SpongeBob SquarePantseobb
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This article is about the series. For the title character, see SpongeBob SquarePants (character).
SpongeBob SquarePants | |
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Genre | |
Format | Animated series |
Created by | Stephen Hillenburg |
Developed by |
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Creative director(s) |
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Voices of | |
Theme music composer | Hank Smith Music |
Opening theme | "SpongeBob SquarePants Theme" by Pat Pinney |
Composer(s) | Nicolas Carr Eban Schletter |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language(s) | English |
No. of seasons | 9 |
No. of episodes | 189 (List of episodes) |
Production | |
Executive producer(s) |
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Running time | 22 minutes |
Production company(s) | |
Distributor | MTV Networks International |
Broadcast | |
Original channel | Nickelodeon |
Picture format | |
Audio format |
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Original run | May 1, 1999 – present |
Chronology | |
Related shows | Rocko's Modern Life |
External links | |
Website |
Many of the ideas for the series originated in an unpublished, educational comic book titled The Intertidal Zone, which Hillenburg created in 1984. He began developing SpongeBob SquarePants into a television series in 1996 upon the cancellation of Rocko's Modern Life, and turned to Tom Kenny, who had worked with him on that series, to voice the titular character. SpongeBob was originally to be named SpongeBoy, and the series was to be called SpongeBoy Ahoy!, but these were changed, as the name was already in use for a mop product.
The pilot episode first aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on May 1, 1999, following the television airing of the 1999 Kids' Choice Awards. The series received worldwide critical acclaim upon its premiere and gained enormous popularity by its second season. A feature film, The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, was released in theaters on November 19, 2004, and a sequel is currently in development, with a projected release date of February 13, 2015. On July 21, 2012, the series was renewed and aired its ninth season, beginning with the episode "Extreme Spots".[2][3]
Despite its widespread popularity, the series has been involved in several public controversies, including one centered around speculation over SpongeBob's intended sexual orientation. The series has been nominated for 15 Emmy Awards, and won for Outstanding Special Class Animated Program in 2010. It has received several additional awards and nominations, including 16 Annie Award nominations (out of which it has won six times), and four BAFTA Children's Award nominations (out of which it has won twice). In 2011, a newly described species of mushroom, Spongiforma squarepantsii, was named after the cartoon's title character.
Contents
Origins
Early inspirations

Before creating SpongeBob SquarePants, Stephen Hillenburg taught marine biology to visitors of the Ocean Institute (located in Dana Point, California).[4]
While he was there, he initially had the idea that would lead to the creation of SpongeBob SquarePants: a comic book titled "The Intertidal Zone," which was used by the institute to teach visiting students about the animal life of tide pools.[5] The comic starred various anthropomorphic sea lifeforms, many of which would evolve into SpongeBob SquarePants characters.[6] The comic's main character was "Bob the Sponge" who, unlike SpongeBob, resembled an actual sea sponge, rather than a kitchen sponge.[7] Hillenburg tried to get the comic professionally published, but none of the companies to which he sent it were interested.[5]
In 1987, Hillenburg left the institute to pursue his dream of becoming an animator,[6][7] and began envisioning the idea for a project that would involve a cast of anthropomorphic sea life. Although he drew several rough sketches of the concept, it would be close to a decade before his idea would become a reality.[7]
Conception
