It's A SpongeBob Christmas

"It's a SpongeBob Christmas!" is a SpongeBob SquarePants television special. In this special, Plankton puts everybody in Bikini Bottom on the naughty list in an effort to get his Christmas wish.

### Charactersedit | edit source

* Patchy the Pirate (animated)
* Potty the Parrot (animated)
* SpongeBob SquarePants
* ToyBob (debut)
* Squidward Tentacles
* Patrick Star
* Eugene H. Krabs
* Sheldon J. Plankton
* Karen Plankton
* Sandy Cheeks
* Mrs. Puff
* Pearl Krabs
* Gary the Snail (cameo)
* Old Man Walker (cameo)
* Bikini Bottomites
* Santa Claus (animated)
* Santa's elves (single appearance)
* Carolers (single appearance)
* Mailman (single appearance)
* Polar bear (single appearance)
* Fake Santa
* Imaginary Santa
* Brown seahorse (cameo)
* Baby
* Frankie (debut)
* Johnny
* Driver
* Little boy
* Santa's reindeer
* Tiger

## Synopsisedit | edit source

In the beginning of the episode, Patchy the Pirate (parodying the role of S.D. Kluger from *Santa Claus is Comin' to Town*) drives a mail truck through a snowy mountain range. He stops to wish the viewers a Merry Christmas and tells them he wanted to make sure Santa Claus got his letter. He then lies saying he gave the mailman the day off, but it is revealed that he stole the truck and said mailman is tied up in the back.

Potty the Parrot doubts they'll make it to the North Pole, then argues with Patchy about which Christmas carol the directions to the North Pole are in. The truck is driven madly until Potty notices there is literally a fork in the road, which gets stuck in one of the tires and causes the truck to spin madly. Patchy then suggests that they see what SpongeBob is doing for the holidays.

Patchy drives the truck off a cliff and the mailman escapes. He and Potty get lost in the woods (since the fork got stuck in one of the truck's tires and caused it to go flat, preventing them from being able to drive it any further) and are trying to warm up by a fire. Out of a sense of hunger, Patchy hallucinates and imagines Potty as a platter of buffalo wings. Patchy nearly eats his pet, only to snap out of it. Potty then also hallucinates and imagines Patchy's head as a suet cake topped with birdseed and pecks at it.

At the end of the episode, Patchy and Potty make it to the North Pole, believing they finally made it to Santa's workshop. Patchy apparently meets Santa in a cave and tells him his Christmas wish is to meet SpongeBob. However, it turns out he was, once again, hallucinating and really encountered a hungry polar bear, which started chasing him. Watching nearby, the real Santa puts Patchy on the naughty list for stealing a mail truck. He and Potty then end the episode wishing the viewers a Merry Christmas.

Set to December 23, SpongeBob is really excited that Christmas is almost here. SpongeBob sees his friends are preparing for Christmas as well. Squidward is stringing lights so Santa knows to "go away." Patrick has set a trap for Santa to make him stop the clocks so they will have Christmas all year long (but he gets trapped in his own trap). Sandy is conducting a Christmas scientific experiment. Mr. Krabs is ready for the season of "getting." Meanwhile, Plankton isn't happy as he gets nothing but coal in his stocking every year, so he comes up with a new plan to ruin the holidays which involves the new element he recently discovered: a large green glowing chunk of what he dubs Jerktonium (Jt). His plan is to give out fruitcakes to everyone in town, each piece spiked with Jerktonium so that anyone who eats it will become a jerk. With everyone except him acting like a jerk, Santa will have no other choice but to put him on his nice list and give what he always wanted to get for Christmas: the Krabby Patty secret formula.

Driving a fruitcake dispenser car called the "Jerkmaker-9000," Plankton wonders who will be his first victim when SpongeBob shows up. After feeding him a piece of fruitcake and seeing that he did not become a jerk, Plankton thinks he got a piece that did not have Jerktonium, so he feeds SpongeBob more slices, then whole loaves, and even a baker's dozen, but there is still no effect. His plan having seemingly failed yet again, Plankton tosses SpongeBob the keys to the cake dispenser before kicking it and heading back into the Chum Bucket irritatedly. Driving the fruitcake dispenser up to a trio of Christmas carolers, SpongeBob gives them each a piece of fruitcake. Upon consuming it, they get enveloped in a green aura, grow five o'clock shadows and burly eyebrows, and begin arguing about which song to sing. Thinking they're just being passionate about the holidays, SpongeBob drives off to find more people to pass the fruitcake out to. Plankton, hearing the racket, comes out of the Chum Bucket and sees the carolers arguing, much to his delight. The Jerktonium works after all! Getting on a unicycle, Plankton follows after SpongeBob to see him unwittingly carry out his scheme.

Coming up to a Christmas parade in town, SpongeBob starts tossing fruitcake to everyone present: the spectators, the parade Santa, and even the driver of the parade float, totally unaware of the transformation everyone is undergoing. Plankton is pleased that soon everyone in town will be jerks, except SpongeBob.

Consulting Karen, Plankton discovers that SpongeBob's extreme pure-of-heart and innocent love of the Christmas holidays shields his heart from the effects of the Jerktonium, thereby making him immune. Knowing that SpongeBob still being on the nice list would likely ruin his plan, Plankton is forced to unleash "Plan B": an evil wind-up robot clone of SpongeBob, named "ToyBob," to destroy Bikini Bottom and ruin SpongeBob's good name. The robot begins its campaign of naughtiness by throwing a boat into a building and trapping Mr. Krabs inside the Krusty Krab by burning down its sign.

