A SquarePants Family Vacation

Template:Episode/159

Characters

• SpongeBob SquarePants
• Patrick Star
• Margaret SquarePants
• Harold SquarePants
• Squidward Tentacles
• Sandy Cheeks
• Sheldon J. Plankton
• Pearl Krabs ^(cameo)
• Eugene H. Krabs
• Karen Plankton
• Larry the Lobster
• Mrs. Puff
• Giant Fruit Fly ^(debut)
• Officer John
• Officer Rob
• Officer Nancy
• Highway Speed Patrol

Synopsis

Everybody gets special invitations from SpongeBob, promising each the thing they love most in life. For example, SpongeBob says to Mr. Krabs that he will have free money and he says to Squidward that he will have a latte sipping contest. Everyone goes to his house, only to be surprised and disappointed that they are going to see vacation slides (which they don't care about).

The adventure starts with Patrick squirting liquid cheese fizz on the camera. SpongeBob's parents pull up and get SpongeBob and Patrick in. SpongeBob looks at a brochure and Patrick suggests a game- Hide and Seek. Patrick gets on the windshield of the boat and Harold yells "Egad!!!"' and looses control. They slide and burst into The Outskirts Outlet Mega-Mall, and Basscar Racing Stadium. Then, they fling off the stadium and head straight into space where a floating cow gets hit by them and lands on the moon. Then, they fall back down to the Earth and slide down a rocky cliff onto the road. SpongeBob then suggests they sing a road song.

♪Lets all sing the road song [Clap, clap.]♪

Everyone sings the road song and at the end of the song, the engine blows up. They move the boat to a local service station. They wait in an outhouse. Margaret sees a playground and offers SpongeBob and Patrick to play on it. They do, but they slide down a sewer pipe and onto a small puddle.

When they get up, they try to get back up, but they cannot. They enter a mysterious red kelp forest with many mushrooms. They hear a hollering noise and run. It turns out it is a small creature. They jump over a cliff and onto an anemone and onto a mushroom. Behind Patrick is a giant fruit fly. They run away and go behind a rock. They hear a noise. It came from a gift shop. SpongeBob wastes his money on useless knick-knacks. They sing the road song wearily. Then, SpongeBob decides to play the road song on a flute he bought at the gift shop. They walk along past Harold and Margret and into the forest again. Animals follow them. The animals suddenly run away because the giant fruit fly is behind them. SpongeBob stops playing. When they turn around, they see the fruit fly wants to give them a lift. They then sing the above the road song. He drops SpongeBob and Patrick off. SpongeBob's parents call them over but SpongeBob and Patrick just fall asleep. Margaret says "Do something Harold!" while Harold says "He's your son, Margaret, he's your son..."

Production

Music

( ‣ ) Production music

( • ) Original music

( ◦ ) SpongeBob music

 ‣ Clownfish Capers - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [title card]
 ‣ Sailor's Sting 9 - Michael Bolger, Nicolas Carr [Krabs reading party invitation]
 ‣ A Fishy Conversation - Gerhard Narholz [Squidward reading invitation and Sandy reading invitation]
 ‣ Sponge Twist - Nicolas Carr, Fabian Fernandez, James King [Larry reading invitation]
 ‣ Horlepiep - Jan Rap [Mrs. Puff reading invitation]
 ‣ Lite Conversation - Gerhard Narholz [Plankton reading invitation]
 ‣ Befuddled - Pat Irwin [guests arrive]
 ‣ Steel Sting (b) - Jeremy Wakefield [everyone leaves]
 ‣ Vibe Q Sting - Nicolas Carr [first slide]
 ‣ ? - Pat Irwin ["Wait, come back!"]
 ‣ Seaweed - Steve Belfer [Patrick spraying the camera]
 ‣ Hop and Skip - Phillip Green [SpongeBob's parents arrive]
 ‣ Bobbins and Spindles - Ronald Hanmer [Great Barrier Reef brochure]
 ‣ Steel Sting (Original Version) - Jeremy Wakefield [Patrick drooling]
 ‣ Drama Sting 3 - Harry Bluestone, Emil Cadkin ["No, I really can't!"]
 ‣ Hop and Skip - Phillip Green [SpongeBob's mom suggests a road game]
 ‣ Armed Attack - Jean Clero [Patrick blocking the windshield]
 ‣ Shop-O-Rama - mall muzak
 ‣ Drama Link (g) - Hubert Clifford [boat flies through air]
 ‣ ? - boat bounces down a racetrack
 ‣ Cosmos Adventure - John Fox [boat ascends into space]
 ‣ Buccaneers [#1] - Harry Bluestone [boat falls back down]
 ◦ The Road Song - Aaron Springer, Eban Schletter
 ‣ Solo Steel - Jeremy Wakefield [family pushing boat]
 ‣ ? - servis stashun
 ‣ Steel Link (b) - Jeremy Wakefield [Patrick laughs]
 ‣ Steel Sting (h) - Jeremy Wakefield [Waiting room]
 ‣ Fresh as a Daisy - George French ["Playgrooouuund..."]
 ‣ Tension Bits - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield ["This looks more like a grayground."]
 ‣ Tentically Speaking - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [seesaw]
 ‣ Thrill Ride - Gregor F. Narholz [swing set breaks]
 ‣ The Jitters - Raymond C. Jones [end of drain]
 ‣ Crazy Mind - Harry Lubin ["Patrick, are you okay?"]
 ‣ Steel Licks (a) - Jeremy Wakefield [Patrick climbing up the drain]
 ‣ Steel Link (a) - Jeremy Wakefield ["Something tells me that is a one-way drain."]
 ‣ Planet Surface - Gregor F. Narholz ["How long have we been walking here?"]
 ‣ ? - vending machine
 ‣ Planet Surface - Gregor F. Narholz ["RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!"]
 ‣ Fight the Beast! - Gregor F. Narholz ["It's getting closer!"]
 ‣ Fighting Legions A - Gregor F. Narholz ["I know how to get us out of this!"]
 ‣ Fight the Beast! - Gregor F. Narholz [SpongeBob and Patrick falling off the cliff]
 ‣ Wahini Wobble - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield ["Patrick, we did it!"]
 ‣ Dramatic Encounter - Gregor F. Narholz [giant insect behind Patrick]
 ‣ Fight for Your Life! - Gregor F. Narholz [SpongeBob and Patrick swinging from vines]
 ‣ Big Bad Giant - Paddy Kingsland [insect flies away]
 ‣ Excited Tension 2 - Phillip Green ["Patrick, did you hear that?"]
 ‣ Carefree and Gay - Phillip Green, Geoff Love, Ken Thorne [gift shop]
 ‣ Solo Steel - Jeremy Wakefield [SpongeBob crying]
 ‣ Bikini Bottom Bound - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield ["We did everything we dreamt of doing."]
 ‣ Steel Licks (Original Version) - Jeremy Wakefield ["I suggest we start walking."]
 ‣ ? - Eban Schletter [instrumental road song]
 ‣ Dramatic Impact 2 - Ivor Slaney [giant insect reappears]
 ‣ Lap Steel - Nicolas Carr ["I think it's offering us a ride."]
 ◦ The Road Song - Aaron Springer, Eban Schletter
 ‣ Hop and Skip - Phillip Green [ending]

