SpongeBob SquarePants is an American animated television series created by marine biologist and animator Stephen Hillenburg that debuted on Nickelodeon in the United States on May 1, 1999. The regular voice cast consists of Tom Kenny, Bill Fagerbakke, Rodger Bumpass, Clancy Brown, Doug Lawrence, Jill Talley, Carolyn Lawrence, Mary Jo Catlett and Lori Alan. Most one-off and background characters are voiced by Dee Bradley Baker, Sirena Irwin, Bob Joles, Mark Fite, Thomas F. Wilson and Carlos Alazraqui. Throughout the show's run, it has employed numerous guest stars from many ranges of professions. Repeat guests include Ernest Borgnine, Tim Conway, Brian Doyle-Murray, Marion Ross, John O'Hurley and Michael McKean.
SpongeBob SquarePants chronicles the adventures and endeavors of the title character and his various friends in the fictional underwater city of Bikini Bottom. Many of the ideas for the show originated in an unpublished, educational comic book titled The Intertidal Zone, which Hillenburg created in the mid-1980s. He began developing SpongeBob SquarePants into a television series in 1996 upon the cancellation of Rocko's Modern Life , another Nickelodeon animated series which Hillenburg directed. While creating the show, Hillenburg, with colleague Derek Drymon, was also conducting auditions to find voices for the show's characters. He turned to Kenny, who had worked with him on Rocko's Modern Life, to voice the title character.
The cast members receive residuals every time a new episode they appeared in has aired, which Carolyn Lawrence described as "a very complicated mathematical calculation." [1] Lawrence said in 2008 that it was a "declining scale" and the entertainment industry were "still in negotiations... both sides are still talking." She further stated that "they're still trying to work it out." [1]
Kenny and Catlett were the first cast members to receive award nominations for their performance on SpongeBob SquarePants. They each received Annie Award nominations in 2001, but did not win. In 2010, Kenny won the Annie Award for Best Voice Acting in a Television Production, making it the first time a cast member had won this type of award. Bumpass was the first cast member to be nominated for an Emmy Award, receiving a nomination in 2012. In 2018, Kenny won both an Annie Award and an Emmy Award for his performance as SpongeBob.
SpongeBob SquarePants has featured the voices of Tom Kenny, Bill Fagerbakke, Rodger Bumpass, Clancy Brown, Mr. Lawrence, Jill Talley, Carolyn Lawrence, Mary Jo Catlett and Lori Alan since it began. Stephen Hillenburg started developing the SpongeBob concept into a television series in 1996 upon the cancellation of Rocko's Modern Life , which he directed. While creating the show and writing its pilot episode in 1997, he and the show's then-creative director Derek Drymon were also conducting auditions to find voices for the show's characters. [2]
For the voice of SpongeBob, the main character, Hillenburg approached Kenny, who previously worked with him on Rocko's Modern Life. [3] Drymon said, "Steve [Hillenburg] wanted to find an original sounding voice [for SpongeBob]." [2] Hillenburg utilized Kenny's and other people's personalities to help create the personality of SpongeBob. [4] The voice of SpongeBob was originally used by Kenny for a minor character in Rocko's Modern Life. Kenny forgot the voice initially as he created it only for that single use. Hillenburg, however, remembered it when he was coming up with SpongeBob and used a video clip of the episode to remind Kenny of the voice. [4] 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. [5] Fagerbakke voices SpongeBob's best friend, a starfish named Patrick Star. He auditioned for the role after Kenny had been cast as SpongeBob. Fagerbakke said, "Steve is such a lovely guy, and I had absolutely no feeling for the material whatsoever." He described his experience in the audition, saying "I was just going in for another audition, and I had no idea what was in store there in terms of the remarkable visual wit and really the kind of endearing child-like humanity in the show. I couldn't pick that up from the audition material at all. I was just kind of perfunctorially trying to give the guy what he wanted." [6]
