Mermaid Man Begins

Template:Episode/163a

Characters

• SpongeBob SquarePants
• Patrick Star
• Mermaid Man
• Barnacle Boy
• Squidward Tentacles ^(cameo)
• Two Mermaids
• Dirty Bubble
• Man Ray
• Francis
• Nancy Suzy Fish
• Nat Peterson
• Frankie Billy
• Fred
• TV Narrator
• Human Captain ^(debut)
• Gary the Snail ^(cameo)
• Harold "Bill" Reginald ^(cameo)
• Moth ^{(cameo as an action figure)}
• Jumbo Shrimp ^{(cameo as an action figure)}
• Pi-Right Ponderer ^{(cameo as an action figure)}

Synopsis

The episode begins at SpongeBob's house, and SpongeBob and Patrick are preparing for a Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy television marathon. As the first show, an "Origin Special," begins, SpongeBob's house loses power and then a wind rips the house and TV away. SpongeBob and Patrick go to Squidward's house, but the wind follows them there and destroys his house too. SpongeBob and Patrick go to the Mermalair to ask the heroes about their origin in person.

Mermaid Man goes on a flashback, but it wasn't the actual story of his origin. Then, he tells another flashback, this time it is the origin story. In this flashback, Mermaid Man encounters mermaids while he is drowning that let him breathe underwater with the sea star on his nose.

Then, Mermaid Man tells a flashback where he finds a drowning Barnacle Boy and saves him. They then become partners, partly because Barnacle Boy was stuck breathing underwater for the rest of his life as a result of the rescue. They stop a bank robber in the next flashback, then thwart Man Ray in the next, but the two argue over the legitimacy of the flashbacks.

Then, the "actual" origin episode starts to air on the Mermalair's giant monitor, in which Mermaid Man (called Ernie in the story) and Barnacle Boy (called Tim in the story) are roommates. The following "origin episode" didn't make sense because of how random it was (see transcript for details). After cooking popcorn for movie night, they are thrust into an improbable series of events (with the even more improbable fact that it happened all at once), and eventually return to their apartment. The now overcooked popcorn causes a radioactive effect on the two, giving them superpowers and the urge to fight crime underwater. They dive into the sea and start fighting crime. As the show ends, Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy were baffled. Finally, the camera cuts to SpongeBob and Patrick putting popcorn into a microwave with intent to overcook it and give themselves powers. The episode then ends with Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy yelling "No! Stop!"

Production

Music

( ‣ ) Production music

( • ) Original music

( ◦ ) SpongeBob music

 ‣ Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy Action Theme - Michael Bolger, Nicolas Carr, Pat Irwin [title card]
 ‣ Arizona Fanfare - Jack Shaindlin [TV show]
 ‣ Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy Action Theme - Michael Bolger, Nicolas Carr, Pat Irwin [SpongeBob, Patrick going over checklist]
 ‣ Arizona Fanfare - Jack Shaindlin [Mermaid Man watch]
 ‣ Crime & Danger Sign #3 - Hans Conzelmann, Delle Haensch [start of marathon]
 ‣ Heroes to the Rescue - Nicolas Carr, Barry Anthony ["And now, without further fanfare..."]
 ‣ Excited Chase 1 - Phil Green [pineapple blows away]
 ‣ Beetle Escap 40 G#Beetl - Marcin Pospieszalski [Squidward watching ballet]
 ‣ Charm.Wwinds 42 D#Maj - Marcin Pospieszalski [Squidward watching ballet]
 ‣ Busy Finale 07 D Maj - Marcin Pospieszalski [Squidward wathing ballet]
 ‣ Excited Chase 1 - Phil Green [Squidward's house blows away]
 ‣ Harp Ding - Nicolas Carr ["Hey, that's it!"]
 ‣ Hot Steel and Slide Licks (a) - Jeremy Wakefield [Squidward blows away]
 ‣ Against All Odds - Paul Lawler ["We have found the Mermalair!"]
 ‣ Fall to the Death - Harry Lubin [SpongeBob and Patrick fall into a net]
 ‣ Lap Steel - Nicolas Carr ["Again!"]
 ‣ Unknown Track 35 - Pat Irwin [SpongeBob, Patrick laughing]
 ‣ Glimmering 38 F#Min - Marcin Pospieszalski ["In the beginning it was all dark."]
 ‣ Glimmering 38 D#Min - Marcin Pospieszalski ["In the beginning it was all dark."]
 ‣ Surf Happy Fun (Underscore) - Billy Lincoln [young Mermaid Man surfing]
 ‣ Aloha Eo - Nicolas Carr, Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield ["There I was in the ocean."]
 ‣ Dramatic Bridge 4 - Phil Green ["A wave drew me back into the ocean."]
 ‣ Rainbow Delights - Magnum Opus ["I was rescued by mermaids!"]
 ‣ Hot Steel and Slide Licks (b) - Jeremy Wakefield [Mermaid Man falls asleep]
 ‣ Unknown Track 21 - "There I was in the ocean."
 ‣ Mount Olympus - Paddy Kingsland ["I had no other humans to talk to."]
 ‣ Botany Bay - Michael Bolger, Nicolas Carr [Mermaid Man sees a ship]
 ‣ Masked Crusader 2 - Harry Bluestone, Emil Cadkin ["A boy in trouble!"]
 ‣ Master of Menace 2 - Harry Bluestone, Emil Cadkin ["Fear not, young man."]
 ‣ Hot Steel and Slide Licks (t) - Jeremy Wakefield ["No, no, no."]
 ‣ Arizona Fanfare - Jack Shaindlin ["Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy!"]
 ‣ Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy Action Theme - Michael Bolger, Nicolas Carr, Pat Irwin [bank robbery]
 ‣ Heroes Salute - Harry Bluestone, Emil Cadkin ["Thank you, sir."]
 ‣ Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy Action Theme - Michael Bolger, Nicolas Carr, Pat Irwin [Barnacle Boy defeats Man Ray]
 ‣ Hot Steel and Slide Licks (w) - Jeremy Wakefield [Mermaid Man orders a pizza]
 ‣ Arizona Fanfare - Jack Shaindlin [TV comes back on]
 ‣ Sprightly Link 6 - Harry Bluestone, Emil Cadkin [Winchell Apartments exterior]
 ‣ The Bachelor Life (a) - Laurie Johnson ["Come on, Ernie, the movie's about to start."]
 ‣ Lost in the Galaxy [#35] - Harry Lubin [scientist doing tests]
 ‣ Battle Zone - Harry Bluestone, Emil Cadkin [Ernie and Tim fall out of their apartment]
 ‣ The Bachelor Life (a) - Laurie Johnson [movie night]
 ‣ Imminent 4 - Harry Bluestone, Emil Cadkin [reaction to overcooked popcorn]
 ‣ Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy Action Theme - Michael Bolger, Nicolas Carr, Pat Irwin [Ernie, Tim become Mermaid Man, Barnacle Boy]
 ‣ Hot Steel and Slide Licks (j) - Jeremy Wakefield ["Ah, feels just like yesterday, doesn't it?"]
 ‣ Slide Whistle Song - Nicolas Carr, Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [ending]

