I Was a Teenage Gary

"I Was a Teenage Gary" is a SpongeBob SquarePants episode from season 1. In this episode, SpongeBob leaves Gary in the care of Squidward.

Characters

• Gary the Snail
• SpongeBob SquarePants
  • SpongeSnail ^(debut)
• Patrick Star
• Squidward Tentacles
  • SquidSnail ^(debut)
• Incidentals
  • Incidental 35
  • Snail doctor ^(debut)
• Other jellyfishers
• Clam ^(mentioned)
• King Neptune ^(mentioned)

Synopsis

SpongeBob is playing with Gary when Patrick comes and tells him about the Jellyfishing Convention in Ukulele Bottom that weekend. Realizing that he will not be able to take Gary, at that moment a very annoyed Squidward tells SpongeBob to stop leaving his underwear on his front lawn SpongeBob asks Squidward to look after the snail while he is away. SpongeBob takes Squidward around his house, telling him that he will have to feed Gary for three days. There are very large cans of snail food with the words "morning" and "night" written on them so that Squidward will be able to keep track. Eager to get rid of both of them, Squidward lies and says that he will do it to get SpongeBob and Patrick to leave. As they finally do, and Squidward runs out of SpongeBob's house and sits in a lounge chair to sunbathe for the whole weekend, thus ignoring Gary. He soaks up plenty of sun, but Gary is left in the house, looking longingly in the direction where SpongeBob left, horribly neglected.

When SpongeBob gets back, Squidward suddenly remembers that he was supposed to take care of Gary. However, when he goes to get to the snail, he finds him very sick, due to lack of food, water, and attention. Squidward, thinking he will be able to help, tries to give Gary some food. However, Gary is so weak from waiting for SpongeBob to come home, he is limp in Squidward's arms and will not eat. Squidward puts Gary down as he hears SpongeBob and Patrick saying goodbye to each other and tries to force feed Gary. When he hears SpongeBob coming in, Squidward gives up and puts all of Gary's food into his mouth. He greets SpongeBob awkwardly and explains that he was only checking on Gary.

Just as Squidward is about to leave with a smirk on his face, Gary slowly enters the room. SpongeBob realizes that something is wrong, and quickly calls the local veterinarian, Dr. Gill Gilliam. The vet comes over to SpongeBob's house and concludes that a syringe full of snail plasma must be administered to Gary; Dr. Gilliam leaves SpongeBob with the syringe, claiming that he is too squeamish to perform the injection himself. SpongeBob asks Squidward to give Gary the plasma, as he too is squeamish, and he reluctantly agrees. However, an anxious SpongeBob constantly moves Gary around instead of holding him still, fearing that Squidward's attempts to inject the plasma in a quick stabbing motion will hurt Gary. In the commotion, Squidward accidentally injects SpongeBob with the plasma through his nose, causing SpongeBob to worry about the consequences; Squidward tells him not to worry.

As the two argue, Gary goes to take a drink of water and immediately feels better. Annoyed, Squidward leaves, insisting to SpongeBob that nothing will happen. Sometime later, SpongeBob starts acting slow and somewhat like a snail, as well as eating Gary's food himself after SpongeBob thinks that he is fine like Squidward had said. When he goes to the bathroom, his eyes stretch out of his body and grow, his body becomes flat to the ground, his arms and legs disappear into his body, his body reshapes itself, and he also loses the ability to talk and tilts his eyes after saying "Something is wrong with meeeeeeeeeow!" As a finished result, SpongeBob has now turned into a snail.

File:I Was a Teenage Gary 190.png

Squidward being poked by the snail plasma.

Afterwards, he goes over to Squidward's house to get help, but Squidward is terrified of the fact that SpongeBob turned into a snail because of his lousy aim, and he blames the snail plasma for turning him into a snail while he throws it away and he tries to reassure himself. He hears SpongeBob at the door, starts blocking the doors and windows, and tries to run and hide from SpongeBob as he realizes that he should have taken care of Gary and none of this would have ever happened. SpongeBob chases him for help, but Squidward keeps running in panic, thinking he is under attack, and ultimately makes a mess of his house. Amongst the chaos, Squidward accidentally injects himself with the snail plasma, ironically turning him into a snail.