A few years after studying experimental animation at the California Institute of the Arts,[6] Hillenburg met Joe Murray, the creator of Rocko's Modern Life, at an animation festival, and was offered a job as a director of the series.[7][8][9][10] Hillenburg joined the Nickelodeon animated series as a writer, producer, and storyboard artist during the series' third season, continuing his position for much of the fourth season.[7][10][11] While working on Rocko's Modern Life, Hillenburg met writer Martin Olson, who saw his previous comic The Intertidal Zone.[5] Olson liked the idea and suggested that Hillenburg create a series of marine animals. Hillenburg said, "a show ... I hadn't even thought about making a show ... and it wasn't my show".[5] It spurred his decision to create "SpongeBob SquarePants"and said, "It was the inspiration for the show".[5] He became friends with Tom Kenny, who was later approached by Hillenburg to become the voice of the main character, SpongeBob SquarePants.[12] "Steve described SpongeBob to me as childlike and naïve," Kenny said in an interview.[13] "He's not quite an adult, he's not quite a kid. Think a Stan Laurel, Jerry Lewis kind of child-man. Kind of like a Munchkin but not quite, kind of like a kid, but not in a Charlie Brown child's voice on the TV shows".[13]Rocko's Modern Life ended in 1996.[14] Shortly afterwards, Hillenburg began working on SpongeBob SquarePants, teaming up with several Nickelodeon veterans and Rocko crew members,[7] including creative director Derek Drymon, writers and directors Sherm Cohen, and Dan Povenmire,[15] writer Tim Hill, actor and writer Martin Olson, animation director Alan Smart, and story editor Merriwether Williams.[16] For the voice the title character SpongeBob, Hillenburg approached Tom Kenny, who had worked with him on Rocko's Modern Life.[12] Originally, the character was to be named SpongeBoy and the show would be called SpongeBoy Ahoy!.[17] However, after voice acting the original seven-minute pilot in 1997, the Nickelodeon legal department discovered that the name was already in use for a mop product.[18] Hillenburg decided that the character's given name still had to contain "Sponge" so viewers would not mistake the character for a "Cheese Man". Hillenburg settled on the name "SpongeBob". He chose "SquarePants" as a family name, as it referred to the character's square shape and "had a nice ring to it".[19]
Pitching
"The execs from Nickelodeon flew out to Burbank, and we pitched it to them from the storyboards. We had squeezy toys, wore Hawaiian shirts and used a boom box to play the Tiny Tim song ['Livin' in the Sunlight, Lovin' in the Moonlight'] that comes on in the third act. We really went all out in that pitch because we knew the pilot lived or died by if the execs laughed. When it was over, they walked out of the room to discuss it. We figured they would fly back to New York and we'd hear in a few weeks. We were surprised when they came back in what seemed like minutes and said they wanted to make it". |
— Derek Drymon[20] |
In 1997, while pitching the cartoon to Nickelodeon executives, Hillenburg donned a Hawaiian shirt, brought along an "underwater terrarium with models of the characters", and Hawaiian music to set the theme. The setup was described by Nick executive Eric Coleman as "pretty amazing".[21] When they were given money and two weeks to write the pilot episode ("Help Wanted"),[22] Derek Drymon, Stephen Hillenberg, and Nick Jennings returned with what was described by Nickelodeon official Albie Hecht as, "a performance [he] wished [he] had on tape".[23] Although executive producer Derek Drymon described the pitch as stressful, he said it went "very well".[22] Kevin Kay and Hecht had to step outside because they were "exhausted from laughing," which worried the cartoonists.[23]
In an interview, Cyma Zarghami, the current president of Nickelodeon, said, "their [Nickelodeon executives'] immediate reaction was to see it again, both because they liked it and it was unlike anything they'd ever seen before".[24] Zarghami was one of four executives in the room when SpongeBob SquarePants was screened for the first time.[24]
Production
Executive producers and showrunners
"It reached a point where I felt I'd contributed a lot and said what I wanted to say. At that point, the show needed new blood, and so I selected Paul [Tibbitt] to produce. I totally trusted him. I always enjoyed the way he captured the SpongeBob character's sense of humor. And as a writer, you have to move on—I'm developing new projects". |
—Stephen Hillenburg, The Washington Post[25] |
Following his departure as showrunner, Hillenburg appointed Paul Tibbitt, who previously served as the show's supervising producer, writer, director, and storyboard artist, to take over the role.[28] Hillenburg considered Tibbitt one of his favorite members of the show's crew,[29] and "totally trusted him".[25] Tibbitt still holds the showrunner position, and also functions as an executive producer.[28][30]
Writing
