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SpongeBob SquarePants is an Emmy-nominated American animated television series and media franchise. It is one of Nickelodeon's "Nicktoons" and is the network's most watched show of all time; it is also the most watched children's TV show in history and Nickelodeon's longest-running Nicktoon since 2012. In 2007, it was named by Time as one of the greatest television shows of all time. Although its original network is Nickelodeon, SpongeBob is now broadcast across the world. It was created by former marine biologist and animator Stephen Hillenburg, and is produced through his production company United Plankton Pictures, Inc. SpongeBob has spawned two spin-offs and five movies (including two spin-off films) so far, and was even aired on sister network MTV2 for a short time in 2006.
Settings
Conch Street
The titular SpongeBob SquarePants is a sponge who lives in a pineapple under the sea on Conch Street, while his octopus neighbor Squidward Tentacles lives in a Moai head. SpongeBob's other neighbor and best friend is a pink starfish named Patrick Star, who lives under a rock. SpongeBob and Patrick live on either side of Squidward, much to Squidward's despair. Other main characters include Eugene H. Krabs, owner and founder of the Krusty Krab restaurant, Sandy Cheeks, a land squirrel from Texas who is a scientist and inventor, Sheldon J. Plankton, Mr. Krabs' best friend-turned-rival and owner of the Chum Bucket, Karen, Plankton's computer wife, Poppy Puff, SpongeBob's boating teacher, and Pearl Krabs, Mr. Krabs' teenage whale daughter; all of them live away from Conch Street.
Bikini Bottom
SpongeBob and his friends live in the underwater city of Bikini Bottom. Bikini Bottom is like a regular city with a downtown, suburbs, coastal areas, its own airport, bus system, and Fair Park. Stephen Hillenburg once said that Bikini Bottom was loosely based on Seattle, Washington. A good example of this statement is in the episode Pre-Hibernation Week. Sandy and SpongeBob were fighting on a tall structure called the Sea Needle, a reference to the Space Needle, a tall structure in Seattle. Stephen has said that he wants to leave the location of Bikini Bottom to the imagination, claiming that the Baywatch scene from The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie was just a reference to his favorite show of all time.
Creatures in Bikini Bottom
SpongeBob's house-pet is a snail named Gary. Snails like Gary are portrayed as undersea equivalents to cats, complete with them meowing; some snails are known to actually speak. Although Gary only speaks in a few episodes, the characters have shown an ability to understand him. In addition to this, underwater worms bark exactly like dogs, and are kept on chains. Jellyfish are the equivalent of bees: buzzing, stinging with poison (although it appears as an electric shock), and producing delicious "jelly," mocking the name "Jellyfish," while still referring to a bee's honey. Fish act as the citizens of the community but, as a rule, are not important characters.
Characters
Main
- SpongeBob SquarePants — A happy–go–lucky sponge who works at the Krusty Krab as the fry cook.
- Patrick Star — A dumb, yet friendly, starfish who enjoys everything that SpongeBob does and is his best friend.
- Squidward Tentacles — A grumpy octopus who enjoys playing the clarinet and is constantly annoyed by SpongeBob and Patrick.
- Eugene H. Krabs — The owner of the Krusty Krab. He is a cheapskate and loves money.
- Gary the Snail — SpongeBob's loyal pet snail.
- Sandy Cheeks — A scientist and friend of SpongeBob and Patrick.
- Sheldon J. Plankton — An evil plankton who constantly tries to steal the Krabby Patty formula.
- Karen — Plankton's computer wife.
- Mrs. Puff — SpongeBob's boating school teacher who tries to get rid of SpongeBob.
- Pearl Krabs — The spoiled daughter of Mr. Krabs.
Recurring
- Father SquarePants — SpongeBob's father.
- Mother SquarePants — SpongeBob's mother.
- Mermaid Man — An old retired superhero.
- Barnacle Boy — An old retired superhero and Mermaid Man's sidekick.
- Flying Dutchman — A ghost who steals people's souls. Like Squidward, he is annoyed with SpongeBob and Patrick.
- Mama Krabs — Mr. Krabs's mother.
- King Neptune — The ruler of the sea.
- Squilliam Fancyson — A rich octopus who is also Squidward's rival.
- Bubble Bass — A nerd and picky eater who likes to make fun of burger cooks by ordering pickles on his burger, then hiding them under his tongue and claiming that he didn't get pickles on the burger.
- Man Ray — Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy's nemesis.
- Dirty Bubble — Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy's other nemesis.
- Mama Tentacles — Squidward's mother.
- DoodleBob — SpongeBob's drawing gone wild.
- Old Man Jenkins
- Nancy
- Fred
- Tom
Irregular
- Herb Star — Patrick's father.
- Margie Star — Patrick's mother.
