Fools in April

If you were looking for the article about the Russian DVD, then see Fools in April (DVD).

If you were looking for the article about the holiday, then see April Fool's Day.

If you were looking for the article about the Chinese comic, then see Fools in April (Chinese comic).

Characters

• Gary the Snail
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  • SpongeBob's tongue Template:Debut
• Squidward Tentacles
• Eugene H. Krabs
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  • Fred
  • Incidental 3
  • John
  • Incidental 6
  • Incidental 9
  • Incidental 14
  • Incidental 21
  • Carol (Inc 22)
  • Charlie (Inc 23)
  • Incidental 30
  • Incidental 31
  • Incidental 35
  • Harold (Inc 36)
  • Incidental 37B
  • Harold (Inc 40)
  • Incidental 41
  • Incidental 42
  • Judy
  • Incidental 47
  • Incidental 48
  • Incidental 49
  • Incidental 60
  • Incidental 64
  • Billy (Inc 65)
  • Incidental 66
  • Incidental 67
  • Incidental 70
  • Incidental 71
  • Incidental 91
  • Incidental 93
• Bubble Bass ^{(brown; cameo)}
• Other Krusty Krab customers
• Sea urchins
• Patrick Star
• Mrs. Tentacles ^{(debut; cameo)}
• Sandy Cheeks Template:Cameo

Synopsis

The episode begins with SpongeBob waking up and realizing that it is April Fool's Day. Squidward sees him and wonders what SpongeBob is so pleased about, until he looks at the calendar, and realizes that it is April Fool's Day, which he says is SpongeBob's favorite holiday. Fearing the worst has to come, Squidward calls Mr. Krabs saying he caught something terrible and that he just could not be able to make it to work. Mr. Krabs says that there is an art collector in his office who wants to buy Squidward's art and name him the artist of the month. So, Squidward immediately rushes to the Krusty Krab, only to find that it was a silly prank by SpongeBob and Mr. Krabs. Squidward attempts to resign from his job, but SpongeBob persuades him to stay, promising not to pull any further pranks on him.

File:Fools in April 033.png

Squidward gets pranked.

However, SpongeBob continues to prank the customers inside the Krusty Krab while not pranking Squidward but getting carried away with it. The customers do not take offense to SpongeBob's pranks as they are harmless and playful in nature and they even laugh with SpongeBob. Although Squidward is not receiving any more tricks as SpongeBob promised, he gets furious over his and the customers' laughter. Eventually, SpongeBob's tongue falls off and they both laugh uncontrollably, which starts to discomfort the customers, and an angry Squidward finally gets fed up and decides to get revenge on SpongeBob by showing him what he feels is a "real" prank.

File:Fools in April 135.png

Squidward laughing at a pranked SpongeBob.

Squidward sets an elaborate rope trap attached to an anchor suspended from the ceiling and squirts a blob of mustard in the middle of the lasso. As SpongeBob goes to clean it up, Squidward cuts the rope holding the heavy anchor, causing SpongeBob to get his foot caught in the rope, triggering a chain reaction that sends him flying around the restaurant, colliding into several objects and areas, ending with him landing in a garbage can. Squidward laughs hysterically at him, but a hurt SpongeBob runs out of the restaurant crying. Bewildered and confused by SpongeBob's reaction, Squidward calls out to him, saying that he was just kidding, but the customers are equally appalled by Squidward's prank, seeing it as far too harsh and nasty to be funny. They all storm out of the restaurant in disgust, with one customer calling Squidward out for what he committed. Distressed at their reaction, Squidward frantically insists that it was only a joke, but as he looks around at the damage his prank did to the restaurant, it slowly dawns on him that SpongeBob's pranks were not only actually funny, but also harmless, and they meant to make people laugh, so that SpongeBob could laugh with them, whereas his prank was just cruel and meant to hurt and humiliate SpongeBob so that he could laugh at him as he couldn't tolerate the latter being happy on his favorite holiday. Overcome with immense guilt, Squidward realizes that he has no choice but to apologize to SpongeBob, albeit without any confidence.

Squidward goes to SpongeBob's house and sees SpongeBob's hat behind a rock. He goes over to apologize but then sees that it is just Patrick wearing the hat while digging. Squidward asks why he is wearing the hat and where SpongeBob is, and Patrick tells Squidward that SpongeBob is in the house "impressed" (instead of depressed) and was crying a lot. This, of course, makes Squidward feel even more guilt and he rushes over to SpongeBob's house and bangs on the door. He has gone so far as to force his way in, but SpongeBob slides his arm through the door and removes the doorknob, clearly in no mood to talk to him. Losing patience, Squidward gets his clarinet and starts playing badly, refusing to stop until SpongeBob reluctantly answers him. Squidward sadly attempts to apologize, but considering that apologizing to people is not something Squidward usually does, especially to the one person whom he despises the most, it is not so easy.