Release

• This episode is on the SpongeBob's Runaway Roadtrip and Complete Eighth Season DVDs.

Trivia

Template:Trivia

• The title of this episode sounds the same as the films, RV, Runaway Vacation, Rat Race, and Johnson Family Vacation.
• The episode was released on DVD on September 20, 2011 before it aired on television one month and twenty-one days from its release.
• The original title for this was "Runaway Roadtrip." The DVD cover still has it.
• This is the first of the five episode vacation miniseries to air on Nickelodeon.
• This episode aired on November 11, 2011, or 11/11/11.
• This is one of two episodes to air on a day where all 3 numbers in the date are same. The other is "The Krabby Kronicle" which was released on August 8, 2008 (8/8/08).
• When SpongeBob and Patrick jump off the cliff, it is similar to what they did in "The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie."
• Patrick getting the cheese-fizz in his eye was similar to how SpongeBob got chum in his eyes in "Chum Caverns."
• SpongeBob playing the flute and causing weird animals to follow him may be a reference to the 'Pied Piper of Hamelin'.
• This is the second episode where Patrick is mistaken as luggage. The first was in "The Great Patty Caper."
• This is the second time Baytona is mentioned. The first was in "The Hot Shot."
• The episode was promoted as "Runaway Roadtrip" in Ireland and the UK but the actual episode is still called "A SquarePants Family Vacation."
• In the ending, SpongeBob's mother's first name is revealed to be Margaret.
• This is the only double-length vacation episode.
• This is the second episode to be a long flashback sequence, first was "Missing Identity." Unlike that episode, this doesn't bring us back to the actual setting, making the whole flashback the rest of the episode. This goes the same for the rest of the vacation miniseries.
• This is the first episode to be rated PG in Canada.
• It's unknown why Pearl was at SpongeBob's house when she wasn't shown getting an invitation or being promised anything (though she might have simply accompanied her father to the "free money" party).
• This is the third special that aired on November 11. The first two were "Have You Seen This Snail" in 2005, and "The Great Patty Caper" in 2010. The next one is "SpongeBob You're Fired!" in 2013.
• This episode reveals that Margaret SquarePants knits.
• This episode premiered eight years after Friends Forever was released, six years after "Have You Seen This Snail?" premiered, and one year after "The Great Patty Caper" premiered.
• It's unknown why Patrick is with the SquarePants family because it is a family vacation.
  • It is possible that he did not want to be alone and be sad by himself, stated by SpongeBob in "Choir Boys."

Cultural references

• When the boat is sent flying into space, there is a cow jumping over the moon, which is an allusion to the nursery rhyme "The Cat and the Fiddle."
• This episode could be an allusion to 1987 film, Planes, Trains and Automobiles, the 2005 film, Are We There Yet?, and the 1994 film, Dumb and Dumber.
• Baytona and Basscar are references to Daytona and NASCAR.
• The Road Song is a parody to the Theme song "Holiday Road" from the movie National Lampoon's Vacation.

Errors

• When SpongeBob says "Patrick, where'd you get that kelp cake" the captions say "cupcake."
• When SpongeBob says "I'm so glad you all could make it..." Mr. Krabs has no legs.
• When Squidward reads the invitation letter, SpongeBob's house is gone.
• When Patrick's seat belt is on while seeing the map then tries to get out then the next scene Patrick's seat belt disappears.
• When the boat is crashing through the Mega Mall, Two fish walking near the edge disappear too early.
• The Grayground looks normal when Margaret looks at it. Though it may have been the perspective made it look normal.
• When SpongeBob and Patrick Stand in the Graygrounds puddle, They have waves around their feet. But Margaret Doesn't have them.
• SpongeBob and Patrick both should have be able to see the bouncy plant at the bottom of the cliff.