Later that day, as he returns from feeding fruitcake to everyone in Bikini Bottom, SpongeBob crosses paths with the carolers, who bad-mouth him. As SpongeBob passes the Krusty Krab where Mr. Krabs is (cheaply) fixing the sign, Mr. Krabs says that the repairs are coming out of his salary, thinking SpongeBob had destroyed the sign. Then he sees Patrick who also became a jerk by setting another trap for Santa and tells SpongeBob to leave before falling in it again. The next morning, Christmas Eve, SpongeBob finally notices that everyone is being mean. Afraid that Santa might fly by Bikini Bottom, he asks Squidward for help, but Squidward (the only one in town who didn't eat Jerktonium) claims he's not home, which SpongeBob immediately falls for and decides to go see Sandy on Squidward's suggestion. Right after SpongeBob leaves, ToyBob knocks (or more specifically, bumps) Squidward's door, and when he (still angrily) refuses to let ToyBob in, he grabs the door and smashes it on Squidward's head after he furiously demands ToyBob the door back.

Meanwhile, SpongeBob goes to Sandy's treedome to explain, but she is also a jerk. SpongeBob accidentally drops some fruitcake Sandy had been eating into her Christmas Magic Analyzer, which shows that it is contaminated with Jerktonium. Sandy asks where SpongeBob got it from and he answers Plankton. Sandy asks again in disbelief that he would take the cake from the known-to-be evil Plankton and just hand it out to people without suspicion, to which SpongeBob stupidly says uh-huh. Sandy then explains to him that his foolish actions have caused the whole town to act mean; this causes SpongeBob to understand and get worried since he ate tons of Jerktonium. After discovering that SpongeBob is immune to Jerktonium but everyone else needs an antidote, Sandy sets her analyzer to come up with one. However, she can't make sense of the formula notes. SpongeBob realizes that it's actually a music sheet. After SpongeBob recites some of the notes, Sandy instantly returns to normal, making SpongeBob realize the song is the antidote.

Getting to the center of town where everyone is having a riot, SpongeBob begins singing the song "Don't Be a Jerk (It's Christmas)." One by one, all the Bikini Bottomites become good and respectful again as they sing along (with Squidward later joining in despite still being a jerk himself).

With everyone else back to normal in not a moment too soon, SpongeBob happily says to Sandy that Santa should be there any minute, which Mr. Krabs verifies as, at that minute, Santa comes down from the sky on his sleigh. SpongeBob excitedly greets Santa, however, he is afraid to say that he is the bearer of bad tidings: the damage has been done and everyone in town is on the naughty list this year (with no buts about it). He ignores SpongeBob's attempt to explain the situation by declaring that everyone will get coal, except Plankton, much to everyone else's shock. Santa states that he is just as surprised as them, but compared to everyone else, Plankton has been a saint. Much to Mr. Krabs' astonishment, Santa gives Plankton the Krabby Patty formula as his present (before telling Mr. Krabs that he has his ways). Pearl then directs Mr. Krabs' attention to the elves who are in the process of picking his wallet from his pocket, making Mr. Krabs swat them away.

Stunned to see that his attempt to save Christmas has failed, SpongeBob stutters "But-" several times until Patrick slaps him to get him to talk clearly. SpongeBob tries to explain to Santa that he has it all wrong, but he refuses to listen by saying that SpongeBob (on the contrary) is the worst of all, believing that he is still wreaking havoc in Bikini Bottom.

At that moment, ToyBob arrives (much to Plankton's dismay) and, upon spotting Santa, carries out his programming to destroy Christmas by morphing into a larger form and eliminating him. SpongeBob tries to protect Santa but is easily defeated when the robot throws him far away. Santa tries to hide in the Krusty Krab, but ToyBob captures him. SpongeBob saves Santa by using the fruitcake-dispenser to shoot fruitcake at it, clogging its vent holes and causing it to short circuit. SpongeBob manages to get Santa to safety just before ToyBob explodes into pieces. Santa thanks SpongeBob for saving him and tells him that he has been indeed a very good lad, unlike the "owner of ToyBob." One of the elves gives Santa ToyBob's key, which is inscribed with "If found, please return to the Chum Bucket," revealing to Santa that Plankton was responsible for all the trouble, enraging him. Seeing this, Plankton attempts to escape with the Krabby Patty formula only be cornered by Mr. Krabs who calmly tells him to hand over his secret formula without worsening the situation. Mr. Krabs takes back the formula, tosses Plankton to Santa's Sleigh and Santa has the elves dump coal on Plankton as punishment for his crimes, much to Plankton's horror. Santa then leaves everyone to celebrate the rest of the holidays (except Squidward). SpongeBob, looking around, asks if anyone has seen Patrick. The episode ends with Patrick on the back of Santa's sleigh and netting him, throwing him and the reindeer off course, as the episode ends.

## Productionedit | edit source

### Productionedit | edit source

"It's a SpongeBob Christmas!" was based on the 2008 Christmas song "Don't Be a Jerk (It's Christmas)" written by SpongeBob's voice actor, Tom Kenny and his writing partner, Andy Paley. The story of the song was conceived with the help of Doug Lawrence. They wrote it as "...just sort of a little sample calling card of what we were thinking about." Kenny explained, "...Eventually somebody at Nickelodeon found it [the song] on their desk and decided to make it into a holiday special."

"It's a SpongeBob Christmas!" was the first full-length episode in the series that was produced in stop-motion animation. Mark Caballero, Seamus Walsh, and Christopher Finnegan of Screen Novelties animated it, and Caballero and Walsh also served as its directors. Production on the episode began in October 2011 at Los Angeles, California. According to Chris Finnegan, it took about five months to shoot, with a couple of months on either end for research, development, and post. Six sets were constructed on which sixty pounds of baking soda was used as snow, 42 pounds of glitter for the background, 22 pounds of wood chips were used to create Sandy's treedome floor and 20 boxes of cereal covered the coral rocks. Caballero and Walsh had conflicts on making sure the stop-motion version of Bikini Bottom will resemble the 2D world of the series. There was also the issue of making SpongeBob resemble his 2D self.

