Bubblestand

If you were looking for the article about the location, then see Bubblestand (location).

Characters

Synopsis

"Hey, Squidward! Wanna blow some bubbles?"

One morning, SpongeBob walks outside to breathe in the neighborhood's peacefulness, then loudly builds a bubble stand, much to the annoyance of Squidward, who demands SpongeBob to be quiet while he is practicing his clarinet-playing. SpongeBob stops for a time, takes a few tentative taps of his hammer, and then quickly finishes construction before Squidward has a chance to complain again.

At the newly built stand, SpongeBob offers customers an opportunity to blow a bubble for twenty-five cents. Patrick comes by and asks to try it out. Though he does not have any money, he "borrows" a quarter from SpongeBob to pay for it. Unfortunately, Patrick's strained blowing fails to produce a bubble. SpongeBob offers to teach him for an extra quarter, which he happily "loans" to Patrick. SpongeBob then demonstrates his somewhat peculiar, yet effective, bubble-blowing technique, which produces a variety of bubble shapes, including a massive elephant-shaped bubble that gets stuck in Template:Data:Links and pops.

The fuming Squidward comes out and approaches the now ostensibly closed bubble stand. He demands to know how they can cause so much disruption just by blowing bubbles. SpongeBob explains that he is creating art and utilizing his technique to its fullest potential. Squidward scoffs at SpongeBob's ideas of art and marketing, sending SpongeBob and Patrick back to their homes in a sad mood. Still snickering, Squidward begins to examine the bubble wand out of growing curiosity. As he tries to blow a bubble himself, SpongeBob quickly comes out and tells Squidward to pay a quarter, shocking him. Squidward reluctantly lays down a quarter for the bubble, suggesting that it is a very simple feat.

File:Bubblestand 185.png

Squidward's house encapsulated by a giant bubble.

Squidward attempts to impress the two with his skill, to no avail. All the while, SpongeBob and Patrick try to convince him to use the technique. Fed up and annoyed, Squidward furiously and mockingly copies their technique then screams into the wand in anger, which produces a giant bubble that impresses SpongeBob and Patrick.

Squidward, claiming credit for the bubble he blew, heads back inside his house and plays his clarinet once more, with SpongeBob and Patrick chanting his name while dancing. However, the giant bubble descends and encapsulates Squidward's house, unearthing it and floating with it up in the air as SpongeBob and Patrick watch in horror and try to call Squidward's name to get his attention.

When at last Squidward looks outside to greet his "fans," he sees himself high above the ground with SpongeBob and Patrick little more than specks. The bubble then pops with explosive force, prompting SpongeBob and Patrick to look at each other nervously and retreat to their houses. Once Squidward's house floats back down to the ground, Squidward lets out a few final feeble notes from his clarinet.

Production

File:SB 002 SLATE.png

This episode was in production in 1998. The finished master was delivered to Nickelodeon Animation Studio on May 23, 1999.

Sketches

Cels

Storyboards

Paintings

Trivia

General

According to Stephen Hillenburg's pitch bible, this episode was originally titled "Bubbles."^[1]

File:SpongeBob SquarePants 2001 Burger King commercial

A clip from this episode was used in a 2001 Burger King commercial promoting SpongeBob toys at the time. The commercial even references the bubble-blowing technique.
The clip of Squidward telling SpongeBob to quiet down is redubbed and reversed for an advertisement promoting the special "NFL Wild Card: Live from Bikini Bottom."
- The voice clip used during that particular clip, "Who's the barnacle head who invented that game anyway?," is from "SB-129."
When Patrick asks to borrow a quarter from SpongeBob and thereafter returns it to pay for his bubblestand, SpongeBob bites the quarter to see if it is a real one despite the fact it's his own quarter, which he should already know is real. However, this pays off later when Squidward gives him a quarter to blow bubbles and SpongeBob biting it results in it bending, alluding to the possibility that Squidward keeps counterfeit money in his pockets at all times.

