning poster SpongeBob and Patrick put up depicts a Viceroy butterfly, while Wor
SpongeBob and Patrick putting up the butterflly poster that said "Beware"
my is actually a Monarch butterfly. Viceroys belong to a different family group of butterflies and are smaller and less common than the Monarchs. The reason why Viceroys resemble Monarchs is due to Müllerian mimicry, in which two separate species that share a certain predatory defense mechanism. In this case, tasting bad to birds also shares very similar warning patterns.
When SpongeBob stands on a treasure chest, warning people about the butterfly, the word "Dogs" can be seen on a building in the background.
Plots of this episode were later used in the second part of the LeapPad Interactive Book and Cartridge SpongeBob SquarePants Salty Sea Stories, which was released in 2003 by LeapFrog Enterprises. The music in this book was composed by Jay Cloidt instead of the actual SpongeBob composers.
In the LeapPad adaption of this episode, there is an extra scene at the end where Sandy reveals the "monster" was Wormy all along, and SpongeBob and Patrick are relieved.
This is the first episode to permanently feature Patrick's current design, featuring thicker eyebrows in a "Z" shape, instead of the original "M" shape.
This is the first episode to feature a shortcut to the Krusty Krab.
The adult Wormy closeup became an internet meme.
"My leg!:" After seeing a butterfly that is attacking Bikini Bottom on the newscast, Fred runs out of his house and falls on the ground.
When SpongeBob says "We did it, Patrick!" during the destruction scene, a meteor can be seen flying down until it falls off-screen in the background for a few seconds later, at which point a flash can be seen in the background, referencing the landing explosion.
This episode and "Patty Hype" were banned in some countries, due to the butterfly close-up frightening young viewers.[2]
This was the second time that the Krusty Krab cash register boat operates like a vehicle. The first time was in "F.U.N."
Horsefly close-ups in SpongeBob and Bill Nye the Science Guy
The live-action insect footage used throughout this episode is all royalty-free, and owned by Oxford Scientific Films. All of the footage can be found on Getty Images.[3]
This episode is one of the three episodes in season two to use the crowd scream sound effect, the other two being "Something Smells" and "The Smoking Peanut."
Errors
An image of a horsefly shown in this episode.
A real monarch butterfly face closeup for comparison.
When Wormy's face is viewed as a close-up in butterfly form, the wrong insect is shown. As Wormy is a butterfly, there should have been circular black eyes and a proboscis (tongue). Instead, enormous, rainbow-colored, shimmering eyes and sharp mouthparts are seen, distinctive to that of a horsefly. Furthermore, butterflies do not make buzzing sounds, which, again, is a characteristic of flies.
When SpongeBob begs Wormy not to eat him, his mouth does not sync correctly.
Squidward's Krusty Krab employee hat is missing when Mr. Krabs asks "What's the meaning of this, SpongeBob?!"
When the final shot of Sandy is shown in her bikini before she leaves the treedome, but in the next shot, she is wearing her spacesuit and helmet.
When Sandy puts Wormy, as a butterfly, into the jar, it does not fill with water, though it should have because Sandy was underwater.
SpongeBob is able to blow a bubble in Sandy's treedome despite the fact that he is wearing a water helmet.
When SpongeBob collects the bubble soap with his bubble wand, the cap is still on the container.
After Mr. Krabs and Squidward run away from Wormy, two pairs of underwear can be seen, but Squidward does not wear pants or underwear.
When Patrick warns everyone about the "monster," his mouth does not sync correctly.
In the scene after the fish citizen who watched the newscast jumps through his wall, Billy is flying around.
During some of the high-speed actions that take place in Sandy's treedome, bubbles are seen floating around. This can't be possible, because Sandy's treedome is not filled with water.
At the part where SpongeBob and Patrick run away from Wormy along with everyone else, the town is destroyed, but when they reach the stoplight while being chased, the town is perfectly fine.
Nancy's dress changes from yellow to gray at one point when the Bikini Bottomites are being chased by Wormy as a butterfly.
Patrick without eyes, SpongeBob without his buck teeth and floating, and Sandy's left arm and badge is gone.
When Patrick is with the people holding up SpongeBob and Sandy, he does not have eyebrows. In another shot during the same scene, he does not have eyes.
Also, SpongeBob's buck teeth and Sandy's left arm disappear for a split second.
In addition, he is floating and Sandy's badge is also gone.
Fred's eyes turn gray while carrying Sandy and SpongeBob at the end.
When Mr. Krabs and Squidward scream, they are out of sync.
When SpongeBob and Patrick first see Wormy's close-up, they both scream and run in opposite directions from each other. Then in the very next scene, they are shown hiding from Wormy in the exact same spot (behind the picnic table).
SpongeBob's missing arm
When SpongeBob and Patrick are about to hide behind the table from Wormy, SpongeBob's left arm disappears.
When Squidward and Mr. Krabs take a closer look at Wormy, Squidward stands to its right and Mr. Krabs to its left. After Wormy's close-up is shown, they are standing on opposite sides before running off.
The wings of a postman butterfly can briefly be seen on the TV, despite there being no other butterfly in the episode besides Wormy.
When SpongeBob says, "Eh, sorry, I don't speak Italian," his eyelashes disappear for a split second.
At the end, Patrick's eyes are missing.
Running gags
Wormy's close-up in his butterfly form.
Everyone getting scared of Wormy as a butterfly and mistaking it for a monster.
