Missing Identity

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SpongeBob SquarePants episode

"Missing Identity"

Season №:

Episode №:

58b (for production),
Episode 57b (for premiere)

Production №:

058

Airdate:

January 19, 2004

Best Day Ever Rank:

#75

Credits

Guest(s):

None

Writer(s):

Ennio Torresan
Erik Wiese
Stephen Hillenburg
Derek Drymon
Tim Hill

Storyboard Artist(s):

Erik Wiese

Supervising Producer:

None

Directors

Storyboard:

Ennio Torresan

Animation:

Tom Yasumi

Creative:

Derek Drymon

Episode List
Select show to expand.

Premiere Order

Production Order

"Missing Identity" is a SpongeBob SquarePants episode from season three.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Brief summary: SpongeBob recounts the story of when he loses his identity. At work, Squidward tells him to retrace his steps, so that he can find his name-tag. However, there is only one hour until a uniform inspection.

Characters Present:

SpongeBob SquarePants
Patrick Star
Squidward Tentacles
Mr. Krabs
Gary
Chef
Waiter
Krusty Krab Customers
Snail Po Employees
- Peterson
Old Man Jenkins
Tough guys who threw SpongeBob into the dumpster

1 Plot
2 In Popular Culture
3 Quotes
4 Trivia/Goofs

[edit] Plot

SpongeBob SquarePants is at a diner, late at night. It is a dark and weary day, and the rain is pouring down. A patron is solving a crossword puzzle, and realises he had lost his pen. A waitress says he can borrow hers, and does. SpongeBob says he once lost something more important than a pen. He once lost his identity.

He recounts the events of last Monday. He wakes up, and throwing his blanket into the air, says "Good morning world, and all who inhabit it!" The blanket falls on him and SpongeBob, not being able to see, falls off his bed and his alarm clock falls on top of his head. He falls down the stairs and the alarm propels him into the window. He feeds Gary, and realises that he has been feeding Gary snail food for years and doesn't even know what it tastes like. He tastes a little bit, and is horribly disgusted, and his disgust is even heard at the headquarters of the company that makes Gary's snail food. He looks at the clock and realises that he's late for work, so he quickly gets changed and skips to work.

While he skips to work, he says hello to Patrick Star, says hello to Old Man Jenkins, then places an apple on Mr. Krabs' desk. Then, two guys throw him into the dumpster.

Later, as SpongeBob serves food to a customer, the customer tells him that he should wear a name-tag so that she can thank him in a sophisticated and civil manner. He assures her that he is wearing a name-tag, but then sees nothing but a shirt. He immediately hyperventilates, and tells Squidward that he has lost his name-tag. SpongeBob faints almost immediately. When he wakes up, he asks Squidward what happened. His response is that he fainted because he lost his name-tag. Squidward assures him that his name-tag is not that important, but just as he says that Mr. Krabs informs them that there's a uniform inspection in one hour. Squidward tells SpongeBob that he should retrace his steps.

SpongeBob does, but fails in finding it. Patrick suggests looking in the dumpster, and they go searching there. Patrick finds SpongeBob's name-tag, but it seems to keep disappearing. SpongeBob is confused, but all the mysteries are cleared when Patrick says "At least I don't wear my shirt backwards!" SpongeBob then realises that he had his name-tag all along, his shirt was just backwards. At the uniform inspection, Mr. Krabs smells SpongeBob and is horribly disgusted. He kicks SpongeBob out of the Krusty Krab.

SpongeBob finishes telling his story, and thanks the waitress for listening, calling her "Betty". She says that her name isn't Betty, she just borrowed someone else's uniform while hers is getting cleaned. When SpongeBob learns this, he ends the episode doing a Jack Benny double-take.

[edit] In Popular Culture

The scene where the Snailpo executive feels a disturbance after Spongebob tastes a can of Snailpo is presumably parody of the scene in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope where Obi-Wan Kenobi feels a disturbance after Alderaan is destroyed.

[edit] Quotes

Patrick: "Hi, SpongeBoob. SPONGEBOOB!? I SAID SPONGEBOOB! Ha ha ha ha! Okay! Okay! Sorry people."
SpongeBob: Gary it's time for breakfast!,(Starts singing) The most important meal of the day, Serving it up Gary's way hey.(starts pouring snail food in the bowl)Hmm? You know I'v been feeding this to Gary for years, And I don't know what it taste like. (Starts putting his tongue in the left over snail food in the can)Bleh-bleh-bleh-bleh-bleh-bleh-bleh-bleh (It reaches to the Snail-Po Company)
Co-Worker: What is it Peterson?
Woker: I don't know? I feel a... disturbance?

Spongebob: La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la la la,La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la,La-la-la-la...

*Waitress: Wait when exactly did you lose your identity?
*Customer: Yeah, and who's Patrick?
*Cook: Why did you eat Snail-Po?

[edit] Trivia/Goofs

The fourteenth episode that had flowers on the title card.
This is the third time that reference is made to the 11-minute length of an episode, the first being in the Season 1 episode, Nature Pants and Club SpongeBob by Squidward and being referred to by the waitress in Missing Identity.
When SpongeBob imagines the bank robber entering the store with his name-tag, the robber yells "ATTICA!", in a reference to what the robber yells in the film Dog Day Afternoon.
When SpongeBob is trying to retrace his steps with Patrick, Squidwards house is not shown between SpongeBob's and Patrick's house.
When SpongeBob and Patrick are shown in the dumpster looking for SpongeBob's name tag, it is shown as being much larger than when they were shown standing outside of it.
We learn that Patrick likes Stingray 5000.
SpongeBob claims that he doesn't know what Gary's food tastes like. However, in I Was a Teenage Gary and Dumped, he ate snail food.
There is a scene where SpongeBob was shown from behind waving to Old Man Jenkins, with an animation error revealing that his name tag wasn't shown. But this may be from what he had envisioned about.
When Spongebob was telling Patrick all the things he did when and after he was at the Krusty Krab, one of them is that he placed an apple on Mr. Krabs' desk. If you look closely while they are in the dumpster, you can see that Patrick digs up an half-eaten apple and is thrown on top of Spongebob making his "garbage hairdo".
Snail-po is a reference to Alpo dog food.
After Spongebob passes out, Squidward is seen reading "Fancy Living Digest" also seen in Chocolate With Nuts.
When Spongebob is retracing his steps, he slides over to Gary to feed him. His back is shown, but his nametag is not there.
Also, when Spongebob is retracing his steps, he does everything but attempt to put his shirt on again.
Squidward was able to pass the uniform inspection without his name tag on.
When Spongebob and Patrick approch the dumpster, Spongebob's back is show(again),but the name tag wasn't there(again).