Rodger Bumpass provides the voice of Squidward Tentacles, and other characters. Squidward was "a very nasally, monotone kind of guy", said Bumpass. He said that the character "became a very interesting character to do" because of "his sarcasm, and then his frustration, and then his apoplexy, and so he became a wide spectrum of emotions". [7] Voice acting veteran Clancy Brown voices Mr. Krabs, SpongeBob's boss at the Krusty Krab. For the character, Brown uses a voice that he describes as "piratey" with "a little Scottish brogue". [8] According to Brown, his Mr. Krabs voice was improvised during his audition and it was not challenging for him to find the correct voice. [8]
Mr. Lawrence had met Hillenburg previously on Rocko's Modern Life. When working on the pilot episode of SpongeBob, Hillenburg invited him to audition for all of the characters. [9] Since other voices had been found for the main cast already, Lawrence started out by voicing a variety of minor characters. This included Plankton, who was initially only set to appear in one episode. [9] [2] Mr. Lawrence stated in an interview with Thomas F. Wilson that Nickelodeon executives told Hillenburg, "'we could stunt-cast this. You know, we could have Bruce Willis do this voice.' And Steve was just like, 'it's Doug [Lawrence], don't you hear it? This is the character! This is the guy!'" [9] Jill Talley, Tom Kenny's wife, voices Karen Plankton. Being a Chicago native, she uses a Midwestern accent for the character. [10] Electronic sound effects are underlaid by the series' audio engineers to create a robotic sound whenever she speaks. [11] Talley and Lawrence often improvise their characters' dialogue. In 2009, Lawrence called improvisation his "favorite part of the voice over". [12] He elaborated in a 2012 interview, saying, "I always enjoy the back-and-forth. [Talley and I] start to actually overlap so much talking to each other that [the voice directors] have to tell us, 'hey, stop doing that, separate what you're saying!'" [9]
Carolyn Lawrence provides Sandy Cheeks' voice. When Lawrence was on a sidewalk in Los Feliz, Los Angeles with a friend who knew SpongeBob SquarePants casting director Donna Grillo, her friend said to the director that Lawrence had "an interesting voice". Grillo invited Lawrence to audition and she then got the role. [13] [14] American actress Mary Jo Catlett, who is known for her live-action roles on television programs from the 1970s such as Diff'rent Strokes and M*A*S*H , provides Mrs. Puff's voice. [10] As of 2017, voicing Mrs. Puff has become her only regular television role; Catlett described herself as "basically retired" in 2013, since she is good friends with the other SpongeBob cast members, making the SpongeBob recording booth an easy environment that requires less preparation than in-person performances. [15] Lori Alan voices Pearl. During her audition for the role, she was shown an early drawing of Pearl and took note of how the character was much larger than the rest of the cast. She decided to reflect the character's size in her voice by making it deep and full in tone. She aimed to make Pearl's voice invoke the sound of whales’ low vocalizations while also sounding "spoiled and lovable." [16] In an interview with AfterBuzz TV, Alan said that she knew Pearl "had to sound somewhat like a child," but at the same time needed "an abnormally large voice." [17]
In the Christmas special "Christmas Who?", the characters of Patchy the Pirate, the president of the fictional SpongeBob SquarePants fan club, and his pet called Potty the Parrot debuted. The former is portrayed by Kenny in live-action, while series creator Hillenburg voiced the latter. [18] After Hillenburg's departure as the series' showrunner in 2004, staff writer Paul Tibbitt was given the role voicing Potty the Parrot. [19] Mr. Krabs' mother, Mama Krabs, who debuted in the episode "Sailor Mouth", was voiced by Tibbitt. [20] [21] [22] However, voice actress Sirena Irwin overtook Tibbitt's role as the character reappeared in the fourth season episode "Enemy In-Law" in 2005. [23] Irwin also provides the voices of other characters in the show, including Margaret SquarePants, SpongeBob's mother.
