Mermaid Man vs. SpongeBob

Mermaid Man vs. SpongeBob
General
Production code:	151-528
Season №:	5
Episode №:	94b
Airdate:	August 3, 2007 December 17, 2007 January 29, 2008 March 8, 2008 September 20, 2008 See more... November 19, 2007 November 23, 2007 January 11, 2008 March 3, 2008 March 23, 2008 May 19, 2008 May 29, 2008 (Orf 1) June 7, 2008 June 17, 2008 November 6, 2008 December 13, 2008 March 5, 2009 (SRF ZWEI) May 5, 2009 October 29, 2009 January 30, 2010 February 23, 2010 April 9, 2010 May 23, 2010 December 9, 2010 (QTV) February 16, 2012 (Nickelodeon) May 6, 2018 (PLUS PLUS) May 28, 2018 (TET) November 9, 2020 August 12, 2021 March 1, 2022 May 27, 2022
U.S. premiere time (ET):	5:15 pm
Copyright year:	2007
U.S. viewers (millions):	3.28
Running time:	11 minutes
Sister episode(s):	"Blackened Sponge"
Credits
Guest(s):	Ernest Borgnine as Mermaid Man Tim Conway as Barnacle Boy Bob Joles as Man Ray
Writer(s):	Nate Cash Tuck Tucker Eric Shaw
Supervising Producer(s):	Paul Tibbitt
Storyboard:	Nate Cash Tuck Tucker
Animation:	Tom Yasumi
Creative:	Vincent Waller
Chronology
Previous	"Blackened Sponge"
Next	"The Inmates of Summer"

"Mermaid Man vs. SpongeBob" is a SpongeBob SquarePants episode from season 5. In this episode, Plankton hypnotizes Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy.

Characters

• Realistic Fish Head
• Barnacle Boy
• Mermaid Man
• Man Ray
• Sheldon J. Plankton
  • Professor Plankton ^(debut)
• Blue kid fish
• Little girl ^(purple)
• Green kid fish
• Squidward Tentacles
• Eugene H. Krabs
• SpongeBob SquarePants
  • Fry Boy ^(debut)
• Karen Plankton
• Incidentals
  • Incidental 37A ^{(Child, Normal)}
  • Incidental 141
  • Incidental 153
  • Incidental 144
  • Incidental 151
  • Incidental 103
  • Incidental 102
  • Incidental 142
  • Incidental 152
  • Incidental 48 ^{(child, green)}
  • Incidental 158 ^{(103-colored)}
  • Incidental 143
  • Incidental 84
  • Incidental 82
  • Incidental 92
  • Incidental 81
  • Incidental 119
  • Incidental 87
  • Incidental 80
  • Incidental G3
  • Incidental 49
  • Incidental 42
  • Incidental G7
  • Incidental 14
  • Incidental 41
  • Incidental 7 ^{(named Susie)}
  • Incidental G5
  • Incidental G2
  • Fred
  • Incidental G19
  • Incidental 114
  • Incidental 3
  • John
  • Incidental 6
  • Incidental 12
  • Incidental 30
  • Incidental 60
  • Incidental 67
  • Incidental 37B
  • Incidental 108
  • Incidental 104
  • Sandals
  • Incidental G4
  • Incidental G9
  • Incidental G6
  • Incidental 63
  • Incidental 40
  • Incidental 2
  • Incidental 69
  • Incidental 47
  • Incidental 68
  • Incidental 91
  • Incidental 22
  • Incidental 36
  • Charlie
  • Incidental 106
  • Incidental 13
  • Incidental 8 ^{(105-colored)}
  • Incidental 105 ^(8-colored)
  • Incidental 107
  • Incidental 15
  • Incidental 45
  • Incidental G13
  • Incidental 65
  • Incidental 73
  • Incidental 27 ^(64-Colored)
  • Incidental 30
  • Incidental 4
  • Incidental 63
  • Incidental 9
  • Incidental 90
  • Incidental 20
  • Incidental 31
  • Incidental 10
  • Incidental 16
  • Scooter
  • Incidental 155
  • Incidental 64 ^{(color palette only)}
• Orderly
• Nerd 1
• Perch Perkins
• Ted

Synopsis

Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy as zombies.

