SpongeBob SquarePants

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This article is about the cartoon series. For the character see SpongeBob SquarePants (character); for the theme song see SpongeBob SquarePants (theme song).
SpongeBob SquarePants Cast
SpongeBob SquarePants Cast

SpongeBob SquarePants is a popular animated television series created by marine biologist/animator Stephen Hillenburg. The pilot episode first aired in the US on Nickelodeon after The Kids Choice Awards on May 1, 1999. It officially aired on July 17 of the same year with the second episode "Bubblestand/Ripped Pants". The main characters are the teenaged sponge SpongeBob SquarePants; his dopey starfish pal Patrick Star; the grumpy middle-aged octopus Squidward Tentacles; the capitalistic crab Mr. Krabs; and the squirrel Sandy Cheeks, who wears a diving-suit. Most episodes take place in the town of Bikini Bottom or the surrounding lagoon floor, islets, or deep.

The show is designed to appeal to older viewers as much as to children. This has a lot to do with the way underwater life and situations are represented, absurdly, as though they are almost equivalent to normal terrestrial lifestyles. Instead of cars, the residents of Bikini Bottom drive boats—with wheels of course. Once, while on a camping trip, Patrick questions how they could have a camp fire on the lagoon bottom—the fire is immediately extinguished with a sizzle. A flurry of bubbles accompany many actions, just to remind the viewer everything is underwater. SpongeBob lives in a pineapple, while his neighbour Squidward lives in an Easter Island head. The suggestion is that both have fallen from a tropical island to become underwater habitats. Spongebob's house-pet is a snail named Gary, who only meows like a cat (though characters have shown signs of being able to understand him). Jellyfish are the equivalent of bees (buzzing and stinging), but are collected or appreciated like butterflies and are used for their jelly.

Rumors of SpongeBob being cancelled were proven false in summer 2004. Already during its 6 year run on Nick (6 years mainly due to the highly extended 3rd season), the show made many fans and received record breaking high ratings, but has endured much controversy and extreme hatred from some conservatives, who feel the show promotes homosexuality, and from those who do not like it. SpongeBob, however, has continued to remain strong.

The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, which was released on November 19, 2004, features a cameo appearance by actor David Hasselhoff whose previous roles were in Baywatch and Knight Rider.

Popularity

SpongeBob has gained a loyal following with kids and adults alike. Merchandise based on the show, for instance, ranges from Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, Kellogg's Cereal, and video games to boxer shorts, pajamas, and t-shirts. It has become a favorite cartoon for TV viewers. The SpongeBob SquarePants cartoon won an Emmy and three Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards, one for favorite video game, and two for favorite cartoon (in 2003 and 2004). There have been kids meal tie-ins at Wendy's and Burger King restaurants, so much so when a SpongeBob movie promotion ran in 2004, thieves stole nine-foot-high by nine-foot-wide SpongeBob inflatables, wanting Krabby Patties as ransom, and signed by Plankton. He was also featured on VH1's I Love the 90s: Part Deux: 1999 as part of a commentary by Michael Ian Black.

SpongeBob is the first "low budget" Nickelodeon cartoon to become extremely popular. Long had low-budget cartoons been living in the shadow of Rugrats, but SpongeBob aired in 1999 and almost immediately became more popular. SpongeBob is the fourth Nickelodeon show to attract "older" followers (the first was Rocko's Modern Life, whose executive producer was SpongeBob creator Stephen Hillenburg, then the Kablam! skit Action League Now!, then The Angry Beavers, then SpongeBob, and after SpongeBob, The Fairly OddParents took a similar role when it aired in 2001 and is now second only to SpongeBob in popularity).

Brief History

SpongeBob SquarePants's history can be traced back to 1993 when Rocko's Modern Life first aired, of which one of whose producers was Stephen Hillenburg, a cartoon worker/marine biologist who loved both his careers. When the show was cancelled in 1997, Hillenburg began working on SpongeBob (although some sketches trace back to 1996). Sure enough, he teamed up with creative director Derek Drymon, who had worked on shows such as Doug, Action League Now!, and most recently Hey Arnold!. Drymon had worked with Hillenburg on Rocko's Modern Life as well, as were many crew members including writer Tim Hill and voice actors Tom Kenny and Mr. Lawrence. Also in the original crew was former Angry Beavers story editor Merriwhether Williams, who worked on Angry Beavers for it's first few seasons and switched to Spongebob in 1999.