Squidward tries other methods of apologizing to SpongeBob, including sending him an apology note in a bottle but shoving the cork all the way in the bottle and apologizing to SpongeBob far away via two cans attached to a string, but these are foiled by SpongeBob not having a bottle opener and Patrick using the string as floss, respectively. Eventually, he is able to apologize by putting a bubble over his head, so that SpongeBob cannot even hear his apology. Squidward walks away, saying that his conscience is clear, but is confronted by memories of what he did. After he imagines his mother telling him he stinks, he runs back and genuinely apologizes to SpongeBob, even admitting he likes him, his friends, and everyone else in Bikini Bottom, but tells SpongeBob not to tell anyone. SpongeBob promises not to tell and forgives him, but then fully opens his front door, revealing that everyone else is inside behind him, and witnessed Squidward's apology. They all say "April Fools!" to Squidward, who is flabbergasted by this because it revealed SpongeBob was never really upset from Squidward's prank earlier, it was all part of a prank he along with the other Bikini Bottomites pull on Squidward. Squidward states that he was fooling them as well before running away to his house, while laughing maniacally, causing SpongeBob to ask, "What would we do without Squidward?," ending the episode.

Production

The storyboard was completed on June 9, 1999.

Script

• On November 14, 2016, recording scripts for every episode from season 1 were publicly released, found on one of the asset discs for the PlayStation video game, SuperSponge. This included the recording script for "Fools in April."

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Art

• Art inspired by the episode created by series storyboard artist, Eliza Herndon.
  Art inspired by the episode created by series storyboard artist, Eliza Herndon.

Character design

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Layouts

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Cels

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• File:THIS IS TERRIFYING LOL.webp
• File:Патрик!что ты здесь делаешь!.jpg

Background design

• Done by the crew in-house at Nickelodeon.

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• SpongeBob's crash impact.
  SpongeBob's crash impact.
• with prod. label
  with prod. label
• File:SB140sc133 kk Flour Mess.png
• Bubble Bass with an ident on his rear.
  Bubble Bass with an ident on his rear.
• with prod. label (v1; "The Bus" and rougher colors for Bubble Bass' pants)
  with prod. label (v1; "The Bus" and rougher colors for Bubble Bass' pants)
• with prod. label (v2; fixed title, and Bubble Bass' pants are brighter)
  with prod. label (v2; fixed title, and Bubble Bass' pants are brighter)
• with prod. label (v3; named "butt dent")
  with prod. label (v3; named "butt dent")
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Storyboards

• File:SpongeBob Fools in April storyboard panel.jpg
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• File:Sb140sc024 Inside Squids Mouth.png
• File:Sb140sc076 Drybrush Bubbles II.png
• File:Sb140sc167 Squid Changes Color.png
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Release

Distribution

• This episode is available on the SpongeBob Goes Prehistoric, Complete 1st Season, SpongeBob SquarePants Vol. 2, Nickelodeon Fool Proof Fun, The First & Second Seasons, The Adventures Of Waterman & Supervisor!, The SpongeBob SquarePants Collection, From the Beginning, Part 1, Nicktoons: Laugh-a-Minute DVD, Big Hits: Volume 2, Triple Pack 4, SpongeBob on DVD, The Ultimate SpongeBob Box Set, The SpongeBob SquarePants 8 Season DVD Collection, Your Shoe's Untied, Favorite Episodes, The Best 300 Episodes Ever, Exposed!: The Ultimate Box Set, Home Sweet Pineapple (Polish only), The Ultimate Box Set, The Complete First Season, Movies & TV Collection, The Best 200 Episodes Ever, First 100 Episodes, and Fools in April DVDs VideoNow.
• This episode is also available on the SpongeBob Goes Prehistoric and Nicktoons: Laugh-a-Minute VHS tapes.

Reception

• This episode and "Neptune's Spatula" were nominated at the 2000 Golden Reel Awards for Best Sound Editing in Television: Animation - Music Editing.
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Trivia

General

• This episode was originally called "April Fools," as seen on the old Nickelodeon website and various production material. It was also originally known as "Poisson D'Avril" and "Instant Karma."
  • "Poisson D'Avril" is French for "April Fish."
• This episode was originally packaged as episode 19b, as it is listed as the second segment in the dual script for it and "Neptune's Spatula." It would later be swapped with its sister episode to be 19a.
• This is the first episode for a few things:
  • The first episode to use "12th St Rag" for title card music.
  • The first usage of the tracks "Pua Paoakalani B," "Paradise Isle," and "Dramatic Impact (3)."
  • The first episode in which Gary cries.
• This is Bubble Bass' final appearance in the series until 11 years later. He would later return in "Plankton's Good Eye" and would stay on the series as a recurring character since then.
  • However, his skin tone in this episode is mauve rather than olive green. This is the only time he appears this way.
• The line "You stink!" is a recycled line from "Pickles."

File:Fools in April 115.png

Squidward laughs harder.

• Nickelodeon, SpongeBob's home channel, was created on April 1, 1979; thus making this episode air during the channel's 21st anniversary.
• In real life, if SpongeBob had given Gary salted shells, he would have died as salt is dangerous for sea snails.

