Snail Hunt

Snail Hunt, known among those who watched it as the Hunt for Gary is an unaired episode of SpongeBob SquarePants made for the third season, but was scrapped for being deemed too scary for kids. It was made on October 12 as an extra episode of the third season. Not much is known about the episode as people so far have refused to describe anything about it after watching it and there haven't been any known storyboards.
However, as Snail Hunt began becoming a common topic on Reddit, people began to speculate about the episode's plot because the viewers never said anything about the episode. Some viewers say Snail Hunt scared their children while others said that Snail Hunt scared them when they watched it alone. A newly leaked still from the episode showed Gary confronting what appears to be SpongeBob, but with lankier limbs, more feral-looking and wild with claws on his hands and tattered clothes, almost like a prehistoric version of the titular sea sponge.
== The Snail-Hunter Controversy ==
After the full episode was leaked on the r/spongebob subreddit, Nickelodeon received a lot of backlash for the episode's horrific nature, nicknamed the Snail-Hunter controversy. People began rambling about how stupid they thought Nickelodeon was for even making the episode in the first place. One user decided to make their point about how Snail Hunt was a bad idea without just saying they hate Snail Hunt, instead explaining their opinion on the matter.
So recently, a lot of posts have been going on rambling about Snail Hunt. While I do agree that it was a bad idea, I won't be just saying "I hate Snail Hunt!" repeatedly. Instead, I will be giving an actual explanation on why I hate the episode. For starters, the episode isn't kid-friendly. That's what these posts are saying, but not explaining. Secondly, the episode, when shown to test audiences, scared all of the kids. And people thought P.T. Boomer was scary? Thomas and the Magic Railroad had nothing on this shit. This is next-level. And lastly, it's not something you'd even see on Nickelodeon. The creature hunting Gary looks like something you'd see in a fucking horror movie.
After the user explained their opinion, the r/spongebob subreddit began calming down, but the investigation was far from over. The user that explained their opinion about the episode was also investigating why Nickelodeon made the episode to begin with and planned to disclose the reason Nickelodeon made the episode if they could find out.
== The (failed) Interviews ==
When the user that made the explanation post then explained the episode to major news sources like ABC News, Global News and CNN, each of them attempted to reach Nickelodeon for comment, but Nickelodeon refused for all three channels. When the Reddit user called them on the matter, each of them had the same explanation on why Nickelodeon denied the interviews.
=== Call between Anonymous and ABC ===
Anonymous: Hello, this is [REDACTED]. I was calling about the info I sent you about Snail Hunt. Did Nickelodeon agree to being interviewed about it?
ABC: No, they didn't. When we asked Brian, he immediately denied Snail Hunt ever being made and abruptly hung up on us. We think he must have been trying to hide something.
ABC: Have you told other news channels about it?
Anonymous: Yes, I've told two other news channels about it, so I'll check in with them. Have a good day.
(Call ended)
=== Call between Anonymous and Global ===
Anonymous: Hello, this is [REDACTED]. I called you because I needed to ask you about Nickelodeon and Snail Hunt.
Global: We went to Nickelodeon for an interview, but Brian just told us to leave when we said Snail Hunt and denied anything about its existence.
Anonymous: They turned it down? They did the same thing with ABC when I told them about it. Well, bye.
Global: Have a good day. If anything comes up on Snail Hunt, we'll be keeping people updated.
(Call ended)
=== Call Between Anonymous and CNN ===
Anonymous: (exasperated) Did Nickelodeon turn down an interview about Snail Hunt with you?
CNN: We've had no luck with getting permission for an interview with them.
Anonymous: Have a good day.
(Call ended)
== After Failed Interviewing ==
After Nickelodeon refused interviews for all three news channels, some friends of the user who called them did some digging on their own and managed to find a few stills from the episode, with one of the stills being the monstrous SpongeBob-like creature breaking down SpongeBob's front door with its claws. In that leak, there were also some storyboards that revealed the creature's name to be the Snail-Hunter. A month later, the full episode was leaked on YouTube. When Nickelodeon saw the episode, they sent a DMCA notice to the platform. After that, the episode was taken down and the channel was terminated, having received 2 copyright strikes before, and Snail Hunt being their third strike.
== The Hijack ==
When the video was taken off the platform, some people hijacked Nickelodeon as a cruel prank, claiming their DMCA notice was censorship and broadcasted the episode on Nickelodeon to scare viewers and let Nickelodeon take the blame. However, Nickelodeon managed to turn the tables in their favor after they received an anonymous tip saying who was responsible. For privacy reasons, their names will not be disclosed.
=== Aftermath and Pressing Charges ===
Nickelodeon pressed charges for the two people responsible for the hijack with a fine of $13,000 for broadcast signal intrusion and a sentence of 5 years on probation.
== The Cover-up ==
Nickelodeon, having found out about Snail Hunt being leaked on so many platforms, worked tirelessly to take it down from any social media platform they could. When their plan failed miserably, they couldn't keep Snail Hunt a secret for long. They were forced to explain everything about it.
=== Snail Hunt Revealed ===
When Nickelodeon finally accepted an interview on CNN, they explained about Snail Hunt, why it was made, and why they kept trying to cover it up. The transcript of the interview can be found below.
CNN: So, we've heard that you're finally explaining about this "lost episode" of SpongeBob SquarePants called Snail Hunt. Care to explain more?
Nickelodeon: We never intended to cover it up, but with how many stills and storyboards people were leaking, we had no choice. Especially when that broadcast signal intrusion occurred.
Nickelodeon: We made Snail Hunt as an inside joke, but most of our animators thought it was a good idea for an episode. The Snail-Hunter was not meant to be scary. That hijack? The episode was official, but we tested to see if it was too scary, and we didn't air it because it scared the test audience.
CNN: So you're saying that you worked to cover it up because you didn't have a choice and that the test audience found it too scary?
Nickelodeon: Somewhat. Look, can we end this interview? And do not broadcast it, we're already facing enough controversy as it is.
=== After the Interview ===
Despite Nickelodeon's request, CNN broadcast it anyways for transparency reasons. Nickelodeon threatened to sue CNN for defamation, but the case never made it to court because CNN declared freedom of speech and believed the interview was newsworthy.
== Nickelodeon's Cover-up Controversy ==
With Snail Hunt no longer a secret, Nickelodeon began to face even more backlash about it than they did a month back. Nickelodeon's yearly revenue dropped by 14% due to advertisers choosing not to provide Nickelodeon with ads. They were also facing controversy for the censorship attempt with their CNN interview, which didn't help either, as ViacomCBS was having a hard time with keeping revenue because of Nickelodeon's attempted cover-up of Snail Hunt. It was only 5 years later until the controversy started to die down and Nickelodeon's revenue was slowly going back up to $659 million a year.
=== Controversy Dying Down ===
After the controversy started to die down a bit, Snail Hunt was largely forgotten about, as hardly any people talk about it as of 2024. The full episode and its stills, storyboards and concept art are nowadays hard to come by.
== The Last of Snail Hunt ==
Although the controversy died down, a website on the dark web hosting pirated videos broadcast the episode on the clear web in an attempt to cause controversy against Nickelodeon. But the website owner's plan backfired as Nickelodeon filed a cease-and-desist order, which they refused to follow. When the cease-and-desist order failed, Nickelodeon filed a report to the FBI, and the website owner was arrested for digital piracy and copyright infringement.
Category:SpongeBob
Category:Lost Episode
Category:Longpasta