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Encyclopedia SpongeBobia
If you were looking for the article about the book, then see Hall Monitor (book).
If you were looking for the article about the Russian DVD, then see Hall Monitor (DVD).
If you were looking for the article about the Toys "R" Us DVD, then see Hall Monitor (Toys "R" Us DVD).

"Hall Monitor" is a SpongeBob SquarePants episode from season 1. In this episode, SpongeBob takes his role as the hall monitor of Mrs. Puff's Boating School too far.

Characters[]

Synopsis[]

Hall Monitor 046

"The hall monitor!"

At Mrs. Puff's Boating School, it is time to select the hall monitor for the day. Mrs. Puff notices that SpongeBob is the only one who has yet to serve as hall monitor. SpongeBob then approaches Mrs. Puff, and after desperately attempting to find another candidate, she is forced to give the hall monitor duties to SpongeBob.

After being elected as Boating School Hall Monitor, SpongeBob gives an extremely long speech, which ends up lasting the entire school day (and thus his whole tenure as hall monitor), which puts Mrs. Puff and all of his schoolmates to sleep. Out of sympathy, Mrs. Puff allows SpongeBob to at least wear his uniform until the next day, though privately apprehensive of her decision.

However, SpongeBob goes above and beyond the call of duty and decides to become the "hall monitor" of the city, with disastrous results. His activities include an atrociously vain attempt to direct traffic, resulting in a massive crash pile-up, and scaring a couple out of their house in the guise of the "Open Window Maniac," with the intention of showing them the "dangers" of leaving a house window open. Later, SpongeBob comes across Patrick eating a strawberry ice cream cone and labels him a criminal after Patrick drops the ice cream on the ground.

Then, a newspaper boy comes up to SpongeBob and Patrick, and gives them a newspaper with the headline "Maniac strikes Bikini Bottom." SpongeBob looks at the newspaper headline alerting about a maniac causing trouble around town, blind to the fact that he is himself the article's subject. SpongeBob suggests they stop this maniac, which gives a saddened Patrick the chance to, in his words, "be good" by becoming SpongeBob's "deputy." They end up getting ice cream twice as part of Patrick's "ex-criminal" advice and then decide to split up to find the maniac, communicating using walkie-talkies.

Seconds after SpongeBob runs off, two police officers pull up next to Patrick. They ask him if he has seen the maniac, showing him a wanted poster with a picture of SpongeBob, which he at first mistakes for an imagined, separate maniac, and screams with terror at the mere sight of the poster.

Hall Monitor 136

"Ahhh! It's the maniac!"

The cops patiently assure him that it's just a drawing and not the real thing and instruct him to tell them if he has seen the person when they show the picture. Patrick agrees to cooperate, but he keeps screaming whenever the police show him the sketch. Eventually, the cops decide to have a little fun and repeatedly show and hide the picture as Patrick screams every single time. The officers then drive off, suggesting to Patrick that he stays indoors and take the ice cream cone off his head.

Soon, night suddenly falls, and Patrick becomes scared. He calls SpongeBob and asks him to return to home. SpongeBob comes back as Patrick finds a poster of the maniac before he sees SpongeBob in the distance across the street under a streetlight. However, Patrick recognizes him as the maniac rather than SpongeBob. He alerts SpongeBob through his walkie-talkie, and SpongeBob attempts to escape the maniac. Everywhere he goes, Patrick tells him the maniac is there, causing SpongeBob to hide in a mailbox for safety. Upon being told that the maniac is also in there, he bursts his arms and legs out of the mailbox, sprinting around the city in a blind panic. In his terrified state, he topples several buildings and crashes through a fence covered in the wanted posters. After seeing a poster from the fence, he finally realizes that he is the maniac who has been reported in the newspaper and is being pursued by law enforcement causing Patrick to scream and run away offscreen.

The police arrive to arrest SpongeBob, but Mrs. Puff appears and berates him for causing the destruction of Bikini Bottom. She then explains and confesses the situation to the police, letting out that he is her responsibility. The police interpret this as taking responsibility for the crimes, and she is arrested instead.

Sometime later at Boating School, Mrs. Puff is working with the class on their essay while she is being broadcast on TV from jail, until she tells SpongeBob that he needs to see her after class, "six months from now." and the episode ends with a sound of a cell door slamming.

