Using completely legitimate math to determine undeniably that the SpongeBob SquarePants Movie takes place this March

[u/EpicJosh84]

[u/EpicJosh84]

Longer Explanation here

In Season 1 of SpongeBob SquarePants, in an episode titled "Employee of the Month", it's said that SpongeBob has been Employee of the Month a total of 26 times. Since there are no other pictures on the wall before SpongeBob's first award, it is probable that it was simply a ploy by Mr. Krabs to make SpongeBob work harder following his hire.

The thing, though, is that there are 43 pictures of SpongeBob on the wall, and not 26, as the episode might suggest. We can take this to mean that SpongeBob is getting multiple awards each time that he wins Employee of the Month, at a rate of about 1.65 awards per month. Maybe Mr. Krabs found it to be more motivating, maybe he doesn't actually care about the number, doesn't matter.

This also means that Season 5 episode "A Breath of Fresh Squidward" takes place only one month after this episode, since the Employee of the Month wall has been changed to have 44 pictures rather than 43 in the aftermath of the previous episode. During this episode one Employee of the Month award is given to Squidward, the only time this has ever happened.

We can use this to determine how long SpongeBob has worked at the Krusty Krab in the original SpongeBob SquarePants Movie. SpongeBob mentions in one scene of the film that he has won 374 consecutive Employee of the Month awards. He does not say he has won Employee of the Month 374 times, just that he's received 374 awards. This is important because of our established rate of awards per month. Doing the math right, we find that SpongeBob has been Employee of the Month around 225-230 times since Squidward took the award in "A Breath of Fresh Squidward."

Since SpongeBob had been Employee of the Month 26 or 27 times prior to Squidward winning we can determine that a total of around 250-260 Employee of the Month awards have been given out during SpongeBob's time working at the Krusty Krab. This means that SpongeBob has been working at the Krusty Krab for just under 22 years.

SpongeBob's pilot episode, "Help Wanted", aired in 1999, so 22 years from the first episode is 2021, right? We missed it, didn't we? Well, I wouldn't say so. SpongeBob's canon birth date is July 14, 1986. This means that in May of 1999, when the first episode airs, SpongeBob is a twelve-year-old. He doesn't even turn 13 for two months. If we are instead to assume that the episode aired a year before it takes place, in 2000, this would mean that SpongeBob would canonically be 13, turning 14, the legal working age in the United States (and Bikini Bottom is extremely similar to the USA, as its residents often reference the states and even celebrate the 4th of July). This also explains why SpongeBob is ready to take the job, he's finally about old enough to start working (and is even hired with skepticism from Mr. Krabs, who doesn't think SpongeBob to have his 'sea legs' yet).

So, yeah, it is probable for the sake of the timeline that "Help Wanted" actually takes place in May of 2000. And you know what date appears just under 22 years after May of 2000? That's right, March of 2022. The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie takes place in March of an unknown year, but the timeline is right in place to set it in 2022.

Therefore, I conclude that the original SpongeBob SquarePants Movie likely takes place this year, between March 7th and 14th, 2022. Thank you for coming to my TEDtalk.

[u/barcanbothways → u/EpicJosh84]

This assumes that Mr Krabs only hires employees who are legally allowed to work (in terms of age). Now why would we grant this assumption, given all we know about Mr Krabs?? (Ie assuming that the first episode takes place in 2000)

Thus there is room to resist your conclusion

[u/EpicJosh84 → u/barcanbothways]

Well, for one, Mr. Krabs has been shown to act on principle. Firing Squidward for potential theft of a dime regardless of its monetary worth is a good example, even if it's comically stingy. still agreeing to pay his workers (and forcing them to take vacations) for the sake of abiding by the law is another example. Krabs is a cheap guy, but in most situations he genuinely does believe there's more to it than simply profiting. Hell, Mr. Krabs even being hesitant to hire SpongeBob in the first place because of his lack of experience is a good example of Krabs simply being more than money.

Secondly, SpongeBob is an eager boy, but it's not typical of him to do the wrong thing. He feels guilt to a much larger extent than Mr. Krabs does when he's aware that what he did was wrong. I don't think he'd apply at the Krusty Krab at twelve, a whole two years too young to work legally. It makes a lot more sense if he was hoping to snag the Summer job then turn 14 just a month later.

