Behind the scenes of SpongeBob SquarePants’ stop-motion Halloween special

SpongeBob SquarePants’ second foray into stop-motion (after 2012’s It’s A SpongeBob Christmas!) is just over a week away, premiering on Friday the 13th on Nickelodeon. The Halloween special, titled “The Legend Of Boo-Kini Bottom,” will pit SpongeBob up against the Flying Dutchman.

Tasked with bringing the world of Boo-Kini Bottom to life is the Los Angeles-based production company Screen Novelties, a collective of directors and producers whose goal is to bring “the whimsy and dynamism of classic cartoons into the realm of stop motion animation.” Screen Novelties invited The A.V. Club out to Los Angeles to give us an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the making of the Halloween special.