Big Top Flop

"Big Top Flop" is a SpongeBob SquarePants episode from season 13. In this episode, when the circus comes to town and steals his customers away, Mr. Krabs tries to sabotage the show

Characters

• SpongeBob SquarePants
  • Sponge-O the Incompetent ^{(single appearance)}
• Squidward Tentacles
  • Squid-O ^{(single appearance)}
• Patrick Star
  • Sea bear ^{(single appearance)}
• Eugene H. Krabs
  • Ringmaster ^{(single appearance)}
• Incidentals
  • Incidental 34
  • Incidental 64
  • Incidental 151
  • Incidental 152
  • Incidental 153
  • Trick-or-treat inc
  • Mom inc
  • Dad inc
  • Audience inc 2
  • Audience inc 3
  • Audience inc 5
  • Vendor inc
  • Incidental C17
• Ringmaster Mudkrab ^{(single appearance)}
• Ms. Mayor ^(mentioned)
• Big fish four-eyes
• Motorcyclist
• Fish cowboy
• Showgirl fish
• Ringmaster's assistant
• Canonball Jenkins
• Sea bears
• Giraffes
• Sea urchins
• Football player
• Pearl's cyan friend

Synopsis

File:Big Top Flop 020.png

Mr. Krabs sees Mudkrab.

Mr. Krabs notices that the Krusty Krab is empty, and is unable to figure out why. He suddenly hears calliope music and realizes that the circus is in town. The leader, Ringmaster Mudkrab, shows up and tells Krabs that he has legal permission to build his circus in front of the Krusty Krab. He offers Krabs a free ticket to the circus and brags about stealing his business. Krabs takes SpongeBob, Squidward, and Patrick to the circus in order to sabotage it.

Mudkrab talks to his circus crew inside a trailer, but Krabs barricades it shut. He decides to put on intentionally bad circus acts to ruin its reputation. He announces the show and insults the audience, but they actually enjoy it. For the first act, he has SpongeBob use a unicycle on a tightrope. SpongeBob is surprisingly able to keep his balance, and when Krabs tries to sabotage it by throwing urchins on him, he bounces off the net and into the audience. Meanwhile, back in the trailer, the circus magician summons a small saw from his hat, which Mudkrab uses to saw open the trailer doors.

File:Big Top Flop 119.png

Squidward the sad clown's act.

Krabs' next act is Squidward as a sad clown, which unexpectedly manages to win the audience over with its emotion. For the last performance, Krabs lets the sea bears loose and has Patrick act as a circus animal instead. Krabs wants Patrick to balance on a ball, but gets impatient and tries to shove him over it. The audience gets mad at Krabs, and Patrick and the audience threaten Krabs into doing the ball performance instead, which they end up enjoying.

Mudkrab finally escapes the trailer and storms into the circus tent. Krabs uses the circus equipment to try to avoid him, but Mudkrab keeps chasing after him. When Krabs gets stuck on the tightrope, he throws urchins at Mudkrab, and he gets knocked off. The urchins then gnaw the rope and knock Krabs off. Krabs escapes on a unicycle, with Mudkrab riding a motorcycle. The two eventually hop into cannons and fire at each other. The resulting collision is unseen, but results in applause from the audience and circus staff.

A week later, SpongeBob and Squidward stand in the middle of a deserted Krusty Krab. SpongeBob asks if Mr. Krabs will ever want to come back from the circus. Squidward suspects he will not because of how much money he is making. A pan back to the circus shows Krabs and Mudkrab fused together as a new freak show attraction, with a cheering crowd around them.

Production

This episode was confirmed on January 13, 2023.

On October 8, 2023, "Mr. Fox" confirmed he was present for this episode's ADR records: "ADR means Automated Dialogue Replacement. So when they didn't get everything they needed in the original records made before the animation, they bring the actors back in after the episode is animated to fix timings or get efforts or other little things." He told viewers to go watch and support the episode.

Art

Background design

• Layouts designed by Sterling Richter.

• Exterior of circus
  Exterior of circus
• Interior of circus
  Interior of circus

Storyboards

• Plussed by Kyle Morrison, who also may have modeled Squidward's clown close-up. Revised by Chris Tabares.

• File:Big top flop 3.jpg

File:KyleMorrison boards.mp4

• File:Big top flop 1.jpg
• File:Big top flop 4.jpg
• File:Snapinsta.app 405804595 256567304086820 8967789146528722770 n 1080.jpg

Production notes

Kyle Morrison:

• "My last Season 13 scene was Squidward's sad clown act. We thought it would be way funnier if it was an artsy performance Squid was deliberately putting his all into (and a subtle "take that" to Krabs for ridiculing him earlier in the episode). This wouldn't have been nearly as good had Ian Vazquez not choreographed the heck out of the silent acting, and it's probably my favorite Squid scene I've plussed so far!"

