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Stair Wars

"Stair Wars" is a The Patrick Star Show episode from season 1. In this episode, Patrick and GrandPat try to pass each other on the stairs, leading to a ludicrous conflict.

Characters

Synopsis

The episode starts as the sun wakes up, tired. He grabs the Star family's house and pours coffee onto a mug. As he drinks the coffee, he becomes energized and starts shining as the day begins. Squidina runs inside with Ouchie and puts him in the reserved area. She then finds a "leak" coming from the ceiling, only to realize that Patrick is asleep and drooling in his bed. She attempts to wake him up with a broom, and this makes him fall off his bed while still sleeping. Squidina then proceeds to pick him up, put makeup on him, and announces that it is time for The Patrick Show! She then splashes Patrick with a bucket of water, waking him up. Patrick tells the audience that he will teach everyone about some brief miniature golf tips. After uttering random numbers and striking miscellaneous objects with a plunger, Patrick says he thinks it would be better with an actual golf club, so he puts Squidina onstage to perform, but tells Patrick that she has stage-4 stage fright. After looking at the audience with embarrassment, she melts.

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Patrick runs up the stairs until he sees GrandPat in the way. They both greet each other, and tell each other which direction on the staircase they want to go. They struggle to get past each other, so GrandPat says "age before ugly," then Patrick says "Pearls before swine," then GrandPat says "I before thee." Patrick apologizes because Cecil always told him to never back down from a stair-off, but GrandPat clarifies that he gave Patrick that advice, and kicks the thought bubble off Cecil down the stairs. Patrick says that he does not care who said it first, he wants to get his golf club. GrandPat says that he hates the upstairs bathroom. They both turn angry at each other, with Patrick's eyes having teeth, and GrandPat's mouth moving like a chainsaw. After trying to get past each other multiple times, Patrick takes out a loaf of bread out of his belly button and says "en garde," and GrandPat takes out a loaf of bread from his cane and says that he will en garde Patrick. After hitting each other once with their loaves of bread, they challenge each other to a stair-off, and each turn their heads into mules and start braying.

Patrick and GrandPat are revealed to have featured in a TV show that a scientist Dr. Plankenstein turns off, as Patgor was trying to watch it. Plankenstein wants to watch wrestling, as him and Patgor fight over who gets to watch their show. Eventually, Plankenstein's monster, SpongeMonster, arrives to fix this. Plankenstein puts a brain of genius into SpongeMonster, and after SpongeMonster's brain pops out, he breaks the TV in half so both can watch their shows. It electrifies both Dr. Plankenstein and Patgor, and the TV fixes itself, so SpongeMonster turns The Patrick Show! back on.

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Back on the show, GrandPat and Patrick still are going at it, and get their relatives against each other. GrandPat and Patrick then battle with mops, and Bunny comes to tell important news, but goes around the other way in the house to tell them. She tells them that she made jelly sandwiches for the family, and suddenly Perch Perkins makes a news report about the battle between a bunch of Bikini Bottom locals on both sides. The clash commences, with the news helicopter taken down in the process. Overwhelmed, GrandPat floods the house to get the locals out of the house. However, Patrick and GrandPat are still on the stairs, having their problems, and thus, they have a joust. They close in on each other, and it turns out that Patrick gets something in his tooth. When he uses a toothpick, it reveals his golf club.

With his golf club finally in his hands, Patrick heads downstairs to continue his show, while in the process breaks the support of the stairs, and they collapse with GrandPat still there. After recovering from the fall, GrandPat sees that he can use the downstairs bathroom, but Cecil goes in before GrandPat can use it, and he is chased afterwards by the monster toilet that was in the upstairs bathroom. Patrick is ready to continue his show, but before he can hit the golf ball, Squidina cuts him off saying that the episode is over, irritating him. Squidina then bids farewell to the audience, as Patrick ends up hitting the golf ball anyway, and it smashes into the camera, cracks and shatters the screen. Patrick says, "Oops," as the ball falls and the episode ends.

