The End Credits That TRAUMATIZED A Generation..

Figuring out why so many people are creeped out by this seemingly innocent outro piece from the classic nick cartoon, Spongebob Squarepants.
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Chapters:
0:00 - Soft Intro
1:04 - The Main Topic
6:10 - The Trauma Theory
8:14 - The Dissonance Theory
9:30 - The Environment Theory
11:16 - Closing Thoughts
12:44 - Update/Soft Outro
15:02 - Patron Shoutout
16:26 - Outro
Music in Background:
Spongebob Ending Theme
Waltz of the Ancients - Guustavv
Exquisite Taste - Matt Large
The Spongetaker - 02 Kelp Forest Deforestation

[@billloney2567]

What the hell are you smoking?

[@theorist]

yes

[@FloatingLeaf1111]

A little bit of this and a little bit of that.

[@enxliv]

@@theoristyes

[@Buzz852]

@@enxliv yes

[@booletric]

@@theoristyesn’t

[@Lorenzo_I.]

You think SpongeBob was traumatizing? Try getting woken up at 1am by the George Lopez opening blowing your eardrums out.

[@southof.nowhere6096]

That shit was my childhood hype track lmao!

[@TehUltimateSnake]

Looow RiiidUURR 🎵🎶

[@theorist]

Thats another one that would wake me up a lot actually. I should've talked about it here lmao, would've been perfect

[@ALuckyClutzNamedTV]

That was usually my signal that I should be asleep lol

[@pastellatte2006]

Or the dawn is your enemy

[@drew_xviii330]

I wouldn’t necessarily say it scared me outright, but, it did always give me the odd feeling of “Alright, that’s it, shows over, you can go now…wait…why are you still here? You can go.” Like the feeling you get when leaving a family venue and being the last to leave, to be at school during night time and no one was around, something like that degree for me personally. Like I was the last one to watch the credits, the one left alone in the theatre long after everyone left, I’m the last customer at a closing restaurant, I’m the last to leave the party. It just felt off, but never terrifying…just…odd.

[@nin10doboy45]

EXACTLY this comment reminded me of the first time I closed my work by myself and the song gives the the same feeling

[@ApahtieParty]

The melancholy of something good Ending

[@Kitty-the-Bunny]

Yeah, that describes it well to me

[@Carbish-fv1km]

It gives me the same feeling as those photos of liminal spaces...

[@tatyana1230]

Yes! That’s exactly how I’ve always felt about it. I love the song, don’t get me wrong. But I can’t deny feeling lonely sometimes because the show feels very energetic and often chaotic 😂 The juxtaposition of the mellow music and blank screen felt like your friends leaving after a really fun time. You’re happy but you’re also alone in a room that’s so charged! It was always so weird that even music has a liminal atmosphere to it. Like the outro would be playing on loop in the backrooms lol

[@Blank.k.k.0]

Okay I’m glad that I’m not the only one who felt the ending credits felt a bit..off. It sounded like how it feels to walk in the dark, anxious and uncertain.

[@audreydoyle5268]

I call it liminal ditty phenomenon. It feels as if there's a demonic, crytified version of the characters watching and secretly assessing your reaction to their performance. The same way we feel watched in a liminal space, liminal ditties are just as haunting. Like the credits turn your television screen into one way glass.

[@michigan__railfan]

Doesn't help when the last time you watched it was in a small cabin in the middle of the woods that has half the house being windows on one side where everyone was asleep behind me and I was facing towards the windows where it was pitch black out there. Actually unnerving

[@sarcasmmic]

@@audreydoyle5268this is actually a very interesting idea! i would totally play a game about this 😭

[@dave_the_slick8584]

I'm sorry but WHAT??? Nothing about that song is off in any fashion.

[@michigan__railfan]

@@dave_the_slick8584 you clearly haven't had this playing while you finished an entire season and now it's 3 in the morning in a dark small cabin with your family sleeping behind you and with the giant windows all you can see is the pitch black darkness outside

[@cookimaus1]

Its kinda weird how the song is both goofy and nostalgic but at the same time, very unsettling. Perhaps its the same reason why songs like “Put On your Sunday Clothes” take on a whole different tone when paired with visuals that contrast with the cheerful vibe of the songs

[@drewo.127]

WALL-E intro, my boy!

[@TheCaptainAmelia]

​@@drewo.127 that's what I was thinking,WALL-E

[@drewo.127]

@@TheCaptainAmelia ÓÒ 🟨

[@TheCaptainAmelia]

@@drewo.127 oh cool, you made a WALL-E emoticon

[@drewo.127]

@@TheCaptainAmelia 😁

[@Buzz852]

I’m not even gonna hold you the SpongeBob credits did not traumatize me. to me THAT SONG IS A BOP🗣️🗣️🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@theorist]

LMAOOO

[@jasonthedestroyer7180]

Same

[@studdedleatherlace]

Straight FACTS 💯

[@RainingBeanz]

Sameeeee

[@TehUltimateSnake]

Same. The robot chicken end credits were waay more creepy.