Series' creator Stephen Hillenburg and executive producer Paul Tibbitt provided hands-on feedback on the production on a weekly basis. "They'd check out the weeklies and go back and forth with us on the various gags [...] It was really a pleasurable experience when they came to visit because we come from the same planet. It all felt very easy and natural," Walsh said.

### Animationedit | edit source

This was the first time that an entire episode used stop-motion animation in series which was implemented by Screen Novelties who also implemented the stop-motion animation for the intro of "Truth or Square," the claymation scene in the song "Goofy Goober Rock" from *The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie*, Abominable snow mollusk in "Frozen Face Off," Bubbles (dolphin) in *The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water*, the episode "The Legend of Boo-Kini Bottom," and Pearl on the surface in "Whale Watching."

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# It's a SpongeBob Christmas!

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*This is the page about the episode. For other uses, see It's a SpongeBob Christmas! (disambiguation)*.

"**It's a SpongeBob Christmas!**" is a *SpongeBob SquarePants* episode from Season 8. In this episode, Plankton puts everybody in Bikini Bottom on the naughty list in an effort to get his Christmas wish.

## Contents

* Characters
* Synopsis
* Production
	+ Production
	+ Animation
	+ Art
		- Storyboard vs. final version
	+ Videos
	+ Music
	+ Release
	+ Reception
* Trivia
	+ General
	+ Cultural references
	+ Errors
* Videos
	+ Trailer
	+ Promos
	+ Clips
	+ Songs
* References

### Charactersedit | edit source

* Patchy the Pirate (animated)
* Potty the Parrot (animated)
* SpongeBob SquarePants
* ToyBob (debut)
* Squidward Tentacles
* Patrick Star
* Eugene H. Krabs
* Sheldon J. Plankton
* Karen Plankton
* Sandy Cheeks
* Mrs. Puff
* Pearl Krabs
* Gary the Snail (cameo)
* Old Man Walker (cameo)
* Bikini Bottomites
* Santa Claus (animated)
* Santa's elves (single appearance)
* Carolers (single appearance)
* Mailman (single appearance)
* Polar bear (single appearance)
* Fake Santa
* Imaginary Santa
* Brown seahorse (cameo)
* Baby
* Frankie (debut)
* Johnny
* Driver
* Little boy
* Santa's reindeer
* Tiger

## Synopsisedit | edit source

In the beginning of the episode, Patchy the Pirate (parodying the role of S.D. Kluger from *Santa Claus is Comin' to Town*) drives a mail truck through a snowy mountain range. He stops to wish the viewers a Merry Christmas and tells them he wanted to make sure Santa Claus got his letter. He then lies saying he gave the mailman the day off, but it is revealed that he stole the truck and said mailman is tied up in the back.

Potty the Parrot doubts they'll make it to the North Pole, then argues with Patchy about which Christmas carol the directions to the North Pole are in. The truck is driven madly until Potty notices there is literally a fork in the road, which gets stuck in one of the tires and causes the truck to spin madly. Patchy then suggests that they see what SpongeBob is doing for the holidays.

Patchy drives the truck off a cliff and the mailman escapes. He and Potty get lost in the woods (since the fork got stuck in one of the truck's tires and caused it to go flat, preventing them from being able to drive it any further) and are trying to warm up by a fire. Out of a sense of hunger, Patchy hallucinates and imagines Potty as a platter of buffalo wings. Patchy nearly eats his pet, only to snap out of it. Potty then also hallucinates and imagines Patchy's head as a suet cake topped with birdseed and pecks at it.

At the end of the episode, Patchy and Potty make it to the North Pole, believing they finally made it to Santa's workshop. Patchy apparently meets Santa in a cave and tells him his Christmas wish is to meet SpongeBob. However, it turns out he was, once again, hallucinating and really encountered a hungry polar bear, which started chasing him. Watching nearby, the real Santa puts Patchy on the naughty list for stealing a mail truck. He and Potty then end the episode wishing the viewers a Merry Christmas.

Set to December 23, SpongeBob is really excited that Christmas is almost here. SpongeBob sees his friends are preparing for Christmas as well. Squidward is stringing lights so Santa knows to "go away." Patrick has set a trap for Santa to make him stop the clocks so they will have Christmas all year long (but he gets trapped in his own trap). Sandy is conducting a Christmas scientific experiment. Mr. Krabs is ready for the season of "getting." Meanwhile, Plankton isn't happy as he gets nothing but coal in his stocking every year, so he comes up with a new plan to ruin the holidays which involves the new element he recently discovered: a large green glowing chunk of what he dubs Jerktonium (Jt). His plan is to give out fruitcakes to everyone in town, each piece spiked with Jerktonium so that anyone who eats it will become a jerk. With everyone except him acting like a jerk, Santa will have no other choice but to put him on his nice list and give what he always wanted to get for Christmas: the Krabby Patty secret formula.

