Someone has dug up and published a rare raw audio recording of a classic SpongeBob SquarePants episode, which includes SpongeBob swearing, lots of goofy gags, and the fun origins of one of the best-known SpongeBob memes.
What seems to be a clip of raw voice-recorded audio from SpongeBob SquarePants episode 33a, Shanghaied, appeared on YouTube and Archive.org last week. As far as anyone can tell, the audio is legit — the recording is an hour and fourteen minutes long and includes all of SpongeBob, Patrick, Squidward, and the Flying Dutchman’s lines. That includes loads of outtakes, fun conversation between takes, and even some lines and gags that were changed slightly in the final version.
Shanghaied sees SpongeBob, Patrick, and Squidward stumble upon the Flying Dutchman’s ghostly ship, where they get up to some ghost pirate hyjinks while trying to keep the Dutchman from eating them. The original episode was a special airing featuring two alternative endings that audiences were encouraged to vote for, each one different depending on which character received a “wish” from the Dutchman. Shanghaied includes a number of well known SpongeBob gags that have achieved meme status over the years, including Patrick yodeling “LEEDLE EEDLE EEDLE” and a frantic sprint through “the perfume department.”
The original audio is a delight to listen to. There are some slight differences from what aired, most notably in the first part of the episode when SpongeBob declares “The sky had a baby!” and Squidward suggests he climb up the “umbilical chord” — this was changed to the less scientific “anchor rope” in the final episode. There’s also an entire cut line, where Patrick says, “I knew our oufits weren’t skimpy enough,” in response to the Dutchman deciding to eat the trio rather than keep them on his ghostly crew. The censors probably wouldn’t have gone for that one!
Throughout, you can hear actors Tom Kenny (SpongeBob), Bill Fagerbakke (Patrick), Rodger Bumpass (Squidward), and Brian Doyle-Murray (The Flying Dutchman) getting up to all sorts of laugh-inducing shenanigans between takes. There’s a lot of joy, too, from the late show creator Stephen Hillenburg, who you can hear directing and who appears to be directly responsible for approving Fagerbakke’s “LEEDLE” yell amidst Fagerbakke’s various takes.
Toward the end, Kenny even does the unthinkable: he makes SpongeBob drop an F-bomb at the prospect of being eaten by the Dutchman. Kenny’s being goofy — the crew has to do several takes on this one, because the directors don’t want the screaming to be too graphic. They’re told not long after they can’t tell the Dutchman not to be “such a jerk,” and Kenny adjusts it to “so mean” instead.
The whole file is a really enjoyable listen for anyone who likes SpongeBob, but fans seem nervous that it won’t be available for long. The file seems to have already been torn down from its original spot on archive.org, so it’s only a matter of time before it vanishes from other places too. Enjoy SpongeBob saying [dolphin noises] while you can!
We interviewed Fagerbakke a few years ago upon the debut of The Patrick Star Show, and chatted with him and Kenny again the following year to learn how to talk like their characters. SpongeBob SquarePants itself is currently in the midst of season 14, but has been renewed for a 15th season.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
