"Plankton Retires" is a SpongeBob SquarePants episode from season 10. In this episode, Plankton decides to close the Chum Bucket and move to a new town, but Mr. Krabs still suspects he is up to something.
Characters[]
- SpongeBob SquarePants
- Sheldon J. Plankton
- Eugene H. Krabs
- Karen Plankton
- Squidward Tentacles
- Perch Perkins
- French Narrator
- Bus driver (cameo)
- Plankton robot (single appearance)
- Robot SpongeBob (single appearance)
- Robot Krabs (single appearance)
- Robotic horse (single appearance)
- Incidentals
- Fred
- Incidental 1B
- Incidental 6
- Incidental 41
- Harold (Inc 40)
- Incidental 7
- Incidental 8
- Incidental 64
- Incidental 68
- Tuck Tucker
- Mabel (Inc 84) (as a disguise)
- Old Man Walker (as a disguise)
- Gale
- Incidental 153
- Incidental 92
- Incidental 93
- Mary
- Incidental 91
- Steve
- Incidental 85
- Incidental 60
- Incidental 81
- Mabel (Inc 82)
- Harold (Inc 36)
- Incidental 2
- Jellyfish (cameo)
- Chum Bucket glove (as a living character)
Synopsis[]
The episode starts off with Bikini Bottom News broadcasting an interview with Plankton and his evil schemes. Plankton initially tells the newsman some of his evil schemes, but gets fed up when the cameraman frequently takes advantage of Plankton's interview.
Later on, Plankton rides a robot seahorse to the Krusty Krab. Plankton peeks into the Krusty Krab to find Mr. Krabs' office safe appear to be open, appearing as though the safe has been left open, showing the Krabby Patty secret formula up for grabs. Plankton rockets his way there, only to crash into a paper photocopy of the open safe that Mr, Krabs has pinned on the wall. Mr. Krabs pops out and then rolls Plankton up into the piece of paper before feeding it to his robot seahorse.
Plankton tries a variety of other different techniques to take advantage of getting the formula. All of them fail: Plankton grabs a sea-urchin-infested Krabby Patty, gets intercepted by Mr. Krabs while flying, pulls out a jellyfish-hive and is stung by jellyfish, and is even interrupted by Mr. Krabs in the stomach of another Krusty Krab customer.
He tells Karen about all those failures, and Karen tries to calm him down. Plankton tells her about giving up the Krabby Patty secret formula. Karen criticizes how he frequently gives up, but Plankton unplugs the power before she can say anymore. He then steps outside to bury the Chum Bucket, with the help of the Chum Bucket hand, to show that he has retired.
Meanwhile, SpongeBob and Mr. Krabs notice Plankton's strange activity. They soon quickly follow the bus using a fishing rod as a grapple rope. After 82 kilometers, they reach a town named Dullsville, a town full of retired people and elderly-people-targeted shops. Mr. Krabs and SpongeBob soon follow Plankton to Plankton's new hotel room at Dullsville Senior Living. They watch all his activities in a ceiling fan.
Mr. Krabs and SpongeBob suddenly fall from the ceiling fan, and Mr. Krabs explains that he is happy to retire. Plankton then states he is already at the Krusty Krab stealing the formula, revealing that he is really a robot disguising as a decoy.
Meanwhile, the real Plankton casually walks to Mr. Krabs' office to steal the secret formula, unseen by anyone. Soon afterwards, the Mr. Krabs and SpongeBob enter to catch him, and they tell him that the two in Dullsville are simply robots as well. Plankton gets really annoyed and bashes his head on the ground multiple times. In Dullsville Senior Living, the undisguised Robot Krabs, Robot SpongeBob, and Robot Plankton are talking about themselves as android decoys.
Back at the Krusty Krab, Plankton sees that the Mr. Krabs and SpongeBob in front of him are the real ones and is soon chased by them while running with the Krabby Patty secret formula, constantly crashing into fellow customers; SpongeBob gets a call from someone and answers it during so. Meanwhile, Robot Krabs, Robot SpongeBob, and Robot Plankton are enjoying their holiday time with each other. The episode ends with them cheering and suddenly exploding.
Production[]
The episode name was confirmed in a tweet by Vincent Waller on November 12, 2016.[2]
He confirmed that this episode was written by Doug Lawrence on November 29, 2016.[3]
Art[]
Background design[]
- Designed by Marco Cinello.[1]
Music[]
| ( ‣ ) Production music |
| ( • ) Original music |
| ( ◦ ) SpongeBob music |
• A Pinapple Luau - Nicolas Carr, Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [Title card]
• Bikini Bottom News Theme - Nicolas Carr [Opening.]
• A Fishy Conversation - Nicolas Carr, Barry Anthony [Perch Perkins interviews Plankton.]
• Rodeo Rascals - Nicolas Carr, Barry Anthony ["Secret formula, ho!"]
‣ Zelle 502 - Gerhard Trede ["Ha, ha, ha! The fool! He left the safe open!"]
• Hot Steel and Slide Licks 22A - Jeremy Wakefield [The safe open was a drawing.]
• Rodeo Rascals - Nicolas Carr, Barry Anthony [Krabs feeds Plankton to the robot seahorse.]
‣ Murder in Mind - Kenny Graham [Plankton spying on Krabs.]
• Hot Steel and Slide Licks 13B - Jeremy Wakefield [Tons of urchins get out of the Krabby Patty.]
‣ Battle at Sea - Johnny Pearson [Krabs launched from a catapult to avoid Plankton of stealing a Krabby Patty.]
• Hot Steel and Slide Licks 20D - Jeremy Wakefield [Krabs as an airplane.]
‣ Hiding Place - Marc Dall'Anese [Plankton cuts a hole in the wall of the Krusty Krab with a laser.]
