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Have You Seen This Snail?

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This is the page about the episode. For other uses, see Where's Gary? (disambiguation).

"Have You Seen This Snail?" is a SpongeBob SquarePants episode from season 4. In this episode, Gary runs away from home after being neglected by SpongeBob.

Characters

Synopsis

Act 1

SpongeBob is bringing snail food to his house. When he reaches home, he gets a package containing the Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy paddle ball set. Also in it is the Dirty Bubble challenge, requiring him to do 29,998,559,671,349 hits in a row with the paddle ball.

He gets so carried away with the game that he forgets to feed Gary and gets angry with him for distracting him from his game when he wants food. SpongeBob ignores Gary saying that he wants to be left alone. Out of hunger and desperation, Gary tries to get him to feed any possible way, but this only annoys SpongeBob even more, with this SpongeBob neglectfully yells at him to leave him alone. Heartbroken and hungry, Gary abandons SpongeBob and leaves the town.

Gary runs away from SpongeBob.
Gary runs away from home and tries to find a new caretaker.

Later, Patrick comes to see SpongeBob, but it turns out he is still trying to complete the Dirty Bubble challenge. Patrick then reveals that he won the challenge but lost the trophy. SpongeBob realizes that he has not fed Gary yet. After finishing with food, SpongeBob calls for Gary, only to find out that Gary is gone as he had been doing the challenge for a week, maybe even 10 days. The two try to find him, and after a while they find a note from Gary stating that he ran away. SpongeBob becomes horrified and remorseful for himself, then he goes on a desperate hunt.

Act 2

Meanwhile, Gary is going through a town faraway from Bikini Bottom, and gets picked up by an old lady who mistakes him for another snail. At the same time, SpongeBob tries to look for his snail all over town, but cannot find him, much to his despair.

At the Krusty Krab, SpongeBob is sad that he cannot find Gary until Mr. Krabs unintentionally motivates him to leave and work harder to get Gary back rather than convincing him that doing the hard work he normally enjoys doing at the Krusty Krab will solve whatever problem he has like he intended. SpongeBob and Patrick start to search for him all over town. Patrick ends up going in a store to look for scented pine cones and he sees Gary. However, he is too distracted by the scented pine cones that the old lady greedily took only for herself, so he never tells SpongeBob about seeing Gary.

Afterwards, SpongeBob and Patrick start putting up posters and messages all over town in hopes of finding Gary, and this event is followed by a song set to a montage of SpongeBob and Patrick unsuccessfully finding the snail, even missing him at certain points where they are actually in the same place Gary and Grandma are. (Also, a heartbroken and disappointed version of SpongeBob is shown at night in his pineapple home sadly missing his beloved pet snail).

When Gary and the old woman come back from another day out. The old lady replaces Gary's newspaper with a stack of flyers handed to her by a "little chubby boy", Gary sees the papers from SpongeBob and finally realizes how much SpongeBob misses him. When Gary tries to find a way out he comes across a closet full of empty, broken snail shells which then fall on him. While looking at these shells in horror and seeing that Grandma is overfeeding him, he realizes that she is trying to fatten him up to eat him. The snails in the portrait on Grandma's wall then yell, "Run!" so Gary pulls himself out of their shells, causing him to roll across the floor, up Grandma's plate of cookies, and into the air. Grandma then throws the cookies to Gary, but he only looks at them with dreary eyes before rolling outside through the snail door while the cookies get stuck in the door similar to axes. Grandma then pulls out a plate of deviled eggs too and chases after Gary, telling him to come back while still trying to get him to eat, saying that her foods "were a labor love." He makes his way into an alley and hides behind a trash can where one of the gangster snails he met earlier approaches him. Just before Grandma can search the alley for him, Gary pushes the gangster snail in front of her and she mistakes him for Miss Tuffsy so she takes him instead much to Gary's relief, then he leaves and goes to find SpongeBob.

File:Have You Seen This Snail 397.png
SpongeBob and Gary reunite.

