SpongeBob SquarePants will be offering up some scares this Halloween.
Nickelodeon has greenlighted a stop-motion special called SpongeBob SquarePants: The Legend of Boo-Kini Bottom that’s set to debut in October.
Made in the visual style of the classic Rankin/Bass TV specials, which include Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, the special will center on the story of the Flying Dutchman (voiced by Brian Doyle Murray), who wants to make sure everyone in town is scared, especially SpongeBob, who thinks scary things are funny.
The special finds Bikini Bottom decked out for Halloween: Sandy’s treedome is a mad scientist’s lab, with a giant remotely operated Acorn Monster; Mr. Krabs‘ restaurant is “The Horrors of the Chum Bucket,” displaying scenes of Plankton torturing food; and Plankton’s restaurant is “The Horrors of the Krusty Krab.”
Meanwhile, for Halloween, SpongeBob is dressed up as a flower, Patrick as a knight, Sandy as a mad scientist, Mr. Krabs as a dollar bill, Plankton as a devil, Squidward as himself and Karen as a cat.
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The special also features an original song, “The Scare Song,” written by Mr. Lawrence, music by Eban Schletter and performed by the Flying Dutchman’s crew of pirate ghosts.
The Legend of Boo-Kini Bottom is being produced at L.A.-based Screen Novelties and features 27 unique sets across five stages. Nickelodeon said that 15 boxes of breakfast cereal were used to create texture on Bikini Bottom’s coral reefs, eight pounds of glitter were used to decorate SpongeBob’s Halloween pineapple house, hundreds of Popsicle sticks created the planks of the roller-coaster track that Patrick and SpongeBob ride, and “black lights” were used to create a fluorescent glow across the puppets and sets.
Marc Ceccarelli and Vincent Waller are the supervising producers on SpongeBob SquarePants. The special was written by Mr. Lawrence, with Brian Morante serving as the storyboard director. It is being directed by Mark Caballero and Seamus Walsh, and produced by Chris Finnegan of Screen Novelties.
This is the second time Nickelodeon has partnered with Screen Novelties on a SpongeBob SquarePants stop-motion episode. SpongeBob SquarePants: It’s a SpongeBob Christmas! debuted December 2012 and featured Plankton turning everybody in Bikini Bottom from nice to naughty.
SpongeBob SquarePants is executive produced by creator Stephen Hillenburg.