Release

• This episode is available on The Adventures of SpongeBob SquarePants and Complete Eighth Season DVDs.

Reception

• As of February 25, 2017, The Internet Movie Database (IMDB) gives this episode a rating of 7.7/10 based on 84 ratings by users. TV.com users give this episode a rating of 8.6/10 based on 40 votes.

Trivia

Template:Trivia

• Tim Conway voices Barnacle Boy, and in this episode, Barnacle Boy's incorrect real name is Tim. His real name has already been confirmed as Kyle in "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy V." Ernest Borgnine plays as Mermaid Man, and Mermaid Man's name is really Ernie (which is a nod to Borgnine).
• In the comic book from "Ditchin'" they were brothers and were born from superheroes. In earlier episodes, however, it was said that Barnacle Boy was Mermaid Man's son. It was also said that they got their powers from King Neptune.
  • It is unknown which story is actually true.
• In this episode, the mermaids' faces are drawn realistically.
• Mermaid Man finding Barnacle Boy and rescuing him from drowning by giving him his abilities is a parody of how Birdman met Bird Boy (the only survivor of a shipwreck) and gave him his abilities.
• Ernie is first bitten by a radioactively infected specimen of ant in "the apartment directly above," but when the two are flung back into their apartment, their window is shown to be on the top floor.
• This is the first episode to mention telekinesis.
• This is the first time in the franchise that humans on land (and the land itself) are animated and not in live action.
• This was Ernest Borgnine's last episode to make, that aired before his death on July 8, 2012. There were several episodes that had Mermaid Man in them, even after Ernest's death. Joe Whyte now voices Mermaid Man in his further appearances.
• This episode premiered six years after Selling Out premiered and The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie was released in Italy.
• This episode premiered in Canada two years after Viking-Sized Adventures was released.

Cultural references

• The radioactive bug biting Ernie's forehead is a reference to Peter Parker (Spider-Man) getting bitten by a radioactive spider from Spider-Man.
• The bomb that exploded on Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy was likely a reference of how Bruce Banner became the Hulk.
• The wind blowing SpongeBob's house and Squidward's house is an allusion to the 1996 film Twister.
• The episode's title is a reference to the Christopher Nolan movie Batman Begins.
• The Big Splash is a pun on The Big Bang.
• The Origin Special/Origin Episode is a pun on X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

Errors

• Squidward's flooring got smaller after his house was blown away.
  • However, this is a common occurrence when seeing SpongeBob, Squidward, and Patrick's houses from the outside.
• When Squidward's power went out, his TV went out, but his lights didn't.
• When the solar eclipse was mentioned, it was really a Lunar eclipse, not a solar eclipse.
• At the beginning of the episode, the first episode of the Mermaid Man Marathon was called the Origin Special, but at the end of the episode, it was called the Origin Episode.

Videos

File:(HQ) SpongeBob - 'Mermaid Man Begins' & 'Plankton's Good Eye' Premiere Sep 24th-1

SpongeBob SquarePants Mermaid Man Origin Story Nick