Meanwhile, Patrick comforts a crying SpongeBob, who decides to give up. Eventually, he goes outside and laments the fact that he neglected Gary, who finds SpongeBob desperately wanting him back. Gary finally reunites with SpongeBob much to his joy and promises things are going to much better between the two of them then takes Gary home to get him something to eat, telling him he must be starving. Gary, however, only replies with a deep denial "Meow," stating that he is overfilled.

Production

The episode was confirmed on July 7, 2005.[7]

In a press release on November 1, 2005, Nickelodeon officially announced the episode and promoted it as the "Where's Gary" special. According to the network, "it's a sad day in Bikini Bottom when SpongeBob learns that his beloved pet snail Gary is missing and that he may be at fault in the mollusk's disappearance." Marjorie Cohn, Executive Vice President of Development and Original Programming for Nickelodeon, said "kids love their pets and there's certainly some relatability here in the relationship between SpongeBob and Gary -- skewed though it may be[...] It's fun to see Gary express a whole range of emotions using only his signature 'meow.'"[8]

Art

Storyboards

Test storyboards

  • Drawn by Craig Kemplin.

Model sheets

Paintings

Music

 ) Production music
 ) Original music
 ) SpongeBob music

  Open and End Fanfare - Nino Nardini ["Ahoy, it's a SpongeBob SquarePants special!"]
  Lap Steel - Nicolas Carr ["Ahoy, it's a SpongeBob SquarePants special!"]
  Alley Cats - Robert Mersey [Title card]
  Alekoki - Kapono Beamer [SpongeBob carrying snail food]
  Whats This Sting - Nicolas Carr [Form letter]
  Gator - Steve Belfer [SpongeBob reads it]
  Lap Steel - Nicolas Carr [SpongeBob leaves the snail food outside]
  Knights of the Air - Sam Fonteyn ["Let's see what we got here."]
  Life on the Wild Side - Sam Spence [Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy paddleball set]
  Mermaidman Sting - Nicolas Carr [Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy paddleball set]
  The Beast Within - Paddy Kingsland [Dirty Bubble challenge]
  The Holy Land - David Farnon [Choir]
  Grand Orchestral Fanfare - Gregor F. Narholz [SpongeBob begins playing paddleball.]
  Tymp Hit - Nicolas Carr [Paddleball hits SpongeBob in the eye]
  On The Beach - Kapono Beamer [Gary goes over to his food bowl.]
  Life on the Wild Side - Sam Spence ["Mermaid Man needs me."]
  Rescue - Cecil Milner [SpongeBob describing Dirty Bubble]
  Hawaiian Link (B) - Richard Myhill ["Pets."]
  Dramatic Impact (2) - Ivor Slaney [Gary leaps onto SpongeBob's face.]
  Dramatic Cue (B) - Ronald Hanmer [SpongeBob runs around screaming.]
  Pua Paoakalani B - Queen Lili'uokalani, Kapono Beamer [Gary is sad.]
  Creepy Spiders - Nicolas Carr [Spiders hatch out of Gary's bowl.]
  Pua Paoakalani B - Queen Lili'uokalani, Kapono Beamer [Gary about to leave SpongeBob's house.]
  Vibe Q Sting - Nicolas Carr [Patrick sees a bag of snail food.]
  Graveyard - Johnny Pearson [Patrick looking for SpongeBob.]
  Dramatic Impact (2) - Ivor Slaney ["SpongeBob, what happened?!"]
  Fates [#62] - Gregor F. Narholz [SpongeBob on the floor.]
  Bittersweet Memory - Harry Bluestone, Emil Cadkin ["Many years ago, I took that challenge!"]
  Closing Door Sting - Nicolas Carr [Door closed.]
  Quiz Logo 1 - Dave Hewson ["I think it has something to do with this bowl."]
  Harp Ding Sting - Nicolas Carr ["That's it, I gotta feed Gary!"]