[@The_SonicFan2010]

Am I the only one who feels comforted by the outro edit: thx for all the comments

[@xXJumboSauceXx]

Nah, I always liked it too, I think people are just a bunch of babies.

[@FunnyLittleFella]

Nah I also feel a pretty comforting nostalgia from it. It's very laid-back which definitely contrasts with the chaotic nature of a standard SpongeBob episode, but to me it was always a refreshing juxtaposition rather than a jarring one. The credits felt like the show saying "Wow! That was crazy! Why don't we just take a moment to relax after all that."

[@thomaspatenaude6113]

Same!! I always loved the outro song

[@loekust]

nope its great

[@ninabrownsilberman7919]

no, I love it

[@sammieegoldwand]

I don't know why but when I was younger the end credits to SpongeBob always made me anxious. I always thought it was because of my anxiety disorder but I guess other kids were scared of it too. Also that intro made me feel like something was gonna jump out at me. Perfect vibe for the spongebob end credits.

[@MatheusF_Official]

same, the last part of the song always makes me feel anxious asf

[@alexparraparra4484]

Same.

[@audreydoyle5268]

​@@MatheusF_Official I call it liminal ditty phenomenon. It feels as if there's a demonic, crytified version of the characters watching and secretly assessing your reaction to their performance. The same way we feel watched in a liminal space, liminal ditties are just as haunting. Like the credits turn your television screen into one way glass.

[@BijouluvsJewels1234]

@@audreydoyle5268okay but why tf this makes a lot of sense tho

[@jojomations2596]

Saying it traumatized a generation is a WILD take

[@yourbootyholeisyourbeautyhole]

i just want to know which generation he's talking about lmao

[@rtcoys]

Its an entertaining vid but yeah youre right

[@kandgray]

Yeah a bit dramatic

[@Hobiemyhubby]

Righttt good video but he found a small group of his people on tiktok then thought it must be a generational experience from billions of kids who watched it worldwide

[@bobtheball5384]

Why are yall taking hyperbole so seriously? I wasn't ever scared as a kid but like jfc, calm down.

[@cookie1157]

i've literally never heard of this song being considered traumatising or creepy ever.

[@blindgirluk1845]

Me neither

[@ParodyAccount_]

I liked watching shows' credits because of the fire soundtrack, but then shows started playing ads during the effing credits & they never went back!

[@dev4159]

you just did

[@Coco-bl8zg]

Well I have. Where have you been?

[@spongeboymebob771]

Bully for you then

[@5hivari]

I remember there was thus ep of Spongebob being scared of the closet at the Krusty Krab. And a floating head of a realistic man with his eerie laugh gives the creep as a kid.

[@theorist]

oh man, ive always wanted to do a video on those creepy close ups. Thanks for sharing!

[@walrusArmageddon]

I don't remember that episode, what season was that?! Sounds spooky

[@JairoEast]

NOSFERATU!

[@AntoinettexKitten]

He was afraid to go in the freezer

[@alpha_visi0n]

The episode is “Night Light” where SpongeBob is afraid of the dark so he fills the pineapple with night lights. Fun fact: that realistic face is actually Derek Iversen

[@madden_wrld1165]

I think the outro's creepiness came from the destimulazation of our brains like say your watching something in your room at night and then the app closes and you get un easy because of the environment and the destimulazation

[@candiedskull9841]

During the day, I actually liked the song. At night, it freaked me out and I would change the channel ASAP. Some other things on TV gave me that intense lonely feeling, too. What a weird unlocked childhood experience

[@KarliHarrison]

I literally would have to turn it off right away too. I’m not really sure why, but the outro just makes me so uncomfortable almost like I have to leave wherever I am at the moment

[@larfrineno.7249]

Maybe the scariest part about it is that the end credits are played when the show is over. When the colorful and happiness that brings you comfort stops you're pulled into reality again and you realize you're all alone again.

[@morningcupofcyanide]

But I didn't like Spongebob (it's headache-inducingly obnoxious to me), and the credits still creeped me out.

[@catraaaaaa]

its seriously not that deep.

[@larfrineno.7249]

@@catraaaaaa eh, even that is the case, I still find it fun to analyze media content deeper. My thoughts on this piece of media seem to be the similar for most of the people here

[@parakeetpictures4480]

Haven’t watched the video yet, but here is my personal experience. When I was younger, the spongebob outro gave me the sort of feeling you get when being alone after hanging out with family or friends. It emulates a feeling of loneliness, even knowing you should instead have a feeling of fulfillment and happiness at the end. But instead of reflecting on the good times had, you’re just alone. You’re no longer joking or having fun with people you enjoy, even if you just were a minute ago. You’re left to sit there by yourself and reflect on life. A realization that you might be emotionally lonelier than originally thought. It leaves a feeling of utter emptiness. In the outro of SpongeBob, the colourful and ecstatic characters are no longer on the screen joking and having their everyday fun. They were stripped away from you, and It’s over. The party is over. All you have left to do is stare at the screen, seeing yourself through the reflection, and wait for the next episode while a feeling of emptiness and realization hits you.