File:Nick Studio 10.jpg

Nick Studio 10

• This episode was previously paired up with:
  • "Rock-a-Bye Bivalve" on November 11, 2002.
  • "Yeti Krabs" on April 1, 2016.
  • "Squirrel Jokes" on April 1, 2022.
• On April 1, 2013, after Squidward says, "I was just kidding," it was interrupted by Nick Studio 10 (which ran from March to mid-June) for 30 seconds by showing an alpaca singing, and cut back to Squidward saying, "It was just a joke." after everyone is out of the Krusty Krab.
  • This interruption also happened in several other SpongeBob SquarePants, The Fairly OddParents, and Monsters vs. Aliens episodes.
• During the Best Day Ever marathon, this episode was paired with "Krusty Love."

File:Friendiversary 163.png

The episode reference about the "Lima beans and a car chase" in "Friendiversary."

• This episode was referenced in "Friendiversary" when Squidward tries to restore SpongeBob's memories. Specifically, he tries to make SpongeBob remember the incident involving "the lima beans and the car chase" SpongeBob mentions in this episode.

Cultural references

• The part where Squidward hears everyone's voices scolding him references a scene from the 1990 Christmas movie Home Alone, where Kevin hears his family's voices scolding him.

Errors

• When Squidward glances at the calendar, his lip movements are out of sync with his dialogue.
• After being pranked the first time, Squidward places his hat on Mr. Krabs' desk, but he has it in his hand when he leaves Mr. Krabs' room.
• During the scene of Squidward's prank, Incidental 71 is naked and everyone except for Squidward is poorly drawn. However, when he says "April Fools, jerk," he is better drawn and is wearing a purple shirt and shorts.
• When Squidward's head explodes while apologizing, neither his house nor Patrick's house is there anymore.
• When Squidward gives SpongeBob a message in a bottle, he puts a cork in it, which disappears as it rolls towards SpongeBob.
• When Squidward sees Patrick, the hat is down to Patrick's eyebrows. However, when Squidward says, "Why are you wearing that hat?!" the hat is farther up Patrick's forehead.

File:Cloned Fish Error.gif

Fish clone simultaneously.

• When SpongeBob and the others say "April Fools!" to Squidward, SpongeBob's mouth does not move.
• Squidward's April Fools prank propels SpongeBob with an anchor. However, when the anchor drops, SpongeBob flies like usual, but the anchor is gone completely. Also when the anchor drops, the rope is tied to both of SpongeBob's legs, but through the rest, it is tied to one of his legs.

File:Fools in April 046.jpg

SpongeBob's yellow tooth.

• When the fish leave the Krusty Krab, multiple far-distance fish clone simultaneously.
• When SpongeBob tells Gary that they are moving, Gary has an eyebrow that vanishes in the next shot.
• The first time Squidward tries to apologize to SpongeBob, when he blinks, his eyelids turn to the teal color they would become in season 2 rather than the seafoam they are for this season.
• When SpongeBob pranks Incidental 41, his right tooth turns yellow for a split second.

File:Fools in April 119.png

SpongeBob with black pores.

• When SpongeBob passes through Bubble Bass' rear, his shirt is white and his shorts are dark blue, but when Squidward sees the injury afterward, his shirt is light green and his shorts are purple.
  • Right before passing through Bubble Bass' rear, SpongeBob's right pores were colored black.
• When SpongeBob is taken around the bar, there is a frame with his mouth missing.

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SpongeBob without a mouth.

• When SpongeBob says "What?!," his house's doorknob is missing as it should be; in the next shot, it appears.

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The wrong fish appears in a flashback.

• Even after SpongeBob reveals to the old lady his prank of giving her a spoon rather than a fork, she still walks away with the spoon.
• When Squidward imagines the fish telling him, "April Fools, jerk," Incidental 6 was shown in the illusion; earlier, Incidental 71 told him this.
• While Squidward is running through the restaurant to "catch" SpongeBob, the same characters can be seen over and over again, as if he was running in a circle, but is actually running in a straight line.
• When SpongeBob and the others say "April Fools!" to Squidward, Sandy's head and eyes duplicate themselves.
  • This error has been fixed on Nicktoons airings.
  • Also, SpongeBob's mouth does not move when he says "April Fools!"

• File:Blacktooth.webp

  SpongeBob with transparent teeth.

  When SpongeBob mentions the lima beans and car chase to Squidward, his two teeth are not colored in.

Videos

File:SpongeBob SquarePants - SpongeBob's Favorite Holiday (S1, E19) - Paramount+

File:10000000 317919250928532 4521958536114881025 n.mp4

"What if Ed worked at the Krusty Krab?"

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning
Finnish	Aprillia!	April Fools!
French	Poisson d'avril	April Fool's Day
German	Aprilscherze	April Fools
Hungarian	Április bolondja	April Fools
Italian	Pesce d'Aprile	April Fool's Day
Polish	Prima Aprilis	April Fool's Day
Russian	Апрельские розыгрыши Aprel'skiye rozygryshi	April Pranks
Spanish (American)	Día de tontos	Fool's Day
Spanish (European)	El día de los inocentes	April Fool's Day