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Encyclopedia SpongeBobia
If you were looking for the article about the machine, then see Skill crane (machine).

"Skill Crane" is a SpongeBob SquarePants episode from season 4. In this episode, Squidward attempts to win a prize from the skill crane.

Characters[]

Synopsis[]

The episode starts at the Krusty Krab, a fish dressed in a suit comes to the door. Mr. Krabs believes him to be a tax collector, causing him to panic and jump inside SpongeBob with his cash register to try and escape until the man shows his business card, which identifies him as R.A. PennyPincher of Vending Supplies. Mr. Krabs is overjoyed as the delivery men bring the Skill Crane that he ordered for the Krusty Krab. Mr. Krabs explains that it will "pay for itself in no time" and insists that SpongeBob and Squidward try it, giving them each a free quarter.

Squidward plays the machine and almost picks up a stuffed snake, but drops it and loses. He excitedly exclaims to SpongeBob that he almost got a toy on his first try. When SpongeBob tries the machine, Squidward expects him to lose, but SpongeBob effortlessly wins two times, winning a stuffed animal with each try, which frustrates Squidward.

Skill Crane 124

Squidward asks SpongeBob to help him win.

Later on, SpongeBob continues to win several more stuffed animals from the machine effortlessly. Squidward desperately tries to win. After running out of money, Mr. Krabs turns Squidward's paycheck into quarters and gives to him. Even using his money from payday, he still does not win. At the same time, SpongeBob receives his regular paycheck.

When Squidward goes home, he finds he cannot pick up anything because of the crane, and he caves in, convinced he must win. He puts back on his normal clothes, gets his piggy bank, and runs to the Krusty Krab and tries the crane over and over again until the next morning, but to no avail. Mr. Krabs then empties the machine and finds an enormous amount of Squidward's quarters, along with the deed to his house. SpongeBob tells Squidward that the secret to winning is to be the crane, and he wins a teddy bear and rubs it in everyone's face. He even viciously mocks a kid who just lost the game and the angry kid gives Squidward a well-deserved kick in the shin before storming out while Squidward hops up and down holding his shin in pain.

Skill Crane 177

The construction site destroyed.

At the end of the day, Squidward walks home with SpongeBob and sees a construction site. He operates the unoccupied crane with his eyes closed, thinking he can control it, and picks up a girder, but he cannot apply the same secret with that type of crane, resulting in the destruction of a mall the workers recently built. When Squidward realizes the destruction he had caused, he once again tries to "be the crane." As a result, he accidentally hits the workers with the girder, sends the machine into reverse, and the crane spins around while doing so. SpongeBob and the workers run from the crane. It ends up stopping after smashing the Krusty Krab into pieces. Squidward tries to get away, but soon finds himself surrounded by the angry construction workers. SpongeBob tries to rescue him with the crane, but only picks up Squidward's toy and he comes to the conclusion that he can only pick up toys as the episode ends with the angry construction workers getting ready to pummel up Squidward, as his goose is cooked.

Production[]

Storyboards[]

Storyboards by Erik Wiese.

Boards from this episode were posted on the official SpongeBob Twitter account on July 4, 2020.[6]

Music[]