Driving a fruitcake dispenser car called the "Jerkmaker-9000," Plankton wonders who will be his first victim when SpongeBob shows up. After feeding him a piece of fruitcake and seeing that he did not become a jerk, Plankton thinks he got a piece that did not have Jerktonium, so he feeds SpongeBob more slices, then whole loaves, and even a baker's dozen, but there is still no effect. His plan having seemingly failed yet again, Plankton tosses SpongeBob the keys to the cake dispenser before kicking it and heading back into the Chum Bucket irritatedly. Driving the fruitcake dispenser up to a trio of Christmas carolers, SpongeBob gives them each a piece of fruitcake. Upon consuming it, they get enveloped in a green aura, grow five o'clock shadows and burly eyebrows, and begin arguing about which song to sing. Thinking they're just being passionate about the holidays, SpongeBob drives off to find more people to pass the fruitcake out to. Plankton, hearing the racket, comes out of the Chum Bucket and sees the carolers arguing, much to his delight. The Jerktonium works after all! Getting on a unicycle, Plankton follows after SpongeBob to see him unwittingly carry out his scheme.

Coming up to a Christmas parade in town, SpongeBob starts tossing fruitcake to everyone present: the spectators, the parade Santa, and even the driver of the parade float, totally unaware of the transformation everyone is undergoing. Plankton is pleased that soon everyone in town will be jerks, except SpongeBob.

Consulting Karen, Plankton discovers that SpongeBob's extreme pure-of-heart and innocent love of the Christmas holidays shields his heart from the effects of the Jerktonium, thereby making him immune. Knowing that SpongeBob still being on the nice list would likely ruin his plan, Plankton is forced to unleash "Plan B": an evil wind-up robot clone of SpongeBob, named "ToyBob," to destroy Bikini Bottom and ruin SpongeBob's good name. The robot begins its campaign of naughtiness by throwing a boat into a building and trapping Mr. Krabs inside the Krusty Krab by burning down its sign.

Later that day, as he returns from feeding fruitcake to everyone in Bikini Bottom, SpongeBob crosses paths with the carolers, who bad-mouth him. As SpongeBob passes the Krusty Krab where Mr. Krabs is (cheaply) fixing the sign, Mr. Krabs says that the repairs are coming out of his salary, thinking SpongeBob had destroyed the sign. Then he sees Patrick who also became a jerk by setting another trap for Santa and tells SpongeBob to leave before falling in it again. The next morning, Christmas Eve, SpongeBob finally notices that everyone is being mean. Afraid that Santa might fly by Bikini Bottom, he asks Squidward for help, but Squidward (the only one in town who didn't eat Jerktonium) claims he's not home, which SpongeBob immediately falls for and decides to go see Sandy on Squidward's suggestion. Right after SpongeBob leaves, ToyBob knocks (or more specifically, bumps) Squidward's door, and when he (still angrily) refuses to let ToyBob in, he grabs the door and smashes it on Squidward's head after he furiously demands ToyBob the door back.

Meanwhile, SpongeBob goes to Sandy's treedome to explain, but she is also a jerk. SpongeBob accidentally drops some fruitcake Sandy had been eating into her Christmas Magic Analyzer, which shows that it is contaminated with Jerktonium. Sandy asks where SpongeBob got it from and he answers Plankton. Sandy asks again in disbelief that he would take the cake from the known-to-be evil Plankton and just hand it out to people without suspicion, to which SpongeBob stupidly says uh-huh. Sandy then explains to him that his foolish actions have caused the whole town to act mean; this causes SpongeBob to understand and get worried since he ate tons of Jerktonium. After discovering that SpongeBob is immune to Jerktonium but everyone else needs an antidote, Sandy sets her analyzer to come up with one. However, she can't make sense of the formula notes. SpongeBob realizes that it's actually a music sheet. After SpongeBob recites some of the notes, Sandy instantly returns to normal, making SpongeBob realize the song is the antidote.

Getting to the center of town where everyone is having a riot, SpongeBob begins singing the song "Don't Be a Jerk (It's Christmas)." One by one, all the Bikini Bottomites become good and respectful again as they sing along (with Squidward later joining in despite still being a jerk himself).

With everyone else back to normal in not a moment too soon, SpongeBob happily says to Sandy that Santa should be there any minute, which Mr. Krabs verifies as, at that minute, Santa comes down from the sky on his sleigh. SpongeBob excitedly greets Santa, however, he is afraid to say that he is the bearer of bad tidings: the damage has been done and everyone in town is on the naughty list this year (with no buts about it). He ignores SpongeBob's attempt to explain the situation by declaring that everyone will get coal, except Plankton, much to everyone else's shock. Santa states that he is just as surprised as them, but compared to everyone else, Plankton has been a saint. Much to Mr. Krabs' astonishment, Santa gives Plankton the Krabby Patty formula as his present (before telling Mr. Krabs that he has his ways). Pearl then directs Mr. Krabs' attention to the elves who are in the process of picking his wallet from his pocket, making Mr. Krabs swat them away.

Stunned to see that his attempt to save Christmas has failed, SpongeBob stutters "But-" several times until Patrick slaps him to get him to talk clearly. SpongeBob tries to explain to Santa that he has it all wrong, but he refuses to listen by saying that SpongeBob (on the contrary) is the worst of all, believing that he is still wreaking havoc in Bikini Bottom.

At that moment, ToyBob arrives (much to Plankton's dismay) and, upon spotting Santa, carries out his programming to destroy Christmas by morphing into a larger form and eliminating him. SpongeBob tries to protect Santa but is easily defeated when the robot throws him far away. Santa tries to hide in the Krusty Krab, but ToyBob captures him. SpongeBob saves Santa by using the fruitcake-dispenser to shoot fruitcake at it, clogging its vent holes and causing it to short circuit. SpongeBob manages to get Santa to safety just before ToyBob explodes into pieces. Santa thanks SpongeBob for saving him and tells him that he has been indeed a very good lad, unlike the "owner of ToyBob." One of the elves gives Santa ToyBob's key, which is inscribed with "If found, please return to the Chum Bucket," revealing to Santa that Plankton was responsible for all the trouble, enraging him. Seeing this, Plankton attempts to escape with the Krabby Patty formula only be cornered by Mr. Krabs who calmly tells him to hand over his secret formula without worsening the situation. Mr. Krabs takes back the formula, tosses Plankton to Santa's Sleigh and Santa has the elves dump coal on Plankton as punishment for his crimes, much to Plankton's horror. Santa then leaves everyone to celebrate the rest of the holidays (except Squidward). SpongeBob, looking around, asks if anyone has seen Patrick. The episode ends with Patrick on the back of Santa's sleigh and netting him, throwing him and the reindeer off course, as the episode ends.