Production

🎨

Stop-motion work for this episode was in production during early 2021,[5] with an exact date in prod. being February 17.[6]

This episode was confirmed on June 15, 2021 by Gracenote.[7]

This episode was added to the United States Copyright Office on July 8, 2021.[8]

On July 19, 2021, this episode's transcript was revealed.[9]

On July 22, 2021, Dave Cunningham confirmed who storyboarded this episode.[10]

Promotional art

Art

Character design

  • Designed by Joann Chang[17] and Robertryan Cory.[2] Color styling for the bulls by Yasmine Ebeed.[18]

Prop design

  • Designed by Aaron Painter.[19] Color styling for the jam sandwich by Yasmine Ebeed.[18]

FX design

  • Designed by Joann Chang.[20]

Background design

  • Layouts by George Nachev, painted by Brad Sutton.[21]

Stop-motion work

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Props

Set design

  • Evan Koehne on the process of building Plankenstein's castle: "It starts off with a foamcore mock-up, then moves to the carving stage. [Sculptor Hiroe Goto] was invaluable to the process, carrying the 2ft tall blocks outside and carving them with a hot wire. Separately [the crew created] floor panels that can be replicated and seamed to create the stone ground, as well as carving cartoony blocks to make the bricks for the walls. And while there is a lot to describe and learn about the process, there is still a bit of mystery to how it all comes together in the end…"[33]

Storyboards

  • Plussed by Chris Tabares[1] and April "Pinkie" Davis.[34]

Production notes

Chris Tabares:

  • Tabares said that he had a lot of fun working on the storyboards for this episode, and was a "Big fan of the FrankenBob."[1]

Evan Koehne:

  • Koehne said that he was "lucky enough to be brought in by Ancient Order of the Wooden Skull to be Art Director on the stop motion build for this great, great show." He gave a "special thanks to Screen Novelties for being the best of the best, always." For him, it "was a real honor to be asked to lead a small team to get this Frankenstein Lair built and on stages."[22]
  • Koehne said that the best part of building Dr. Plankenstein's castle door was "the skull door handle, which [he] had a lot of fun with."[31]
  • Koehne stated that he "[couldn't have gotten] it done without the crew" thanking "the incredible artists, builders and sculptors who made [his] life easier on the show's stop-motion build": "[Andy Wright, Hiroe Goto, Maria Selahi, Alicia Ellsworth, Jack Zegarski and Liza Goldenberg] - "[they had done] it!"[24]

Gregory Pinsoneault:

  • Pinsoneault said that he "always wanted to build a little arcade machine like [the one he did on the show here] and [he] had a great time assigning fake functions to all the levers and gauges."[28]

Anuardi José Cantre Santiago:

  • "[Santiago] said he never thought [he] would be able to meet Patrick" and said "[he] was so much fun", thanking Screen Novelties for having him on the stop-motion crew.[5]

Andy Wright:

  • Wright said that his work on The Patrick Star Show involved a lot of kitbashing and 3D printing. He said that one prop he built ("The "Machine No. 2" (seen above) "was literally designed around [an] awesome, weird vacuum tube [the crew] found for it."[25]
  • "The most complicated build I worked on for the Patrick Star Show was the TV. Not only is it one of the most important props in the stop motion segments, but I had to build 2 different versions: whole and ripped-apart. It was a lot of fun, and the build utilized 3D printed, traditional vfx fabrication, and laser-cut components. The two different versions of the screen were both difficult to get made, for very different reasons. Liza Goldenberg helped a lot with the "split screen."[26]

Comic-Con version

On July 8, 2021, it was announced that an episode of The Patrick Star Show would have a virtual live table read as a part of that year's at-home San Diego Comic-Con.[35] This episode would end up being the one livestreamed on July 24, with the rough animatic being utilized for visual presentation.

Edited scenes

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  • In the Dr. Plankenstein segment, the episode mistakenly uses an unfinished shot. A detailed angry mob was designed and animated, but the final episode still cuts a rough cut of a storyboard drawing. The Comic-Con preview of this episode still included the unfinished shot, confirming it was a placeholder.
    • The animated crowd mistakenly made an appearance on Nickelodeon CEE sometime in May 2023 and on Paramount+.[36]
Lazzer
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  • The rough storyboard presents Dr. Plankenstein's castle interior features a laser on the ceiling that was not seen in this episode, mainly due to the stop-motion set stretching out the original storyboard drawing horizontally and blocking it out of visibility. It would eventually appear in "Pat-a-thon."
Breaknews
  • In the rough boards, a placeholder "BREAKING NEWS" card was used to transition to Perch's report, but in the final episode, it cuts off to the report immediately.
  • Slappy originally just lathered butter on Fred's baguette in the rough board, whereas in the final episode, he also does it on his face.