  Hawaiian Party - Peter Dennis [SpongeBob puts food in Gary's bowl.]
  Waddle Cop - David Farnon [Solid milk.]
  Of Love and Destiny - Leighton Lucas [SpongeBob can't find Gary anywhere.]
  Harmonica Shorts [#30] - Robert Appleton, Rick Fenn [Gary wandering through a desert.]
  Harmonica Shorts [#31] - Robert Appleton, Rick Fenn [Gary's stomach howls.]
  Harmonica Shorts [#32] - Robert Appleton, Rick Fenn [Gary sneezes.]
  You're Nice - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield ["Gary's favorite treats!"]
  Lap Steel - Nicolas Carr [Later that night.]
  Torn Apart - Mike Sunderland ["Gary, where are you?"]
  Comic Walk - Sidney Torch [Squidward taking a bath]
  Six Powerful Cues F - Wilfred William Burns [Looking for Gary in Squidward's bathroom.]
  MailboxTensionBuild NC2 - Nicolas Carr ["Here goes nothing."]
  Comic Cues [#25] - Harry Bluestone, Emil Cadkin [Letters fly out of mailbox.]
  Lap Steel - Nicolas Carr ["Look, Pat!"]
  Woe is Me! - Richard Myhill [Gary's note.]
  Whisper from the Past [#64] - Gregor F. Narholz ["Dear Neptune, what have I done?"]
  Alley Cats - Robert Mersey [Gary in the city.]
  Heavenly Voices (A) - David Farnon [Nachos.]
  Alley Cats - Robert Mersey [Other snails hiss at Gary.]
  West Side Rumble - Sam Spence [Gary slithers away.]
  Evil Alien Attack 1 [#15] - Harry Bluestone, Emil Cadkin [Gary sees a shadowy figure.]
  Light and Easy - Harry Rabinowitz ["There you are, Miss Tuffsy."]
  Waltzing in Dreamland - Alan Moorhouse [Gramma puts on music.]
  Pacific Romance - Jan Rap [SpongeBob looking for Gary.]
  Stealthily - Jack Shaindlin [Gary and Gramma watching TV.]
  Lynda's Music Box - Peter Dennis [Gramma puts Gary to bed.]
  Botany Bay (b) - Robert Alexander White [The next morning at the Krusty Krab.]
  Dramatic Impact (3) - Ivor Slaney [Krabby Patty is covered in tears.]
  Hawaiian Breeze - Jon Jelmer [SpongeBob crying.]
  Marching to Honolulu - Kapono Beamer ["If I'm gonna find Gary, I'm gonna need to work harder at it."]
  Dramatic Cue (D) - Ronald Hanmer ["It's the apocalypse!"]
  Hunting Call - Nicolas Carr ["Patrick, now is not the time for talking. We've got work to do."]
  Lambs in Clover - Jack Strachey [Gary having breakfast.]
  Beach Boy - Hilmar Doetsch, Karl Heinz Kroll [Inside the craft store.]
  Gary's Song - Stew (Mark Stewart) [Montage of SpongeBob looking for Gary.]
  Folli the Foal - Andrew Fenner ["Gramma will get a lovely meatloaf in the oven for you."]
  Whisper from the Past [#64] - Gregor F. Narholz [Gary sees SpongeBob's flyers.]
  Stepping into Danger - Mike Sunderland [Gary opens a door.]
  Dramatic Cue (D) - Ronald Hanmer [Closet full of snail shells.]
  House Of Horror [#10.3] - William Farran [Gary finds out Grandma's true plan of eating him.]
  Footsteps of Horror [#11.2] - William Farran [Grandma shows Gary the deviled eggs.]
  House Of Horror [#10.5] - William Farran [Grandma goes after Gary.]
  Vibe Q Sting - Nicolas Carr ["When Gary left, he took all my tears with him."]
  Drowsey Reef - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield ["Gary loved balsa wood!"]
  Romantic Entrance [#22] - Harry Bluestone, Emil Cadkin ["Gary!"]
  Romantic Entrance [#24] - Harry Bluestone, Emil Cadkin ["So, did you hear any of that, or do I have to repeat myself?"]
  Celebrations - Jan Rap [SpongeBob and Gary go back home]
  End of Show Hit - Nicolas Carr [The ending.]
  Where's Gary? - Andy Paley, Tom Kenny [Closing credits]

