One Trick Sponge

"One Trick Sponge" is a SpongeBob SquarePants episode from season 12. In this episode, SpongeBob learns a new trick but can't find an audience to show it to.

Characters

• SpongeBob SquarePants
  • SpongeBob's eye
• Patrick Star
• Squidward Tentacles
• Mrs. Puff
• Gary the Snail
• Eugene H. Krabs
• Sandy Cheeks
• Bubble Bass ^(cameo)
• Buford ^(cameo)
• Luther ^(cameo)
• Cletus ^(cameo)
• Fred
• Mr. Mailman
• Card people ^{(single appearance)}
• Roger ^{(single appearance)}

Synopsis

SpongeBob comes out of his house, excited to show his trick to the world. He goes to Patrick's house, but he is not home. He goes to Squidward's house next, much to his dismay.

After Squidward removes his eyes so he cannot physically see the trick, SpongeBob goes to Mrs. Puff while she is in a boating test with another student. She tries to escape, but he catches up to her and she puffs up into the air with him. When he is about to show the trick, SpongeBob falls from Mrs. Puff onto Sandy's treedome.

Since she is unable to see the trick due to her head being in another dimension, he goes to Mr. Krabs, who does not want to see the trick, as it will not make money. Afterwards, he goes to Fred, who also does not want to see the trick, as it will not involve his leg.

File:One Trick Sponge 188.png

SpongeBob is sad that no one will see his trick, but gets the idea of making creatures using some wood and rocks. When he does so, he shows the trick, but still feels sad that Patrick could not see it. Luckily, he was on time to see the final part of SpongeBob's trick, and the two go inside the magic hat to witness the trick again.

Production

John Trabbic posted a warm-up drawing from this episode's production on August 21, 2018. He posted a rough storyboard panel from the episode on September 19, 2018.

The episode was confirmed by Vincent Waller on June 28, 2019.

Art

Warm-up drawings

• Drawn by John Trabbic.

File:1236b warmup.jpg

Storyboards

• Rough boarded by John Trabbic.

• File:1236b Trabbic.jpg

Music

( ‣ ) Production music

( • ) Original music

( ◦ ) SpongeBob music

 • One Trick Sponge Theme - Ego Plum [Title card]
 ‣ Happy Holiday - Anthony Spurgin [SpongeBob trying to show his magic trick to Patrick and Squidward]
 ‣ Tricks and Traps - James McConnel, Ego Plum [SpongeBob starts showing his magic trick to Squidward]
 ‣ Woe is Me! - Richard Myhill ["Oh... I want to show my trick to somebody!"]
 ‣ Main Street - Alec Gould [Mrs. Puff examining a driver in a boating test]
 ‣ Suspense And Tension B - Alan Wynn [Mrs. Puff sees SpongeBob running towards her]
 ‣ Hot Pursuit (a) - Dick Walter [Mrs. Puff orders the driver to drive the boat]
 ‣ Tricks and Traps - James McConnel, Ego Plum ["Pick a card, any card!"]
 ‣ La Muette De Portici - Daniel Auber [SpongeBob falls down from the sky and lands onto Sandy's treedome]
 ‣ Happy Holiday - Anthony Spurgin [SpongeBob enters Sandy's treedome]
 ‣ Suspense And Tension C - Alan Wynn [SpongeBob screams after seeing Sandy without head]
 ‣ Parallel Dimension - Gregor Narholz [Sandy tells SpongeBob where her head is]
 ‣ Lost John - Jerry Burnham, Stephen Wade, Saul Broudy [Sandy's head is observing a tree in the swamp]
 ‣ Happy Holiday - Anthony Spurgin [SpongeBob runs to Mr. Krabs' house]
 ‣ Horror Cue 5 C - Gregor Narholz [SpongeBob shows Krabs his cards]
 • Krusty Krab Jig - Michael Bolger, Nicolas Carr, Ego Plum [Krabs asks SpongeBob if his trick has anything to do with money]
 • FlexTone Sting - Nicolas Carr [Krabs closes the door]
 ‣ Happy Holiday - Anthony Spurgin [SpongeBob goes to Fred's house]
 ‣ Tabu - Daryl Griffith [SpongeBob goes to the kelp forest sadly]
 • One Trick Sponge Theme - Ego Plum [SpongeBob shows his "audience" his magic trick]
 ‣ Happy Holiday - Anthony Spurgin [Patrick saw a part of the trick]
 • One Trick Sponge Theme - Ego Plum [Ending]