Not everyone who worked on Spongebob were veterans to other shows, however. Paul Tibbit was a newcomer to cartoons who's first ever project was Spongebob, and ended up becoming a key member of the shows crew.

In 1999 SpongeBob aired its first episode, "Help Wanted/Reef Blower/Tea at the Treedome", after the 1999 Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards. At this time, Rugrats was at the height of its popularity and had already out lived dozens of other lower-budget cartoons. SpongeBob, with its generally lower-class animation and humor style more rooted in clever word-play and culture-references unlike the potty humor that made Rugrats so popular, was expected to be just another one of those shows. Sure enough, although it struggled a little in its very early days, its ratings flew up. It only took SpongeBob about a year to pass Rugrats as Nick's most highly rated show. With SpongeBob's signature voice (provided by Tom Kenny) and a humorous style that was enjoyable to both younger and older audience backing it up. Many people attribute the "Fall Of Rugrats/Klasky-Csupo/Rise Of Low-Budget Cartoons" to SpongeBob.

The show began its 2nd season in 2000 with more high-quality animation and even better episodes. By the second season it was clear to the world that SpongeBob had opened the door to many other cartoons to use more "adult" senses of humor and come from smaller companies. In 2001, The Fairly OddParents aired from the then-small Frederator company. It focused on a sense of humor similar to SpongeBob's, only more realistic, slightly crazier (and more suggestive to "adult" topics), and with more pop culture references; this show managed to become a hit as well and currently ranks behind SpongeBob as Nick's second most popular show. That same year, Invader Zim aired, created by comic book writer Jhonen Vasquez; it had a dark but silly sense of humor that managed to attract a very loyal cult following consisting more of teens and adults than little kids. SpongeBob, however, was the leader of all these shows and had by this time started its now famous merchandise line. After the September 11, 2001 Attacks the show got higher ratings than ever before, which boosted SpongeBob's popularity. Many people were concerned why after 9/11 that the show got higher ratings, but many say that the show was"the only healing process" for those children and even adults who were emotionally effected by the attacks.

2002 also saw a bright side, as the first part of that year saw SpongeBob at its high. The beginning of the third season produced many classic episodes (some of the most quoted too) and focused on the same style and animation concepts too, the year also saw another more low-budget show with popularity (Jimmy Neutron), but things changed late in the year. Hillenburg began to think of leaving the show around this time, and even cancelling it. Fans were devastated and online petitions and slogans were evident all over. Rumors of a movie closing the show in 2004 were all over talk, but fans just wanted more show. The highly extended third season lasted through 2003, with fans on their knees, and 2004, the year that would decide everything. Sure enough, what was thought to be the last episode, "SpongeBob Meets The Strangler/Pranks A Lot" would air in October of 2004 and the movie was to be released in November of that year.

The show continued to have high ratings, but then, at the end of summertime, the president of Nickelodeon announced that the show would continue without Hillenburg. Derek Drymon has taken over production of the show and with the exception of the departure of Hillenburg, the crew is almost the same. The new season will begin in summer 2005, and the movie has premiered. So the future looks bright for SpongeBob, but fans wonder if the show will be the same without Hillenburg.

Voice Actors and their characters

Crew

The Beginning

During production of the show, Stephen Hillenburg provided a concept of short comics with the same style of the show, but the characters looked different. SpongeBob used to be named SpongeBoy, and used to wear a red hat with a green base and a white business shirt with a tie. The name "SpongeBoy" did not make it into the show since the name was already officially trademarked by Bob Burden, creator of Flaming Carrot. This name was referenced once in the show by the line "SpongeBoy, me Bob!", said by Mr. Krabs. Stephen Hillenburg thought of the name "SpongeBob". The Krusty Krab was originally spelled with the letter C rather than K, but Stephen Hillenburg thought K's were funnier. SpongeBob SquarePants was first aired in July 1999 on Nickelodeon.

Characters

Main

  • SpongeBob SquarePants - A square sponge who lives in a pineapple under the sea. he works at the Krusty Krab with his boring neighbor Squidward (see below).
  • Squidward Tentacles - A hostile octopus that lives in an Easter Island head next door to SpongeBob and Patrick Star. Although loved by the other characters, Squidward appears pessimistic and antisocial.
  • Patrick Star - A cheerful, naive starfish, who is SpongeBob's best friend.
  • Sandy Cheeks - Another friend of SpongeBob's, Sandy is an athletic squirrel from Texas. She wears an old spacesuit and lives in the "Treedome" so that she can survive Bikini Bottom's ocean environment.
  • Eugene Krabs - The money-addicted, miserly owner of the Krusty Krab. Commonly known as Mr. Krabs, he is SpongeBob and Squidward's boss.