Later that night, Gary, SpongeBob, and Squidward meowing to the tune of "Blow the Man Down" on top of a fence. Patrick, who has been awakened and annoyed by this, yells at them to clam up (meaning of shut up) and throws a boot at Snail Squidward, knocking him off the fence, but they still continue singing before the episode ends.

Production

The episode was pitched by Mr. Lawrence on September 15, 1998.

The storyboard made by Steve Fonti was completed on October 26, 1998.

This episode's recording script was completed on November 9, 1998.

The plot of this episode was mentioned a review for the series in a Star-Democrat paper on August 30, 1999: "In another episode, SpongeBob accidentally takes a dose of snail medicine and turns into a snail."

Script

• On November 14, 2016, recording scripts for every episode from season 1 were publicly released, found on one of the asset discs for the PlayStation video game, SuperSponge. This included the recording script for "I Was a Teenage Gary."

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Art

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• File:SB s01 E013B BG sc082 Neighborhood Doctor snail car.png
• File:SB s01 E013B BG sc157 Closet Squidward House-min.png
• File:SB s01 E013B BG sc131 SpongeBob legs CU-S.webp
• File:SB 13B BG SC 164.png
• File:SB s01 E013B BG sc037A Bus door window.png
• File:SB s01 E013B BG sc141 Squidward front Door.png
• File:SB s01 E013B BG sc166 2 Moon.png
• File:SB s01 E013B BG sc166 squidward Fence pan.png
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• File:76DDE16F-3C43-4F60-B844-4A62A1A25256.webp
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• File:Kitchen.jpeg
• File:Path bg iwatg.jpeg
• File:Cans bg iwatg.jpeg
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Storyboards

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• File:Underwear sb iwatg.jpeg
• File:Eating sb iwatg.jpeg

Model sheets

• File:SB s01 E013B CHAR sc067 SpongeBob pat jellyfish hats.png
• File:SB s01 E013B PROP sc061 snail food 2.png
• File:SB s01 E013B CHAR sc044 squidward in sungear.png
• File:SB s01 E013B CHAR sc057 gary dried up.png
• File:SB s01 E013B CHAR sc082 snail doctor.png
• File:SB s01 E013B CHAR sc133 spongebob snail.png
• File:SB s01 E013B CHAR sc166 Squidward snail.png
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• File:Eyes sb iwatg.png

Outline

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Music

( ‣ ) Production music

( • ) Original music

( ◦ ) SpongeBob music

 ‣ House Of Horror [#10.5] - W. Merrick Farran [Title card]
 ‣ Honolulu March - George K, J Dounfrey, Hans Haider [The opening.]
 ‣ Aloha - Dick Stephen Walter [The next morning.]
 ‣ The Achterhoek Dances - Jan Rap [Squidward at the door]
 ‣ Me for You - George Callert [Squidward not listening to SpongeBob]
 • Cream Pie - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [Bus arrives ]
 ‣ On The Beach - Kapono Beamer [Squidward sunbathing]
 • Grass Skirt Chase - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [Squidward tries to feed Gary]
 ‣ Funeral March - Peter Lea-Cox [Gary's sick]
 ‣ Dramatic Impact (5) - Ivor Slaney [SpongeBob screams]
 ‣ Woe is Me! - Richard Myhill ["Squidward, something's wrong with Gary!"]
 ‣ On The Beach - Kapono Beamer [Snail plasma]
 ‣ Cello Link (a) - Dick Stephen Walter [Gary coughs]
 • Seaweed 1 - Steve Belfer [Squidward tries to give Gary the plasma]
 ‣ Dream Sequence - Dave Hewson ["I don't know, I feel kind of funny."]
 ‣ Hawaiian Holiday - Kapono Beamer ["He just needed water?"]
 • 12th St Rag - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [SpongeBob eating snail food]
 ‣ Curse of Evil 2 [#45] - Gregor F. Narholz [SpongeBob beginning to transform into a snail]
 ‣ Curse of Evil 1 [#43] - Gregor F. Narholz [SpongeBob transforming into a snail]
 ‣ Esta Noche - Hans Ehrlinger [Squidward in bed]
 ‣ House Of Horror [#10.4] - W. Merrick Farran [Squidward screams]
 ‣ House Of Horror [#10.5] - W. Merrick Farran [Squidward sees SnailBob]
 ‣ Hawaiian Link (A) - Richard Myhill [The moon shines]
 • SpongeBob ScaredyPants - Norman Cabrera, Kevin Hair, Garrett Immel [Closing credits]

Release

Broadcast

• This and its sister episode, "Scaredy Pants," premiered as part of the Nickel-AAAHH!!-Zone event.

