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The Great Snail Race

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This is the page about the episode. For other uses, see The Great Snail Race (disambiguation).

"The Great Snail Race" is a SpongeBob SquarePants episode from season 3. In this episode, SpongeBob enters Gary into a snail race against Squidward and his new pet Snellie.

Characters

Synopsis

As the episode begins, SpongeBob wakes up and sees Squidward getting a package in the mail. Squidward opens what ends up being a cage, which turns out to contain a female snail named Snellie. He explains that Snellie is a purebred of the highest pedigree and that she is going to be entered in the Bikini Bottom Snail Race on Sunday, which he is sure Snellie will win easily. Upon hearing this, SpongeBob takes offense to Squidward's insult to Gary and decides to enter his pet into the snail race to retaliate against Squidward. Patrick also decides to enter his pet rock into the competition, which he names "Rocky."

File:The Great Snail Race 016.png
Snellie.

With only one day to go until the big day, SpongeBob abusively trains Gary practically to the point of exhaustion, not even letting him take a break, or sleep. On the day of the race, Gary is so exhausted from SpongeBob's abusive training that he is barely able to make it to the stadium. In fact, Gary's exhaustion is so great that he is initially unable to start in the race. During the race, his eyes inflate like balloons and explode, his shell breaks open like a car engine and he spins out of control, leaving skid marks. SpongeBob, seeing the error of his ways, tells Gary that he can stop, but Gary keeps on going, loses control of himself, hits the wall, and explodes completely as the firefighters use the extinguishers to turn off his fire. An upset SpongeBob runs up to him onto the track, which the announcer says is an automatic disqualification, and embraces him, crying and apologizing for his abuse.

File:The Great Snail Race 200.png
"That's for yesterday, SquarePants!"

Snellie, who is almost at the finish line, feels sorry for Gary and turns around to comfort him, and the two instantly fall in love. Squidward is shocked at this and walks onto the track. SpongeBob and Squidward then see that, to their surprise, Rocky has won the race. However, Patrick has the trophy engraved in Squidward's honor knowing how much he wanted to win, and gives it to him. As part of a gag where Squidward's last name is mispronounced throughout the episode, Squidward's name is printed "Squidward Tortellini" to his dismay. The three laugh, until Sandy suddenly appears onscreen and ends the episode by kicking SpongeBob for making a misogynistic comment the day before.

Production

Art

Model sheets

Music

( ‣ ) Production music
( • ) Original music
( ◦ ) SpongeBob music

 ‣ Fight! Fight! Fight! A - Will Schaefer [Title card]
 ‣ William Tell Overture - Robert Lee Frost [SpongeBob playing bugle]
 ‣ Dancing The Hula - Kapono Beamer [Squidward's new snail]
 ‣ Apalachian Banjo Duel - Larry Hochman ["Gary's a mutt."]
 • Vibe & Harp Hits - Nicolas Carr [Gary imagines himself watching TV]
 ‣ Meet the Family - Alan Hawkshaw [Gary imagines himself watching TV]
 ‣ Deadline - Sam Spence ["Looks like we're gonna start our training now, ladies."]
 ‣ Astronauts March - Sam Spence [Protein shake]
 ‣ Meet the Family - Alan Hawkshaw [Gary watching TV]
 ‣ Pell-Mell - Sam Spence [Sprints]
 ‣ Meet the Family - Alan Hawkshaw [Gary watching TV again]
 ‣ Steve's March - Sam Spence [Training montage]
 ‣ Hawaiian Link (B) - Richard Myhill [Gary is exhausted]
 ‣ The Zodiac - David Lindup [At the stadium]
 ‣ Fight! Fight! Fight! A - Will Schaefer [pre-game ceremony]
 • Bad Marching Band - Brad Carow, Robert Lee Faust, Ira Nepus [Tired band]
 ‣ Charge - Will Schaefer ["The torch is lit! Let the race begin!"]
 ‣ Open - Tom Hedden [Pep talks]
 • Drum Creshendo - Nicolas Carr [Drumroll]
 ‣ The Wild Bunch - Sam Spence [Race starts]
 ‣ Dramatic Cue (G) - Ronald Hanmer [SpongeBob runs onto the track]
 ‣ Hawaiian Cocktail - Richard Myhill ["Oh, Gary, I'm sorry!"]
 ‣ Romeo & Juliet Overture - Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Fiachra Trench [Snellie comforts Gary]
 ‣ Miss World (C) - Tony Kinsey [Ending]

