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Papyrus
SKETCH-O-VISION
A VERY GOOD USE OF YOUR TIME.
The setup
Watch on YouTube
Watch onYouTube
The premise
Here’s the bit.
Steven wakes from another sleepless night convinced that the decision to use the Papyrus font for Avatar's logo has ruined his life, and his wife has heard it all before. His therapist doubts the logo is even unmodified Papyrus, and news of the coming sequels only deepens his despair. Filmed as a brooding drama, the short follows him on a nighttime stakeout outside the designer's house while a friend tries to talk him down. After a neighbor finds him shaken in the street, Steven finally confronts the designer through his window.
The funny people
Meet the cast. 6
Say it with us
Highly quotable.
Like a thoughtless child just wandering by a garden, just yanking leaves along the way.
Whatever they did, it wasn't enough!
I know what you did!
Behind the scenes
The people who made it.
Julio Torres
Writer
Dave McCary
Director
A little extra
Notes from the archive.
Writer Julio Torres developed the short from one of his own jokes about Avatar's logo. It nearly missed the broadcast, airing with about ten minutes left in the episode, and the closing Comic Sans title card was director Dave McCary's idea. Gosling and Kyle Mooney returned for Papyrus 2 in 2024.
Script
Automatically generated script; wording may contain errors. Speaker labels are inferred.
- 00:01
Steven
It happened again. I thought it was behind me, but the dreams came back. I was up all night. I can't eat. I can't sleep.
- 00:16
Wife
What's wrong?
- 00:18
Steven
It haunts me. It haunts me.
- 00:26
Therapist
Again.
- 00:27
Steven
I forgot about it for years, but then I remembered that Avatar, the giant international blockbuster, used the papyrus font as its logo.
- 00:37
Therapist
Avatar, the movie from, like, nine years ago?
- 00:41
Steven
Yeah. He just highlighted Avatar. He clicked the drop-down menu, and then he just randomly selected Papyrus, like a...like a thoughtless child, just wandering by a garden, just yanking leaves along the way.
- 00:59
Therapist
And so now you're worried about the sequels that are coming out?
- 01:03
Steven
They're making more?
- 01:05
Therapist
Yes, I... Well, I think I've heard that one.
- 01:08
Steven
So they changed the artwork. They fixed it.
- 01:12
Therapist
Um... It looks... similar.
- 01:20
Steven
He just got away with it. This man, this professional graphic designer. Was it laziness? Was it cruelty?
- 01:33
Friend
You've shown me this before. I don't even think this is literally papyrus. Maybe that was the starting point, but they clearly modified this.
- 01:39
Steven
But whatever they did, it wasn't enough!
- 01:43
Steven
And what I vowed to never do again, sitting outside his house, hoping to catch a glimpse of him, to see him do his little things, live his insane little life. I think about it every time I see papyrus.
- 02:01
Friend
Okay, where else do you even see this font?
- 02:03
Steven
Hookah bars? Shakira merch? Off-brand teas?
- 02:28
Neighbor
What happened?
- 02:29
Steven
Do you remember the Avatar logo?
- 02:31
Neighbor
Uh, yeah.
- 02:33
Steven
It was tribal, yet futuristic. Papyrus!
- 02:37
Neighbor
Uh, sure.
- 02:39
Steven
I know what you did. I know what you did!
The rabbit hole continues
One more couldn’t hurt.
More from across the archive.