## Productionedit | edit source

### Productionedit | edit source

"It's a SpongeBob Christmas!" was based on the 2008 Christmas song "Don't Be a Jerk (It's Christmas)" written by SpongeBob's voice actor, Tom Kenny and his writing partner, Andy Paley. The story of the song was conceived with the help of Doug Lawrence. They wrote it as "...just sort of a little sample calling card of what we were thinking about." Kenny explained, "...Eventually somebody at Nickelodeon found it [the song] on their desk and decided to make it into a holiday special."

"It's a SpongeBob Christmas!" was the first full-length episode in the series that was produced in stop-motion animation. Mark Caballero, Seamus Walsh, and Christopher Finnegan of Screen Novelties animated it, and Caballero and Walsh also served as its directors. Production on the episode began in October 2011 at Los Angeles, California. According to Chris Finnegan, it took about five months to shoot, with a couple of months on either end for research, development, and post. Six sets were constructed on which sixty pounds of baking soda was used as snow, 42 pounds of glitter for the background, 22 pounds of wood chips were used to create Sandy's treedome floor and 20 boxes of cereal covered the coral rocks. Caballero and Walsh had conflicts on making sure the stop-motion version of Bikini Bottom will resemble the 2D world of the series. There was also the issue of making SpongeBob resemble his 2D self.

Series' creator Stephen Hillenburg and executive producer Paul Tibbitt provided hands-on feedback on the production on a weekly basis. "They'd check out the weeklies and go back and forth with us on the various gags [...] It was really a pleasurable experience when they came to visit because we come from the same planet. It all felt very easy and natural," Walsh said.

### Animationedit | edit source

This was the first time that an entire episode used stop-motion animation in series which was implemented by Screen Novelties who also implemented the stop-motion animation for the intro of "Truth or Square," the claymation scene in the song "Goofy Goober Rock" from *The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie*, Abominable snow mollusk in "Frozen Face Off," Bubbles (dolphin) in *The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water*, the episode "The Legend of Boo-Kini Bottom," and Pearl on the surface in "Whale Watching."

#### Storyboard vs. final versionedit | edit source

* In the storyboard, the road at the beginning of the episode is just a road with some mountains in the background. In the final version, the road is on the side of a mountain, then the turn.
* In the storyboard, when Patchy stops and introduces his situation, the shot is through the windshield and he is wearing a mailman's hat. In the final version, he looks out of the truck, leaves the truck, and goes to the back of the truck. He is also wearing his normal pirate hat.
* In the storyboard, since Patchy does not leave the truck, the mailman is shown in the back of the truck. He looks different than in the final version. In the final version, since Patchy does not have the mailman hat right away, he switches his and the mailman's hat when he shows the mailman.
* In the storyboard, Potty looks to be standing on the top part of the seat. In the final version, Potty is sitting down.
* In the storyboard, Patchy looks at Potty. In the final version, he gets back in the truck at looks at the camera when he talks to Potty.
* In the storyboard, Potty looks angry at Patchy for getting the directions wrong. In the final version, Potty just looks surprised.
* In the final version, it shows the outside of the truck when Patchy sings the directions. In the storyboard, it shows Patchy.
* In the storyboard, it shows Potty jumping when singing the directions. In the final version, Potty is sitting and then the exterior of the truck is shown again.
* In the storyboard, when the scene stops spinning, the truck is tilted to the left. In the final version, it is tilted to the right.
* In the storyboard, the Bikini Bottom sign-in on the right and does not have any writing on it. In the final version, the sign is on the left and does have writing on it.
* When Conch Street is shown, it is at a different angle in the storyboard and the final version.
* When SpongeBob is in bed, he is at a different angle in the storyboard and the final version. Gary and the Christmas decorations are also not in the scene in the storyboard but are in the final version.
* In the storyboard, when SpongeBob wakes up, he stands up on the bed. In the final version, he does not.
* In the storyboard, when SpongeBob takes out the lights, he is upside down. In the final version, he is right-side up.
* In the storyboard, SpongeBob lassos the lights on his house. In the final version, he runs on the house and then lassos the lights on his house.
* In the storyboard, when SpongeBob is done stringing the lights, he is on the right side of his house. In the final version, he is on the left side.
* In the storyboard, SpongeBob runs on his house to get to the left side. In the final version, he just floats down.
* In the storyboard, SpongeBob had to plug the lights in. In the final version, they just turn on when he is done.
* Squidward had more major movements in the storyboard of the scene where he is hanging up lights than in the final version.
* In the final version of the scene with the first Santa trap, Patrick is wearing a scarf. In the storyboard, he is not.
* In the storyboard of the part where Santa shows up at Patrick's rock, only his head is shown. In the final version, his upper body is shown.
* In the storyboard, the cookie in Patrick's trap does not have a string on it. In the final version, it does.
* In the storyboard, after the cookie is shown, Patrick is holding a string. In the final version, he is not.
* In the storyboard, when Sandy is first shown, the Christmas Analyzer is smaller than in the final version and she is wearing a lab coat. In the final version, she is not wearing a lab coat.
* In the storyboard, SpongeBob's entrance into the treedome is shown. In the final version, it is not.
* In the storyboard, Mr. Krabs is next to a tree when he is first shown. In the final version, he near a table.
* In the storyboard, SpongeBob spins around the front of the tree and ends up in front of Mr. Krabs on the left of the tree. In the final version, he does not do this.
* In the storyboard, when Mr. Krabs explains why he loves Christmas, his whole body is shown. In the final version, only the upper half of his body is shown.
* In the storyboard, after Mr. Krabs says, "The more you give, the more I get," presents appear. In the final version, they do not.
* In the storyboard, the Chum Bucket's frozen dining area is shown before the lab. In the final version, just the lab is shown.
* In the storyboard, when Plankton says, "...his eye on me," he is shown alone on the stool. In the final version, he is next to a machine.
* In the storyboard, when Plankton shows the list of naughty deeds, he is leaning to the right. The list is also less detailed than in the final version. In the final version, he is leaning to the left.
* In the storyboard, Plankton's stocking has his name on it. In the final version, it does not.
* In the storyboard, the paper with Jerktonium on it is already on the periodic table. It is on the left side of the slide and it is nailed on it. Plankton uses a pointer to point it out. In the final version, he sticks the post-it notepaper on the right side of the slide.
* In the storyboard, Jerktonium looks like a floating rock. In the final version, it looks like a crystal.
* When Plankton says, "The Fruitcake," in the final version, an image of a fruitcake appears. In the storyboard, it does not.
* When Plankton says, "Once ingested no one can help turning into the biggest, creepiest, meanest jerk ever," in the final version, he is walking around. In the storyboard, he is looking at the Jerktonium.
* In the storyboard, when Plankton is about to remove the Jerktonium, Karen gives Plankton the pliers. In the final version, he just has the pliers.
* The Jerkmaker-9000 looks different in the storyboard and final version.
* In the storyboard, the first piece of fruit cake is square-shaped. In the final version, it is bread-shaped.
* In the storyboard, when Plankton asks how SpongeBob's dander is and SpongeBob replies, he still has some of the second pieces of fruit cake left. In the final version, he has eaten it all and gets the third piece.
* In the storyboard, there is only one key to the Jerkmaker-9000. In the final version, there are two.
* In the storyboard, the carolers look different than in the final version.
* In the storyboard, the Jerkmaker-9000 is leaning away from the carolers. In the final version, it is leaning towards them.
* In the storyboard, SpongeBob is behind the parade. In the final version, he is on a hill, watching it.
* The parade is different in the storyboard than it is in the final version.
* In the storyboard, SpongeBob's parents were planned to appear during the song Don't Be a Jerk (It's Christmas) when SpongeBob sings "It's the time for family and holly and turkey." However, in the final version, they are replaced with SpongeBob's friends.