Release

Pre-release

  • Nickelodeon supported this episode with a month-long off-air marketing campaign including print, outdoor, and consumer product partner support, along with the release of a preview clip and bonus coverage of the episode on Nickelodeon's broadband online platform TurboNick, and the Trail of the Snail online game.
    • In a sweepstakes event with the promotional name of the special, every night for five days leading to the episode's premiere, Patchy the Pirate and other celebrity guests searched in various locations for Gary. By visiting Nick.com, the viewers could receive a Trail of The Snail tracking card to enter Patchy's search locations in order to win the sweepstakes. The prize was a trip to the Nickelodeon Animation Studio to meet the production team of the show and sit in on a voice recording session with the series' cast.

Broadcast

  • "Have You Seen This Snail?" was viewed by eight-million people. It was the highest-rated program on all TV with children aged two to eleven for the year of 2005 behind the Super Bowl and the Super Bowl kick-off, and the highest-rated program on all of cable TV with children aged 2 to 11 and children aged 6 to 11 in 2005.[10]

Distribution

Reception

  • Critics produced positive reviews for "Have You Seen This Snail?" Tom Shales of The Washington Post called the episode deeply hilarious and described the plot as a "bittersweet riot." He drew attention to how the story is similar to the plot of "Dumped," an earlier episode in which Gary deserted SpongeBob.[11]
  • The television critic for the St Petersburg Times was not so positive about the episode, criticizing how SpongeBob's disappointed and sad character in "Have You Seen This Snail?" is quite different to the character's normal bright personality.[12]
  • This episode was nominated at the 2005 Golden Reel Awards for Best Sound Editing in Television Animation.[13]
  • "Have You Seen This Snail?" was ranked #10 during the Best Day Ever event from November 9–10, 2006.