File:Nickelodeon Fruit Snacks Commercial

A clip of SpongeBob's "bring it around town" scene was used in a Nickelodeon fruit snacks commercial.
A clip of the scene where SpongeBob shapeshifts into an "O" during the bubble-blowing technique demonstration was used in a 2017 Honey Nut Cheerios commercial to represent the cereal's shape.^[2]
A clip of SpongeBob doing the bubble-blowing technique was used in a 2012 Yosicle commercial.^{[citation needed]}
The Waikikis, Prince Paul, and Wordsworth made a song based on this episode called "Prince Paul's Bubble Party," which can be heard on The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie - Music from the Movie and More... soundtrack album (though not the first movie itself).
SpongeBob's technique for blowing bubbles:
- "Go like this" (Lifting the left foot up off the ground).
- Spinning around a couple of times and stopping.
- "Double-take" (dart the head to the side) three times.
- Pelvic thrust (Thrusting the entire body left and right, pelvis first) and stop on your right foot. "Don't forget it."
- Spinning the upper body and "bring-it-a-round-town."
- Bouncing on the back twice.
- Shape-shifting into various surreal shapes and forms.
- Proceeding to blow the bubble.
SpongeBob's quote "Now it's time to bring it around town. Bring-it-a-round-town," became an internet meme.
- It is also used in the online games Hooked on You! and Delivery Dilemma.
- It is also used as a celebration dance when SpongeBob completes a tile puzzle in the video game Revenge of the Flying Dutchman.
- It is also used as an idle animation in Legend of the Lost Spatula.
- It is also used in the Pixter game SpongeBob SquarePants: Aqua Adventure.^{[citation needed]}
The ship bubble has the same foghorn as SpongeBob's alarm clock.
In later episodes, SpongeBob has blown bubbles in different shapes without using the bubble blowing technique.
This episode takes place in real time, since there are no cuts to a future scene or any transitions to later on.
The bubble that enters Squidward's house was originally going to be a tugboat and not an elephant.^[1]

File:Static-assets-upload1404042576802934727.webp

SpongeBob clip in Zathura: A Space Adventure (2005 film).

The "It's a giraffe!" scene is shown in the 2005 movie Zathura: A Space Adventure (also simply known as Zathura) before Walter switches it to SportsCenter.
Patrick's line "It's a giraffe!" was recycled in the video games Battle for Bikini Bottom, SpongeBob's Game Frenzy, and Battle for Bikini Bottom: Rehydrated. It has also become a popular internet meme.
In "Wormy," SpongeBob doesn't know what a butterfly is and thinks that Wormy (who transformed into a butterfly) is a monster, but in this episode, he blows a butterfly bubble.
- In addition in "Tea at the Treedome," a butterfly is shown just as SpongeBob enters Sandy's treedome for the first time and in "Your Shoe's Untied," the Flying Dutchman shows him the butterfly knot; in all three occurrences however, he is not afraid. Coincidentally, two of the three episodes had Tom Yasumi as the animation director.

File:Stockartorigin.png

One of SpongeBob and Patrick's poses, with stock art that was based on it.

Four of the poses SpongeBob and Patrick make when cheering Squidward after he blows a giant bubble were eventually redrawn to be used as various stock artwork.
When Squidward's house is in the air, an upright glass bottle the size of other buildings in Bikini Bottom is visible. The only other building seen throughout the series that uses a glass bottle as part of the structure is the Fancy! restaurant, which is on its side.
SpongeBob collects quarters in this episode, but the amount continues changing throughout the episode.
At the end of this episode, when Squidward plays his clarinet weakly, a portion of the scene is cut on all Nickelodeon USA broadcasts ever since the original airing on July 17, 1999. This is due to the screen cutting to black when this happens. Despite this unusual edit, all Nicktoons USA and Nick@Nite broadcasts, international non-US airings, all digital and streaming releases on Amazon Prime Video, Paramount+, and iTunes, the VideoNow versions, The Seascape Capers VHS tape release, and all DVD releases retain this scene.