[@Hobiemyhubby]

I never had the same experience but this is a good take, and prolly the most plausible reason for that feeling

[@parakeetpictures4480]

@@Hobiemyhubbythank you

[@prodsonicreations]

YES EXACTLY THIS

[@Kitty-the-Bunny]

Yeah, yeah that's kind of it

[@Reeseshead]

I remember watching this late as a kid by myself... it's funny how I didn't even realize I had this feeling then until I saw the thumbnail of this video.

[@FunnyAngeli]

For me, it felt like something I wasn’t supposed to see, not like it was something I’d get in trouble for watching, but more like it was a kind of “behind the scenes” type thing, like the strings of a puppet the stage is designed to hide, if that analogy makes sense. It feels like I’m in a movie theater and the song is nice and light and sweet, but at the same time it’s ushering me out of the theater because there nothing left for me to see anymore.

[@lj2659]

this is exactly what I feel. Like it's not like I'd get in trouble but if someone walked in I would get scared?? I don't know lol!

[@grungeisdead_94]

SAME!

[@TheTazame]

same

[@wowcool2144]

I LITERALLY TELL PEOPLE THIS SONG IS CREEPY AND THEY LOOK AT ME LIKE I AM STRANGE

[@JustAnIssac]

Because you are...

[@Weaklytune]

I can see why this song sounds creepy tho ​@@JustAnIssac

[@yeastful]

yeah cuz you're weird, its a BOP

[@carliecole2563]

I think they looks at you strange cuz youz an adult talking about SpongeBob, but. That's just me. (I graduated HS in 2006, and had friends that still liked this crap. Whenever I heard this song, I got giddy because I was like "OH THANK GAWD, ITS OVER!? IS ANOTHER EPISODE OF 'LEGENDS OF THE HIDDEN TEMPLE' ON YET!?")

[@Luigi-17]

I agree. Just watching the intro to this video alone made me so uneasy🤣.

[@PazWasHere]

I had no idea people were afraid of the outro. I always found it to be goofy and perfectly fitting for Spongebob.

[@sophierescigno5064]

Same, I always danced to it ahahaha

[@jessegordian2498]

Here in the states, it was rare to hear the outro since Nick would just have previews play instead. But the first time I heard it was in Mexico. I was 7 or 9 years old, it was at night and I was all alone watching some Bob esponja lol. Then the outro played and I was confused since I’ve never heard it before but I recognized the credits (as I said before, they would play on a small box meanwhile the previews would play). I was creeped out a bit but that was it. Funny how I still remember this memory

[@sullychow4123]

It never scared me but it always made me feel so glum. Not just because the episode ended, but the notes and the music in general seems like a bittersweet acceptance of a crappy existence. It's just so down, while trying to be ahp0y about it but failing.

[@DraonW]

I think it’s the same affect like when you’re at a sleepover & everyone falls asleep first & you’re the last one up & it’s late at night & you feel “alone” but not in a sense of you’re the only one up, but like the only person on the planet. I think the end credits of a lot of movies trigger that because you’re sort of slapped in the face with reality again that you’re just watching it by yourself & when it’s over, there’s nothing else to distract your mind. I always got that feeling when I was younger when a movie that was directed at my age group was over. It’s weird.

[@Kitty-the-Bunny]

YEAH that's it

[@Mrmarleykitty]

:0 this definitely!! i would usually be the last one awake when watching spongebob with family at night, and it was always a super weird and empty feeling i would get being alone when the credits played!

[@Gaming2DMX]

Imagine the producers used this as a way to get kids to watch more episodes of SpongeBob. Like they’d get freaked out by the song and then they’d watch another episode to feel better, and then it’s just a cycle 💀

[@autumn948]

probably not as intentional as you described, but that's what a lot of people go through with their comfort shows. and then you're done with the show again, and upset that you have to find another one because you want more comfort

[@guardnoute]

I cried when the credits rolled as a kid, never understood why until this video. Makes a lot of sense

[@TheOfficalMiki]

Honestly in my younger years, it wasn’t the outro that gave me the heebie-jeebies. It was actually the Nickelodeon Productions logo from around the time (2008-2009) and it was unnerving to hear after listening to such a calm outro. I get why some people would find the outro itself to be creepy, but it’s the lightbulb that did it for me, lol.

[@ZeepTheWocky]

I can completely understand why that would be frightening. Being in an entirely darkened room with nothing but an orange light and the sound of children laughing sounds like the average mental hospital experience.