Production[]

Art[]

Model sheets[]

Music[]

 ) Production music
 ) Original music
 ) SpongeBob music

  Sponge Bob Theme - Brad Carow [Title card.]
  Horlepiep - Jan Rap [Opening.]
  Dramatic Cue (H) - Ronald Hanmer ["Sponge... Bob..."]
  Menace from the Deep - Robert Cornford ["It's Jimmy! Jimmy's the hall monitor."]
  Glory Road - Sam Fonteyn ["Yahoo!"]
  Pomp and Circumstance March #1 - Edward Elgar, Fiachra Trench [SpongeBob's speech.]
*   Send them Victorious (b) - Graham De Wilde ["Hall monitor!"]
  Stack of Leis - Kapono Beamer [SpongeBob gives back the uniform.]
  Honolulu March - Hans Haider [Broken traffic light.]
  Send them Victorious (b) - Graham De Wilde ["This looks like a job for the hall monitor!"]
  War Blower - The Blue Hawaiians [SpongeBob directing traffic.]
  The Mob - Sam Spence [Pile of wrecked cars.]
  Point of Departure K - Gregor F. Narholz ["I'm the open window maniac!"]
  The Mob - Sam Spence [Spilled ice cream.]
  Closing Theme 2 - Steve Belfer [Patrick eating ice cream.]
  The Mob - Sam Spence ["Sorry's not good enough, Patrick."]
  Hit and Run - Sam Spence [Shot of ice cream on the ground/"Extra! Extra!"]
  King Kong Coming [#33.03] - Gregor F. Narholz [SpongeBob reads the newspaper.]
  Send them Victorious (b) - Graham De Wilde ["...the hall monitor!"]
  Taking Up Positions - Laurie Johnson [Patrick wears an ice cream cone for a hat.]
  The Mob - Sam Spence [Getting ice cream/Getting ice cream again.]
  Troop Movement Alt. End - Sam Fonteyn [SpongeBob imitates a siren.]
  Dramatic Impact (2) - Ivor Slaney [Wanted poster.]
  The Mob - Sam Spence ["Come in, SpongeBob."]
  The Killing Ground (a) - Richard A. Harvey [Patrick nervously imitates a siren.]
  Night Butcher - Richard A. Harvey [Patrick sees the maniac.]
  Flight In Panic 1 - Gregor F. Narholz [SpongeBob hiding everywhere.]
  House Of Horror [#10.5] - W. Merrick Farran [SpongeBob going crazy.]
  Dramatic Impact (2) - Ivor Slaney [SpongeBob realizes he is the maniac.]
  Hawaiian Link (B) - Richard Myhill ["You should be ashamed of yourself."]
  Hawaiian Link (A) - Richard Myhill ["Uh-oh..."]
  Horlepiep - Jan Rap [Ending.]

*"Pomp and Circumstance March #1" is only heard in non-remastered prints of this episode (as broadcast on Nick@Nite, occasional "best of" compilations on Nickelodeon and available on DVD). "Land of Hope and Glory" by Edward Elgar and the R.A.F. Music Library is only heard in remastered prints of this episode (as broadcast on Nickelodeon, Nicktoons and available via streaming on Amazon Prime Video, Paramount+ and iTunes).

Release[]

Reception[]

  • "Hall Monitor" was ranked #99 during the Best Day Ever event from November 9–10, 2006.

Trivia[]

General[]