Release

Distribution

Reception

Trivia

General

  • This episode and its sister episode were originally scheduled to premiere on Friday, November 22, 2002 in the United States, but got replaced with a rerun of the episodes "Wet Painters" and "Krusty Krab Training Video."
  • The music cue "Fight! Fight! Fight! (a)" played during the title card and when Lightning Larry lights the torch is the tune to "Now That We're Men" from The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie.
  • According to sound designer Jeffery Hutchins, Gary breaking down like a car engine is actually coming from a Camaro as Hutchins pulled a spark plug wire out. A friend of his recorded the Camaro from his truck side by side up the hill to the Hollywood sign.[5]
  • This is the first episode for a few things:
    • The first episode in which Gary falls in love. It would happen again in "Gary in Love."
    • The first episode where, while the title card is showing, a description of the music appears in the closed-captions (American TV airings only).[citation needed]
  • This is the second episode in which SpongeBob is the main antagonist. The first being "Gary Takes a Bath" and the third being "Wary Gary."
    • Coincidentally, both examples here have a similar plot.
    • Specifically speaking about this episode, SpongeBob is an antagonistic to Gary because of his brutal training and enraged yelling at him for not taking off in the race.
  • The Bikini Bottom mayor in this episode is also the first mayor of New Kelp City in "What Ever Happened to SpongeBob?"
  • This episode was paired up with different episodes in different marathons:
  • There is an online game of the same name based on this episode.
  • The band members at the Snail Race are the same band members at Squidward's Super Band from "Band Geeks."
  • The show that Gary watches in his daydream is implied to be the same one that Patrick watches in "Rock-a-Bye Bivalve."
  • Sandy's scenes were removed in all book adaptations of this episode.
  • This is the only episode on the Where's Gary? DVD that is not from season 4.
File:Mid-Life Crustacean unavailable on SpongeBob Season 3 on Amazon Prime Video.png
"The Great Snail Race" paired with "Gary in Love" on Amazon Prime Video.
File:The Great Snail Race and Gary in Love are available on SpongeBob Season 3 on American iTunes.png
"The Great Snail Race" repaired up with "Gary in Love" on season 3 on American iTunes.
File:Gary in Love listed in the digital version of Season 3.jpeg
"The Great Snail Race" paired with "Gary in Love."
  • This episode was originally paired with "Mid-Life Crustacean." However, due to that episode being banned in 2021, this episode got paired up with the season 7 episode "Gary in Love" on American iTunes[8] and some streaming services.


Dub facts

  • In the Indonesian dub, Squidward refers to Snellie's certificate paper as "koran" (newspaper).
  • In the Brazilian dub, Squidward's last name "Tentáculos" is misspelled "Tem Tacos" (have clubs) by the mailman and "Tem Óculos" (have eyeglasses) by Patrick. Snellie is called "Caracolina," a combination of "Caracol" (snail) and "Carolina" (a given name).
  • In the Hebrew dub, after after Patrick misspelled Squidward last name as "Sentacles" Squidward shout at him "It's testicles! Haaaa... Tentacles!"

Cultural references

  • "Lightning Larry Luciano" is likely a reference to the mobster "Lucky Luciano."
  • The torch that indicates the start of the race is a parody of the Olympic flame, a symbol of the Olympics.
  • The part where the mailman, Patrick, and the trophy misspells Squidward's last name references the 1960 sitcom, The Andy Griffith Show, where the newspaper and book misspell Deputy Barney Fife's last name.
  • The part where SpongeBob makes Gary a shake references the 1976 film, Rocky. There is even a snail that is named after Rocky Balboa, that movie's protagonist.
  • The coffee mug that the sports guy drinks (the I ❤️ BB mug) is a reference to the I ❤️ NY slogan.