Trivia

General

  • This episode was originally called "Gary's Great Escape."[1]
  • This is the first episode for many things:
    • The first half-hour special after The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie and with Paul Tibbitt as showrunner.
    • The first episode where the animation directors are not credited in the opening credits, and instead in the closing credits.
      • This is also the only episode where the technical director is credited in the closing credits rather than the opening credits.
      • In this case, it was because of the episode's guest stars being credited in the opening credits in their place.
    • The first episode where "Whats This Sting," "Vibe Q Sting," "Closing Door Sting," "Harp Ding Sting," "MailboxTensionBuild," and "Hunting Call" are heard.
    • The first episode where Patrick eats snail food.
    • The first double-length episode to not feature live-action segments with Patchy and Potty, not counting his cameo in the opening.
    • The first season 4 episode to use SpongeBob's normal colors; he was in a paler shade of yellow in previous episodes of the season.
  • The title card background for this episode is similar to those of "Shanghaied," "Club SpongeBob" and "Mid-Life Crustacean."
  • This episode marks the seventh time the closing theme is not used in the credits. The first was in "Scaredy Pants"/"I Was a Teenage Gary," the second was in "Texas"/"Walking Small," the third was in "Christmas Who?," the fourth was in "Wet Painters"/"Krusty Krab Training Video," the fifth was in "Party Pooper Pants," and the sixth was in "Ugh."
  • On The First 100 Episodes DVD boxset, this episode's beginning and ending are altered:
    • The beginning with Patchy saying that the episode is a special is removed, and the song "Where's Gary?" is removed from the credits in favor of credits for all of the episodes on the DVD. This also happens on the Where's Gary? DVD and VHS.
  • Amy Poehler, the voice of Grandma, is also the co-creator of The Mighty B!, another Nickelodeon show, in which she voiced its protagonist, Bessie Higgenbottom.
  • Around the time this episode premiered, Cartoon Network had a snail resembling Gary at the bottom of the screen during its programs. The joke was that Gary had run away from Nickelodeon to Cartoon Network at the time.[14]
  • The plot of the third SpongeBob SquarePants feature film, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run, is similar to this episode, as both involve Gary being taken by someone and SpongeBob and Patrick teaming up to go find him.
    • It was later revealed by Tim Hill that this episode inspired the plot of Sponge on the Run since "Stephen wanted to springboard off of that idea for the movie."[15]
  • Advertisements for this episode refer to it as "Where's Gary?" It is also called "Where's Gary?" on its VHS and DVD releases.[16]
  • There is a book based on this episode titled Where's Gary?.
  • "Nickelodeon Inc." is written on the packaging of the Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy Paddle Ball Set. ViacomCBS was previously referenced in-series in "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy V."
  • One of the buses is seen being driven by a policeman rather than a typical Bikini Bottomite.
  • The original plot for this episode was going to be Grandma fattening Gary up to eat him, but this was changed due to it being deemed too scary for a children's series.[17] Also, she had an ax that was replaced with a tray of cookies.[18]
  • It is revealed that Gary...
    • ...has a clock inside his shell that tells what time he eats.
    • ...loves balsa wood.
    • ...has been SpongeBob's pet since he was a kid.
File:Screen Shot 2014-07-23 at 11.55.14 PM.png
"Ahoy, it's a SpongeBob SquarePants special!"
File:Have You Seen This Snail 166.png
SpongeBob and Patrick drop by Squidward's house.
  • The scene where Squidward screams when SpongeBob and Patrick entered his house to look for Gary had became a famous meme on YouTube. The videos are usually named "[Insert name here] drops by Squidward's house." It consists of a collection of videos depicting the scene being edited so that a completely random character is pasted into the picture, replacing and covering up view of SpongeBob and Patrick. He screams normally, but it is looped backwards to help extend the video.
    • Squidward's facial expression in that scene would later be reused in "Bunny Hunt."
  • The clip from where SpongeBob walks into the Krusty Krab, and Mr. Krabs encountering him, was also seen in the 2007 movie Alvin and the Chipmunks, which crew member Tim Hill directed.
  • This episode featured an original piece of music written for the episode by the musician Stew, entitled "Gary's Song" (aka "Gary Come Home").[11]
  • This episode marks the second instance of Gary leaving SpongeBob. The first is in "Dumped."
  • It would be impossible to hit the paddle ball 29,998,559,671,349 times in a row. With a constant four hits per second, the challenge would take nearly 238,000 years.
  • SpongeBob's milk was shown to spoil and turn into a solid, gelatinous material after a week. In real life, bacterial fermentation in milk causes its proteins to coagulate, leading to the separation of the milk into solid curds and liquid whey. Curds can match up with the physical details of the milk in the episode - soft and gelatinous - but the episode does exaggerate this effect for comedic purposes.
  • Patrick's line "Office products falling from the sky!" is reused in the online game Are You Smarter Than Patrick Star?
    • It has also become a meme, along with the face he makes when he tries the spoiled milk.
  • This is one of the few episodes where SpongeBob is shown to have a hallway leading up to his bedroom. Usually, it is just the staircase following his kitchen.
  • SpongeBob is shown to have a picture of a Krabby Patty hung on his bedroom wall.
  • One of the photos in SpongeBob's photo album is of him as a younger sponge with baby Gary; in a later episode, "Treats!," Gary gives SpongeBob a photo of the day he got Gary, but SpongeBob was the same age as he is now.
  • This is the third time SpongeBob exclaims "Pat, no!" before Patrick does something stupid.. The first was "Survival of the Idiots" and the second was "Wet Painters."
File:SpongeBob SquarePants 2012 McDonald's Happy Meal UK Commercial
A clip from the episode is used in the UK version of the McDonald's Happy Meal commercial.
  • Clips from this episode and "What Ever Happened to SpongeBob?" would later go on to be used for the commercial to the 2012 McDonald's UK Happy Meal promotion. The credits song "Where's Gary?" is also used.
  • In the SpongeBob Greatest Hits album, the track "Where's Gary?" is present.