[@zaden9009]

Aside from nostalgic, I feel sadness; Mainly because I associate the song with the golden age era of SpongeBob and Stephen Hillenburg. It reminds me that there isn't another show like that and that Nick won't ever replicate the tone, quality and humor. I can only compare it to the feeling of remembering a childhood pet that you lost and still miss.

[@briana_patrick]

My personal theory is that, since the entirety of a SpongeBob episode is full of constant chaos and action, the complete and utter normalcy of the end credits is unsettling by comparison. You’d think a show like SpongeBob would have an outro that matches the energy of the show, but it’s just this little song that plays while the credits flash across the screen. There’s no chaos. There’s no SpongeBob screaming and laughing. There’s no chaos. It’s too calm. And that’s kind of creepy 😂

[@sheeaatt]

I guess the outro sums up the spongebob experience very well.. the show gives you a very energetic and hype intro, like a kid waking up in a very lively morning looking forward to everything you will do with all the time you have, then brings you spongebob lets you experience and have a great time watching it, laughs and all the fun stuffs, then as everything comes to an end, this outro plays, like its a wrap up, everyones going home, tired and most definitely had the best time for the day, looking back to everything you did during the day while walking back home, thats what the outro feels like to me

[@moonagedaydream-ohyeah]

That's called "Coming Down" and it happens when anything that makes you feel good comes to an end. It's a sign of addiction. You can apply it to anything outside yourself that makes you feel good, in life.

[@D1stop1an]

I don't get why ppl find the end credit "scary" or "unsettling", I've listened to them at night/in the dark and nothing, this song is a bop, I don't understand

[@veggsbacon1891]

Nostalgic blind? Nah, maybe attention for the sake of "ooo spoopy childhood spooky?" Perhaps. I kinda see what they're coming from, but at the end of the day, I still don't get it, and I don't care.

[@NewSonyWonderHappyMadisonFan]

People are scared of weird stuff as kids. I was scared of the 20th Century Fox logo and refused to watch Scooby-Doo and the Goblin King when I was little after my first viewing of it (oddly enough I wasn't afraid of the first four direct-to-video Scooby movies despite those being classic entries on "childhood trauma" videos).

[@4ud170r]

same

[@AutumnPinkyKat]

I had many existential crises throughout my childhood. I can maybe explain a little of this. I loved the song by it's sound, but it reminded me of those existential fears of end and death and pain. I for as many years as I can possibly think of, have had moments of becoming disconnected to reality. Thinking about life and how I almost wasn't me? Basically, what I'm explaining is, is that I personally experienced these feelings because of certain issues I've lived with since I was 3 or younger, which I'm getting help with through therapy. So, if others felt afraid of the end credits, it may have been the existentialism I also experienced. Or maybe something else entirely! It is a great song, but if you're not in the best state of mind, it's gonna remind you of things that disconnect you from life. At least, that's how it is for me. I hope that properly explained it. :D

[@D1stop1an]

@@AutumnPinkyKat ah, I see, it's quite the opposite for me, the song has brought me comfort when I felt down

[@roboticgamer1174]

As someone who didn't have spongebob ad part of my child hood, I don't have the childhood aspect of it, but I both find the song goofy ahhh, but also creepy/eerie, and makes me both anxious and felt like I am being watched by something, be it fully in the shadows, or peering just around a now closed closet door or this wierd ass corner partway into my room

[@kariduanimations]

The end sequence gives me the same feeling as when you spend the day at a family party over the holiday and once it’s around 5 pm mostly everyone has left and you’re just sort of alone in the foyer, several of the lights out and the evening sun illuminating everything through the windows and the window in the front door. Almost everyone has left for home by now. Anyone relate?

[@gutbucket6184]

Dear god you described it perfectly, well done.

[@audreydoyle5268]

Liminal space

[@gizarno]

this is exactly how it feels tbh

[@alibeknorbekov5963]

Liminal space if it was turned into a song And it's spongebob credits song

[@averageartistamberwilliams2776]

I don't get creeped out by the Spongebob credits (I almost find it comforting in a weird way), but I get where people are coming from. It's got a similar vibe to those "liminal space" images where you see a place that's usually busy, like a school or shop, but after hours when no one's around. At least to me anyway.

[@AEli5002]

It relaxes me

[@TheJillianRussell]

I know exactly the feeling you're talking about. As a kid of the 1980's, before there was 24/7 tv, tv stations would end their broadcast day at midnight. Sometimes I fell asleep, and would wake up to the sound of what we all called "the snowstorm" and the creepy static sound that was emitted at the same time (if you know, you know!) when the station went off the air. Waking up to that gave me that same alone, scary feeling. It was very creepy.

