A Fish Called Sandy

Characters

• French Narrator
• Jellyfish
  • Lavender jellyfish
• Dolphin
• Clams
• Sandy Cheeks
  • Dunkleosteus Sandy Template:Single appearance
• Template:Data:Links
• Patrick Star
• Squidward Tentacles Template:Cameo
• Seahorse
• Snail as rock
• Chef
• Fishermen
  • Fisherman
• Worm
• Gary the Snail
• Potty lady Template:Single appearance
• Surfer
• Beachgoers
• Template:Data:Links
  • Fred
  • "Incidental city crowd" incidentals
    • Incidental city crowd 2
• Sandy's orange bird

Synopsis

File:A Fish Called Sandy 025.png

The Fish-U-Up Machine.

The French narrator introduces the wonders of ocean life with great admiration when suddenly an out-of-place creature appears, Sandy the squirrel. She interrupts SpongeBob, who is busy playing with a piece of paper, to ask for feedback on a scientific paper she is writing about marine life. However, the paper is so technical and hard to digest that SpongeBob curls up on the floor, disheartened, explaining that the essay doesn't capture the true feelings and experiences he has under the sea. He mentions the simple joy of feeling soft kelp between his toes as an example, something Sandy can't experience while wearing her suit, making her feel uncomfortable. SpongeBob wishes she could experience the ocean like he does before continuing to play with his paper.

Later, Sandy invites SpongeBob to her treedome to show him her latest invention, the Fish-U-Up Machine. Using this device, she manages to replace her squirrel DNA with the fish genes of Fred, who volunteered for the procedure after being misled into thinking he was just getting a haircut. During the transformation, Sandy's lungs shrink and she grows gills, allowing her to breathe underwater like a real sea creature.

File:A Fish Called Sandy 070.png

SpongeBob and Sandy have fun together.

SpongeBob is amazed and takes Sandy out into the ocean to test her new gills, but at first, she insecurely holds her breath, unsure if her gills actually work. Patrick then appears and slaps her on the back, causing Sandy to take a deep breath and realize that she can breathe perfectly well. Filled with excitement, she decides to fully explore the underwater world together with SpongeBob, experiencing everything she had been missing while wearing her suit.

They visit Jellyfish Fields, where Sandy walks barefoot through the seagrass for the first time until she gets stung by a jellyfish, but surprisingly likes the sensation. She even corners two jellyfish, urging them to sting her again, but instead, they panic and hand over all their money. SpongeBob then calls Sandy over to a hilltop so she can enjoy the breathtaking view over Jellyfish Fields. However, as SpongeBob attempts to breathe in the fresh ocean current, he swallows some hair, realizing that Sandy is shedding her fur and scales are growing in its place. Sandy is thrilled by this change and believes she is becoming even more fish-like, so they head to Goo Lagoon to swim.

When she jumps into the briny water, all of Sandy's fur falls off, leaving her body fully covered in scales, except for her tail. Sandy gets hungry while swimming, so SpongeBob takes her to a beach vendor where they eat fish flakes. Patrick appears again and eats his dandruff flakes, causing Sandy and SpongeBob to walk away. As they continue wandering, they come across a dangerous area full of fishing hooks. Alarmed, SpongeBob tries to lead Sandy away, but she bumps into a hook and is tempted by the bait. SpongeBob tries to stop her, but she bites it and is pulled out of the water, but the fisherman is so horrified by her monstrous appearance that he throws her back into the ocean. When Sandy hits the floor, SpongeBob is relieved that she's safe, and she apologies for letting her fish side to get the better of her.

Sandy completely transforms into a giant, monstrous fish and swims away instinctively, with SpongeBob following. She finds Gary meowing on a fence and attacks him, but Gary escapes by coming out of his shell. It turns out Sandy was only after the pudding cups inside Gary's shell which gives SpongeBob an idea, luring her into a pet carrier using the pudding cups. SpongeBob rushes back to the treedome and places her in a bathtub filled with water. SpongeBob finds a serum and pours it into the tub which successfully turns Sandy back to her normal squirrel self.

Suddenly Sandy remembers that they forgot about something and see Fred, who has now transformed into a huge mammal-like creature. He starts to rampage wildly, and Sandy declares that she gets the pet carrier as the episode comes to an end.

Production

This episode was confirmed by Cartoonlounge.de on August 5, 2024.

File:Vincent Waller on A Fish Called Sandy's classic aesthetic.jpg

On April 29, 2025, executive producer and showrunner Vincent Waller explained on Bluesky that the classic aesthetic of the episode was a choice made by supervising director Ian Vazquez to "[flex] his artistic chops" and pay tribute to the early seasons of the show.

Art

Background design

• Art direction by Shane Richardson, layouts designed by Hena Hong, George Nachev, and Sterling Richter, traditionally painted with gouache by Amy Lewis. Scanned in and edited digitally.
  • The fence featured during the scene where Gary was singing at night was designed by Isaac Marzioli and painted by Nick Jennings. The rest of the background was likely completed by Rough Draft Korea.

• Close-up of Sandy's eye
  Close-up of Sandy's eye
• Sandy and SpongeBob's sand angels
  Sandy and SpongeBob's sand angels
• Fish Hooks Park (cropped #1)
  Fish Hooks Park (cropped #1)
• Fish Hooks Park (cropped #2)
  Fish Hooks Park (cropped #2)
• Fish Hooks Park (uncropped)
  Fish Hooks Park (uncropped)
• Process photo #1
  Process photo #1
• Process photo #2
  Process photo #2
• Process photo #3
  Process photo #3
• Process photo #4
  Process photo #4
• Process photo #5
  Process photo #5
• Process photo #6
  Process photo #6

Release

• This episode alongside "Delivery of Doom," "My Father the Boat," its sister episode, "Making Waves," "Captain Quasar: The Next Iteration," and "SpongeBob and Patrick's Timeline Twist-Up" premiered as part of the 2025 event "SpongeBob's Summer of F.U.N."
• The premiere of this episode on Nicktoons received 0.08 million viewers.

