WHALE OF A BIRTHDAY

Episode Title: "Whale of a Birthday"
Episode Airing Number: 71
Episode Production Number: 71 (?)
Original Airdate: May 12, 2006
Season: 4
On DVD: "Whale of a Birthday"
On VHS: (none)
Aired With Episode: "Ghost Host"
Running Time: 10:51

Storyboard Directors: Luke Brookshier and Tom King
Writers: Luke Brookshier, Tom King and Paul Tibbitt
Technical Director: Vincent Waller
Animation Director: Tom Yasumi
Supervising Producer: Paul Tibbitt

In Brief: Pearl wants to have a nice birthday without Krabs's penny-pinching for once, so Mr. Krabs has SpongeBob secretly follow her at the mall to get gift ideas.

Story: Pearl wakes up one morning to a new song on the radio by her favorite boy band, Boys Who Cry. She tells Mr. Krabs she's in a happy mood because a "special day" is coming up, but Krabs can't even remember what it is. She throws a fit and tells him she wants an awesome party for her sixteenth birthday, otherwise her reputation will be destroyed among her peers. Krabs must make sure he's not cheap on her birthday for once.
At school, Pearl's friends remind her how her father's shown his cheapness at parties. She runs from the school to the Krusty Krab crying and tells her father he'd better have good things for the party. She isn't pleased with his current plans which happen to be cheap, so she presents him with a list. Once she leaves for the mall, Mr. Krabs gives SpongeBob his credit card. The plan is for SpongeBob to follow Pearl around the mall and see what she likes.
SpongeBob secretly tails Pearl at the Bikini Bottom Mall and buys everything she likes the sight of. Back at the Krusty Krab, Mr. Krabs and Squidward set up for Pearl's birthday party. When SpongeBob and the girls come back to the Krusty Krab, Pearl discovers that the decorations and food are all cheap junk once again. Pearl's friends are ready to leave but Pearl reminds them that Boys Who Cry are performing for them. However, to top it all off, instead of having the band perform at the party, Squidward sings one of their songs. Pearl runs out of the Krusty Krab sobbing.
Outside the Krusty Krab, Pearl tells Mr. Krabs that she can't believe he went greedy on her for another birthday. Just then, SpongeBob and a delivery truck piled full of presents show up at the scene, along with a performance by Boys Who Cry themselves. Mr. Krabs is not satisfied with the huge amount of money SpongeBob spent, but Pearl is impressed by all the gifts from her father.

Song: "It's All About You" (by Boys Who Cry)
It's all about you, girl
On your 16th birthday
Pay attention to you, girl
Everyone has to do just what you say
You get your very own spotlight tonight
'Cause it's all about you
Yeah it's all about Pearl

Pearl: Yeah! It's all about me
On my 16th birthday
I want music, and clothes, and shiny things
So give it up right away
Everybody in the whole wide world
They have to pay attention to me!
It's all about me, me, again to...
Me!

"4-Ply" (by Squidward)
When my tear ducts give issue
I can't use just any tissue
I need 4-Ply, 4-Ply, 4-Ply
When I cry

Quotes:

Mr. Krabs: *Pearl falls through ceiling of first floor from her bedroom above* Neptune's trousers!
Pearl: G'Morning, daddy!
Mr. Krabs: Are you sure you wouldn't prefer a room on the ground floor?

Pearl: I'm just excited because tomorrow's a very special day.
Mr. Krabs: It is? *Pearl glares at him; he nervously acts* Oh, I mean it is! Very special! Very very special indeed.
Pearl: You have no idea what day tomorrow is, do you?
Mr. Krabs: Not at all.
Pearl: *angry* It's my SIXTEENTH BIRTHDAY!
Mr. Krabs: I know that! How could you think I wouldn't know that? What're you gonna be? Twelve?

Pearl: Now promise me you won't be CHEAP!
Mr. Krabs: I promise.
Pearl: Good, because I made a list. *the lengthy list unfurls out the Krusty Krab door and past a sign saying "Now leaving Bikini Bottom"* Now, I want everything on this list at my party.

Mr. Krabs: Now remember, nothing's too good for me little Pearl. I wanted to give her nothing, but *sarcastically* she's too good for that.

Pearl: *to friends* So that's when Marcy told me that Julie said that Angela did like Brad! *her friends "ohhh"*
SpongeBob: *hiding in plant, takes notes aloud* Angela likes Brad.

SpongeBob: *gives hair clip to cashier* I'd like to buy that piece of plastic with this piece of plastic. *pulls out credit card*
Cashier: *examines credit card* Mr. Krabs, huh? Quick, how do you spell 'Krabs'?
SpongeBob: Umm...I'm pretty sure it has a 'B' in it?
Cashier: Close enough. *approves purchase*

Pearl: Oh my gosh, it's Billy Fishkin!
Girls: Hi Billy!
Billy: *waves* Meep. *girls all dreamily sigh*
SpongeBob: *dressed as a girl, sighs* Oh, isn't he dreamy? *cuts away to him presenting Billy to a clerk; she scans Billy across the counter*
Clerk: Price check on Four!

Pearl: *referring to boat mobile* Wouldn't it be cool if my dad got me this for my birthday?
Girl: Sure would be. If he was cool - which he's not. *the girls laugh*
Pearl: Yeah. He probably got me another box of staples.

Girl: *samples punch* It tastes like dishwater!
Squidward: It is dishwater.

Observations:

Kids at the Party In the flashback of one of Pearl's birthdays, the kids seen there are background characters present in many SpongeBob episodes. Since this is a flashback and these kids are normally younger than Pearl, what would they be doing at her party, or shouldn't they all appear to be younger?

Examples of Krabs's cheapness at Pearl's parties:
-The guests' party favors were paper clips
-The kids had to share one balloon
-The "pony ride" was made up of cheap wood and fell apart
-His plan for the party favors for Pearl's 16th party is bubble wrap
-A banner for her at the Krusty Krab is from the day she was born, which says "It's a boy" with "boy crossed out and replaced with "girl"
-Has Squidward sculpt a Pearl statue from 400 pounds of raw meat
-Serves stale popcorn
-Serves dishwater in a punch bowl
-The cake is frosted cardboard
-Instead of hiring Boys Who Cry for the party, Squidward performs one of their songs

Dressed Warm One of the children in Pearl's birthday party flashback is wearing a winter cap and scarf.

Credit Card Name Mr. Krabs's credit card brand is "Master-Carp", a take on "MasterCard".

Dead Horse In the sea-pony's fantasy of Pearl riding it, it actually dies from failing to support Pearl's weight and being crushed. It has "X"'s on its eyes.

Things SpongeBob's seen buying Pearl at the mall:
-A hair clip
-Lip gloss
-A seahorse
-Attempts to buy Billy Fishkin, a boy from school
-A blouse
-Sunglasses
-Red high-heel shoes (which cost $300.99)
-A boat mobile

Familiar Faces Many of the teenagers that appear, most notably Billy Fishkin the anchovy, are from season one's "The Chaperone." Also, the term "coral" is used in this episode in place of "cool", first coined in "Mid-Life Crustacean."

Where is Everything? Though SpongeBob buys a lot of stuff for Pearl at the mall, he isn't seen carrying bags around whenever he follows her and stops at the stores.

A Brief Smile! Squidward is seen smiling when the girls approach the "punch" table. After they all sip the dishwater, Squidward is seen with his usual scowl on his face.

SpongeBob and Patrick's Invention: Squidward enjoys playing on his clarinet and listening to orchestral classical music, yet his favorite band is a pop boy band.