[@TheCaptainAmelia]

Oh Jillian, I bet Brian is disappointed

[@flannelpillowcase6475]

that's awesome and sounds so much more genuine than a cartoon credits sequence lol. i'm not old enough to relate to the "snowstorm" but your description brings it to life, definitely sounds eerie and like a unique experience. thanks for sharing that!

[@BijouluvsJewels1234]

Tbh it was pretty loud when it came on lol also I thought it was called “static” or “white noise”?

[@oddjayo]

When I was little I would cry to EVERY ending sequence or end credits, for cartoons and the video games on my GameBoy. It always hit me with a scary sense of impending doom and dread. I also felt this way every night before sunset and ESPECIALLY on Sunday nights, even if everyone else was happy and I was just playing outside in the pool or something, I’d look at the sky and get HIT with a wave of sadness and dread and start crying. I’d also cry and panic when thinking about death, having just learned at the age of 4 or so that eventually one day my family members won’t be here anymore. Was anybody else like this?? Please say someone else went through the same thing 😭😭

[@Chihiro_Fujisaki]

100% on the thinking about death and family members part! I also hate Sunday nights because the shift between Sunday to Monday really makes you think “wow, 7 whole days of my life just went right before my eyes”

[@mgthestrange9098]

I totally get that! I also get that at the end of a nice holiday, it’s that feeling that you have to leave the place that was home for a week or two, leave a place you’ve grown to love, there’s no more fun & nights out and you have to go back to your everyday life and bad weather.

[@AutumnPinkyKat]

I was just like this! I believe we associate things with stuff based off of memories. There are so many subconscious things that may remind us of different ones no matter how different, but I think it's that they share something that we happen to associate with each. When those end credits play, we know it's done. No more happy adventures. I can see how that reminded us of our own lives ending.

[@Chillaxes]

Yea fam you probably have an anxiety disorder cause same

[@mgthestrange9098]

There’s a song that captures that feeling perfectly: That Summer Feeling by Johnathan Richman. It’s a beautiful song about reflecting back on your past.

[@alexjameskeefer]

There are a few TV show outros that give me a creepy “fever dream” kind of feeling. The To Catch a Predator and South Park end credits come to mind.

[@i_have_too_many_aesthetics]

yes! the old south park outros kinda creep me out a bit but the song is a bop 🗣🔥

[@Lexiholder2534]

@@i_have_too_many_aestheticswat

[@ChefKyroo]

For me I think the dissonance is definitely the closest answer, but in music terms I think it was specifically the last few notes of the melody not resolving. The backing track seems to resolve just fine, but the main melody just hangs on this last note that increases in pitch. Always creeped me out as a kid and I find it interesting how diverse the experience on this topic is.

[@omni2670]

I distinctly remember popping in a DVD my nana got for me of I think the episode where Squidward moved to a town full of other squids and I distinctly remember the end credits weirding me out. It felt really ominous and I ran out of the room to see what my parents were doing to get away from the credits.

[@TheTazame]

i would always rush to change the channel or go to the next episode whenever i watched because it just felt off-putting to me.

[@vorzeo]

*insert Spongebob and Patrick on baby roller-coaster*

[@SebsistButReal]

lmao 😭

[@morgue.dweller]

this outro always gave me a sense of anxiety. when I was a kid and this outro played, I knew it meant I had to go to bed soon for school the next day. plus there's just something sort of eerie about the isolated ukulele.

[@MamaWesker]

OH MY GOD EVERYDAY THEORIST UPLOAD

[@theorist]

:D

[@MamaWesker]

​@@theorist I JUST GOT SO HAPPY I LOVE UR VIDEOS MAN !! :3

[@kensnorton]

I used to watch SpongeBob a ton when I was younger, but it was always during the day. That’s probably why I don’t have the same reaction to that outro as some people have

[@khristoyeah8695]

In my experience, one outro that always made feel uneasy was the one at the end of Jimmy Neutron with the monkey saying "Hi! I'm Paul" or something like that

[@stevie3094]

YES.

[@khristoyeah8695]

@@stevie3094 It seems this is a shared fear hahaha

[@anobody4606]

That damn thing used to terrify me as a kid for some reason lmao

[@ZeepTheWocky]

Paul the monkey still gives me the shivers.

[@cartoonmaster2401]

Okay, I'll give you that one. That three-eyed monkey and the trees swirling abnormally was disturbing af. (When I reached middle school, I realize the trees were turning in a double helix, and the company was called DNA Productions. Doesn't explain the creepy monkey, thought.)

[@romanflores00]

Nah the credits was my favorite part, song went hard 🔥. On the other hand, when getting on the topic of video games, one thing that would leave me Squamish (only word I can describe it) is when you fall out the map into a glitch and you see nothing but a void. That would make me feel so weird

[@sacarymoviesamu]

Fire

[@dragonempress8367]

The voids and invisible walls in games always crept me out. The feeling of nowhere to go in general.