Others

  • Gary - SpongeBob's pet Snail that mainly says 'Meow'. Very intelligent, as revealed in the episode "Sleepy Time."
  • Sheldon J. Plankton - The owner of the Chum Bucket and Mr. Krabs's main rival. Usually called by his surname (Plankton). He is determined to steal the secret Krabby Patty formula from The Krusty Krab and run Mr. Krabs out of business.

Lesser known

  • Larry Lobster - A very strong lobster. Regularly goes to Bikini Bottom's beach, Goo Lagoon. He works as a lifeguard there. He is basically congenial, but SpongeBob seems to suspect him of deliberately stealing his time with Sandy. Next to her, Larry is the second strongest critter in Bikini Bottom.
  • Pearl Krabs - The teenage whale daughter of Mr. Krabs. She is popular at school, can be mean in a typical high-schooler way, and can cry very hard. She is often embarrassed by her father's lack of cool or "coral" (the Bikini Bottom teenagers' way of saying "cool"), depending upon the in-word of the week.
  • Poppy Puff - Teaches students (including SpongeBob) at Mrs. Puff's Boating School. She often gets hurt by SpongeBob's bad driving, and Mr. Krabs is in love with her. Her erratic behavior comes from two fears: the first, being stuck teaching SpongeBob, an annoyingly painful, and yet perfect, student; the other is letting loose a monster like SpongeBob who could destroy Bikini Bottom with his awful driving skills. Being a pufferfish, she often inflates herself when something bad happens, such as when SpongeBob crashes during boating lessons.
  • Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy - Semi-retired superheroes who live in a retirement home. Barnacle Boy, who in the episode "Mermaid Man and Barnicle Boy V", changes his name to Barnicle Man, is older than Mermaid Man. The art style used their episodes derive from the 1960s Batman television series.
  • Squilliam Fancyson - An octopus that went to Squidward's band class, and always puts Squidward down. He is a very wealthy, snooty, unibrow-endowed rival of Squidward who looks down his bulbous nose at his old schoolchum for being just a lowly cashier in a greasy spoon. When Squilliam takes his band to the "Bubble Bowl", he comments that he is living Squirdward's dream. Squidward is painfully jealous and schemes constantly to show Squilliam he isn't a loser.
  • The Flying Dutchman - A green ghost named after the famous ghost ship of the same name. He lives in a giant ship that floats in the "sky" (underwater).
  • Patchy the Pirate and Potty the Parrot - Presenters of the SpongeBob specials, Patchy also serves as President of the SpongeBob Fan Club. Tom Kenny, provider of SpongeBob's distinctive voice, plays Patchy, and Steven Hillenburg voices Potty.

Minor

  • Bubble Bass - An obese, geeky fish who undermines SpongeBob's confidence in 'Pickles' and first sits on, then nearly eats Plankton, mistaking him for a jellybean in 'F.U.N.'.
  • Bubble Buddy - A sentient soap bubble created by SpongeBob when he felt alone. In the video game Battle for Bikini Bottom, he teaches SpongeBob Bubble Moves.
  • Cyclops - The evil scuba diver in the movie.
  • Dennis - The hit man hired by Plankton sent after SpongeBob and Patrick in the movie (voiced by Alec Baldwin).
  • Dirty Bubble - One of Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy's enemies. He is a giant bubble.
  • Evelyn
  • DoodleBob - A crude drawing of SpongeBob that came to life in 'Frankendoodle' — the evil variation of SpongeBob SquarePants. He appeared in the episode about the "magic pencil", when he tried to erase everything in town. Evil SpongeBob tried erasing SpongeBob when the later was trying to replicate himself in a decent, constructive way. SpongeBob erased him and missed some parts that redrew the evil one. Then, SpongeBob erased the evil pencil-drawn variant. Meanwhile, the "magic pencil" was tossed back to the boat it came from.
  • Flats the Flounder - A student in SpongeBob's boating school class who wants to 'kick SpongeBob's butt'.
  • Frank
  • Fred - A dark-green fish.
  • Grandma SquarePants - SpongeBob's grandma (voiced by Marion Ross). She treats SpongeBob like a baby, which he resents because other people make fun of him for it.
  • Jimmy
  • King Neptune - He is the god of the sea (played by Jeffrey Tambor in the movie. John O'Hurley voices him in the episode "Neptune's Spatula".
  • Man Ray - Another one of Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy's enemies. He changed his ways in the third MM & BB episode, but went back to being evil in the fifth MM & BB episode. Lord Of The Rings movie veteran John Rhys-Davies voices Man Ray.
  • Monroe
  • Officer Nancy
  • Old Man Jenkins - Usually an older fish (although his appearance varies between some episodes) and is usually randomly introduced by some character, especially by saying, "It's Old Man Jenkins!".
  • Princess Mindy - In the movie, she is King Neptune's mermaid daughter who urges her father to rule with compassion (voiced by Scarlett Johansson).
  • Roger - a Unhatched bird in New student starfish.
  • Scooter
  • Tom
  • An unseen character, who customarily is heard screaming "My leg!" after accidents/disasters.