Music

( ‣ ) Production music

( • ) Original music

( ◦ ) SpongeBob music

 ‣ Good Old Dixie - Peter Winslow [Title card.]
 • Cheap and Frozen Short - Michael Bolger, Nicolas Carr [Opening.]
 • Vibe Q Sting - Nicolas Carr [Krabs checks his watch.]
 • Humorous Conversation Full Mix - Nicolas Carr, Barry Anthony [Krabs checks the calendar.]
 ‣ Broken Ride - Harry Bluestone [Krabs hears the circus.]
 ‣ Federico, Dahling! - Ann Klein [Ringmaster Mudkrab appears.]
 ‣ Comedy Cut 11 - Harry Bluestone, Emil Cadkin ["Oh, boy! It's the circus!"]
 • Sponge Surf no guit mel. - Michael Gurley, Billy Lincoln [Couple goes to the circus.]
 • ? - Nicolas Carr [Krabs gets angry.]
 • Hot Steel and Slide Licks 27A - Jeremy Wakefield ["Well, since there's no work, I'll be going."]
 • Distroy the Circus - Nicolas Carr [Krabs plans to destroy the circus.]
 ‣ Bridge 3 - Wilfred Burns ["We're going to enjoy the circus!"]
 • Oh My Neptune! - Nicolas Carr ["And it'll be fun for all ages."]
 • Lap Steel - Nicolas Carr [Transition to next scene.]
 ‣ Roll Up For The Show [#34] - David Graham Farnon [Circus performers in their trailer.]
 ‣ Circus Of Fools - Barry Schleifer, Thomas Jankins [Parry Music Library] [SpongeBob and Patrick in their outfits.]
 • More Percussion Embellishments - Nicolas Carr [Krabs gets into his ringmaster outfit.]
 ‣ Circus Of Fools - Barry Schleifer, Thomas Jankins [Parry Music Library] [Squidward in his outfit.]
 ‣ Show Fanfare 1 - David Lindup ["Oh, show's startin'."]
 ‣ Circus Rag - David Farnon [Krabs introduces the circus.]
 • Piati Crash - Nicolas Carr [Overlays "Circus Rag."]
 • Thats Funny - Nicolas Carr ["Dummies? Numbskulls?"]
 • Nude Sting - Nicolas Carr ["He's funny!"]
 ‣ Four Play Ons/Offs - Ronnie Hazlehurst [Audience laughing.]
 • Percussion Embellishments - Nicolas Carr [Drum roll.]
 ‣ Carnival At The Fair - William Merrick Farran [SpongeBob on the high wire.]
 ‣ The Whistler - Jack Parnell, Derek Scott [Circus performers trying to escape the trailer.]
 ‣ Fellini Circus - Eric Gemsa, Bernard Rabaud [Krabs presents the next act.]
 ‣ Circus Story - Kamel Baibout [Squidward as a sad clown.]
 • Whoopee Whistle - Nicolas Carr [Baseballs fly at Squidward's face.]
 • Comical Shots - Nicolas Carr [Baseballs fly at Squidward's face.]
 ‣ Circus Story - Kamel Baibout [Squidward sighs.]
 • More Percussion Embellishments 2 - Nicolas Carr [Pie thrown into Squidward's face.]
 ‣ Circus Story - Kamel Baibout [Squidward wipes his face.]
 • Triangle - Nicolas Carr [Squidward's tear drop.]
 ‣ Circus Story - Kamel Baibout [Audience says "aww."]
 • Slide Whistle - Nicolas Carr [Squidward's flower droops down.]
 ‣ Circus Story - Kamel Baibout [Squidward puts the flower in his hat.]
 ‣ Hippos And A Stranger - Dennis Farnon ["This idiot crowd is too easily entertained."]
 • Hot Steel and Slide Licks 7A - Jeremy Wakefield [Circus performers still trying to escape.]
 • Secret Agent 00 SquarePants 2 - Nicolas Carr [Krabs replaces the sea bears with Patrick.]
 • ? [Drumroll.]
 ‣ Fools Rush In - John Charles Fiddy, Grahame Roy Maclean [Patrick tries dancing on a ball.]
 • Piati Crash - Nicolas Carr [Krabs tries pushing Patrick onto the ball.]
 ‣ Fools Rush In - John Charles Fiddy, Grahame Roy Maclean [Audience boos.]
 ‣ I Say, I Say, I Say - David Lindup [Patrick forces Krabs to dance on the ball.]
 • Comic Drum Shots - Nicolas Carr [Overlays "I Say, I Say, I Say."]
 ‣ Comedy Punctuations And Bridges 4 - Fredric Bayco [Circus performers escape.]
 ‣ I Say, I Say, I Say - David Lindup [Krabs still dancing.]
 • Tension Bits - Nicolas Carr, Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [Ringmaster Mudkrab confronts Krabs.]
 ‣ Calling All Clowns - David Lindup [Ringmaster Mudkrab chases Krabs.]
 • Triangle - Nicolas Carr [Krabs winks.]
 ‣ Calling All Clowns - David Lindup [Krabs descends a ladder.]
 • Comic Drum Shots - Nicolas Carr [Krabs and Ringmaster Mudkrab collide.]
 ‣ Calling All Clowns - David Lindup [Audience cheers.]
 • Comic Drum Shots - Nicolas Carr ["One week later..."]
 • Cheap and Frozen Short - Michael Bolger, Nicolas Carr [Back at the Krusty Krab.]
 • Cirque Du Cliche No Perc FX - Nicolas Carr, Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [Ending.]