[@romanflores00]

@@dragonempress8367 Fr

[@ghostdude45]

The voids thing gets me too. Its so bad that I can't stare directly into space in games like Starfield.

[@mattdylla3225]

I actually find the outro extremely comforting, but it also makes complete sense to me why so many people would be upset by it; and I think your video touched on it perfectly: it creates an atmosphere of loneliness. I'm high functioning autistic, and being alone/feeling alone was one of the few things that made me comfortable while I was growing up.

[@rockmangurlx4973]

ALOOOOONNEEEE

[@falco05]

And probably that it has a liminal vibe to it, since liminallity is a mix of a sort of Nostalgia, and that that place is somewhere you arent supposed to stay as its merely a "transition" between places

[@gemstone108]

I was never SCARED of this outro persay but I do kinda see where you’re coming from. It was always a little strange to see it though since they’d never play the full credits on tv, so I mostly saw them on my Spongebob DVDs. I think seeing them on a DVD might have that liminal effect as well, since they’d be followed by silence and the disk whirring before going back to the menu.

[@MarikoRawralton]

If you wanna talk about genuinely miserable end credits, the Seymour episode of Futurama is a classic.

[@audreydoyle5268]

Oh my gosh, is that the one about Fry's dog? Cause expecting the usual end credits and then, boom, sad, heavy minor key Futurama music scared the hell outta me. Like when The Simpson's would change the credits text or the theme song to minor key. House of Horrors episodes you expect it, but on random episodes it breaks up the immersion of watching a Simpson's episode into an alternate reality of the show.

[@Ayden_B]

Personally my theory is that its just because it was never seen that often, so when it was it stood out. When you're watching spongebob on tv, the credits just scroll on the bottom and transition to the next episode. So whenever you see the credits (probably on VHS), you know its something you've seen before, but it doesn't feel familiar., so it sort of puts you in a liminal space

[@hyperturbotechnomike]

Where i live, they played the outro each time the show finished. My theory why it may sound distressing to some people has to do with technology. TV speakers were never great, especially not the ones of lower end CRT sets with mono speakers and flimys plastic shells. Most children i know had this type of TV set in their rooms. This song has low frequency and high pitch beeps, the sort of frequencies that tend to distort and vibrate. I can see how this may cause distress.

[@audreydoyle5268]

​@@hyperturbotechnomike I call it liminal ditty phenomenon. It feels as if there's a demonic, crytified version of the characters watching and secretly assessing your reaction to their performance. The same way we feel watched in a liminal space, liminal ditties are just as haunting. Like the credits turn your television screen into one way glass. I do like your theory though. It adds an extra layer of liminalisation. Like an empty hospital hallway feels liminal, but some of the lights turned off, yellowed and/or flickering feels both liminal and haunting.

[@Glitchberry]

the background of the credits looks like my blanket

[@blindgirluk1845]

Cool!

[@infineoinfinite]

Oh, c'mon, the credits song from Spongebob is not THAT scary. **cuts to watch it all by myself in an alleyway** Oh, GOD.

[@dragonempress8367]

You watch phones in an alleyway?

[@infineoinfinite]

@@dragonempress8367 i'm joking i don't want to do that

[@kNightAkuma]

That’s something that a lot of media did in the late 90s and early 2000s. It hits me the hardest in Tekken 4 and Tekken 5 with the way it silently scrolls through the fastest times as the camera circles an empty stage every time you beat a story/arcade battle. The contrast between the intense, over the top world of Tekken 4 and the menus void of any life just breaks the immersion in the best way possible.

[@milk5722]

Can we talk about how the end credits of the regular show made us feel too. It made me feel tired and sleepy, like I would switch in and out of it. I used to hear it in my sleep.

[@b0tfliez]

spongebob has been a source of comfort for me for as long as i can remember. even if the outro is a little unnerving to me, i really can't help but feel comforted by it, and really nostalgic as well. it just makes me feel like im in a familiar safe space that i barely had as a kid

[@Hypercube2017]

Why did the outro song not affect me? I will admit though, that the daisy song playing at a gas station late at night would _terrify_ me beyond words.

[@StoneWater13]

I've actually never watched the show when younger, but i felt the same thing. Almost like you were just alone and being watched in the dark

[@sarcasmmic]

I remember vividly that as a kid I didn’t have many fears, but for some reason, I was terrified of any and every credit scene. I’d audibly run and cry whenever a movie ended or something, and the explanations you applied made sense to an extent - I also think there’s the uneasiness of breaking the fourth wall, in a way. Children have the capacity to get sucked in whatever activity they’re doing, see that reality as their own until they get broken off from it, and credits are a great example of that. You’re pulling a mind forcefully from what it just now believed is real. Maybe I’m overanalysing it, but I do think it’s an interesting phenomenon to wonder about 😭

[@Rainok]

I am genuinely confused, I've never heard of this

[@LegioXXI]

Same. It feels like the people getting creeped out by it are the exotic minority, and not the other way around (like he claimed in the video). I mean, the song itself is not just used in the outro, its also used within episodes - often the most famous and fun SpongeBob memes have it in the background. Yet no one is creeped out there. It literally makes no sense why people (even as kids) should suddenly be creeped out by the same song.

