A Fish Called Sandy

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"A Fish Called Sandy" is a SpongeBob SquarePants episode from season 15. In this episode, Sandy decides to finally give herself gills so she can truly experience Bikini Bottom, but they come with a strange side effect.

Characters

• French Narrator
• Jellyfish
• Dolphin
• Clams
• Sandy Cheeks
• SpongeBob SquarePants
• Patrick Star
• Squidward Tentacles ^(cameo)
• Seahorse
• Rock snail
• Chef
• Fisherman
• Worm
• Gary the Snail
• Incidentals
  • Fred
  • Incidental city crowd 2

Synopsis

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.

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 breath 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. 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. 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.

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.

Music

( ‣ ) Production music

( • ) Original music

( ◦ ) SpongeBob music

 ‣ Shark Attack B - John Fiddy [Title card.]
 • ? - Nicolas Carr [Overlays "Shark Attack B."]
 ‣ Avalanche - Len Stevens [Opening.]
 ‣ Praying Mantis - Sam Sklair [Sandy reads her paper.]
 ‣ Stool Pigeon - Kenny Graham [SpongeBob shivering.]
 ‣ Aloha - Dick Walter [SpongeBob describes living in the ocean.]
 • Hot Steel and Slide Licks 28B - Jeremy Wakefield [Transition to next scene.]
 ‣ Daring Dexters - Sidney Torch [Sandy's Fish-You-Up machine.]
 ‣ Mutations (b) [#51] - Trevor Duncan [Sandy and Fred swap DNA.]
 ‣ Space Horizons - Wolf Helling ["It really worked! You have gills!"]
 ‣ Aquabatics - John Fox, Mac Prindy [Sandy breathes the water.]
 ‣ Moloka'i Nui A - Kapono Beamer [SpongeBob and Sandy having fun.]
 ‣ Bawdy Bird - Remastered - Peter Hope [Jellyfish stings Sandy.]
 ‣ Sitcom Slapstick - William Davies [Sandy tries to get stung again.]
 • ? - Nicolas Carr ["Sandy, check this out!"]
 ‣ We Put To Sea! (A) - Dick Walter [Jellyfish Fields landscape.]
 • New Vibe Hits - Nicolas Carr ["Sandy, you're shedding."]
 ‣ Aquabatics - John Fox, Mac Prindy [Sandy has scales.]
 ‣ ? [SpongeBob and Sandy slide downhill.]
 • Self Surf New Mix No Ld Gtr - Nicolas Carr, Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [At Goo Lagoon.]
 ‣ Five Dramatic Bridges B - Remastered - Kurt Rehfeld [Sandy's pelt floating.]
 ‣ Abra Kadabra - Remastered - Alexander Von Szlatinay [Sandy fully becomes a fish.]
 • You're Nice - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [SpongeBob and Sandy eating flakes.]
 ‣ The Great White - Gregor F. Narholz [At Fish Hooks Park.]
 • Drunken Sailor - Nicolas Carr [Fisherman catches Sandy.]
 • Hot Steel and Slide Licks 13D - Jeremy Wakefield ["Sandy, you're safe!"]
 ‣ Mutations (a) [#53] - Trevor Duncan [Sandy transforms into a monster.]
 ‣ Mutations (c) [#55] - Trevor Duncan [SpongeBob runs after Sandy.]
 ‣ Dramatic Encounter - Gregor F. Narholz [Sandy chases Gary.]
 • Lopey Walk and Talk - Nicolas Carr, Daniel Stimac [Sandy eating pudding cups.]
 • Got It - Nicolas Carr ["That's it!"]
 • Hot Steel and Slide Licks 33 - Jeremy Wakefield ["Maybe Sandy's hoarding antidotes back in her dome!"]
 ‣ The Great White - Gregor F. Narholz [SpongeBob tries to trap Sandy.]
 ‣ Shark Attack B - John Fiddy [SpongeBob carries Sandy back to her dome.]
 • Hot Steel and Slide Licks 25A - Jeremy Wakefield ["Many miles later…"]
 ‣ Heroic Conquest 2 - Harry Bluestone, Emil Cadkin [SpongeBob puts Sandy in the bathtub.]
 ‣ Mutations (d) - Trevor Duncan [Sandy transforming in the bathtub.]
 • Parting of the Clouds Sting - Nicolas Carr [Sandy transforms back into a squirrel.]
 • Clownfish Capers - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [Ending.]

Release

• This episode premiered as part of the 2025 event "SpongeBob's Summer of F.U.N."

Trivia

General

• This episode's alternative plot is "To experience the ocean firsthand, Sandy swaps genes with a fish."
• The title card background is similar to the unused title card from "Tea at the Treedome."
• This is the third episode of season 15 to premiere on Friday the 13th, 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 has been the Earth's top apex predator during the Late Devonian era.

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

• On April 29, 2025, executive producer and showrunner Vincent Waller explained on his Bluesky that the season 1 aesthetic that this episode makes was a choice done by supervising director Ian Vazquez to "flex his art skills."

Episode references

• This episode's visuals are a homage to visuals seen in the series' first and second seasons. Because of this, there are several references to those seasons:
  • SpongeBob playing with a gum wrapper from "The Paper."
  • The flower bed scene from "F.U.N.," where SpongeBob and Sandy sniff flowers.
  • The hooks scene from "Hooky."
  • Sandy struggling to blow a bubble, similar to "Bubblestand."
  • SpongeBob and Sandy playing karate with their respective red and green karate gear, from "Karate Choppers."
  • Gary on the fence meowing from "I Was a Teenage Gary."
  • SpongeBob jumping as the air blows his head upwards separate from his pants, from "Valentine's Day."
  • Sandy's lungs shrinking from "Pressure."

Cultural references

• The title is a reference to the 1988 film, A Fish Called Wanda.
• The episode is referenced from the 1986 science fiction body horror film from 20th Century Studios, 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.

Video

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

References

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