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In an interview with Polygon, “SpongeBob SquarePants” storyboard director Jay Lender shed some light on the out-of-place appearance of Count Orlok in “Graveyard Shift.” According to him, the scene initially involved a character named Floorboard Harry, who lives beneath the Krusty Krab, but the emergence of a previously unseen character didn’t seem to click. As a kid, Lender loved the magazine “Famous Monsters of Filmland,” which included an out-of-context photo of Orlok that stuck with him for years and served as his first exposure to “Nosferatu.” With that, he decided to put it in the episode, poetically introducing an entire generation of kids to the 1922 film.
Orlok wasn’t intended to appear as a regular on “SpongeBob SquarePants,” and for many years, “Graveyard Shift” was his only appearance. However, that has since changed as he’s appeared in a handful more episodes. He made his big return in Season 11’s “The Night Patty,” followed by Season 13’s “A Place for Pets” and “Captain Pipsqueak.” In October of 2022, he’ll feature in both “Squidferatu” and “Slappy Daze,” keeping his strangely long “SpongeBob” tenure going. His son, Kidferatu (Dee Bradley Baker), has even made a few appearances on the 3D-animated prequel, “Camp Coral.”
Despite being on polar opposite ends of the media spectrum, Count Orlok and “SpongeBob SquarePants” are inseparable at this point, and it’s all thanks to a random gag in “Graveyard Shift.”
