Chum Bucket

Template:Place The Chum Bucket is a fictional restaurant in the Nickelodeon cartoon, SpongeBob SquarePants. It is owned by Sheldon J. Plankton, Eugene Krabs' nemesis and located across the street from the Krusty Krab, which is far more successful than the Chum Bucket. The Chum Bucket's lack of business is not just because of the good food served at the Krusty Krab and the awful food at the Chum Bucket, but also because of the cruelty of Plankton to other residents of Bikini Bottom. Plankton has consistently tried to steal the "secret recipe" for the Krabby Patty so as to duplicate it and gain more customers, but he has always been unsuccessful. One time, he read a fake recipe for the Krabby Patty which used ground up Plankton, then ran away in horror. By 1979, Plankton first tried to steal the Krabby Patty Formula, belonging to the Krusty Krab. 25 years later, in 2004, it was the 25th anniversary when Plankton tried to steal the formula. He did, or at least a fake one, in Plankton's Army. When Plankton isn't involved in episodes the Chum Bucket is strangely never seen.

Food/Drinks

All of the food served at the Chum Bucket begins with the word "Chum" (eg. Chumbalaya, a pun on jambalaya), where the name of the restaurant comes from. Only after King Neptune accused and froze Mr. Krabs for stealing his crown when it was really Plankton's fault, did he start selling the delicious Krabby Patties here...but only briefly.

Menu

• Chum Burger - the chum burger was invented by Plankton after he split away from Mr. Krabs. This was the very first item. The first customer to try it was one of Plankton's classmates, Johnny.
• Chum Fries
• Chum Shake
• Chum on a Stick
• Chumbalaya - parody on Jambalaya
• Chum Chili
• Chum Pie
• Raspberry Tea (as seen on Spy Buddies)
• Bran Muffin (as seen on Spy Buddies)
• Prune Danish (as seen on Spy Buddies)

Established

Plankton first opened the Chum Bucket after arch-rival Eugene Krabs discovered the Krabby Patty secret recipe and converted an ailing nursing home into a popular undersea burger joint that it is today. It is not known why he opened his restaurant following these significant events, however, judging by his evil ways, it is presumed that Plankton wanted to rule the world and wanted to do this by stealing and selling the Krabby Patties, therefore bringing lots of people into the restaurant and ultimately ruling the world (as depicted in The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie).

Another theory was that Mr. Krabs and Plankton were once college room-mates and that Krabs squished Plankton constantly but accidentally (according to a two-page comic strip titled Plankton: The College Years printed in "Nickelodeon Magazine Presents the SpongeBob SquarePants Movie"). It is estimated that Plankton thought that his future enemy was trying to kill him, and due to Krabs' greediness and advantages over Plankton (particularly when he discovered the Krabby Patty secret formula and decided to sell it), Plankton's jealousy of Krabs only grew stronger. When the Krusty Krab first came into being, the Chum Bucket was somehow built and opened by Plankton, so that he could start stealing the secret formula (which Krabs refused to give away) and soon start an ever-lasting rivalry between the two restaurants. This may be the reason why he hates his arch-rival so much and why he constantly reminds him that "he went to college". It is unknown where Plankton had lived before his restaurant first opened.

Advertising

Plankton has various ways to advertise the Chum Bucket. Like the Krusty Krab, there are many billboards advertising the Chum Bucket on Sand Mountain. Plankton has a telephone directory ad in the Bikini Bottom Yellow Pages. See episode "Enemy In-Law"

Past employees

• SpongeBob SquarePants - recruited from the Krusty Krab after Mr. Krabs lost a card game to Plankton. SpongeBob was annoying and troublesome and cooking up crazy food. He was later sold to the rival restaurant along with $50 after SpongeBob became too much of a nuisance for Plankton.
• Patrick Star - hired by Plankton five minutes before the Fry Cook Games after a dispute with SpongeBob. He abandoned the job at the end of the event after SpongeBob and Patrick both found out that they really cared about each other. He also was a delivery person in SpongeBob SquarePants: Revenge of the Flying Dutchman

Customers

The Chum Bucket usually barely has any customers due to Plankton's evil ways and because the Krusty Krab is much better than his ailing restaurant, and food poisoning. It is unknown how Plankton keeps his restaurant open, which is also his residence with his computer wife, Karen. There is also no explanation as to how Plankton can fund his evil schemes, since the Chum Bucket is unprofitable.

In the beginning of the episode "Enemy In-Law", a giant Plankton-shaped robot named Chum-Bot kidnaps citizens of Bikini Bottom and deposits them into the Chum Bucket so that Plankton can sell them his food.

In the episode New Leaf, Plankton says that the only customer was a rat that died when it ate Plankton's food.

However, The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie was the only time that the Chum Bucket was highly popular. A series of incidents planned and caused by Plankton led to the near-execution of Mr. Krabs by King Neptune. This left Plankton to steal the Krabby Patty secret formula and sell Krabby Patties, therefore filling the void left by the Krusty Krab. Plankton even sold bucket helmets, only to turn the wearers into his slaves as soon as Plankton exposed his evil plans. It is not known what happened to his restaurant after he was arrested.

Plankton also lured customers in by hypnotizing Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy and making them say they prefer the Chum Bucket in front of the Krusty Krab clientèle in Mermaid Man vs. Spongebob. In this episode, Plankton claims this is the first time he's had to serve food in the Chum Bucket to customers.

Mentions in video games

• The SpongeBob joystick game by Jakks Pacific has a Chum Bucket minigame.
• In Battle for Bikini Bottom, SpongeBob battles robotic versions of himself and Plankton in the Chum Bucket.
• There are three mini-games in Lights, Camera, Pants! that take place at the Chum Bucket: Machine Meltdown, Surface Tension, and Charge!.

Chumporium

In "New Leaf," Plankton changed the Chum Bucket from a restaurant to a souvenir stall. He sold snowglobes (one featuring a snowman, another featuring a house and pine tree), stuffed toys (including brown bears, pink bears, ducks, cows, chickens, cats, rabbits, penguins, pigs), lava lamps (in purple, green, orange, and yellow), t-shirts (black, orange, green, purple, blue, red, and pink), guitars, masks, mugs, lanterns, dolls, nets, plastic toys, and many other knick-knacks and gifts.