Boat Smarts

Characters

• Narrator
• Mrs. Puff
• Squidward Tentacles
• Template:Data:Links
• Template:Data:Links
  • Incidental 119
  • Incidental 60
  • Incidental 45
  • Incidental 107
  • Incidental 42
  • Incidental 36
  • Incidental 64
  • Incidental 6
  • Incidental 49
  • Fred
  • Incidental 41
  • Incidental 106
  • Incidental 48

Synopsis

This episode is a boating video put together by Mrs. Puff and sponsored by C.O.B.B.U.T.K.S.B.S.P.O.T.R.A.O.O.B.A.T.: (Citizens of Bikini Bottom United to Keep SpongeBob SquarePants Off the Road and Out of Boats All Together). As the episode begins, Mrs. Puff first introduces herself and discusses the good and bad drivers (Squidward is the one with the Boat Smarts, and SpongeBob is the one without it).

A driver with boat smarts fills their tire up to the appropriate level, but a driver without boat smarts pays no attention to how much air they are using. Squidward fills it up to the exact measurement, while SpongeBob pumps it up too much, making the boat tip over, crushing half of Squidward's boat and having the wheel pop right in front of his face.

The next section is about buckling up. This shows Squidward in a boat mobile with his seatbelt in the proper manner. He then starts driving until he sees a Bikini Bottom Traffic light and he stops. Once Squidward stops, we see SpongeBob crazily speeding around a corner with no regard for safety and probably with no seatbelt on. He hits Squidward, and when he is unable to remove his seatbelt, goes flying into a spiked steamroller and gets severely hurt.

File:Boat Smarts 027.png

The good driver.

In the next scene, it shows Squidward adjusting his mirrors before he begins to start the boat. Squidward starts the boat and begins to drive. SpongeBob adjusts his mirror dangerously while turning the steering wheel with one leg. He hits many fish, although he does not know because he is focusing on the mirror. He then swerves right in front of Squidward. SpongeBob adjusts the other mirror and hits Squidward with a beam of light and he is almost blinded until he puts on sunglasses. But Squidward did not see a wall and crashes into it. It shows a crash dummy, although instead of the head it shows Squidward's.

File:Boat Smarts 095.png

Squidward and Mrs. Puff after a crash.

Mrs. Puff is in Squidward's boat talking about not drinking or eating while driving. Squidward is driving well, as usual. Mrs. Puff explains how Squidward's eyes are locked firmly on the road. SpongeBob is then shown swerving while eating a Krabby Patty and reading a magazine. When some fish are behind him, he turns around and says: "Hi there!" causing them to crash. Eventually, there is a huge stockpile of cars and the owners are furious at the yellow sea sponge. SpongeBob still speeds past, runs over a puddle and slides around saying: "Wheeeeeee!" SpongeBob then says hi to Mrs. Puff and Squidward when SpongeBob's boat slips on a mini pebble, strangely making his boat act as a ramp in which Squidward's boat travel over. They fly into the big stockpile of all the cars and it makes a huge crash. Mrs. Puff blows up very fast and SpongeBob drives past saying: "Looks like you guys forgot your Boat Smarts!," he laughs and drives off, and Mrs. Puff and Squidward are not amused, making dust and the low-quality videotape recorder stops with a frustrated Mrs. Puff saying: "Never mind," as the episode abruptly ends.

Injuries

• Squidward gets squeezed through the steamroller because he is unable to take off his seatbelt in time.
• Squidward's head gets smashed into the windshield and slides.
• Several citizens were run over by SpongeBob's boat while SpongeBob was adjusting his mirror and not focusing on the road.
• SpongeBob's face is wiped off.

Destruction and abuse

• SpongeBob's boat tire is deflated after pumping too much air in it.
• Squidward's boat is smashed in half.
• Squidward's boat is rear-ended by SpongeBob's boat, causing the seat to go off.
• Squidward's boat collides with a wall, turning into a crash test dummy with his head.
• Sadie's boat gets crashed into a lamp post.
• Several boats were flipped over by SpongeBob's boat, causing an accident.
• Squidward's boat was destroyed in the crash.

Production

It was added to the United States Copyright Catalog alongside its sister episodes on February 2, 2007.

This episode's plot was referenced in the announcement of the Bikini Bottom Adventures DVD description on February 20, 2007. The episode was confirmed on March 26, 2007.

During a tour of Rough Draft Korea for students of Yongsan International School of Seoul in 2016, various SpongeBob color background books were discovered for many episode segments. One of the books found was created for "Boat Smarts."