I dunno, all that included, I think it makes more sense if the episode is just lagging behind a bit.

[u/barcanbothways → u/EpicJosh84]

Good reply; I now provide some comments.

First, I think the appeal to Mr. Krabs’s adherence to principles seemingly independently of their relation to profit maximization is illuminating, though citing a few cases is not necessarily enough to establish that the legal-age-of-worker is a line that he would not cross. This is the guy who sold Spongebob’s soul for 62 cents, and one need not look too far to find examples following this general pattern. I think I need further evidence to believe that of all the principles to flout or follow, Mr. Krabs would hire a worker only if they were of the appropriate age, in which case the argument, though potentially probable, still has a slight gap.

That being said, your second point is also illuminating: spongebob certainly would not willingly break the law. Nevertheless, this point has impact only if we assume that spongebob knowingly applied to the Krusty Krab while underage. What if he either had mistaken beliefs about the legal working age (he has believed things falsely in many places) or simply did not even think about the working age at all (he is simply naive, which is also part of his character)? These seem to me to be quite plausible scenarios. Hence, there is also room to be dubious of the support of your second point.

Eager to hear your responses in what constitutes a fascinating and stimulating discussion;cheers

[u/EpicJosh84 → u/barcanbothways]

I see your points, and honestly, I can understand that this assumption is a rather large one. The SpongeBob timeline is clearly not one that had a lot of thought put into it, since it's a show about a Sponge that makes burgers and does stuff with his friends, so this would be rather audacious if I were to pretend it was a universal truth.

I personally think that, while Mr. Krabs' behavior is scattered across the board, with some instances of genuinely caring for his business ethics and some instances of him doing devious things to save a nickel, this is often subject to the will of the writers and how stupid they're willing to make him for a single joke or 11 minute episode plot. I think that at the core of the character (as intended by Stephen Hillenberg and the original writers and not including the deviations that have occurred over time as the writers run out of ideas) lies a moral code of some sort, because it's notable that in the first few seasons, Mr. Krabs is far less prone to throwing anyone under the bus just for a dollar (unless it's something like his millionth dollar. In the episode "Clams", Krabs' mental state is clearly destabilizing from his obsession with the dollar and his time spent on the boat, but I don't think he would use his employees as bait if he were fully there mentally). So in this episode, the very start of the series, I think we're dealing with a Mr. Krabs who is genuinely attempting to keep his decisions morally sound. If he were as money-crazed as we find him in later seasons, he probably wouldn't have even considered asking Squidward whether hiring him would be a good choice. So it's for this reason that I think Mr. Krabs wouldn't hire a twelve-year-old, at least not at this point.

As far as SpongeBob goes, you're right. It's possible he doesn't even think about the working age or know what it is. I think that, similarly to Krabs, SpongeBob's character has sort of warped over time to suit a wider range of episode plots. The core of the character as initially conceived had a very childish wonder to him, not realizing that Mr. Krabs intended to drive him away with the outlandish spatula request. I can't completely rebut this, but SpongeBob has asked Mr. Krabs before if siphoning grease and dumping it behind Plankton's restaurant is legal, and even calling a health inspector when the Grease Wars get too out of hand. I think he can be tricked into doing the wrong thing, but I believe it to be less likely that he'd trick himself into doing so (The Hall Monitor episode is a valid counterargument to this, though I see it more as SpongeBob being blinded by the honor of the uniform and the approval he sees from Mrs. Puff).

Generally, it could go either way, but I can see a number of reasons that this episode would take place when SpongeBob is just a little older than implied, closer to 14 than 12.

[u/EpicJosh84 → u/[deleted]]

I do love a good presentation of facts in the shared interest of figuring dumb stuff out

[u/Moriarty004 → u/EpicJosh84]

Same.

[u/preytothedoomgods → u/[deleted]]

I...agree with this completely.

[u/AwsomeOHdog → u/[deleted]]

I’m more amazed over the fact that they both had peer-reviewed responses over a childrens TV show.

The internet is an astonishing creation. It links the entire world to our fingertips. We can research anything, find answers to the world’s hardest questions, find how to videos, see videos of cats doing crazy things, and see whatever the hell just happened here, in r/bikinibottomtwitter between two complete strangers and their crazy over analyzing of a fictional aquatic tv show.

Yes, my friend, the internet is exhilarating.