Voice recording sessions always include a full cast of actors, which Kenny describes as "getting more unusual". [24] Kenny said, "That's another thing that's given SpongeBob its special feel. Everybody's in the same room, doing it old radio-show style. It's how the stuff we like was recorded". [24] It takes about four hours to record an 11-minute episode. [1] For the first three seasons, Hillenburg and Drymon sat in on recording sessions at Nickelodeon Studios, and they directed the actors. [25] In the fourth season, Andrea Romano took over the role as the voice director. [25] Wednesday is recording day, the same schedule followed by the crew since 1999. [25] Casting supervisor Jennie Monica Hammond said, "I loved Wednesdays". [25]
Actor | Character(s) | |
---|---|---|
Tom Kenny [26] [24] | SpongeBob SquarePants | Gary the Snail |
Patchy the Pirate | French Narrator | |
Additional Voices | ||
Rodger Bumpass [26] | Squidward Tentacles | |
Additional Voices | ||
Bill Fagerbakke [26] | Patrick Star | |
Additional Voices | ||
Clancy Brown [26] | Mr. Krabs | |
Additional Voices | ||
Mr. Lawrence [26] | Plankton | Potty the Parrot [B] |
Realistic Fish Head | Larry the Lobster | |
Additional Voices | ||
Jill Talley [26] | Karen | |
Additional Voices | ||
Carolyn Lawrence [26] | Sandy Cheeks | |
Additional Voices | ||
Mary Jo Catlett [26] | Mrs. Puff | |
Additional Voices | ||
Lori Alan [26] | Pearl | |
Additional Voices |
Actor | Character(s) | |
---|---|---|
Carlos Alazraqui | Scooter | |
Additional Voices | ||
Dee Bradley Baker [25] [27] | Bubble Bass | Squilliam Fancyson |
Old Man Jenkins | Perch Perkins | |
Additional Voices | ||
John Gegenhuber | Old Man Jenkins [D] | Additional Voices |
Sirena Irwin [28] | Mama Krabs [B] | Margaret SquarePants |
Additional Voices | ||
Bob Joles [29] | Man Ray [C] | |
Mark Fite [30] [31] | Additional Voices | |
Thomas F. Wilson [32] [33] | Additional Voices |
Actor | Character(s) | Notes |
---|---|---|
The Flying Dutchman [26] | Doyle-Murray appeared in ten episodes throughout the first eight seasons. He returned in the eleventh season starting with the episode "The Legend of Boo-Kini Bottom" after a six-year absence. [34] | |
King Neptune [35] | John O'Hurley voiced King Neptune in the episodes "Neptune's Spatula," "The Clash of Triton," "Trident Trouble," and "High Sea Diving." [36] [37] | |
Captain Frostymug Lonnie | McKean appeared twice during the show's ninth season, voicing Captain Frostymug in "License to Milkshake" and Lonnie the shark in "Sharks vs. Pods". [38] [39] |
Actor | Character(s) | Notes |
---|---|---|
Brad Abrell | Bubble Buddy | Abrell voiced Bubble Buddy and other minor characters during the show's second season. He reprised his role as Bubble Buddy for the eighth-season episode "Bubble Buddy Returns" and the eleventh-season episode "Bubbletown" but has not made an appearance since. [40] |
Mermaid Man | Borgnine made the most guest appearances on the show, voicing the character from 1999 to his death in 2012. [41] [42] | |
Barnacle Boy [43] | Conway first appeared in 1999 with his former McHale's Navy co-star Ernest Borgnine, who voiced Mermaid Man; [41] he has since made over 15 appearances. In September 2018, showrunner Vincent Waller confirmed that Conway would not reprise his role as Barnacle Boy again due to health issues. [44] Conway died on May 14, 2019. | |
Potty the Parrot | Hillenburg voiced the recurring character during the show's second and third seasons. When he left the show as the showrunner, writer Tibbitt was given the role voicing the character as it reappeared in the fifth season episode "Friend or Foe". [19] | |
Various characters | Paxton voiced many minor child characters in the show's first three seasons, but has not recorded new dialogue since likely because of her age, and commitments on other projects. [45] [46] [47] An archival recording of Paxton's voice is used in the tenth-season episode "Unreal Estate." | |
Grandma SquarePants [48] | Marion Ross voiced Grandma SquarePants, SpongeBob's paternal grandmother, in the episodes "Grandma's Kisses," "BlackJack," "The Abrasive Side," and "Pet Sitter Pat" and the video game Employee of the Month . [49] | |
Potty the Parrot | Tibbitt took over the role of Potty from Stephen Hillenburg starting with "Friend or Foe" and last voiced the character in the eighth-season episode "It's a SpongeBob Christmas!". | |
