PLANKTON'S ARMY

Episode Title: "Plankton's Army"

Episode Airing Number: 57

Episode Production Number: 58

Original Airdate: January 19, 2004

Season: 3

On DVD: "SpongeBob SquarePants: The Complete Third Season," "SpongeBob Goes Prehistoric," "Absorbing Favorites"

On VHS: (none)

Aired With Episode: "Missing Identity"

Running Time: 11:25

Storyboard Directors: Jay Lender and Sam Henderson

Storyboard Artist: Caleb Meurer

Writers: Jay Lender, Sam Henderson and Merriwether Williams

Animation Director: Sean Dempsey

Creative Director: Derek Drymon

In Brief: Plankton thinks he can never get the Krabby Patty formula because he never has any help, so he calls up all his relatives to support him - and sees they're all unintelligent hillbilles.

Story: It's the 25th anniversary of Plankton's first attempt to get the Krabby Patty formula. At the Krusty Krab, Mr. Krabs tells SpongeBob and Squidward about his past plans to steal the Krabby Patty secret formula. Then, a robot comes in, and Mr. Krabs is suspicous it's Plankton. However, it orders coral bits instead of a Krabby Patty. The robot gives Mr. Krabs money for the bits and walks out. Plankton then comes out of a hidden compartment of the dollar the robot gave. Mr. Krabs quickly gets rid of Plankton by flushing him down a toilet.

At the Chum Bucket, Karen suggests Plankton gets some tough guys who will do whatever Plankton says to help steal the patty formula. He tries asking four tough guys, but gets beat up. He decides to get all of his family to help him by calling them, writing letters, and writing messages in the air with a plane.

When his huge family arrives at the Chum Bucket, Plankton discovers they're all hillbillies. He tells them all the plan, but they want something in return. They all settle for root beer, so Plankton promises lots for them if they succeed.

At the Krusty Krab, all the plankton chase after Squidward and Krabs and shove them into a toilet. Mr. Krabs says the formula is behind a safe, protected by a number combination. All the plankton form a hand and ear and enter the combination and open it. Inside is a book in a bottle, which tells the recipe for a Krabby Patty. He pulls out the book and reads the ingredients: a pitch of salt, three teaspoons of chopped onions, a cup of love, and four heaping pounds of freshly ground...PLANKTON! Plankton freaks out and runs back to the Chum Bucket, and so does his family. After they're gone, Mr. Krabs tells SpongeBob and Squidward that plankton isn't the real formula, and the real one is somewhere secret. Squidward guesses it's under Mr. Krabs' mattress at home and is right, so Krabs runs home to protect it.

Song: (none)

Quotes:

Plankton: Can I have the secret formula?

Mr. Krabs: No!

Plankton: Okay. *walks away*

Plankton: Now, hand over the secret Krabby Patty formula!

Mr. Krabs: Or what?

Plankton: I don't know. I never thought I'd get this far.

Plankton: Bottom line. We invade the Krusty Krab so I can steal the secret formula. What do you think?

Relative: Well, what's in it for us?

Plankton: Uh, what do you want?

Relative #2: Garsh! Can I get another new string for my banjo?

Relative #3: And another boot to match this 'un?

Relative #4: And some more memory, for my laptop.

Mr. Krabs: There's some things in this world that weren't meant for mortal eyes.

Plankton: *points to his eye, indicating he only has one* Eye.

Mr. Krabs: *after Plankton's relatives found out Krabby Patty formula in the book and fled in fear, one stays behind* Hey, why ain't you runnin'?

Relative: Well I can't read!

Mr. Krabs: Get out of here. *Relative runs, laughing stupidly*

Observations:

Previous Appearance At least two of the tough men who Plankton asked to help him had previously appeared in "No Weenies Allowed."

Places Where Plankton Wears Bandages On His Body After the Tough Guys Beat Him Up:

-His right antennae

-The top of his head

-His right arm

-His stomach area

-Left leg

L-N-O-P In Plankton's phone book, there aren't any "M. Plankton"'s listed.

193-4428: The phone number Plankton dials when he jumps around on the number buttons of the telephone.

Dirty Hands Just like Grubby Grouper in "Bubble Buddy," when Clem shakes Plankton's hand, he leaves a pile of some kind of mess on it.

Hat-Ennas Clem's antennas aren't attached to his head. They're attached to his hat.

Go Use the Office The toilet Krabs and Squidward are placed in by Plankton and his relatives is actually in Krabs' office (though that wasn't really hard to miss)

Quiet SpongeBob only speaks about six sentences in this episode (which is still more than the amount in "Reef Blower").

"Plankton's Revenge" Before this episode aired, Nick promoted it under the name "Plankton's Revenge." Nick also aired this episode before Missing Identity the first few times. The order of the two episodes was later switched.