### Videosedit | edit source

It's a SpongeBob Squarepants Stop-Motion Christmas

It's a SpongeBob Christmas on YTV!

### Musicedit | edit source

**•** Holiday Seasonings 1 - Eban Schletter *[Patchy driving a mail truck]*

**•** Holiday Seasonings Schmedley - Eban Schletter *["Dashing through the snow" / "There goes Santa Claus"]*

**•** Out of Control - Eban Schletter *[fork in the road]*

**◦** SpongeBob SquarePants Theme Song - Stephen Hillenburg, Derek Drymon, Eban Schletter *[intro]*

**•** Magical Holiday Morning - Hiram Titus, Nicolas Carr *[Title card]*

**◦** Santa Has His Eye on Me - Luke Brookshier, Eban Schletter *[SpongeBob sings this]*

**•** Universally Monsterous - Eban Schletter *["I'm way ahead of you, Karen."]*

**•** ? *[shot of fruitcake]*

**•** A Mean and Creepy Plan - Eban Schletter *[Plankton explains his plan]*

**•** Drama Sting 4 - Steve Marston *[Fruitcake comes out of the oven.]*

**•** A Mean and Creepy Plan - Eban Schletter *[Plankton adds jerktonium to the fruitcake]*

**•** Sleighbell Wipe - Nicolas Carr *[Transition]*

**•** The Fruitcake Vendor - Nicolas Carr, Barry Anthony *[SpongeBob eating Plankton's fruitcake]*

**•** Carolers Doo-Wop - Nicolas Carr *[Carolers vocalize in front of the Chum Bucket]*

**•** Happy Holiday Cheer - Hiram Titus, Nicolas Carr *[SpongeBob gives fruitcake to carolers]*

**•** Hot Steel and Slide Licks (e) - Jeremy Wakefield *["It's great to see people so passionate about the holidays."]*

**•** Down in Davy Jones' Locker - Nicolas Carr *["The jerktonium seems to work on these jerks."]*

**•** Super Highway March - Nicolas Carr, Barry Anthony *[parade]*

**◦** Hot Fruitcake - Marc Ceccarelli, Eban Schletter *[SpongeBob giving everyone fruitcake]*

**•** A Mean and Creepy Plan - Eban Schletter *[people fighting]*

**•** Super Highway March - Nicolas Carr, Barry Anthony *[Santa parade float]*

**•** Jingle Bells - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield *["I want a trampoline!"]*

**•** Drama Sting 5 - Steve Marston *["Success!"]*

**‣** Lonely Stranger - Laurie Johnson *[Karen explaining how Plankton's plan is flawed]*

**•** Drama Sting 3 - Steve Marston *[ToyBob revealed]*

**•** What's This - Nicolas Carr *["Huh?"]*

**•** Hot Steel and Slide Licks - Jeremy Wakefield *[Plankton turns ToyBob's wind-up key]*

**‣** Attack of the Giant Robots - Cris Velasco *["I am ready... to destroy Christmas!"]*

**•** Sleighbell Wipe - Nicolas Carr *[Transition]*

**•** Holiday Seasonings 2 - Eban Schletter *[Patchy's mail truck crashes]*

**•** Holiday Seasonings 3 - Eban Schletter *[Patchy and Potty huddled around a fire.]*

**•** Sleighbell Wipe - Nicolas Carr *[Transition]*

**•** Bikini Bottom Bound - Nicolas Carr, Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield *["Merry Christmas, fellas!"]*