Camryn Walling | Various characters | Walling voiced several child characters throughout the show's second and third seasons, but has not recorded new dialogue since. [40] An archival recording of Walling's voice is used in the tenth-season episode "Unreal Estate." |
Welker voiced several animal characters—including Clamu, Baby Oyster, Mystery the Seahorse, and the gorilla—during the third season, but has not appeared since. [40] |
Year | Actor | Award | Category | Role | Episode | Result | Ref(s). |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2001 | Mary Jo Catlett | Annie Award | Outstanding Individual Achievement for Voice Acting by a Female Performer in an Animated Television Production | Mrs. Puff | "No Free Rides" | Nominated | [50] |
2001 | Tom Kenny | Annie Award | Outstanding Individual Achievement for Voice Acting by a Male Performer in an Animated Television Production | SpongeBob SquarePants | "Wormy" | Nominated | [50] |
2008 | Tom Kenny | Annie Award | Best Voice Acting in an Animated Television Production | SpongeBob SquarePants | "Spy Buddies" | Nominated | [51] |
2010 | Tom Kenny | Annie Award | Best Voice Acting in a Television Production | SpongeBob SquarePants | "Truth or Square" | Won | [52] |
2012 | Rodger Bumpass | Daytime Emmy Award | Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program | Squidward Tentacles | Nominated | [53] | |
2018 | Tom Kenny | Annie Award | Outstanding Achievement for Voice Acting in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production | SpongeBob SquarePants | Won | [54] | |
2018 | Tom Kenny | Daytime Emmy Award | Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program | SpongeBob SquarePants | Won | [55] |
SpongeBob SquarePants is a fictional character and the protagonist of Nickelodeon's eponymous American animated television series. Voiced by Tom Kenny, he is characterized by his optimism and childlike attitude. SpongeBob is a denizen of Bikini Bottom, where he regularly gets into absurd and humorous scenarios.
Sandy Cheeks is a fictional character in the American animated comedy television series SpongeBob SquarePants and the Nickelodeon franchise of the same name. She is voiced by Carolyn Lawrence and first appeared in the episode "Tea at the Treedome", which premiered on May 1, 1999. She was created and designed by marine biologist and animator Stephen Hillenburg who is also the creator of the series. Sandy is portrayed as an intelligent anthropomorphic flying squirrel who wears an astronaut-like diving suit and lives underwater.
Squidward J. Q. Tentacles is a fictional character voiced by actor Rodger Bumpass in the American animated television series SpongeBob SquarePants, produced by Nickelodeon. Squidward was created and designed by marine biologist and animator Stephen Hillenburg. He first appeared on television in the series' pilot episode "Help Wanted" on May 1, 1999.
Pearl Krabs is a fictional character in the Nickelodeon animated television series SpongeBob SquarePants. She is voiced by actress Lori Alan and first appeared in the season one episode "Squeaky Boots" on September 17, 1999. She was created by marine biologist and animator Stephen Hillenburg, who was inspired to design a whale character while supervising whale watches at the Ocean Institute in Dana Point, California.
Thomas James Kenny is an American actor and comedian. Since 1999, he has gained worldwide recognition for voicing the titular character in SpongeBob SquarePants and associated media. Kenny has voiced many other characters, including Heffer Wolfe in Rocko's Modern Life, the Ice King in Adventure Time and its spinoff Fionna and Cake, the Narrator and Mayor in The Powerpuff Girls, Carl Chryniszzswics in Johnny Bravo, Dog in CatDog, Hank and Jeremy in Talking Tom and Friends, The Penguin in various animated media based on DC Comics, and Spyro from the Spyro video game series. His live action work includes the comedy variety shows The Edge and Mr. Show. Kenny's accolades include two Daytime Emmy Awards and two Annie Awards for his voice work as SpongeBob SquarePants and the Ice King. He is married to fellow voice artist Jill Talley, who plays Karen on SpongeBob SquarePants, with two children.
