‘SpongeBob SquarePants’ Stop-Motion Halloween Special Announced

Things are about to get scary in Bikini Bottom.

Nickelodeon has announced a new stop-motion special titled SpongeBob SquarePants: The Legend of Boo-Kini Bottom, which will premiere on Friday, October 13th at 7 p.m. ET.

The Legend of Boo-Kini Bottom tells the story of the Flying Dutchman (Brian Doyle-Murray) coming to Bikini Bottom to make sure everyone in town is scared–especially SpongeBob.

The special will see Bikini Bottom decked out for Halloween and features Sandy’s treedome as a mad scientist’s lab, including a giant remotely operated Acorn Monster; Mr. Krabs’ restaurant as “The Horrors of the Chum Bucket,” displaying scenes of Plankton torturing food; and Plankton’s restaurant as “The Horrors of the Krusty Krab,” telling the story of Mr. Krabs turning customers into Krabby Patties and more.

Characters will wear Halloween costumes, with SpongeBob 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.

The stop-motion special also features an original song, “The Scare Song,” written by Mr. Lawrence, with music by Eban Schletter and performed by the Flying Dutchman’s crew of pirate ghosts.

The Legend of Boo-Kini Bottom was produced at Screen Novelties. The special featured 27 unique sets, across five stages, where 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 rollercoaster track that Patrick and SpongeBob ride; and “black lights” were used to create a fluorescent glow across the puppets and sets.

The special features various production techniques including stop-motion puppet animation, marionette puppeteering, hand puppets and 2D hand-drawn animation designed by Sally Cruikshank.

This is the second time Nickelodeon has partnered with Screen Novelties on a SpongeBob SquarePants stop-motion episode, following 2012’s SpongeBob SquarePants: It’s a SpongeBob Christmas!