**•** Hot Steel and Slide Licks (a) - Jeremy Wakefield *[Patrick gets mauled]*

**•** Sleighbell Wipe - Nicolas Carr *[Transition]*

**•** Holiday Seasonings 4 - Eban Schletter *["Ah, Christmas Eve."]*

**•** Deck the Halls - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield *[Frankie and Johnny greet each other]*

**•** A Mean and Creepy Plan - Eban Schletter *[Frankie throws a snowball at Johnny]*

**•** Hot Steel and Slide Licks (v) - Jeremy Wakefield *["I'm gonna need some help."]*

**•** Sleighbell Wipe - Nicolas Carr *[Transition]*

**•** A Mean and Creepy Plan - Eban Schletter *[SpongeBob knocks on Squidward's door]*

**•** Lap Steel - Nicolas Carr *["Good idea, Squidward!"]*

**‣** Monster Bug (a) - Gregor F. Narholz *[ToyBob comes by]*

**•** Hot Steel and Slide Licks (f) - Jeremy Wakefield *[ToyBob smashes Squidward's door over his head]*

**•** Sleighbell Wipe - Nicolas Carr *[Transition]*

**•** A Mean and Creepy Plan - Eban Schletter *[SpongeBob goes to Sandy's treedome]*

**•** The Donut Dilemma - Nicolas Carr *[Sandy complains that she's out of fruitcake]*

**•** Hot Steel and Slide Licks (f) - Jeremy Wakefield *[SpongeBob slips on an acorn]*

**•** Vibe Q Sting - Nicolas Carr *["Well, I'll be hornswoggled."]*

**‣** Unsettled Menace - Phil Green *["This is terrible!"]*

**•** You're An Idiot - Eban Schletter *[Sandy calls SpongeBob an idiot]*

**‣** Danger Sign - Harry Bluestone, Emil Cadkin *["I've eaten tons of that fruitcake!"]*

**‣** Alien Spacecraft (a) - Gregor F. Narholz *[x-ray of SpongeBob]*

**‣** Adventure Fanfare 1 - Harry Bluestone, Emil Cadkin *[Sandy calculates an antidote]*

**•** The Antidote - Nicolas Carr

**◦** Don't Be a Jerk (It's Christmas) - Tom Kenny, Andy Paley *[SpongeBob sings this]*

**•** Magical Holiday Morning - Hiram Titus, Nicolas Carr *[Everyone is outside the Krusty Krab]*

**•** Jingle Bells - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield *[Santa arrives]*

**•** Sad Jingle Bells - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield *[Santa tells bad news.]*

**‣** Straight from Hell - Gregor F. Narholz *[ToyBob wreaking havoc]*

**‣** Mr. Swashbuckle - James McConnel *[SpongeBob shoots fruitcake at ToyBob]*

**•** It's a Hula Holiday - Nicolas Carr, Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield *[coal dumped on Plankton]*

**•** Sleighbell Wipe - Nicolas Carr *[Transition]*

**•** Magical Holiday Morning - Hiram Titus, Nicolas Carr *[Santa leaves]*

**•** Sleighbell Wipe - Nicolas Carr *[Transition]*

**•** Holiday Seasonings 4 - Eban Schletter *[Patchy finds Santa's workshop/Polar bear chases Patchy.]*

**•** Orchestral Button Ending - Nicolas Carr *[Ending]*

### Releaseedit | edit source

* This episode is available on the It's a SpongeBob Christmas!, The SpongeBob SquarePants Collection, The SpongeBob SquarePants 8 Season DVD Collection, Christmas DVD Double Pack, Complete Eighth Season, the SpongeBob SquarePants Holiday Collection set, Next 100 Episodes, and The Best 200 Episodes Ever DVDs.
* This episode is also available on the It's a SpongeBob Christmas! Blu-ray.

### Receptionedit | edit source

* Nancy Basile of MediaMedusa called this special "a treat, though I disagree with a few of the animator’s choices."

## Triviaedit | edit source

### Generaledit | edit source

* This special premiered on TV exactly 12 years after "Christmas Who?," another christmas special, aired.
* The original title card had the title in red and white with SpongeBob's name inside a white oval.
	+ This turned out to be the logo for promotions of the special.
* Designs for the promotional logo and merchandising were done by Alisa Blanter and Lab Partners SF, with the creative direction of Chris Groll.
* This episode aired for the first time in Israel on Sunday, September 9, 2012. This is the first time a *SpongeBob SquarePants* episode first aired in Israel before the United States.
* This is Sandy's final appearance in season 8.
* This episode came out on the It's a SpongeBob Christmas! DVD in Canada on Tuesday, October 30, 2012, in the UK on Thursday, November 1, 2012, and in the USA on Tuesday, November 6, 2012.
* The episode premiered in the United Kingdom and Ireland on Sunday, December 2, 2012.
* This episode premiered on CBS in the USA, becoming the first *SpongeBob* episode to premiere on an American network outside of Nickelodeon. This was before the special aired on Nick and was rated TV-PG instead of the usual TV-Y7 rating.
	+ The Patchy segments were also removed in the CBS broadcast to save time.
	+ This is the first episode to have a rating other than TV-Y7 or TV-Y, the latter of which is what the show was rated from 1999 to 2007.
	+ This episode marks the only time *SpongeBob* has aired on terrestrial television.
	+ It was unknown why CBS aired the episode since at the time it was not owned by Viacom since 2005 until 2019 when ViacomCBS was formed.
* On Friday, November 23, 2012, this episode premiered on YTV in Canada. This was 13 days away before it aired on Nickelodeon on Thursday, December 6, 2012 in the USA.
* In the Korean version, the first part of the Patchy subplot is cut.
* The Painty the Pirate Christmas opening sequence from "Christmas Who?" is used again for this special.