Popularity
SpongeBob SquarePants is the only cartoon to consistently make the Top 10 list in the Nielsen ratings, and is the first "low budget" Nickelodeon cartoon, according to the network, to become extremely popular. Low-budget cartoons had not garnered as much esteem as higher-rated (and higher-budgeted) shows, such as R*g-rats, although when SpongeBob aired in 1999, it had gained a significant enough number of viewers in the ratings to be considered popular, eventually becoming more popular than R*g-rats had ever been.
SpongeBob follows other Nickelodeon shows that have attracted "older" followers: The Ren and Stimpy Show, Rocko's Modern Life, the Kablam! skits, Action League Now! and The Angry Beavers. Other shows have followed in this trend as well: Invader Zim and The Fairly OddParents won a similar fan base when they aired in 2001; the latter would become second only to SpongeBob in popularity, while the former was canceled despite gaining a cult following.
The show didn't truly gain its popularity immediately despite its stellar ratings; when it debuted in 1999, the Pokémon franchise was still the biggest craze. By the turn of the millennium, however, SpongeBob had been picking up steam; it became popular by the end of 2000 at the earliest and has remained popular ever since.
Broad appeal
SpongeBob is one in a long line of cartoons that is designed to appeal to adults as well as children. This has a lot to do with the absurd way underwater life and situations are represented, and with the situations, references, and words used, which younger viewers might not understand. Certain innuendos also are intended to go over younger viewers' heads. For example, SpongeBob tried to show his grandma that he was a mature adult by wearing sideburns and a derby, and listening to "free form jazz" or when Squidward tricked SpongeBob and Patrick into thinking he was a ghost, a coral reef sculpted like Toulouse-Lautrec's can-can girls stands in the background (leading to a pun by Squidward), are jokes most children would not understand. Numerous marine biology in-jokes are woven into the show. There are also often complex ironic scenarios that need close attention.
While many newer cartoons revolve around pre-adolescents with strange lives and feature many pop-culture references (e.g. The Fairly OddParents), SpongeBob chooses to go for a formula that was used in highly successful older Nick cartoons such as Ren and Stimpy and Rocko's Modern Life, with non-human young adults in crazy, unrealistic situations, with minimal pop culture references.
Part of the show's appeal has to do with the childlike nature of SpongeBob and his best friend, Patrick Star, both of whom are adults but display an innocence typical of human children. However, the characters are not immune from more adult avocations, including rock musicianship in a stadium performance, reminiscent of a hard rock concert, or Patrick turning to SpongeBob after they had nurtured a baby clam, holding his arms out saying "Let's have another."
Unlike the Nickelodeon network, SpongeBob features well-known independent musicians who contribute to its soundtrack. Alternative rock bands such as Wilco, The Shins, The Flaming Lips and Ween (who have contributed two original songs to the show and their 1997 song "Ocean Man" to the first movie's soundtrack), as well as metal bands Pantera, Motörhead and Twisted Sister have made appearances on the show and movie soundtracks, and heavy metal group Metallica even released a T-shirt featuring cartoon versions of themselves playing live with the characters SpongeBob and Patrick. British rock singer David Bowie was even a special guest on the SpongeBob SquarePants episode Atlantis SquarePantis (aired on November 12, 2007).
The show became so popular with teenagers and adults that the series was broadcast on MTV and featured on Spike TV. A quote by Patrick ("It's gonna rock!" from the episode Mid-Life Crustacean) has been used as a promotional tag-line for rock stations. Ren and Stimpy, among others, had followed a similar path. The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, released on November 19, 2004, features a cameo appearance by actor David Hasselhoff, in a parody of his role from Baywatch.
Cast
Regular Cast
- Tom Kenny as SpongeBob/Gary the Snail/French Narrator/Patchy the Pirate/Father SquarePants/Old Man Jenkins/Dirty Bubble (present)/Various Others
- Bill Fagerbakke as Patrick/Others
- Rodger Bumpass as Squidward/Dr. Gill Gilliam/Anchovies/Nematodes/Others
- Clancy Brown as Mr. Krabs/Others
- Doug Lawrence as Plankton/Larry the Lobster/Various Others
- Dee Bradley Baker as Squilliam Fancyson/Bubble Bass/DoodleBob/Various Others
- Sirena Irwin as Mama Krabs (present)/Various Others
- Carolyn Lawrence as Sandy/Others
- Mary Jo Catlett as Mrs. Puff
- Jill Talley as Karen/Others
- Lori Alan as Pearl Krabs/Margie
- Brian Doyle-Murray as The Flying Dutchman
- Stephen Hillenburg as Potty the Parrot (before 2004)
- Paul Tibbitt as Gorilla/Potty the Parrot (2005-2012)/Mama Krabs (past)/Others
- Frank Welker as Mystery/Gorilla/Clamu/Oysters/Others
Guest Stars
Click here for the list of Guest Stars that have appeared in the show
Episodes
See Episodes
Main Page Update
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