The episode starts with a commercial of Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy on a conveyor belt, tied up in chains by Man Ray. The heroes cannot escape. Mermaid Man then starts talking about the Krusty Kid's Meal at the Krusty Krab, which Man Ray asks Mermaid Man what it is.

The next scene shows Man Ray eating the Pipsqueak Patty, small fries, and drinking the juice box, and he admits that he enjoys the meal. The narrator of the commercial responds by saying, "Of course you do, Man Ray." The kids off-screen of the commercial scream joyfully. In the next scene, Man Ray is in chains, holding up the Krusty Kid's Meal box with Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy beside him as the commercial ends.

Plankton is annoyed by the commercial, seeing all of the kids at the Krusty Krab through his periscope. Mr. Krabs' profits increase, as children flock to the Krusty Krab. Plankton decides to use mind control shampoo to turn Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy against Mr. Krabs and SpongeBob.

Plankton controls Mermaid Man to say hateful things about Krabby Patties, resulting in all the Krusty Krab customers resorting to the Chum Bucket. Then, SpongeBob brings a big truck of fiber and feeds it to Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy forcefully, which brings them back to normal.

Then everyone goes back to the Krusty Krab. When Plankton brings out a plate of Chummy Joes he prepared, he screams as he sees the customers gone, ending the episode.

Production

Model sheets

Music

( ‣ ) Production music

( • ) Original music

( ◦ ) SpongeBob music

 ‣ The Lineman - Sam Spence [Title card]
 ‣ Caped Crusader - David Farnon [Opening]
 ‣ Police Car - Sam Spence [Shot of the kids meal]
 ‣ The Four Horseman - Ronald Hanmer [Man Ray laughs]
 ‣ Tripping Along - Harry Bluestone, Emil Cadkin ["Ooh, I just love the little Pipsqueak Patty..."]
 • Superfriends Wipe - Nicolas Carr ["Of course you do, Man Ray!"]
 ‣ Captain Pugwash - Johnny Pearson [End of the Krusty Kid's Meal commercial]
 ‣ Zelle 501 - Gerhard Trede [Plankton watches TV]
 ‣ Life on the Wild Side - Sam Spence ["Something is going on over there!"]
 ‣ The Tip Top Polka/The Cliff Polka - Chelmsford Folk Band ["Gotta hand it to you, boy."]
 • Whats This Sting - Nicolas Carr ["Wait a minute, what's this?"]
 ‣ Wooden Bear - Gil Flat, Tony Tape, Florian Voelxen [Karen brings Plankton a kids meal box.]
 • Steel Licks 22 - Jeremy Wakefield [Plankton smashes the box up.]
 ‣ Death Trap - Gregor Narholz ["Why didn't I think of this before?"]
 ‣ Hawaiian Link (B) - Richard Myhill [Exterior of Shady Shoals Rest Home]
 ‣ Sweet and Lovely - Alan Braden [Plankton pretends to be a salesman]
 ‣ Frankenstein's Niece A - Gregor Narholz [Plankton uses mind-control shampoo on Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy]
 • Superfriends Wipe - Nicolas Carr [WIPE!]
 ‣ Bring on the Girls - Dennis Farnon [Back at the Krusty Krab...]
 • Steel Licks 40 - Jeremy Wakefield [Kids run into the ball room]
 • Mission March - Nicolas Carr ["Aye aye, Mr. Krabs!"]
 ‣ Abject Terror - Paul Lewis [Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy destroy the rest home.]
 • Steel Licks 35 - Jeremy Wakefield ["You guys live in a dump."]
 • Grass Skirt Chase - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [Mermaid Man beats up SpongeBob]
 • Closing Door Sting - Nicolas Carr ["You still got it."]
 • Bikini Bottom News Theme - Nicolas Carr [News report]
 ‣ Kerry Polka - Brian Peters [Mr. Krabs interviewed]
 ‣ Editor's Falling Over (a) - Dick Stephen Walter [SpongeBob crashes through the roof]
 ‣ Blaze of Brass (d) - Cecil Milner ["Ladies and gentlemen, I present Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy!"]
 ‣ Police Car - Sam Spence [Sting]
 ‣ House Of Horror [#10.3] - William Merrick Farran ["Everyone in Bikini Bottom showed up!"]
 • Goofy Conversation 2 - Nicolas Carr, Barry Anthony ["Ooh, this is too easy!"]
 • Parting of the Clouds Sting - Nicolas Carr [Shot of the Krabby Patty]
 ‣ House Of Horror - Larry Hochman ["Why, these things are... evil!"]
 • Thats It ! - Nicolas Carr ["You forgot your Krabby Patties!"]
 ‣ Black Stockings - David Lindup [Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy drool]
 ‣ House Of Horror [#10.3] - William Merrick Farran [Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy stomp on the Krabby Patty]
 ‣ Adventurers - Larry Hochman ["Fry Boy, defender of...!"/"Fry Boy, defender of the Krabby Patty!"]
 ‣ Ramblin' Man from Gramblin' - Sam Spence [SpongeBob fights Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy]
 ‣ Robot March - Harry Bluestone, Emil Cadkin [Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy run to the Chum Bucket.]
 • Idea Sting - Nicolas Carr ["Food?"]
 • Steel Licks 18 - Jeremy Wakefield ["It doesn't make sense."/"Their poor aging tummies must be having a hard time digesting the food."]
 ‣ The Lineman - Sam Spence [A fiber truck breaks into the Chum Bucket]
 ‣ Dancing The Hula - Kapono Beamer [Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy turn back to normal]
 ‣ Arizona Fanfare - Jack Shaindlin ["To the Krusty Krab, away!"]
 • Goofy Conversation - Nicolas Carr, Barry Anthony [Ending]