Release

• This episode is available on The Complete Thirteenth Season DVD.

Trivia

General

• This is the third episode to have a circus play a major role in its plot after "Don't Feed the Clowns" and "Under the Small Top."
  • Coincidentally, "Under the Small Top" is another season 13 episode.
• This is the first episode in the franchise to premiere on Halloween in the United States.
  • Ironically, this episode has nothing to do with the holiday.
• This is the first episode for the opening credits to credit Ian Vazquez as a supervising director instead of a storyboard supervisor.
  • Additionally, this is the fourteenth episode that was directed by him.
• The track "Broken Ride" returns after not being used for 11 years.
• The ending of characters being conjoined is similar to "SquidBob TentaclePants" and "Teacher's Pests," although Mr. Krabs and Mudkrab take advantage of their position, racking up money at the circus.
• This episode was originally going to premiere at 5:00pm, but it was moved to 4:00pm.

File:NickVsNicktoonsBTF.png

Simulcasting. By the time Nick had started the episode, Nicktoons was already airing it.

• This episode's premiere, alongside the other three in its premiere week, have been simulcast on Nicktoons. It aired early on Nicktoons compared to Nickelodeon, which aired the episode after a 5-minute commercial break. This is due to Nicktoons positioning commercial breaks after the show ends, rather than before it.
  • A similar occurrence happened during the season 4 premiere of Big City Greens, in which the episode "Truck Stop" began 4 minutes before on Disney XD rather than its home network, Disney Channel.
• This episode was paired up with a rerun of "Allergy Attack!" during the original American airing.
• This episode marks the last definitive participation of Latin American voice actor Luis Pérez Pons as the voice of Mr. Krabs, before his death on October 24, 2023.

Cultural references

• Patrick's stance when he falls from the sky and later when he is called by Mr. Krabs to get into the Sea Bear cage bears resemblance to the infamous "Family Guy Death Pose", in which a character lays facing away from the viewer with an arm laid behind their back after getting injured.
  • This previously occurred in "Slappy Daze."
• During the sad clown performance, Squidward does an impression of Jimmy Durante while even mimicking his famous catchphrase, "Ha-cha-cha-cha-cha-chaaaaa!"
  • Durante was previously referenced in "The Ballad of Filthy Muck" and The Patrick Star Show episode "I Smell a Pat."

Episode references

File:Big Top Flop 150.png

File:Big Top Flop 158.png

• The work calendar read "Septebuary," which was previously mentioned as a gag month in "SquidBird." However, in that episode, Patrick called it "Septembuary."
• The dances Mr. Krabs does on the ball references his birthday dance from "Squeaky Boots" and his robot dance from "Krab Borg."
• The audience of the circus includes characters from "Scaredy Pants" and "MuscleBob BuffPants."

Errors

File:Big Top Flop 055.png

The tag on Patrick's costume is brown like his fins

• When Squidward in his clown outfit is revealed, the white tag on Patrick's sea bear costume is colored the same brown as his fins.

Videos

File:SpongeBob SquarePants - Season 13 and 14 Official Promo (Starting October 30, 2023)

File:Catch Up Now on Your DVR or Nick OnDemand Promo (November 3, 2023)