[@blindgirluk1845]

Me neither

[@roxassora2706]

​@@LegioXXILegit almost everyone was creeped.

[@BlackGirlLovesAnime6]

The only sound that was traumatizing from SpongeBob was the future and prehistoric episode where squidward was all “alone” stuck in that white room 😂

[@briankinney1871]

Another theory I've heard about (likely from another video) is that it's background music that usually plays under dialogue, but here there isn't any dialogue, like a liminal space.

[@axeljeanlindsey1584]

This is such an interesting phenomenon as someone who just finds the outro nostalgic and pleasant. I've never felt unsettled by the outro, even as a kid waking up at 2am to the song blasting through our CRT TV's speakers. I'd just be comforted like "oh ok it's just SpongeBob" and go back to sleep peacefully. Varied human experiences are so cool!!

[@mayzdev]

Personally ive always loved spongebob as a little kid and i was never one to get scared TOO easily. So personally to me, just hearing this theme is nostalgic and brings me back to good, better, happy times.

[@Ethman16]

I’ve seen a few vids about this now, I’ve never understood or been able to relate to it but it’s interesting to see so many people share this uneasy feeling with this outro, sick intro btw

[@lordfreezer5631]

I would say that also the background image added to this unsettling sensation. The still image with nothing but the yellow background with the white flower that almost looked like it was alive and watching you through the screen. Not really scary or traumatic, but it made me somehow nervous even though it was in the middle of the day

[@RyneMcKinney]

The first note of the SpongeBob credits is already enough to send a chill down your spine. It feels like you're being watched

[@InstinktzBTW]

I did not know people were haunted by the outro. To me it was always a bop. I still hum the tune to this day. Wow

[@thatnerdwithglasses8384]

I was literally just listening to a ten hour version of this song! Plus it’s a banger

[@CallmeYuwan]

My mom was a so disturbed with the outro of spongebob, my mom even told me that when I was younger I talked to the tv as if someone was there in front of me TT.

[@trinity1973]

Oh my gosh this video was so validating for me! I totally remember the absolute empty and almost eerie feeling of the end credits. I have vivid memories of watching SpongeBob dvd’s in my grandmas room and feeling so weird and empty when the credits would come. Unlocked a whole ass nostalgic feeling for me im amazed that I wasn’t alone in this!

[@mellowasiam]

I get this. I get a similar feeling from the Gameboy Camera music. "What are you running from?"

[@Jengeth]

It probably triggers a similar response as something like the V of Doom or the S from Hell. That creepy feeling late at night when you’re hyper aware of your surroundings and your brain recalls that sound or song, triggering a response.

[@Lio-01]

As a kid, I didn't understand how songs affected people But listening to one of "The Samples" songs while seeing some scenes from my favorite Disney movies, it made me have a really bad problem last year as if like "You lost a part of you that can never regrow back" or "You can't return to the world, it's best to be left forgotten" So I stopped listening to the song in November because I can't handle how depressing it sounds, I ended up making 2 arts after because I was depressed during my bday. Idk what you guys think about it, I just grew to not like it no more.

[@1020mikki]

your outro shows how thankful you are for your audience and that’s so sweet. gonna start watching more for sure!

[@kylegetz4917]

SpongeBob was never on an orange vhs tape. Nickelodeon stopped making those before the first SpongeBob tape was released

[@benjrobrt9029]

The feeling I get when I hear it is just memories of the episode ending and "no more SpongeBob"

[@evilsharkey8954]

What the heck has happened to humans that some of them can’t even stare at a screen without a bigger screen making lights and noises in the background?

[@thatguyisafly2939]

I remember hearing this playing in the middle of the night and it was so haunting because it let me know the fun and noises was over it was so crazy

[@Snook_YT]

Great video, you killed it. Sorry I couldn't be apart of it though. Keep it up bro!

[@CodiTroth]

The SpongeBob outro made me feel uneasy, BUT the Nick Jr. bumper called “Face” scared me more than anything else in the world when I was young for some reason. I would have actual nightmares about him 😅

[@Lemon_Demon_Fan]

I loved face 😂

[@BijouluvsJewels1234]

@@Lemon_Demon_FanRight he was so friendly and changed colors 🤣🤣 nightmares about him and not a literal giant Kool-Aid Man is wild

[@knightowl8393]

I just listened to the end credits for a bit and got the same feeling I get when I get close to finishing a story in a game like you don’t want it to end, now everything makes sense

[@Sylvesterjest]

The trauma response theory would be it for me. Bc I low key would use SpongeBob as a friend almost bc I was a super hyper active kid. 😭

[@SerialdesignationMALAK]

The weird drawings of the characters at the end of the credits creeped me out, it was just their blank faces

[@yoboicrust]

THANK GOD I THOUGHT I WAS THE ONLY ONE, I HAVE FOUND MY PEOPLE

[@spongeboymebob771]

I say its the contrast. The show itself is constantly moving, alive, full of charcters and action, wild and zany. Then the credits come on and its totally empty except for some floral wallpaper, quiet, dead, still, the polar opposite of the show itself. The music is just icing on the cake, like you said, its dissonant, and almost ethereal due to the setting its in. You hear it and you're like, "who's playing that? Who else is here? Who would come here to this strange, empty yellow room and why?"