Errors

File:GreatSnailDVDVer.png
Merriwether Williams version.
File:GreatSnailDigitalVer.png
Joe Liss version.
  • Merriwether Williams is credited as the third writer in the opening credits of this episode in the original airing,[9] early airings,[10][11] DVD releases, and international non-US airings. However, in recent airings on Nickelodeon USA,[12] Nicktoons USA,[citation needed] digital versions, and streaming releases, Joe Liss is credited instead.
  • Also, the “storyboard directors” text is incorrectly set in the condensed font like the names credited, instead of the said regular font.
File:The Great Snail Race 034.png
Patrick's eyelids are pink instead of purple.
  • Right after Squidward says, "That's Tennisballs...," Patrick blinks his eyes but his eyelids are pink instead of purple.
  • When Patrick is standing on Squidward's neck, his legs are not seen out the window.
File:Snellie's purple eyelids mistake in The Great Snail Race.png
Snellie's eyelids are purple instead of blue.
  • When Squidward says, "Well, SpongeBob, I must admit, I didn't think that mongrel mutt of yours would even find the starting line," Snellie blinks and her eyelids are purple instead of blue.
  • When SpongeBob says, "Gary, are you listening to me?!," he is shown outside of the Oyster Stadium.
File:The Great Snail Race 138.png
SpongeBob's coach pants are blue instead of red and Gary in the wrong lane.
  • SpongeBob is wearing a red coach's outfit, but in Oyster Stadium when SpongeBob says, "Don't give me that look!," there is a close-up shot where Gary is on the floor and SpongeBob's pants are blue instead of red.
    • Also in the exact same close-up shot, Gary is in the outer lane, when in reality, he is in the middle lane.
  • When Gary is spinning out of control, there are at least five lanes on the track, but before, there are only three.
  • Gary crashes into a wall and is still on the track.
    • When the race begins, the track is in the center of the stadium, far from the walls.
  • When SpongeBob runs to help Gary in the race, Patrick's "snail" disappears.
    • Speaking of which, Squidward and Patrick would also disappear from the track when SpongeBob tells Gary, "You let Snellie take the lead."
File:The Great Snail Race 191.png
Fred with no pants; Incidental 41's legs and Incidental 40's legs are missing.
  • In the audience at Oyster Stadium, Fred is missing his pants. Also, in the back, Incidental 41's legs and Incidental 40's legs are missing.
  • In early airings, the episode had an incorrect copyright year of 2001 in the credits. Later airings (and the original print of this episode) have the correct date of 2002.[13]
  • Incidental 47 turns bright lime green instead of yellow when the audience is adored by Gary and Snellie's relationship.


Videos

Names in other languages

Language Name Meaning
Finnish Suuri etanakilpa The Great Snail Race
French Un escargot pur sang A Purebred Snail
German Das große Schneckenrennen The Great Snail Race
Hungarian A nagy Csigalopp verseny The Great Snail Race
Italian Gara di lumache Snail Race
Japanese がんばれゲイリー
Ganbare geirī		 Go for it Gary!
Russian Большие улиточные гонки
Bol'shiye ulitochnyye gonki		 The Big Snail Race
Spanish La gran carrera de caracoles The Great Snail Race

References

  1. ↑ Nick UK - New Spongebob episodes in January - Nickdisk - December 24, 2002
  2. ↑ MPSE Golden Reel Awards Announced - Mix
  3. ↑ SpongeBob SquarePants - Episode Guide - TV Tome
  4. ↑ December 20, 2002 - Nickstory
  5. ↑ Jeffery Hutchins (2018-05-30). That is true. The car was my Camaro. Twitter. Retrieved on 2017-05-30.
  6. ↑ November 10, 2006 - Nickstory
  7. ↑ December 21, 2013 - Nickstory
  8. ↑ SpongeBob SquarePants, Season 3 - iTunes
  9. ↑ 2002 Nick U-Pick The Great Snail Race Screen Bug
  10. ↑ Nick.com Screen Bug (2004 #1) SpongeBob SquarePants The Great Snail Race
  11. ↑ Nickelodeon 2004 Screenbug (The Great Snail Race and Mid-Life Crustesean)
  12. ↑ The Great Snail Race Title Card
  13. ↑ Nickelodeon Split Screen Credits (April 24, 2004)

es:La Gran Carrera de Caracoles hu:A nagy Csigalopp verseny id:The Great Snail Race nl:De grote slakkenrace pl:Wyścig ślimaków pt-br:A Grande Corrida dos Caracóis ru:Большие улиточные гонки

Notes

  1. ↑ Recent American TV airings,[citation needed] digital versions, and streaming releases.
  2. ↑ Original airing, early airings, DVD releases, and international non-US airings.
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