Trivia

General

• This episode's alternative plot is "To experience the ocean firsthand, Sandy swaps genes with a fish."
• This is the third episode of season 15 to premiere on Friday the 13th in the United States, the others being "Biscuit Ballyhoo" and "Who's Afraid of Mr. Snippers?"
• The fish Sandy turned into is a Dunkleosteus, an extinct prehistoric fish that was once the Earth's top apex predator during the Late Devonian era.
• According to Amy Lewis, this is the first episode that Nick Jennings, the original art director of the series, worked on since season 4, after an over twenty-year hiatus.
• This is the second episode to show that Sandy is ticklish. The first was "Karate Island."
• In this episode, SpongeBob swims wearing his regular pants instead of his swim trunks.

Episode references

• This episode is a visual and thematic tribute to the first several seasons of the series, especially season 1. As such, there are several references to these seasons:
  • The characters are drawn to resemble their classic designs with modern elements mixed in, such as Patrick’s Z-shaped eyebrows and the flowers on his pants being colored light purple, Sandy’s suit patch depicting an acorn, and her tail being seen while wearing her suit. At points, SpongeBob and Sandy in particular are drawn closely to their appearances in "Tea at the Treedome;" additionally, many of their interactions are referenced and redrawn from said episode, such as Sandy referring to SpongeBob as "square dude."
    • The title card also reuses the background and assets from the original title card for "Tea at the Treedome."
    • The close-up shot of Sandy's fish appearance after her fur falls off shows her doing a pose identical to one in "Tea at the Treedome."
  • During the opening shot, an orange scallop rests on a wooden perch and warbles, directly paralleling the opening shot of "Opposite Day."
  • SpongeBob playing with a used gum wrapper in the opening references the plot of "The Paper."
  • Sandy's orange bird from "Tea at the Treedome" appears in her dome, bathing in its bird bath.
  • The visual of the lightning when SpongeBob activates the Fish-U-Up Machine is very similar to the lightning seen in "Scaredy Pants" when the Flying Dutchman appears at the Krusty Krab.
  • When Sandy grows her gills, her lungs shrink in a near identical way to that of the season 2 episode "Pressure," when she struggled to hold her breath after taking off her air helmet.
  • SpongeBob and Sandy running against a series of multicolored backdrops during the montage references the dance sequence between SpongeBob and the jellyfish in "Jellyfish Jam."
  • SpongeBob and Sandy sniff flowers in the same meadow seen during the "F.U.N. Song" in "F.U.N."
  • SpongeBob and Sandy play karate with their respective red and green karate gear from "Karate Choppers."
  • An "incidental city crowd" incidental from "F.U.N." walks past SpongeBob and Sandy armpit farting in downtown Bikini Bottom.
    • SpongeBob's armpit farting pose is redrawn from "Tea at the Treedome."
    • In the background of this scene, the flower arch first seen in "Pizza Delivery" can be seen.
  • When SpongeBob and Sandy jump across a bed of hydrothermal vents, the air blows SpongeBob's head upwards separate from his pants, referencing the Valentine's Day Carnival montage in "Valentine's Day" when SpongeBob and Patrick walk through a fun house.
  • Sandy uses a Port-O-Head, which was first seen in the season 2 episode "Bubble Buddy," while visiting Seashell Park, which was first seen in "Karate Choppers."
  • Sandy struggles to blow a bubble before SpongeBob shows her the proper technique, referencing him teaching Patrick the technique in "Bubblestand."
  • Sandy is stung by a lavender jellyfish, which debuted in "Tea at the Treedome."
  • The rock-shaped snail SpongeBob tries to hide behind from Patrick in "Nature Pants" can be seen when SpongeBob and Sandy look out across the Jellyfish Fields landscape.
  • The sound of Sandy’s lungs shrinking is the same sound as SpongeBob shrinking on the grill from "Nature Pants."
  • The chef from "Ripped Pants" appears at Goo Lagoon, working at the McFlakeys vendor stand.
    • SpongeBob leans against the McFlakeys stand in a very similar pose to how he did against the ice cream stand in "Ripped Pants."
    • "You're Nice," which was used as the title card music for "Ripped Pants," plays during this scene.
  • Fish Hooks Park from "Hooky" reappears as SpongeBob and Sandy walk home from Goo Lagoon.
    • The track that plays during this scene, "The Great White," also debuted in "Hooky."
    • The worm from "Rock-a-Bye Bivalve" appears curled around the hook that Sandy is mesmerized by.
    • When Sandy bites the hook and is reeled in by the fisherman, SpongeBob makes a distressed expression similar to one from "Karate Choppers," when Mr. Krabs first fires him.
    • Still images of live action fishermen can be seen on the surface near Bikini Atoll, which also references "Hooky."
  • Gary melodically meowing on a fence at night references the ending of "I Was a Teenage Gary," when he, alongside transformed snails SpongeBob and Squidward, meowed to the tune of "Blow the Man Down."

Cultural references

• This episode's title is a reference to the 1988 film, A Fish Called Wanda.
• The episode is a parody of the 1957 science fiction horror short story, The Fly.
• In the episode's credits, the place where SpongeBob and Sandy get food is called McFlakeys. This is a reference to popular fast food chain McDonald's.
• At the end of the episode, Fred's monstrous squirrel form who resembles Scrat from Ice Age, a franchise from the late Blue Sky Studios.

Video

File:Summer of F.U.N - Fridays at 7-6c - Spongebob - Nickleodeon