* The differences between the theme song of this episode and "Christmas Who?" include:
	+ The opening scene was reanimated to have a season 8 look.
	+ Urchins are added to the purple rocks.
	+ The flowers in the sky are in different positions.
	+ The green stones on the pathway to SpongeBob's house are different.
	+ SpongeBob's pineapple house is decorated and Squidward's house is covered in snow.
	+ Hans putting on SpongeBob's pants is replaced with Santa Claus' hand.
	+ The woman choir is replaced with the children's choir.
	+ The Realistic Fish Head appears wearing a Santa hat.
	+ During the sequence where the chorus says "SpongeBob SquarePants" three times in the fifth verse, it was replaced with "Fa la la la la la la."
	+ The word "Christmas" is added as the last word of the opening theme song.
	+ There is no "SpongeBob Christmas Special" card like there was in the former.
* Gary only makes a cameo in this episode with his eyes closed at the beginning in SpongeBob's bedroom. However, Gary's full stop-motion form can be seen in "The Legend of Boo-Kini Bottom."
* Patrick mentions Fort Knox, a landmark in Kentucky. Fort Knox stores pure gold.
* Some of the things on Plankton's naughty deeds list include littering, world destruction, evil, misspell words, practical jokes, larceny, puppy taunting, and neglect grooming.
* The Jerkmaker-9000 is also seen in *SpongeBob Moves In!*
* Plankton calls SpongeBob "SpongeBoy," which was his original name.
* The stop-motion form of Plankton does not exist during the scene where ToyBob is lowered from the ceiling, as it can be seen that the Plankton puppet is being shaken while the SpongeBob is lowered from the ceiling. This, however, has not been confirmed.
* The sheet music that appears on Sandy's machine is not the music for Don't Be a Jerk (It's Christmas), rather it's the music for the song, The Best Day Ever.
* John Goodman previously voiced Santa Claus in *Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Movie*. He is one of the only four actors to play Santa Claus in more Christmas productions than just one; the other three being Mickey Rooney, who played Kris Kringle/Santa Claus in four Rankin/Bass productions (all of which are *Santa Claus is Comin' to Town*, *The Year Without a Santa Claus*, *Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July*, and *A Miser Brothers' Christmas*), Tim Allen, who played Scott Calvin/Santa Claus in *The Santa Clause* trilogy and Ed Asner, who played him in *Elf*, *Elf: Buddy's Musical Christmas*, and *Santa Stole Our Dog: A Merry Doggone Christmas!*
* It appears that SpongeBob and Squidward were the only ones who are not affected by Jerktonium.
* The bubble transitions are replaced with snowflakes and one transitioning scene with coal.
* The original background characters in *SpongeBob SquarePants* (ex. Incidental 41, Incidental 1, Incidental 7, etc.) weren't made in stop-motion.
* This is the first episode to not use the show's regular animation. The second is "The Legend of Boo-Kini Bottom."
* This is the first episode to be produced in 1080p. The previous widescreen episode, "Truth or Square," was produced in 720p.
* This is the first time an episode aired in Canada on the same exact day as the American airdate.
* This is the second time that SpongeBob creates a rainbow. The first time is in "Idiot Box."
* This is the second Christmas special of the series. The first is the season 2 episode "Christmas Who?"
* This is the second time that SpongeBob, Patrick, Squidward, and Plankton are seen in stop-motion form, the first being in a Merry Nickmas short.
* This is the second time Plankton is seen on a unicycle. The first time is in "Squidward's School for Grown-Ups."
* This is the third episode where a character's name wasn't said in the episode but was revealed in the credits. In this episode, it is ToyBob. The first time is Squidette from "Squidville" and the second time is Lord Poltergeist in "Ghoul Fools."
* This is the fourth time to have an alternate theme song. The first is in "Christmas Who?," the second is in "What Ever Happened to SpongeBob?," and the third is in "Truth or Square."
	+ The intro is very similar to "Christmas Who?"'s.
* This is the fourth double-length episode of season 8. The first is "Frozen Face-Off," the second is "A SquarePants Family Vacation," and the third is "Ghoul Fools."
* This was the last episode to premiere in 2012.
* This episode is not available in the iTunes version of Season 8. Instead, it is purchasable as a stand-alone feature.
* This was the last episode where Paul Tibbitt performs the voice of Potty. Doug Lawrence would take over as Potty starting with "Feral Friends."
* This episode was presented in widescreen format (16:9 or 1:78:1), making it the second and last non-season 9 episode in widescreen. The first one was the season 6 episode "Truth or Square."
	+ However, unlike "Truth or Square," this was the first episode produced in 1080p. "Truth or Square" was produced in 720p.
* In this episode, the end credits theme is low-pitched.

* Starting with this episode, the characters on the United Plankton Pictures, Inc. logo are in a brighter shade of yellow and the water ripples are enhanced to HD.

* From December 24-25, 2019, Nicktoons held a marathon that aired this special 24 hours straight.
* This and "Christmas Who?" were re-aired on July 25, 2020, as part of the "Nickmas in July" event.