Release

• This episode is available on the To Love a Patty, Season 5 Volume 2, First 100 Episodes, Holidays with SpongeBob 3-DVD Gift Set, The Ultimate SpongeBob Box Set, Kids Double Pack: Volume 6, SpongeBob SquarePants Vol. 8, Complete Fifth Season, Mermaid Man & Barnacle Boy: Defenders of the Deep, From the Beginning, Part 2, The SpongeBob SquarePants Collection, The SpongeBob SquarePants 8 Season DVD Collection, Easter with SpongeBob, The Adventures of SpongeBob SquarePants, The Best 200 Episodes Ever, SpongeBob SquarePants Triple Pack, The Fifth & Sixth Seasons, and The Best 300 Episodes Ever DVDs.
• It is also a bonus feature on the Back at the Barnyard: Lights, Camera, Moo! DVD in the UK.

Reception

• "Mermaid Man vs. SpongeBob" was ranked #48 during the SpongeBob's Top 100 event in the UK and Ireland from June 4-8, 2012.

Trivia

General

• This and its sister episode premiered on Nickelodeon the same day as the Drake & Josh series finale "Really Big Shrimp."
• In "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy V," Barnacle Boy balks at the idea that he be served a Pipsqueak Patty instead of an adult-sized Krabby Patty. At the beginning, in the commercial, he and Mermaid Man promote the Krusty Kid's Meal, the main course being an actual Pipsqueak Patty.
• Squidward delivers six boxes of Krusty Kid's Meal to the "Tarpon twins." The tarpon is a type of fish.
• The five-note poorly played trumpet fanfare during the shot of SpongeBob grinning in his superhero outfit (also heard in "A Flea in Her Dome" and "Appointment TV") was performed by the series' creator, Stephen Hillenburg, according to a tweet by sound designer Jeffrey Hutchins. Hutchins also stated that he recorded 7-8 takes of the fanfare.
• After the Krusty Kid's Meal commercial, one can see that Karen is at the Krusty Krab getting a Krusty Kid's Meal, even though usually Karen would have been the screen Plankton watched the commercial on in the first place.
  • Off-screen, Karen has left from the Chum Bucket to the Krusty Krab.
• Plankton breaks the fourth wall by looking at the audience while saying "It's Professor Plankton's MIND Control Shampoo!"
• "My leg!:" Faintly heard as Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy are destroying the Shady Shoals Rest Home while under Plankton's control.
• The part where SpongeBob says, "Fry Boy, defender of the Krabby Patty!" is similar to when he says, "The hall monitor!" in the episode "Hall Monitor."
• This is the first episode to use two different versions of "House Of Horror." There is version 1 of William Farran's "House of Horror" and version 2 of Larry Hochman's "House of Horror."
• This is the first Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy episode to not have Barnacle Boy or Roman numerals in the title.
  • The original title for this episode was "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy VII: The Heist" meaning that this episode was still meant to use Roman numerals. The title is also similar to "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy VI: The Motion Picture."
• This is the first episode where Man Ray is voiced by Bob Joles instead of John Rhys-Davies. Man Ray was previously voiced by John Rhys-Davies in the episodes "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy III" and "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy V" and Bob Joles had previously voiced him in the 2005 video game Lights, Camera, Pants!
  • This is also Man Ray's only appearance in season 5.
• This episode marks the second time where Plankton calls SpongeBob a "Stupid kid." The first time is in The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie.
• This is the second time where Patrick does not appear in a Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy episode. The first time is in "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy II."
• This is the third episode to contain a title of two characters versing each other. The first is "Krabs vs. Plankton," and the second is "SpongeBob vs. The Patty Gadget."
• This is the fifth episode in which, at no point, SpongeBob wears his normal clothes. The first is "Ripped Pants," the second is "Walking Small," the third is "The Fry Cook Games," and the fourth is "SpongeGuard on Duty" (not counting the live-action SpongeBob costume).
• This is the final episode Tuck Tucker written and worked as a storyboard director for. After this episode, he would only be a supervising storyboard director before his departure from the series in 2013.