File:Friendiversary 157.png

When Squidward is trying to restore SpongeBob's memories, this episode is referenced in "Friendiversary."
This is the first episode for several things:
- The first episode to have a title that is only one word.
- The first episode to introduce the tracks "Maui Beach" and "Old Hilo March."
- The first episode that Ennio Torresan, Jr. and Erik Wiese worked on together.
- The first episode (and only standard-length episode) to have five writers.
  - This episode is currently tied with "Friend or Foe," "The Clash of Triton," and "Frozen Face-Off" for having the most writers of an episode.
- The first episode where Patrick plays a major role.
- The first episode to play "The Rake Hornpipe" outside of a scene involving the Krusty Krab or Mr. Krabs.
- The first episode to show the inside of Squidward's house.
- The first episode in the series without any known deleted scenes.
- The first episode in which Squidward is seen playing the clarinet, and playing it well.
- The first episode to not introduce any new characters, not counting the bubbles shaped like animals.
- The first episode to play the "boo-womp" sound effect, which is a sound effect that plays whenever a character is sad or frowns.
This is the last episode written by Stephen Hillenburg before the episode "Mermaid Pants."
- However, he is not credited in the latter episode, making this episode the last episode when Hillenburg is credited as a writer.
There is an online game based on this episode called SpongeBob's Bubblegram Game.
This episode was paired up with different episodes in different marathons:
- During the Best Day Ever marathon, this episode was paired up with "Rock Bottom."^[3]
- This episode was paired up with "Sing a Song of Patrick" during the Best Buddies Week.^[4]

Cultural references

The bubble-blowing technique includes a reference to "The Time Warp" from The Rocky Horror Picture Show, specifically when SpongeBob lists the "pelvic thrust" as one of the steps. The reference is a little less subtle while SpongeBob and Patrick are frantically reminding Squidward to follow the technique, wherein SpongeBob hops to the right, then proceeding to place his hands on his hips and move them in a circle.
SpongeBob biting the quarters is a reference to a common trope in older films, especially Westerns, where people would bite on coins as a means to test their authenticity.
The song that Squidward plays (poorly) on his clarinet at the end of this episode is "Mary Had a Little Lamb."

Errors

At the very beginning, on the long shot, SpongeBob's walkway is a concrete road instead of a rocky walkway.
When Squidward says, "Can we lower the volume, please? I can't work with all that racket going on!" to SpongeBob in the beginning, there is no glass in his windows.
When Patrick's rock opens, SpongeBob's pineapple is missing its front door.
When Squidward leaves his house, the wall visible from the doorway on the first floor has a similar appearance to the red wall found on the second floor. Later, when he enters his house, the wall on the first floor has its normal green wall appearance.
When SpongeBob says, "We also offer lessons for beginners," and puts the "Lessons" sign up, one of his pores disappear for a frame.
- The same mistake also happens in "Nature Pants".
After SpongeBob spins while Squidward tries to blow a bubble, right before it cuts back to Squidward, there is a transparent picture of a person's hand holding a clapperboard, which only appears for about a frame.
When SpongeBob and Patrick chant Squidward's name, SpongeBob's house is nowhere to be seen.
After SpongeBob and Patrick say, "Wow!," the two of them slowly walk back to their homes. As SpongeBob turns around while doing this, he briefly moves his head down and the pores on the top of his head are missing.

SpongeBob's walkway is missing the rocks.

SpongeBob's walkway is missing the rocks.
Squidward's house does not have glass on its windows.

Squidward's house does not have glass on its windows.
SpongeBob's door is missing.

SpongeBob's door is missing.
File:Wierd 0.1 second scene from Bubblestand.png
File:Bubblestand 096.jpg
SpongeBob's missing pores.

SpongeBob's missing pores.

Videos

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning
Arabic	صنع الفقاعات sane alfaqaaeat	Making Bubbles
Danish	bobblebutikken	The Bubble Shop
Dutch	Bellenkraam Bellen Blazen (DVD listing)	Bubbles Booth Blowing Bubbles
Estonian	Suurema tundega	With greater feeling
Japanese	シャボン玉 Shabontama	Soap bubbles
Polish	Bańki mydlane	Soap bubbles
Romanian	Standul cu balonașe	Stand with Bubbles
Russian	Мыльные пузыри Myl'nyye puzyri	Soap Bubbles
Spanish (American)	Pompas de jabón	Bubbles of Soap
Spanish (European)	El puesto de pompas	Bubblestand

References

de:Seifenblasen (Episode) es:Pompas de Jabón fr:Sculptures sur bulles hr:Mjehurići hu:Buborékfújás id:Bubblestand it:Bolle di sapone nl:Bellenkraam pl:Bańki mydlane pt-br:Bolhas de Sabão ru:Мыльные пузыри zh:吹泡泡

[SpongeBob_Bible_(1996)-46-1] 1.0 ^1.1 File:SpongeBob SquarePants pitch bible - second draft page 46.jpg

[2] Cheerios Good Goes Round - Anthem

[3] Nickstory - November 10, 2006

[4] Nickstory - July 27, 2020

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