Sandy's Rocket (Episode)

Sandy's Rocket
Episode No.:	8a
Airdate:	4.9.1999
Season:	Season 1
Previous Episode:	Jellyfish Jam
Next Episode:	Squeaky Boots

"Sandy's Rocket" is an episode from Season 1

Info

Characters

SpongeBob
Patrick
Sandy
Gary
Squidward
Mr. Krabs
Mrs. Puff
Bikini Bottomites
Larry the Lobster
Doodles the Worm
Flats the Flounder (cameo, debut)

Places

All round Bikini Bottom
- SpongeBob's House
- Squidward's House
- Boating School
The Moon

Plot

When Sandy creates a rocket and tells SpongeBob that she's going to the moon, SpongeBob begs her to take him with her. Sandy tells him that there's not enough room, and SpongeBob compacts himself so he can fit into a small container. Sandy explains that she needs all of the containers and drawers, and tells him that this trip is for science, not fun. SpongeBob keeps on begging her, and she eventually accepts to take him. SpongeBob runs around the walls chanting "Going to the moon! Moon ride! Moon ride!", and annoys Sandy. Sandy has small net guns that she uses to harvest moon rocks, and denies the existence of aliens on the moon. Patrick comes to SpongeBob in the night and gives him some 'Alien repellent' (for windows), and they go to the rocket to spray it. Even though they're supposed to just spray the windows, Patrick goes inside and SpongeBob accidentally starts up the rocket. No-one is at the controls, so it goes into space, loops around the moon, and comes back to Bikini Bottom. SpongeBob and Patrick, convinced that they're on the Moon, think that the aliens are projecting their memories onto the environment to trick them. They start catching everyone with the net guns, believing they're aliens. The two then deduce that each other is an alien so they try to capture each other. Patrick accidentally captures himself, and SpongeBob puts him in the rocket. He starts the rocket up again, and it crashes on the moon. Suddenly, SpongeBob realizes his terrible mistake and everybody (Sandy, Patrick, Mr. Krabs, Squidward, Larry the Lobster, etc.) says "SpongeBob, we aliens would like to have a word with you".

Cultural References

SpongeBob makes reference to "cowlicks" as evidence of aliens. This is most likely homage to Pete and Pete.
When Patrick is messing around with a control in Sandy's rocket while "playing a game", a sound effect in the background is the rotating block sound from Tetris.
When SpongeBob and Patrick first become weightless in the rocket, a book floats by with "2001" written on its cover. This is a reference to Arthur C. Clark's novel 2001: A Space Odyssey.
A crop circle reference is in the episode.
When SpongeBob tosses his first captured "alien" (Gary), a ticker on the rocket clicks to one and a "ding" sound is heard. This ding used to be a common sound on CBS game shows, but it is most famous for being used on the current US version of The Price is Right.
This show is a spoof of alien films involving battles between marines and aliens, except in this episode the so called "aliens" do not retaliate or carry any weapons.
SpongeBob’s belief that the "aliens" are "projecting" his and Patrick's memories of their home, Bikini Bottom, onto the lunar surface to put them into a false sense of security seems to be inspired from a short story, "The Third Expedition", from Ray Bradbury's book, the Martian Chronicles.
When SpongeBob looks out at the window towards the moon, the view of Earth from the Moon looks almost exactly like the famed Apollo 8 photograph.

Trivia/Goofs

During a Nickelodeon movie promotion in 1999, a set of scratch and sniff stickers were released at specified fast-food restaurants to be used with certain Nicktoons. One of them was used when Patrick squirted toothpaste in some peanut butter. Also, the symbol that signaled you to "sniff" at the bottom right part of the screen was accidentally filmed along with the episode, and not edited over until late 2002, almost 3 years after the scratch and sniff packs were put out of circulation.

Flats Flounder from The Bully and Texas appeared in this episode. Look for him when SpongeBob is capturing the Bikini Bottom residents. However, this is the first episode he's been in.
When Sandy lands on the moon and when the rocket lands on the Moon it looks like that are almost the same size, but at the end of the episode when SpongeBob looks out the window the Moon is much bigger.
That episode has featured on the Cartoon Network Invaded with the show.

If you listen closely when SpongeBob and Patrick are discussing bringing back a real-live alien, you'll hear Sponge say, "Awww...she'll (Sandy), love me."

Errors

Sandy's rocket's scale changes between Bikini Bottom and the Moon.
When SpongeBob and Patrick are having a tough time filling the "aliens" in the rocket ship, there were still many Bikini Bottomites captured and left on the ground. But after SpongeBob caught Patrick and Sandy, all the Bikini Bottomites were captured and the rocket was still half empty.
SpongeBob and Patrick experience gravity turning on and off as soon as they leave or enter the water. Gravity would not change until they got far enough away from earth out of the atmosphere. However, gravity is not present in free fall which possibly occurred in this episode considering the rocket landed in Bikini Bottom again.
When Sandy is captured in the bag, it shows her eyes and mouth. For one thing, her buck teeth are missing. And, her eyes and mouth would of never been shown if she was wearing her helmet, which she was.
Only 7 people can ride in a rocket, but SpongeBob and all the others count thousands.
How could the smoke from the rocket get into Sandy's treedome if the rocket is outside her house?