Other differences

Music

( ‣ ) Production music
( • ) Original music
( ◦ ) SpongeBob music

 ‣ Forever Love - Will Schaefer [Opening.]
 ‣ One Zero Zero - Harry Beurer, Jean-Jacques Perrey [Squidina tries to wake up Patrick.]
 ‣ Tijuana Trip - Sam Spence [The Patrick Show!]
 • Steel Licks 19 - Jeremy Wakefield [Squidina melts in embarrassment.]
 ‣ ? - Ego Plum [Patrick goes up the stairs.]
 ‣ Swanky Walk - Peter Jeffries [Patrick is trying to go upstairs and GrandPat is trying to go downstairs.]
 ‣ Something Is Wrong Here - Andrew Pearce ["I don't care who said it first!"]
 ‣ Monster Bug 33 - Gregor F. Narholz [Patrick and GrandPat growl at each other.]
 ‣ Battle March Link (4) - Keith Mansfield [Patrick and GrandPat challenge each other to a stair-off.]
 • Spooky Antics Revisited - Ego Plum [SpongeMonster and Patgor laughing at the TV.]
 ‣ Stealth and Capture - Wilfred Burns [SpongeBob enters the castle]
 ‣ Spooky - Kenny Graham ["Patgor is hogging the remote again."]
 ‣ ? [SpongeMonster's brain blows out.]
 ‣ ? [SpongeMonster's brain comes alive.]
 ‣ Hide and Seek - Arthur Wilkinson [SpongeMonster breaks the TV in half.]
 ‣ Monster Bug 35 - Gregor F Narholz [Dr. Plankenstein gets shocked.]
 ‣ Bossa Cubana [#26.2] - Gerhard Narholz ["And now back to the Patrick Show."]
 ‣ Solemn March - Harold Smart ["No Man's Step!"]
 ‣ Battle March Link (1) - Keith Mansfield ["Stand with me, son."]
 ‣ Solemn March - Harold Smart [Squidina runs up the stairs]
 ‣ Box of Delights (A) - Dick Walter [Squidina acts cute]
 ‣ Shock - Cornelus Joh Bolten ["We're getting that club!"]
 ‣ Tense Struggle - Sam Spence [Stair war begins.]
 ‣ Easy - Otto Sieben [Bunny has news.]
 ‣ Wargames - Keith Mansfield [Bunny goes up the stairs.]
 ‣ Beautiful Moonlit Night - George Wilson ["Mom, what is it?"]
 ‣ Easy - Otto Sieben [Bunny made jellyfish sandwiches]
 • Bikini Bottom News Theme - Nicolas Carr [Perch Perkins reports on the stair war.]
 ‣ Ramses - Gregor F Narholz ["Will those who want to go down the stairs stand up?"]
 ‣ Attack - Anthony Hymas [The stair war resumes.]
 ‣ Drama Link (C) - Hubert Clifford ["So, we meet again."]
 ‣ Skip and Dance - Arthur Wilkinson [Patrick hugs GrandPat.]
 ‣ Battle March Link (E) - Keith Mansfield [Patrick and GrandPat challenge each other to joust.]
 ‣ Creatures in the Closet - Chris Velasco [Patrick and GrandPat rush towards each other.]
 ‣ One Zero Zero - Harry Beurer, Jean-Jacques Perrey [Patrick finds his golf club.]
 • Nude Sting - Nicolas Carr [The downstairs bathroom.]
 ‣ Kitsch Latin Cool - Malcolm Lockyer [Patrick and Squidina return to the studio.]

Release

Trivia

General

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  • On American TV airings since the premiere, international non-US airings,[4] and The Patrick Star Show Season 1, Volume 1 DVD,[37] Doug Lawrence has been credited as the writer of this episode.[38] However, Luke Brookshier is credited on digital versions of this episode, including that of the Nick.com website. Also, the iTunes version uses the regular SpongeBob font, similar to the Kamp Koral: SpongeBob's Under Years opening credits instead of the font used regularly on The Patrick Star Show's credits. This also occurs in "Enemies à la Mode."
    • The actual writer for this episode is Mr. Lawrence.
  • The A's in the episode's name are a reference to what the episode's plot was about.
  • GrandPat breaks the fourth wall by knocking down Patrick's thought cloud, and Cecil feeling the pain.
  • This episode marks Mr. Sun's first appearance in The Patrick Star Show, as well as his return following "Sandy's Nutmare."
  • This is the first episode of the SpongeBob SquarePants franchise where SpongeBob is completely absent, as he does not make an appearance nor is mentioned. It is also the third episode where he does not appear following "The Algae's Always Greener" and "Late for Breakfast." In addition, this episode is the first where he is absent alongside "Enemies à la Mode" from both segments.
  • This is the first episode of the SpongeBob SquarePants franchise to play the track "Beautiful Moonlit Night" since "Accidents Will Happen" in season 8 of the main series.
  • This is the first appearance of Incidental 11 in this series. The last time she appeared was in "Escape from Beneath Glove World" in season 12 of the main series.
  • This was Alan Smart's only episode of The Patrick Star Show as an animation director before he completely left the SpongeBob SquarePants franchise in late 2021.[39]
  • This episode has not aired in the UK and Ireland since October 14, 2023.[40] However, it is still available on Paramount+ in those two respective countries. It was likely pulled due to war-related themes.