For SpongeBob SquarePants a team of five outline and premise writers creates the initial storylines.[31] Writer Luke Brookshier said, "SpongeBob is written differently than many television shows". Writing for an episode of the series starts with a two-page outline that the storyboard director takes and fleshes out into a full episode with gags and dialogue.[31][32] Series writer Merriwether Williams described in an interview that she and Mr. Lawrence would write a draft for an episode in an afternoon and be done at 4 o'clock.[32]Hillenburg decided early on, prior to starting the production of the series, that he wanted SpongeBob SquarePants to be storyboard-driven, rather than script-driven.[33] This required an approach in which artists "would take a skeletal story outline and flesh it out with sight gags, dialogue and a structure that would strike a balance between narrative and whimsy".[33] Hillenburg originally wanted "a team of young and hungry people" to write for the series.[20] The group, who worked had previously worked with Hillenburg on Rocko's Modern Life, consisted of Alan Smart, Nick Jennings, and Derek Drymon.[20] Head writer Steven Banks said, "The writers come up with an idea and write premises and outlines describing the story, and the storyboarders (who are also writers) write the dialogue while they draw the storyboard panels. Most other shows are script-driven. We don't write scripts and that has made all the difference!"[34]
The writing staff often used their individual life experiences for inspirations to come up with the storylines of the series' episodes.[20][25] For example, the episode "Sailor Mouth," in which SpongeBob and Patrick learn profanity,[25] was inspired by creative director Derek Drymon's experience of getting in trouble as child for using the the f-word in front of his mother.[20] Drymon said, "The scene where Patrick is running to Mr. Krabs to tattle, with SpongeBob chasing him, is pretty much how it happened in real life".[20] The end of the episode, where Mr. Krabs uses more profanity than SpongeBob and Patrick, was inspired "by the fact that my [Drymon's] mother has a sailor mouth herself".[20] In the episode "Secret Box", SpongeBob wants to see what is inside Patrick's secret box. The idea came to Drymon because he, too, had a secret box as a child.[25][35] Creator Hillenburg said, "[He] started telling us about it. We wanted to make fun of him and use it".[25]
Almost every episode is divided into two 11-minute segments. Hillenburg explained that "[I] never really wanted to deliberately try to write a half-hour show".[25] He added, "I wrote the shows to where they felt right".[25] Each 11-minute segment takes about nine months to produce.[36]
Voice cast
SpongeBob SquarePants employs the voice acting talents of Tom Kenny (left) and Clancy Brown (right), among others.
SpongeBob
Hillenburg utilized Kenny's and other people's personalities to help create the personality of SpongeBob.[18] The voice of SpongeBob was originally used by Kenny for a very minor female alligator character named Al in Rocko's Modern Life.[18] Kenny says that SpongeBob's high-pitched laugh was specifically created to be unique. They wanted an annoying laugh in the tradition of Popeye and Woody Woodpecker.[38]Patrick Star
Fagerbakke provides the voices of Patrick Star[39] and other miscellaneous characters in the series, including the City Mayor. In an interview, Fagerbakke compared himself to the character and said, "It's extremely gratifying". He described the voice-over and added, "Being part of something that's become iconic, it's great ... it's really exciting. And, also, to get to do it as a voice-over actor and to do it in my business and in an arena that's not fraught with cosmetic hysteria is really awesome".[40]Squidward Tentacles
Bumpass speaks the voice of Squidward Tentacles and other miscellaneous characters. Arthur Brown, author of Everything I Need to Know, I Learned from Cartoons!, has compared Squidward's voice to that of Jack Benny's.[41] At the same time that Hillenburg, Derek Drymon, and Tim Hill were writing the pilot "Help Wanted," Hillenburg was also conducting auditions to find voices for the characters.[20]Plankton
Hillenburg originally had Mr. Lawrence in mind for the role of voicing Squidward.[20] Drymon said, "We knew Doug from Rocko, where he was a storyboard director and where he also did the voice of Filburt. We were showing Doug the storyboard, and he started reading back to us in his Tony the Tiger/Gregory Peck voice. It was really funny, and we wound up having SpongeBob use a deep voice when he entered the Krusty Krab for the first time".[20] Hillenburg loved the voice and decided to give Lawrence the part of the series villain, Plankton.[20] Lawrence also provides the voice of Larry Lobster.[42]Sandy Cheeks
Carolyn Lawrence voices Sandy Cheeks.[43] Lawrence got the role of Sandy when she was in the Los Feliz neighborhood in Los Angeles. She met Donna Grillo, a casting director,
on a sidewalk. Lawrence was with a friend who knew Grillo, and she said
Lawrence had an interesting voice. Grillo brought Lawrence in to
audition and she got the part of Sandy.[44][45] Clancy Brown performs the voice of Mr. Krabs.[46]