Distribution

• This episode is available on the Halloween, Complete 1st Season, SpongeBob on DVD, Karate Choppers, The Sponge Of Terror, Karate Cutting, Shocktober!, Nickelodeon Shocktober! Vol. 2, First 100 Episodes, SpookTacular, Holidays with SpongeBob 3-DVD Gift Set, The Ultimate SpongeBob Box Set, SpongeBob SquarePants Vol. 1, The Complete First Season, From the Beginning, Part 1, Terror on Nickelodeon, The SpongeBob SquarePants Collection, The SpongeBob SquarePants 8 Season DVD Collection, The First & Second Seasons, Movies & TV Collection, The Best 200 Episodes Ever, and The Best 300 Episodes Ever DVDs.
• This episode is also available on the Halloween VHS tape.

Reception

• "I Was a Teenage Gary" was ranked #41 during the Best Day Ever event from November 9–10, 2006.
• "I Was a Teenage Gary" was ranked #12 during the SpongeBob's Top 100 event in the UK and Ireland from June 4-8, 2012.

Trivia

General

• This episode was originally titled "Critical Condition."
• According to this episode, there is an annual jellyfish convention in Ukulele Bottom every year.
  • This doesn't seem to be same one seen in the "I'm Your Biggest Fanatic" as it was biannual in that episode.
  • Ukulele Bottom has yet to be seen in the main series, but it was first seen in The Patrick Star Show episode, "House Hunting."
• Squidward does not seem to recognize Gary in this episode, even though he interacts with him in "Culture Shock," when he introduces Gary to the audience.
  • In production order, this episode is numbered before that one.
• SpongeBob shouts "Wait!" 12 times.
• The aftermath of Snail SpongeBob chasing Squidward leaves the latter's house a mess with the wreckage including a self-portrait of Squidward with his clarinet stuck in the nose. This mirrors how the snail plasma syringe is caught on Squidward's nose a few seconds afterward.

File:SpongeBob SquarePants - "I Was a Teenage Gary" Deleted Scene Debunked (Original airing; October 28, 1999)

The original airing on October 28, 1999, which proves that the animated Squidward's transformation scene was fake.

File:SBCriticalCondition pg4.jpeg

Outline mentioning Squidward immediately begins morphing into "Squidsnail."

• There was a rumor that in the original airing, there was a scene showing Squidward's transformation into a snail. It has since been proven false as of June 12, 2016, confirmed by a YouTube user named 90sGiveMeGoosebumps, who has a tape with the original airing of this episode. As further proof, he also uploaded a clip of All That cast member Lori Beth Denberg introducing this episode as brand new. In addition, Vincent Waller said on Twitter that the so-called deleted scene was never even drawn in the storyboard of this episode. On October 15, 2022, writer Steve Fonti on Instagram posted the original story outline which revealed that the Squidward snail transformation scene was planned at some point. However, this scene never made it past the outline and was never animated or materialized.
• Mr. Krabs and Plankton are the only two male main characters absent in this episode. All four female main characters are also absent in this episode. The first time this occurred was in "Home Sweet Pineapple."

File:I Was a Teenage Gary painting in Lights, Camera, Pants!.png

Painting based on this episode.