• Hot Steel and Slide Licks 19C - Jeremy Wakefield [Plankton stung by jellyfish.]
• Hot Steel and Slide Licks 19E - Jeremy Wakefield ["Gotcha."]
• Humorous Conversation Full Mix - Nicolas Carr, Barry Anthony [Plankton goes inside a customer's stomach to steal a Krabby Patty.]
• Hot Steel and Slide Licks 11D - Jeremy Wakefield [Plankton gets angry and rips his antennas off.]
• Drowsey Reef - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [Plankton complaining to Karen.]
• Silly Bob Conversation 2 - Nicolas Carr, Barry Anthony [Plankton decides to shut down the Chum Bucket.]
• Taps Funeral Flugel & Snare - Nicolas Carr [Plays on a record while the Chum Bucket is buried underground.]
• Hot Steel and Slide Licks 40D - Jeremy Wakefield [Plankton gets sadly on a bus.]
‣ Seven Seas - Oded Tzur [Krabs hooks a fishing rod to the bus to follow Plankton.]
• Hot Steel and Slide Licks 22D - Jeremy Wakefield [82 kilometers later...]
‣ Stool Pigeon - Kenny Graham ["Snap your trap, boy-o! You'll blow our cover!"]
• Hot Steel and Slide Licks 18 - Jeremy Wakefield [Plankton enters a shoe store.]
• Mission Improbable - Nicolas Carr, Barry Anthony [SpongeBob and Krabs spying Plankton in disguise.]
‣ Aloha Oé - Hans Haider, Queen Lili'uokalani [Plankton enters at Dullsville Senior Living.]
‣ Quirky Tension B - John Epping [Plankton enters his room.]
‣ Mutations (a) [#50] - Trevor Duncan ["Yes! My plan is almost complete!"]
‣ Final Fate - Max Saunders ["Ooh, this is it, boy-o!"]
• Ladies' Choice - Nicolas Carr [Plankton turns on the TV.]
‣ Dramatic Impact (3) - Ivor Slaney [SpongeBob and Krabs fall from the ceiling.]
• Hot Steel and Slide Licks 8B - Jeremy Wakefield ["Now that I sees it, I believes it."]
• The Fruitcake Vendor 2 - Nicolas Carr, Barry Anthony ["Krabs?! What are you doing in my hotel room?!"]
‣ Drama Link (G) - Hubert Clifford [Robot Plankton revealed.]
• Nude Sting - Nicolas Carr ["What?!"]
‣ Zelle 501 - Gerhard Trede [Plankton at the Krusty Krab stealing the formula.]
• A Pinapple Luau - Nicolas Carr, Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield ["Krabs? SpongeBoob? W-w-why aren't you in Dullsville?"]
• The Donut Dilema - Nicolas Carr [Robot SpongeBob and Krabs revealed.]
• Grass Skirt Chase - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [Plankton takes the formula.]
• 60's Happy Times - Nicolas Carr, Barry Anthony [The ending]
Release[]
- This episode is available on the SpongeBob SquarePants Vol. 17, Factory Fresh, The Complete Tenth Season, Mini SpongeBob, Another 100 Episodes, and The Best 300 Episodes Ever DVDs.
Trivia[]
General[]
- This episode was originally called "Plankton Leaves Town."[4]
- The title card background is similar to that of "Lame and Fortune," except it is upside down and has less flower clouds.
- "My leg!:" Fred screams this faintly while everybody fights in a brawl cloud.
- In the airing sequence, this marks the 400th episode segment.
- This episode's plot is similar to that of "New Leaf," in that Plankton retires his interest in stealing the formula, only to turn on against Mr. Krabs at the end of the episode.
- This is the fifth time SpongeBob is called "SpongeBoob," following "Missing Identity," The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, "SquidBob TentaclePants," and "Evil Spatula."
- It is also the third time that he was called "SpongeBoob" by Plankton, following The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie and "Evil Spatula."
Episode references[]
- Plankton says, "I will destroy all of you!," which are also his last words from the first movie and "Atlantis SquarePantis."
- At one point, a truck in front of the Krusty Krab, which reads "Krusty Katering," is seen. This is a reference to the episode of the same name.
- The design of the Robot Plankton is just like the one from the second movie, while Robot Krabs and Robot SpongeBob are new designs.
Cultural references[]
- Dull-Mart references the retail chain Walmart.
- When Plankton is watching TV, the sound effects heard are similar to those used in the game show, The Price Is Right.
Errors[]
"Timing director" instead of "animation director."
- In the opening credits, Bob Jaques is mistakenly credited as "timing director" instead of animation director alongside with an "s" being miscapitalized as an "S."[5]
- When Perch Perkins reveals to Plankton that his plan is being broadcast, Plankton turns around to face the cameraman without moving.
- When Karen comes in the room and gives Plankton a bottle of milk, she appears to have nothing attached to her, but in the next few scenes when Plankton jumps out of her hands, she is attached to an electrical outlet.
- When Plankton runs into the real Mr. Krabs and SpongeBob while stealing the formula, SpongeBob does not have his Krusty Krab employee hat on, but in the next scene where Plankton says, "So you're the real Krabs and SpongeBob," he does appear to have his employee hat back on. However, he could have put his hat back on in between scenes.
- When SpongeBob says, "I hope our robot lookalikes are doing okay," he appears to have no arms.
Video[]
SpongeBob SquarePants - Gotchaaa! Nickelodeon
Names in other languages[]
| Language | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| German | Plankton im Ruhestand | Plankton in Retirement |
| Russian | Планктон на пенсии Plankton na pensii |
Retired Plankton |
| Spanish (Latin America) | Plankton se retira | Plankton Retires |
| Spanish (Spain) | Plankton se jubila | Plankton Retires |