Episodes

All episodes are shown in correct production order.

Season 1

  • Help Wanted / Reef Blowers / Tea at the Treedome
  • Bubblestand / Ripped Pants
  • Jellyfishing / Plankton!
  • Naughty Nautical Neighbors / Boating School
  • Pizza Delivery / Home Sweet Pineapple
  • Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy / Pickles
  • Hall Monitor / Jellyfish Jam
  • Sandy's Rocket / Squeaky Boots
  • Nature Pants / Opposite Day
  • Culture Shock / F.U.N.
  • MuscleBob BuffPants / Squidward, the Unfriendly Ghost
  • The Chaperone / Employee of the Month
  • Scaredy Pants / I Was a Teenage Gary
  • SB-129 / Karate Choppers
  • Sleepy Time / Suds
  • Valentine's Day / The Paper
  • Arrgh! / Rock Bottom
  • Texas / Walking Small
  • Fools in April / Neptune's Spatula
  • Hooky / Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy II

Season 2

  • Your Shoe's Untied / Squid's Day Off
  • Something Smells / Bossy Boots
  • Big Pink Loser / Bubble Buddy
  • Dying For Pie / Imitation Krabs
  • Wormy / Patty Hype
  • Grandma's Kisses / Squidville
  • Pre-Hibernation Week / Life of Crime
  • Christmas Who? (Christmas Special)
  • Survival of the Idiots / Dumped
  • No Free Rides / I'm Your Biggest Fanatic
  • Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy III / Squirrel Jokes
  • Pressure / The Smoking Peanut
  • Shanghaied (You Wish Special) / Gary Takes a Bath
  • Welcome to the Chum Bucket / Frankendoodle
  • The Secret Box / Band Geeks
  • Graveyard Shift / Krusty Love
  • Procrastination / I'm With Stupid
  • Sailor Mouth / Artist Unknown
  • Jellyfish Hunter / The Fry Cook Games
  • Squid on Strike / Sandy, SpongeBob and the Worm

Season 3

  • The Algae's Always Greener / SpongeGuard On Duty
  • Club SpongeBob / My Pretty Seahorse
  • Just One Bite / The Bully
  • Nasty Patty / The Idiot Box
  • Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy IV / Doing Time
  • Snowball Effect / One Krabs' Trash
  • As Seen on TV / Can You Spare a Dime?
  • No Weenies Allowed / Squilliam Returns
  • Krab Borg / Rock-a-Bye Bivalve
  • Wet Painters / Krusty Krab Training Video
  • Party Pooper Pants (House Party Special)
  • Chocolate With Nuts / Mermaid Man And Barnacle Boy V
  • New Student Starfish / Clams
  • SpongeBob BC: Before Comedy (The Prehistoric Special)
  • The Great Snail Race / Mid-Life Crustacean
  • Born Again Krabs / I Had An Accident
  • Krabby Land / The Camping Episode
  • Missing Identity / Plankton's Army
  • The Sponge Who Could Fly (Lost Episode Special)
  • SpongeBob Meets The Strangler / Pranks-a-Lot

Season 4

The fourth season of SpongeBob SquarePants is set to make its premiere at the end of May. So far, there are only three segments announced, chances are they will not they will probably not be aired together in a single episode.

  • Mermaidman and Barnacleboy VI
  • Fear of a Krabby Patty
  • Molting


Total Episodes (so far): 62?

Movie

The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (2004)

Shows Associated With SpongeBob

Many of SpongeBob's crew members had worked on shows previously.

Despite some artistic similarities between the two shows, there are no former members of The Ren & Stimpy Show crew who work on SpongeBob. Here are some shows that are "related" to SpongeBob.