• In the console version of the Lights, Camera, Pants! video game, there is an art gallery with a painting that is based on this episode.
• This the first episode for a few things:
  • The first episode to have a time card ("3 Days Later..."), but it is not read aloud in this episode. Stephen Hillenburg, however, thought it would be funny to have the French Narrator read over time cards, and the narrator does so in almost all subsequent episodes, starting with "SB-129."
  • The first usage of Part 4 of the track "House Of Horror." However, only the ending is briefly heard just before Part 5 begins.
  • The first episode in which Gary plays a major role.
• Following "Scaredy Pants," this is the series' second Halloween episode.
• This was the last episode for two things:
  • Steve Fonti's last time working on SpongeBob SquarePants until "The Hankering" 20 years later.
  • Chris Mitchell's last episode until the season 4 episode "Mermaid Man & Barnacle Boy VI: The Motion Picture," and his most recent as a storyboard artist to date.
• This episode was previously paired up with:
  • "Dumped" on November 9, 2005.
  • "Neptune's Spatula" during the Best Day Ever marathon on November 10, 2006.
  • "Jellyfish Hunter" during the SpongeBob Z to A Countdown marathon.
  • "The Curse of Bikini Bottom" on October 26, 2009 and October 27, 2009.
  • "Ghost Host" on October 27, 2009.
  • "Graveyard Shift" on October 28, 2009.
  • "Hall Monitor" during the SpongeBob SmartyPants event on December 31, 2019.
  • "Missing Identity" on April 11, 2020.
  • "Gary in Love" during the Nick's Best of the Pets event on May 6, 2020.

File:Nickelodeon- “I Was A Teenage Gary” Ending Error (10 19 20)

The October 19, 2020 airing on Nickelodeon USA where Squidward's final meow is missing.

• As of October 2020 onward, at the end of this episode when snail Squidward is saying, "Meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow," his last "meow" is cut off in Nickelodeon USA and Nicktoons USA airings due to the line being said at an inappropriate timing (the screen slowly fading to black when the line is said). However, the line is left intact on all digital and streaming releases on Amazon Prime Video, Paramount+, and iTunes, all international non-US airings, the Halloween VHS tape release, and DVD releases.
• SpongeBob would later impersonate Gary again in the episodes, Mimic Madness and Insecurity Guards.

Dub facts

• In the Filipino dub of this episode, a narrator does read the time card, albeit in English.
• In the German dub, the episode is titled "Zur Schnecke gemacht", which translates to "Made Into A Snail".
• In the European Spanish dub, the episode is titled "Yo fui un Gary adolescente", a literal translation of the English title.

Cultural references

• This episode's title is a reference to the 1957 classic horror movie I Was a Teenage Werewolf, popularized after being riffed on the television comedy series Mystery Science Theater 3000.
• SpongeBob transforming into a snail is very similar to David Kessler transforming into a werewolf from the 1981 movie An American Werewolf in London and Lampwick transforming into a donkey from the 1940 Disney animated film Pinocchio.
• The melody that Gary, SpongeBob, and Squidward meow is "Blow the Man Down," which is also the basis of the show's theme song.
  • Gary would meow the same melody in the season 15 episode "A Fish Called Sandy."

Errors

• When SpongeBob plays fetch with Gary, there is a watch on his arm, but when Gary returns the fetch toy back to SpongeBob, it is gone permanently for the rest of the episode.
• When Gary returns with the ball, the exercise wheel is no longer there.

File:I Was a Teenage Gary 059.png

Three errors in one: SpongeBob's house is missing a window and the chimney, Squidward's house's eyebrows and nose are connected, Squidward's model is off and his height is much larger than usual.

• There are a few errors in the scene where Squidward is going to sunbathe.
  • SpongeBob's house is missing a window and the chimney.
  • Squidward's house's eyebrows and nose are connected.
  • Squidward's model is inaccurate and he is substantially taller than usually.
• When Squidward says, "Eat, eat, eat, eat, eat, eat, eat! You've gotta finish this food!" Gary looks like he is lip syncing part of it.
• When SpongeBob gets home from the jellyfishing convention, he sticks his key in a scallop-shaped keyhole on his front door, but when he opens the door and enters his house, the keyhole disappears.

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Squidward with white eyes.

• When Squidward walks over to SpongeBob to take the snail plasma from him, his eyes are white rather than the usual light yellow.
• When SpongeBob is injected with the snail plasma, he is not technically injected because the needle was only poking his nose, and the syringe was not pushed to inject the fluid into the skin, which was correctly demonstrated by the doctor fish. Therefore, SpongeBob should not have turned into a snail because the fluid was not injected. The same goes with Squidward when he has the same outcome.