"Mermaid Man vs. SpongeBob" is listed as "Mermaid Man vs. Sponge" on Season 5 on Amazon Prime Video.

• This episode is listed as "Mermaid Man vs. Sponge" on Amazon Prime Video and in newspaper listings.

Dub facts

• In the Filipino dub, Mermaid Man's voice is lower pitched than usual in this episode and he sounds more like Patrick.
  • That is because they are both dubbed by the same person, Jojo Galvez.

Cultural references

• Chummy Joes are a parody of sloppy joes.

Errors

The Pipsqueak Patty in "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy V."

• In "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy V," the Pipsqueak Patty had a face made with ketchup for a mouth and olive eyes and antennae, but in this episode, it looks more like a miniature Krabby Patty.
• When Karen comes into the Chum Bucket with the Krusty Kid's Meal, the box does not have the logos on it.
• One of the hexagonal faces on the side of the Krusty Kid's Meal that is first shown is Mr. Krabs with a happy face behind the trapezium-shaped, light blue and pale background. However, in the next scene, the upper light blue trapezium shape extends to the light blue hexagonal shape that covers the upper dark olive green part of the Krusty Kid's Meal, causing Mr. Krabs’ eyes and claws to be shifted upwards.
  • Also, two letter M's are missing on the next top right part of the Krusty Kid's Meal.
• The "with conditioner" part of the Prof. Plankton's Mind Control Shampoo bottle disappears right after Plankton mentions it.
• The openings on the net of the ball room are big enough for the balls to roll out of.
• When Mr. Krabs locks the kids in the ball room, two kids begin to climb up the wall.
  • In the next shot, the kids are gone.

SpongeBob's missing eyelashes.

• Right before SpongeBob takes off to find Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy, his eyelashes disappear for one frame.

SpongeBob's yellow teeth.

• At one point when SpongeBob is in Shady Shoals, his teeth turn yellow for one frame.
• When Mermaid Man does the spine blaster on SpongeBob, one can see the latter's leg bones, even though sponges are invertebrates.
• Before the crowd leaves the Krusty Krab, Mr. Krabs says, "wait," but he is not heard speaking when he says that line.
• SpongeBob crashes through the Chum Bucket's wall with a "fiber" truck while in other episodes, he doesn't know how to drive a boat.

Missing path to the Krusty Krab.

• The path to the Krusty Krab is missing when the customers leave the Chum Bucket to go to the Krusty Krab.

Videos

Nickelodeon Split Screen Credits (July 27, 2007)

Nickelodeon Split Screen Credits (August 3, 2007)

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning
Russian	Человек-Русалка против Спанч Боба Chelovek-Rusalka protiv Spanch Boba	Mermaid Man vs. SpongeBob
Spanish (American)	Sirenoman contra Bob Esponja	Mermaid Man vs. SpongeBob
Spanish (European)	Tritón Man contra Bob Esponja	Triton Man vs. SpongeBob