File:12967920 473910576130180 5318106348810033595 o.png

A picture of various SpongeBob color background books, going as far back as episode #507, "Best Day Ever." Near the bottom of the catalogue, a spine covered by another book reads out "SB #508-4 "Bo-"

Release

Broadcast

• This episode premiered in the first week of the SpongeBob's NEW Week event.

Distribution

• This episode is available on the Bikini Bottom Adventures, Season 5 Volume 1, First 100 Episodes, Chimps Ahoy, 2-Movies-Edition, SpongeBob Pack: Volume 3, The Underwater Stories, Bob Esponja Cumple 10 Años, The Ultimate SpongeBob Box Set, SpongeBob SquarePants Vol. 7, Complete Fifth Season, SpongeBob Adventures Pack, From the Beginning, Part 2, The SpongeBob SquarePants Collection, The SpongeBob SquarePants 8 Season DVD Collection, The Best of Bikini Bottom, The Best 200 Episodes Ever, The Fifth & Sixth Seasons, and The Best 300 Episodes Ever DVDs.

Trivia

General

• This episode was available on the Bikini Bottom Adventures DVD, released on June 5, 2007, a month and a half before it aired on American television.
• The title card background is similar to those of "Naughty Nautical Neighbors," "Squidville," "Gary Takes a Bath," "Jellyfish Hunter," and "Chocolate with Nuts."

File:SpongeBob SquarePants 2011 Toyota Commercial

• Clips from this episode were used in a 2011 Toyota commercial.
• This episode has deliberate "line artifacts" as seen in old-fashioned analog films.
• Ironically, Squidward does not drive very often. Usually, he is either walking or biking. He does, however, drive in "Dying for Pie," as well as in "Boating Buddies," which is when he gets his first ticket.

File:Boat Smarts 059.png

Squidward turning into a Crash test dummy after crashing into a brick wall.

• When Squidward crashes into the brick wall, a real-life reference to crash-test dummies is made.

File:Squidward Crash Test Dummy Scene - Broadcast vs DVD

• • On the TV, iTunes, Amazon Prime Video, and Paramount+ versions of this episode, when this scene occurs, Squidward's mouth opens as he says, "Ow." On the DVD version, his mouth does not open as he says, "Ow," but instead, opens a few seconds earlier when the crash-test dummy hits the window of the car and it cracks. Despite this, the audio of Squidward saying, "Ow." is still heard at the correct time.
• In the UK and Ireland, the scene where SpongeBob has a shave while driving was edited to darken the screen, and the scene where the film briefly burns up when SpongeBob says, "Hi there!" was edited so that the film is not shown burning up.
• "My leg!:" Faintly heard at the huge stockpile of cars after SpongeBob says, "Hi there!"
• Just like "Krusty Krab Training Video," this episode only uses third party music (example: APM Music) and not any original music.
  • This is the last episode to do that for 12 years and 4 days until "Gary's Got Legs" from season 12.
• This is the second episode to be based as a training video. The first is "Krusty Krab Training Video."
• This is the third episode for two things:
  • The third episode to not use any bubble transitions, even in the opening credits. The first two are "Reef Blower" and "Krusty Krab Training Video."
  • The third episode where the title card is shown in the episode itself, but here it says, "Boat Smarts with Mrs. Puff" instead of "Boat Smarts." The first time this happens is in "Krabby Land," and the second time this happens is in "Karate Island."
• "Yellow Pavement," a later episode from season 13, has a very similar plot.

Errors

• When Squidward is driving the boat, he is on the left side. In the scene where he crashes into the brick wall, he is shown to be on the right side of the boat.
• Squidward has no mirrors at the start, then one mirror appears on the left side, and when he starts driving, he has two mirrors. Then, later in the episode, all mirrors disappear.

File:Boat Smarts credits.png

Patrick is credited under Rodger Bumpass instead of Squidward.

• In the closing credits to this episode, Rodger Bumpass is credited as Patrick instead of Squidward.

Videos

• File:Nickelodeon Split Screen Credits (July 27, 2007)
• File:Nickelodeon Split Screen Credits (August 3, 2007)
• File:Squidward turns into a Crash Test Dummy

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning
French	La conduite avec Madame Puff	Driving with Mrs. Puff
German	Boots-Weisheiten	Boating Wisdom
Hungarian	Vezetési ismeretek	Driving Knowledge
Italian	Scuola guida	Driving School
Russian	Толковый водитель Tolkovyy voditel'	Intelligent Driver
Spanish (American)	Prudencia al volante	Caution Behind the Wheel
Spanish (European)	Conciencia de conductor	Driver Awareness