 ) Production music
 ) Original music
 ) SpongeBob music

  Dombummel - Gerhard Trede [Title card]
  Tymp Accent - Nicolas Carr ["What?"]
  The Girl I Left Behind Me - Brian Peters ["My machine has arrived?"]
  PercussionAnouncement - Nicolas Carr [Drumroll]
  Ta-Ra C - Sammy Burdson, John Charles Fiddy [Skill Crane revealed]
  Vibe & Harp Hits - Nicolas Carr ["First one's free!"]
  Sailor's Waltz - Heinz Matschurat ["Come on, Squidward, you know you want to."]
  You Lose - Nicolas Carr [Squidward loses]
  The Tip Top Polka/The Cliff Polka - Chelmsford Folk Band ["My work here is done."]
  Ta-Ra A - Sammy Burdson, John Charles Fiddy [SpongeBob wins]
  Comic Tension (A) - Dick Stephen Walter [Claw falls onto a toy]
  Lighting the Fuse (B) - Dick Stephen Walter [Squidward sees "grab" button]
  Desperate Dilemma - Dick Stephen Walter [Squidward presses "grab" button]
  You Lose - Nicolas Carr [Squidward loses again]
  Ta-Ra A - Sammy Burdson, John Charles Fiddy [SpongeBob wins again]
  Steel Licks 40 - Jeremy Wakefield ["Oh, I loosened that one up for you."]
  Harp Thoughts - Nicolas Carr [Squidward remembers what Krabs said]
  Drunken Sailor (B) - Robin Jeffrey, Tim Laycock ["At a quarter a pop, this thing pays for itself in no time."]
  The Tip Top Polka/The Cliff Polka - Chelmsford Folk Band [Squidward depressed as SpongeBob keeps winning]
  Unease - Dick Stephen Walter ["Squid... ward..."]
  The Tip Top Polka/The Cliff Polka - Chelmsford Folk Band ["Need some change?"]
  You Lose - Nicolas Carr [Squidward loses]
  Towerstreet 17 [#21] - Gerhard Narholz [Montage of Squidward losing]
  You Lose - Nicolas Carr ["You lose!"]
  Steel Licks 18 - Jeremy Wakefield [Squidward says he's out of money]
  The Rake Hornpipe - Robert Alexander White [Payday]
  Steel Licks 41 - Jeremy Wakefield [Squidward used all his money on the crane]
  Percussion Suspense - Nicolas Carr [Drumroll]
  Ta-Ra C - Sammy Burdson, John Charles Fiddy [SpongeBob wins]
  Goodbye Rodney - Peter Winslow [Squidward goes home]
  Pua Paoakalani B - Kapono Beamer, Queen Lili'uokalani [Squidward in bed]
  House Of Horror [#10.5] - William Farran ["I gotta win that crane!"]
  Towerstreet 17 [#4] - Gerhard Narholz [Piggy bank sheds tear]
  At One - Nicolas Carr [SpongeBob being the crane]
  Ta-ra A - Sammy Burdson, John Charles Fiddy [SpongeBob wins]
  Steel Licks 22 - Jeremy Wakefield ["Yes! Yes, I do!"]
  At One 3 - Nicolas Carr [Squidward being the crane]
  Hollywood Fanfare - Larry Hochman [Squidward wins!]
  You Lose - Nicolas Carr [A little kid loses]
  Comic Walk - Sidney Torch [Squidward teases him]
  Lap Steel - Nicolas Carr [Kid kicks Squidward]
  You're Nice - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [Squidward operating a construction crane]
  Dramatic Impact (5) - Ivor Slaney [Squidward destroys a mall being built]
  Drama Link (B) - Hubert Clifford ["Squidward, open your eyes!"]
  Spongemonger - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [Vehicle out of control]
  Hawaiian Adventures aka SpongeBob Theme - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [Ending]

Release[]

Reception[]

  • "Skill Crane" was ranked #8 on the Winner Take All Sunday.
  • "Skill Crane" was ranked #22 during the Best Day Ever event from November 9–10, 2006.

Trivia[]

General[]