Dub facts

  • "Gary's Song" has not been translated in the Taiwanese Mandarin, Russian, Italian, Greek, French, or European Spanish dubs.
    • In most of the aforementioned dubs, "Gary's Song" plays undubbed from the original English version instead. The European Spanish dub, however, leaves the song as an instrumental.

Cultural references

  • When Gary and Grandma are riding in the latter's car, Grandma says "Set phasers on fun!," a pun on the Star Trek line "Set phasers on stun."
  • The stray alley snails are the show's equivalent of real-life stray alley cats.
  • "Gary's Song" is reminiscent to the 1971 song "Alone Again (Naturally)" by Gilbert O'Sullivan.
  • Gary realizing Grandma is only feeding him to fatten him up before he's eaten himself is similar to the Brothers Grimm fairytale Hansel and Gretel, where the old witch only fattens her victims up until they're fat enough before she cooks them and eats them.

Errors

  • When Patrick flips SpongeBob, the paddle ball is missing, but it later reappears.
  • When Patrick visits SpongeBob's house to check up on him, the bag of snail food is not seen on his doorsteps in the preceding shot of his house, but when a closer view of the house is shown when Patrick knocks on his door, the bag suddenly appears.
  • When SpongeBob trips on Gary's bowl, the milk splashes out from the jug, but when Patrick shakes the milk out of the glass, it is in a solid form.
  • When SpongeBob reads the note left on his door, he walks inside and leaves the door open, but when the mailman rings the doorbell, SpongeBob opens the door, even though it was already open.
  • When Grandma puts Gary down, he is missing a spot on his shell.
  • SpongeBob promises to give Patrick kelp cookies and seahorse milk, though when the scene pans to the kitchen, no kelp cookies are seen, just seahorse milk.
File:Haveyouseenthissnail RDKerror.jpeg
Rough Draft Korea on the screen for about a frame.
  • When SpongeBob says "I can't find Gary!," right before the scene changes in a bubble transition, a Rough Draft Korea card appears for a split second.
File:Squarepat mailbox in Have You Seen This Snail?.png
The mailbox says "Squarepat," rather than "SquarePants."
  • The overflowing mailbox does not explode right away once it is shown; it does so once SpongeBob attempts to open it even though it should have really done it right away. Also, the overflowing mailbox reads "Squarepat" when it should be "SquarePants."
  • When Grandma takes Gary to dance, the blanket is still there, but after that, it is gone.
File:Missing Lettuce Error.gif
The lettuce and the cheese vanish.
  • When the customer removes the Krabby Patty bun to show Mr. Krabs and Squidward that it has tears in it, the lettuce and the cheese vanish.
File:PatrickwithSpongeBob'steeth.png
Patrick with SpongeBob's teeth.
  • When Patrick tells SpongeBob to "let it out," his teeth look exactly like SpongeBob's.


Videos

Names in other languages

Language Name Meaning
French La fugue de Gary Gary Ran Away
German Haben Sie diese Schnecke gesehen? Have You Seen This Snail?
Hungarian Láttad ezt a csigát? Have You Seen This Snail?
Italian Cercasi Gary disperatamente
Torna a casa, Gheri!
Gary Desperately Wanted
Come Home, Gary!
Japanese いとしのゲイリー
Itoshi no geirī
My Beloved Gary
Portuguese (Brazil) Cadê Esse Caracol? Where Is That Snail?
Russian Вы не видели мою улитку?
Vy ne videli moyu ulitku?
Have You Seen My Snail?
Spanish ¿Han visto a este caracol? Have You Seen This Snail?

References

This page uses content from Wikipedia (originalauthors). Both SpongeBob Wiki and Wikipedia are licensed under the CC BY-SA 3.0 Unported license.


es:¿Han Visto a Este Caracol? nl:Heb je deze slak gezien? pl:Kto widział ślimaka? pt-br:Cade Esse Caracol? ru:Вы не видели мою улитку?