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Gary's green stalks.

• When Squidward leaves SpongeBob's house, Gary's eye stalks turn green instead of blue.

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SpongeBob's body briefly going outside of the mirror.

• When SpongeBob looks in the mirror, part of his body goes outside of the mirror in one frame.
• When SpongeBob's left arm falls off, he says, "It's okay! I'm a lefty anyway!" Strangely, as scripted, the line is, correctly, "I'm a righty, anyway!"
  • This can be excused, since in "Neptune's Spatula," he has two left hands.
  • This error is corrected in the Romanian and Dutch dubs. In the Romanian dub, he says, "Eh, nu-i nimic, oricum sunt dreptaci.," which translates to, "Eh, it's okay, I'm a righty after all." In the Dutch dub, he says "Ach, geeft niks, ik ben toch rechts.," which translates to, "Oh, it's okay, I'm right-handed anyway."
• When the camera cuts to the living room, just before Squidward answers the door for SpongeBob, there is a picture on the wall that resembles the top half of Squidward's head with huge eyes. But when Squidward turns on the light, the eyes in the picture shrink and the nose crawls up the face.
• When Squidward answers the door for SpongeBob, the inside of the door has a handle. But after Squidward's house flips and everything is a wreck, the door has a knob.
  • Also, when Squidward freaks out as he first sees SpongeBob, he barricades his front door using some wood and nails. However, when Squidward runs up the wall next to the door, the wood is gone.

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SpongeBob's visible eyelashes mistake.

• When SpongeBob is at Squidward window, his eyes are half-closed but his eyelashes are still seen. In the next shot, his eyelashes are gone.
• When Squidward boards his window shut, his bathrobe becomes a lighter shade of purple than it otherwise is.
• Squidward throws the snail plasma earlier in the episode and it makes a breaking sound. However, the syringe is completely intact at the end of the episode, as he is injected with it.
• When Squidward's house flips over, it lands on its left side. However, the interior shows everything has fallen to the right side.

File:I Was a Teenage Gary 198.png

Patrick's small rock.

• Patrick's rock is much smaller in this episode than in all other episodes, with Patrick taking up nearly the entire space of the rock.

Videos

• File:Nickelodeon SNICK Commercial Breaks (October 2, 1999)
• File:Nickelodeon October 28, 1999 Screenbug ("Scaredy Pants" and "I Was a Teenage Gary" Original airing)
• File:SpongeBob - "Scaredy Pants" and "I Was a Teenage Gary" Split Screen Credits (Original airing; October 28, 1999)
• File:SpongeBob Transforms Into a Snail! 🐌 Full Scene - SpongeBob
• File:SpongeBob SquarePants - Snail Life (S1, E13) - Paramount+

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning
Finnish	Etanaplasmaa	Snail plasma
French	Un escargot affamé	A Hungry Snail
German	Zur Schnecke gemacht	Turned Into a Snail
Hungarian	Amikor én is Csigusz lettem	When I Became Gary Too
Italian	Una tata per Gheri	A Nanny for Gary
Japanese	ゲイリーの病気 Geirī no byōki	Gary's Illness
Korean	달퐁이, 달퐁이송, 달퐁징어 (EBS) 부들부들 스폰지밥 (JEI TV) Dalpong-i, Dalpong-isong, Dalpongjing-eo Dalpaeng-i Samchongsa	Snail, snailfish, snail transport (EBS) The Snail Trio (JEI TV)
Mandarin	我是十岁的小蜗 (China) 可憐的小蝸 (Taiwan) Wǒ shì shí suì de xiǎo wō Kělián de xiǎo wō	I Was a Ten-Year-Old Little Snail (China) Poor Little Snail (Taiwan)
Polish	Ślimaczy weekend	Snaily Weekend
Russian	Я был подростком Гэри Ya byl podrostkom Gery	I Was a Teenage Gary
Spanish (Latin America)	Un Buen Vecino	A Good Neighbor
Spanish (Spain)	Yo fui un Gary adolescente	I Was a Teenage Gary