  • This episode has an animated title card.
  • The background of the title card is similar to that of "Welcome to the Chum Bucket" and "Enemy In-Law," only it is orange instead of gray.
  • The idea of the skill crane was previously used in the educational video game SpongeBob SquarePants Saves the Day.
  • This is one of the few episodes where Mr. Krabs is seen paying SpongeBob and Squidward, and given the number of quarters he gave Squidward, he pays them a standard worker's salary, in contrast to numerous claims of them being underpaid in other episodes, such as "Squid on Strike."
  • Squidward's line "Because... I'm... all... out... of... [yelling at Mr. Krabs] Money!" has become a popular meme on YouTube.
  • 3,499 quarters is equivalent to $874.75.
  • In 2013, a real-life version of the skill crane from this episode was constructed for the SpongeBob Fan Shellabration. To coincide with the event, Nickelodeon also released an online game featuring a virtual skill crane.
  • This is the only episode for a few things:
    • The only episode to ever be written by Kyle McCulloch until his return as a writer in "Squid Plus One" in season 9.
    • The only episode to use "Dombummel" as title card music. It is heard as background music, typically in arcades, in some other episodes.
      • This is also the only season 4 episode to play that track.
  • This is the last episode for two things:
  • Mr. Krabs is shown hiding in SpongeBob's body at the beginning of the episode. The opposite happened earlier in the season in the episode "Shell of a Man."
  • Due to time constraints, this episode is only 5 minutes in the Filipino dub.[citation needed]
  • In the Norwegian dub, the title screen is cut.[citation needed]
  • On the November 10, 2006 airing, this episode was paired with "Bubble Buddy."[7]
  • The plush toys in this episode later appear in "Friendiversary" inside the toy store window.

Errors[]

Polish 20200219 093341225

Rough Draft Korea.

  • During the bubble transition there is a blue screen which was made sometime in 2004 or 2005 from Rough Draft Korea.
  • At the beginning of the episode, the coloring is in a lighter shade, most notably Squidward's workstation, before changing back to normal after the crane is introduced.
  • When the episode starts, R.A. PennyPincher's truck is right in front of the Krusty Krab windows, but when it cuts to Squidward mopping, his truck is farther away and the Krusty Krab clam sign is missing.
  • At first, the skill crane says, "You Win," but when SpongeBob wins the last time, it says "Winner" instead.
  • When SpongeBob is having a tea party with his stuffed animals, the seahorse toy he won is not shown.
    • Also, SpongeBob at first calls his teddy bear "Beary," but later he calls it "SpongeBear Jr." It's possible he renamed it or gave it a nickname, or this is a different teddy bear that looks identical to Beary.
  • When Mr. Krabs is thanking Squidward after giving him change, the leftmost end of Mr. Krabs' belt (before the coin rolls start) turns gray for a frame.
  • When Mr. Krabs walks away with Squidward's deed to his house, Mr. Krabs puts it in his pants, but it disappears as he walks.
  • Also, it would be impossible for Squidward to put the deed to his house in the claw machine, because claw machines only take coins.
  • When SpongeBob and Squidward walk out of the Krusty Krab, Squidward's mouth is moving despite the scene being silent.
  • After Squidward says, "Don't be the crane!," the moving animation freezes until the next shot.
Pants Color Error

The pants change color.

  • In some scenes, the short construction worker's pants change color.
  • While SpongeBob and the construction workers are running away from the crane, the Chum Bucket is not seen despite them running directly to the Krusty Krab.
Skill Crane 098

Picture frame with one bamboo piece.

Skill Crane 096

Picture frame with three bamboo pieces.

  • When Squidward is about to try to pick up the television remote, the picture frame in the background undergoes a slight inconsistency during the duration of this scene. The first time the picture frame is in view is during a zoomed-in shot of Squidward sitting on the couch, which is when the frame includes three bamboo pieces in the top portion of the frame with one singular piece in the bottom portion of the frame. However, when the camera zooms away from Squidward, the frame's bottom portion consists of three bamboo pieces, instead of the singular piece.
  • When Squidward immediately leaves the crane at the end of the episode, he is in the Krusty Krab. However, when he is stopped by the construction workers, the Krusty Krab is nowhere to be seen, nor is there any debris.
  • When Mr. Krabs says "Boys! It's payday!", the flags in his office are shown on the right side. However, the flags are always on the left side of Mr. Krabs' office.


References[]

Wikipedia logo This page uses content from Wikipedia (originalauthors). Both Encyclopedia SpongeBobia and Wikipedia are licensed under the CC BY-SA 3.0 Unported license.


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