Episode references

Cultural references

  • This episode's title is a parody of the Star Wars franchise.
  • The step between GrandPat and Patrick is called "no man's step," in reference to "no man's land" by Ernest Swinton from World War I.

Errors

  • The glass shattering sound at the end plays before the golf ball hits the screen.
  • As mentioned above, the episode mistakingly uses a storyboard drawing for the angry mob instead of the finished animation during the Plankenstein segment.


Videos

Names in other languages

Language Name Meaning
Russian Лестничные войны
Lestnichnyye voyny		 Stair Wars
Slovenian Stopniščne vojne Stairway Wars
Spanish (American) Stair Wars Stair Wars
Spanish (European) La guerra de las estrellas Stair Wars

References

  1. ^ a b c Chris Tabares on Twitter - "Here are some of the boards..."
  2. ^ a b Robertryan Cory on Tumblr - "All these werewolves were..."
  3. ^ Nicktoons UK - October 26, 2021
  4. ^ a b The Patrick Star Show: Stair Wars/Enemies a la Mode Title Card (Russian) - YouTube
  5. ^ a b c Anuardi José Cantre Santiago on Instagram - "Earlier this year I..."
  6. ^ a b The Patrick Star Show (prop design) - AWilliamWrightDesign
  7. ^ The Patrick Star Show - Gracenote
  8. ^ From the United States Copyright Office catalog: Public Catalog - Copyright Catalog (1978 to present) - Basic Search [search: "Patrick Star Show"]. United States Copyright Office.
  9. ^ PATS102a - Pastebin
  10. ^ Dave Cunningham on Twitter - "NEW Patrick Star Show..."
  11. ^ Patrick Star on Facebook - "what's your family..."
  12. ^ Patrick Star on Instagram - "never doubt the voice of..."
  13. ^ SpongeBob on Instagram - "which are you?..."
  14. ^ SpongeBob on Facebook - "we're all family!..."
  15. ^ SpongeBob on Twitter - "are families are..."
  16. ^ Nickelodeon on Twitter - "what's your family..."
  17. ^ Character Design | Joann Chang
  18. ^ a b Yasmine Ebeed - Color Styling
  19. ^ PAINTERDRAWS - Prop Design
  20. ^ Props & FX | Joann Chang
  21. ^ BS Illustrations - Sutton Illustrations: Watercolors from the Patrick Star show
  22. ^ a b Evan Koehne on Instagram - "The Patrick Star Show..."
  23. ^ a b c Alicia Ellsworth on Instagram
  24. ^ a b c Evan Koehne on Instagram - "You can't get it done..."
  25. ^ a b Andy Wright on Instagram - "So I'm FINALLY..."
  26. ^ a b c Andy Wright on Instagram - "The most complicated build I..."
  27. ^ Gregory Pinsoneault on Instagram - "A few of the smaller props..."
  28. ^ a b Gregory Pinsoneault on Instagram - "Detail shot of one..."
  29. ^ Maria Salehi on Instagram - "bag 'o popcorn, remote..."
  30. ^ Maria Salehi on Instagram - "Weird Science..."
  31. ^ a b Evan Koehne on Instagram - "I got to build this..."
  32. ^ Gregory Pinsoneault on Instagram - "A couple of props from..."
  33. ^ Evan Koehne on Instagram - "BTS photos from..."
  34. ^ April "Pinkie" Davis on Instagram - "Some of my board drawings of..."
  35. ^ Nickelodeon Brings The Patrick Star Show to Comic-Con@Home with Exclusive Cast Table Read - The Patrick Star Show - Paramount Press Express
  36. ^ Un Show cu Patrick Stea - Vine SpongeMonstru - YouTube
  37. ^ The Patrick Star Show: Stair Wars opening credits (Season 1, Volume 1 DVD version)
  38. ^ The Patrick Star Show: Stair Wars ("Written by" Comparison Video) - YouTube
  39. ^ Vincent Waller on Twitter - "You are correct. Alan has retired."
  40. ^ The Patrick Star Show on TV | Series 1 | Channels and schedules | tv24.co.uk

Notelist

  1. ^ Also listed as "PAT003" in the segment's storyboards, and simply "003" in its model sheets.