[@Mewtwomasta]

why must you do this to us with that intro man? Seriously it was light of day and it still scared the ever lovin shit outta me

[@VictorbrineSC]

I was today years old when I found out some people were traumatized by this end credit. For me this end credit was just... an end credit, I had more that feeling of "oh man the episode's over :(" instead of anything spooky. This might just be yapping or jumping on the "spooky childhood" train we have going on these days tbh.

[@6hostalien]

agreed

[@blindgirluk1845]

Same

[@ND-kh5yw]

So, are you saying that because you didn't have that experience, everyone who says they did is lying..?

[@thatkindkiwi3409]

I don’t mind the outro music, but it’s something about the old, beige-ish/aged yellow wallpaper background that the older episode outros had and the dark, carrot-orange of the font that made me feel like I was being watched by some old imaginary creature I had nightmares about when I was younger.

[@squigglydinggly]

im glad im not the only person, i personally think its unnerving because it would always play at night or when its empty or quiet, i also get this feeling with the disney disc DVD menu music or nickelodeons little riff while spelling the letters. its kind of playing a old game with no more player with the sound off, its just empty

[@Sataesim]

its so funny that just a few fleeting moments in your life when you're super young show up as irrational fear when YET mentioned being scared of unfinished levels in video games it kinda dawned on me that something similar probably happened with me and those, and then i immediately remembered when i was at my most impressionable ages it was the age of hack/glitch/cut content-based horror and creepypasta that made me feel so unnerved by empty levels and liminal spaces now 💀

[@BrotherInGod77777]

What freaked me out about it is that, for me at least, it sounds like the uncanny valley but with sound, and what made it worse was how unappealing the background looks

[@mgthestrange9098]

I was wondering if the visuals had anything to do with how people were unnerved by the end credits, the colours are muted and have a green sludgy background. Unlike the show that’s bright and vibrant in colour.

[@skitzorikk1161]

My childhood was like that too always waking up to messed up noises and things on tv to the point it heavily effected my dreams, started getting night terror’s I couldn’t tell we’re dreams. Now I don’t really have (or at least don’t remember) dreams.

[@molgorp7199]

I remember watching a spongebob dvd with my brother one afternoon, and then getting to the end credits where I started to get a bit creeped out by it, while he argued that it was not creepy at all, and I couldn't honestly tell if he was messing with me or not. This stupid outro would get me again a few times throughout some nights in my childhood, but it's nice to know I'm not the only one who felt that way about it

[@pikachuiguana]

Funnily enough, did you know about when the SpongeBob social media pages uploaded a parody of Junji Ito’s Uzumaki?

[@brookearnold3609]

Yeah the normal outro is unsettling, but the one that scares me most is the end credits for the episode "Spongebob B.C." it sounds so weird and unnatural.

[@tylerrozie]

idk whenever i heard it i just thought of a bullfrog sitting on a log with a tiny hat playing a tiny banjo.

[@Tony_H_Rapt]

I was terrified of the 'Truth or Square' outro as a kid. Watching it back now, I realised it was just squidward singing.

[@squigglydinggly]

it's so empty and eerie, it would always get me anxious as a kid while watching it alone at night

[@audreydoyle5268]

That's syncopated, call and response, two same instrument music for ya. The intervals are what make it feel liminal.

[@ptrcrispy]

This ones gonna go crazy in the alogrithm

[@Fizzilie]

The end credits of spongebob made me feel like I was in my house in an infinite void while feeling as though something was behind me. Crazy stuff.

[@porkchoppoo]

Not Spongebob related, but when I was a kid the outro music of Mystery Science Theater 3000 would make me sad. I never quite understood why. No other outro/end credits would do that. I don't get that feeling listening to in now.

[@_p4n0ptic0n_]

That is such a great show. Glad to see I'm not the only one who remembers it.

[@servicerifle16]

​@@_p4n0ptic0n_ they did sorta bring it back on Netflix I think but most of the original cast does something similar with mainstream movies now called Rifftrax.

[@scapeagoat2520]

Ain’t no way this traumatized a generation

[@LogicalStaw]

the intro to your video gave me a chill that no horror movie has given me in a long while