  • In this episode and its sister episode, the word "strawberry" is muttered by a main character.
  • On Mrs. Puff's hall monitor sheet, SpongeBob's name is written in red text, while the other names on the sheet are written in black text.
    • It might be because she trusts him the least with the hall monitor duties.
  • When Mrs. Puff looks at the list of hall monitors, the names listed are:
    • Bart
    • Jimmy
    • Tina
    • Ralph
    • Beth
    • Mimi
    • Buddy
    • SpongeBob
  • When Mrs. Puff sees SpongeBob is next and tries to substitute another student, she names:
    • Jimmy
    • Tina
    • Beth
    • Phil (not on the list)
    • Henry (not on the list)
    • Vera (not on the list)
    • Clayton (not on the list)
      • The last two names, Vera and Clayton, are references to Derek Drymon's daughter, Vera, and Stephen Hillenburg's son, Clayton.
  • Incidental 28, despite being one of SpongeBob's fellow classmates in this episode, can only be seen in the classroom when SpongeBob begins his speech. He is not seen when the class rushes out after SpongeBob's speech.
  • My leg!: When the pile-up is shown, which marks the second time it is heard in the series.
  • Patrick's line "I wanna be good!" from this episode can also be heard in The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie 3D game.
  • The jail door closing sound is usually cut off due to the screen cutting to black at an inappropriate time.
  • This episode marks the first for several things:
  • SpongeBob commits a series of crimes as the Hall Monitor:
    • Directing traffic without proper authorization (resulting in pile-ups and automotive wrecks).
    • Breaking and entering into a private residence.
    • Destruction of city and private property.
    • Impersonating an officer.
  • This is the third episode where SpongeBob gets a deep voice. The first was "Help Wanted," and the second was "Jellyfishing."
  • Mrs. Puff wears hair curlers in this episode. Some time before "Life of Crime" occurred, Mr. Krabs stole the hair curlers from her, and in that episode said that they were a gift.
  • There are 61 police officers surrounding SpongeBob. Many are duplicates.
  • A storyboard image appears on the chapter 1 title page of The SpongeBob SquarePants Experience: A Deep Dive into the World of Bikini Bottom.
  • The Sponge Bob Theme can be heard in this episode.
    • The theme was originally used during the title sequence of the 1997 pilot version of "Help Wanted," before being replaced with the now-iconic theme song. Thus, "Hall Monitor" marks its first usage in a broadcast episode.
    • The theme was not played again until almost 13 years later, when it was played in season 8 episode "For Here or to Go" during the entrance scene of the Bogus Business Bureau.
  • Patrick wearing an ice cream cone as his "uniform" is referenced on page 2 of The Pilot a Mini-Movie and the Square Shorts.
  • When SpongeBob is walking on the side of the road, before he sees the broken traffic light, one of his Boating School classmates drives by him. When SpongeBob is attempting to direct traffic, another classmate is seen driving. This may mean that these classmates are driving illegally.
  • This episode was paired up with different episodes during certain events:
  • In the Filipino dub, Incidental 13 is Incidental 12's father.[citation needed]
Wanted Maniac Posters in Friendiversary
  • This episode was referenced in "Friendiversary" when Squidward is trying to get away from SpongeBob as the posters in the episode was seen.
Cone Patrick in SpongeBob Simulator
Hall Monitor SpongeBob in SpongeBob Simulator
  • Patrick's Ice Cream cone hat would later appear as a First Look reward in SpongeBob Simulator.
    • SpongeBob's Hall Monitor outfit from this episode is also planned as a skin in SpongeBob Simulator.


Cultural references[]

Errors[]

  • Mrs. Puff's list does not correspond to the actual amount of students in her class. The genders of the names on the list do not correspond with the seen students, either. In addition, she does not even attempt to appoint half the listed students to hall monitor duties before relenting.
  • When Patrick says it is getting dark, some buildings move slightly to the right.
  • If Beth graduated, her name should not still be on the list of potential hall monitors.
  • When SpongeBob first starts directing traffic, he turns left, and the whistle in his mouth is upside-down. When he turns right, the whistle is right-side up. The orientation of the whistle continues to alternate based on which direction SpongeBob faces for the rest of the shot.
  • When SpongeBob determines the spilled ice cream is strawberry-flavored, the road disappears. It briefly reappears during the close-up of the ice cream, but disappears again, even in wider-angle shots of the same ice cream cone.
  • When SpongeBob tells Patrick to come down from the wall, Patrick stands once he gets off the wall; but when the camera is zoomed out, Patrick is seen sitting on SpongeBob.
Hall Monitor 133

Officer John (orange policeman) incorrectly has green eyelids.

  • When the police arrive and ask Patrick about the maniac, Officer John Slugfish's eyelids are the same color as Officer Rob John's. However, when they talk to Patrick, Officer John's eyelids are orange.
  • Whether the "Wanted - Maniac" poster depicts SpongeBob with clothing varies practically poster-by-poster. The poster the officers show Patrick and the one Patrick stumbles on does not depict clothing, while the one placed in the background of SpongeBob during his patrol does. Posters with and without clothing can be found on the wall SpongeBob crashes into towards the end of the episode.
    • In addition, the shape of the clothing more resembles SpongeBob's regular clothing, despite him wearing the hall monitor gear while performing the acts that would be lead him to be labeled as a maniac.
  • When Patrick spots the maniac (SpongeBob) in the dusk of night, he states the maniac is standing at the intersection of Conch Street and Coral Avenue. There is even a sign to indicate the intersection. But from where Patrick is standing, the intersection looks like just one straight road.
  • After SpongeBob crashes through the fence while in the mailbox, he lies on the ground as a wanted sign floats down and lands on his face. It is evident that the paper is upside-down from his point of view until he looks at it, turns it around, and holds it up. Then, it is upright.
  • The fence, the mailbox, and the surrounding buildings completely disappear after SpongeBob crashes through the fence.
  • In the Filipino dub, the ending where the screen turns black and a cell door sound is heard is cut off.

Videos[]

References[]

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