VHS, DVD and Video Games

Themed DVDs

  • Nautical Nonsense and Sponge Buddies
  • Halloween
  • Sea Stories
  • Tales from the Deep
  • Lost at Sea
  • Tide and Seek
  • Christmas
  • The Seascape Capers
  • SpongeBob Goes Prehistoric
  • SpongeGuard on Duty
  • Sponge for Hire
  • Home Sweet Pineapple
  • Fear of a Krabby Patty (coming May 10, 2005)
  • Plankton's Revenge (?)
  • Gary's Snail Tales (?)

Themed VHS

  • Nautical Nonsense
  • Sponge Buddies
  • Halloween
  • Sea Stories
  • Bikini Bottom Bash
  • Deep Sea Sillies
  • The Sponge Who Could Fly
  • Anchors Away
  • Laugh Your Pants Off
  • Sponge-a-Rama
  • Christmas
  • The Seascape Capers
  • SpongeBob Goes Prehistoric
  • SpongeGuard on Duty
  • Sponge for Hire
  • Home Sweet Pineapple
  • Fear of a Krabby Patty (coming May 10, 2005)
  • Plankton's Revenge (?)
  • Gary's Snail Tales (?)


Season Boxsets (only on DVD)

  • The Complete 1st Season
  • The Complete 2nd Season
  • The Complete 3rd Season (coming October 18, 2005)
  • The Complete 4th Season (coming in 2006) (?)

Movie (VHS and DVD)

  • The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie

Video Games

Video Game Cameo Appearances

  • Nicktoons Racing (Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, Playstation, PC, and Arcade)
  • Nickelodeon Party Blast (PC, Gamecube, Playstation 2 and Xbox)
  • Nicktoons: Freeze Frame Frenzy (Game Boy Advance)
  • Nicktoons Basketball (PC) {A whole team with Squidward, Patrick, and Sandy, called the Bikini Bottom Bouncers}
  • Nicktoons: Movin' (PlayStation 2 Eyetoy) (Spongebob and Patrick are the "hosts" of the game. There are also 4 SpongeBob-themed Mini-Games.)

Controversy

Despite its extreme popularity, SpongeBob has endured much controversy. This is not new for Nickelodeon; many of its '90s cartoons including Ren & Stimpy, Rocko's Modern Life, The Angry Beavers, and more recently Invader Zim and The Fairly OddParents had sparked controversy in one way or another before or after SpongeBob, but SpongeBob's extreme popularity made the controversy completely noticeable and more large scale.

One of the first controversies were about Terrorism. The whole controversy started after 9/11, when the show received higher ratings than usual. Some people may think that the show may have some form of Terrorism, but the fans and many other people say "It's just a show that heals your depressions from things from the news". This is another reason why the producers had to edit one scene from an episode "Just One Bite", because it featured a bucket of gas being in contact with a lit match generally causing the Krusty Krab to explode. Even though it had nothing do to with hijackings and planes, it still featured another form of terrorism.

SpongeBob had a clean start for its first two seasons and the beginning of the 3rd season, but in 2002, the "Rock-A-Bye-Bivalve" episode aired, where SpongeBob and Patrick adopt a baby scallop. Many people accused SpongeBob and Patrick of being homosexual for this and sparked controversy around the news, but this rumor has recently been proven false for numerous reasons.

More recently, SpongeBob was featured in the pro-tolerance "We Are Family" commercial. The video has sparked controversy because some Conservative Christian groups believe the We Are Family Foundation was using it to promote the normalization of homosexuality in America's classrooms. A spokesman for the foundation suggests that anyone who thought the video promoted homosexuality "needs to visit their doctor and get their medication increased."[1]. It has been reported, incorrectly, that James Dobson, a leading moral figure among many Conservative Christians, believes SpongeBob is homosexual or promotes a homosexual lifestyle.[2], [3] (See the section on SpongeBob in the article on James Dobson).

SpongeBob is one Nick cartoon in a long line of shows to put in more "adult" references, and has become so popular with the adult crowd it has been shown on MTV, Spike TV, and a certain quote by Patrick "It's gonna rock!" has been used as a promo for rock stations. Many people believe because it is so popular with adults (particularly adult men), it is not a bad show.

See also

TV Series

Movie

NASCAR

  • [4] SpongeBob Movie 300, sponsored by Lowe's.

Media

Fan sites

Wikiquote has quotations related to SpongeBob SquarePants.
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