Release

Format	Title	Region
DVD	The Complete Twelfth Season	United States
Box set	Another 100 Episodes	United States
	The Best 300 Episodes Ever	United States
Digital release	SpongeBob SquarePants Vol. 21	United States

Trivia

General

• This episode was originally called "Magic Trick."
• This episode was originally paired up with "SpongeBob's Bad Habit," but it was eventually repaired with "Swamp Mates" as 247b.
• "My leg!:" Fred accidentally chops his leg off with the door, screaming this.
• SpongeBob mentions that he was practicing his trick since he was a SpongeBoy, which alludes to the name of SpongeBob's prototype in 1997.
• This episode uses two original music tracks, including Ego Plum's theme for this episode, due to the heavy usage of APM throughout.
• During the sequence where SpongeBob and a card are switching shapes, the whistle sound from the end of the theme song can barely be heard with the other music after the scene ends.
• The costume that SpongeBob wears during his trick is reminiscent of his bunny suit from "Party Pooper Pants."
• In the UK and Ireland, the scene where Squidward swallows the key to his house is removed. However, this is kept on Cula4 airings in Ireland.

Dub facts

File:Pt625243.jpg

Alternate Hebrew title card.

• In Russia, this episode was initially set to premiere on October 19, 2019, but was later replaced with rerun of "Stormy Weather."
• In the Hebrew dub, this episode had an alternate title card translates to "The Egg Trick" but was later unused. However, in the English version, the title card was not even created.
  • Because of the translation, this may be the title card for "Magic Trick," this episode's original title.

Episode references

• This episode takes place simultaneously with its sister, "Swamp Mates," as Sandy's head explores the swamp while Patrick and Bubble Bass are chased by crocodiles.
  • According to Kaz, it was Marc Ceccarelli's idea to have this and its sister episode tie into each other. This likely inspired how future 15-minute and 7-minute pairings (example: "Krusty Koncessionaires" and "Dream Hoppers") would follow suit.
• The seaweed mustache from The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie makes an appearance when SpongeBob gets up to realize he looks like a magician.

Cultural references

• The episode's title is a pun on "one-trick pony," which refers to someone or something with only one special talent or area of expertise.
• The walking cards are similar to the card army from the 1861 novel, Alice in Wonderland.
• SpongeBob refers to himself as "The Great Spongedini," alluding to the magician Harry Houdini.
• The card scene is very similar to the "Pink Elephants on Parade" scene from the 1941 Disney movie Dumbo.

Errors

• During the zoom-out of Roger driving with Mrs. Puff, Mrs. Puff's lipstick is red instead of pink.
• When SpongeBob goes to Fred's house, the direction he moves would mean that Fred's house is opposite from Mr. Krabs and Pearl's house. However, in a later shot, Mr. Krabs' house is nowhere to be seen and is replaced with a kelp forest.
• When SpongeBob starts walking away from Fred's house, he is holding playing cards. However, when the camera angle changes, he is no longer holding cards.

Videos

• File:SpongeBob SquarePants - "Swamp Mates" and "One Trick Sponge" Official Promo with Gary-a-Thon
• File:SpongeBob SquarePants - "One Trick Sponge" Animatic
• File:SpongeBob SquarePants - Magic Trick - Nickelodeon UK
• File:SpongeBob SquarePants - "One Trick Sponge Theme" by EGO PLUM

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning
French	Le tour de magie de Bob	Bob's Magic Trick
German	Verzaubert	Enchanted
Italian	Un trucchetto	A Little Trick
Russian	Фокус-покус Квадратные Штаны Fokus-pokus Kvadratnyye Shtany	Hocus-Pocus SquarePants
Spanish (Latin America)	El truco mágico de Bob Esponja	SpongeBob's Magic Trick
Spanish (Spain)	El truco de la esponja	The Sponge Trick