The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie is a 2004 American animated adventure comedy film based on the television series SpongeBob SquarePants. It was co-written, co-produced, and directed by series creator Stephen Hillenburg and features the series' regular voice cast consisting of Tom Kenny, Bill Fagerbakke, Clancy Brown, Rodger Bumpass, Mr. Lawrence, Jill Talley, Carolyn Lawrence, and Mary Jo Catlett. Guest stars Alec Baldwin, Scarlett Johansson, and Jeffrey Tambor voice new characters, and David Hasselhoff appears in live-action as himself. In the film, Plankton enacts a plan to discredit his business nemesis Mr. Krabs, steal the Krabby Patty secret formula and take over the world by stealing King Neptune's crown and framing Mr. Krabs for the crime. SpongeBob and Patrick team up to retrieve the crown from Shell City to save Mr. Krabs from Neptune's wrath and their world from Plankton's rule.
"Sailor Mouth" is the first segment of the 18th episode of the second season, and the 38th overall episode of the American animated television series SpongeBob SquarePants. It originally aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on September 21, 2001. In the episode, SpongeBob reads a "bad word" off a dumpster behind the Krusty Krab, but does not know what it means, which gets him into trouble with others.
SpongeBob SquarePants is an American animated television series created by marine science educator and animator Stephen Hillenburg for Nickelodeon. It was revealed as a sneak peek after the 1999 Kids' Choice Awards on May 1, 1999, and officially premiered on July 17, 1999. It chronicles the adventures of the titular character and his aquatic friends in the underwater city of Bikini Bottom.
The first season of the American animated television series SpongeBob SquarePants, created by former marine biologist and animator Stephen Hillenburg, aired on Nickelodeon from May 1, 1999, to March 3, 2001, and consists of 20 half-hour episodes. The series chronicles the exploits and adventures of the title character and his various friends in the fictional underwater city of Bikini Bottom. The show features the voices of Tom Kenny, Bill Fagerbakke, Rodger Bumpass, Clancy Brown, Mr. Lawrence, Jill Talley, Carolyn Lawrence, Mary Jo Catlett, and Lori Alan. Among the first guest stars to appear on the show were Ernest Borgnine and Tim Conway voicing the superhero characters of Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy, respectively.
The second season of the American animated television series SpongeBob SquarePants, created by Stephen Hillenburg, aired on Nickelodeon from October 20, 2000, to July 26, 2003, and consists of 20 half-hour episodes. The series chronicles the exploits and adventures of the title character and his various friends in the fictional underwater city of Bikini Bottom. The season was executive produced by series creator Hillenburg, who also acted as the showrunner.
The third season of the American animated television series SpongeBob SquarePants, created by Stephen Hillenburg, aired on Nickelodeon from October 5, 2001, to October 11, 2004, and consists of 20 half-hour episodes. The series chronicles the exploits and adventures of the title character and his various friends in the fictional underwater city of Bikini Bottom. The season was executive produced by series creator Hillenburg and supervising produced by Derek Drymon, who also acted as the showrunner. Hillenburg halted production on the show to work on the 2004 film adaptation of the series, The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie. After production on the film, Hillenburg resigned from the show as its showrunner, and appointed staff writer, Paul Tibbitt, to overtake the position. Season three was originally set to be the final season of the series, with the film acting as a series finale, but its success prevented the series from ending, leading to a fourth season.
The fourth season of the American animated television series SpongeBob SquarePants, created by former marine biologist and animator Stephen Hillenburg, aired on Nickelodeon from May 6, 2005, to July 24, 2007, and contained 20 half-hour episodes. The series chronicles the exploits and adventures of the title character and his various friends in the fictional underwater city of Bikini Bottom. The season was executive produced by series creator Hillenburg, while writer Paul Tibbitt acted as the supervising producer and showrunner.
The fifth season of the American animated television series SpongeBob SquarePants, created by former marine biologist and animator Stephen Hillenburg, aired on Nickelodeon from February 19, 2007, to July 19, 2009, and contained 20 half-hour episodes. The series chronicles the exploits and adventures of the title character and his various friends in the fictional underwater city of Bikini Bottom. The season was executive produced by series creator Hillenburg and writer Paul Tibbitt, who also acted as the showrunner.
"Help Wanted" is the series premiere and pilot episode of the American animated television series SpongeBob SquarePants. It first aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on May 1, 1999, following the television broadcast of the 1999 Kids' Choice Awards. The episode follows the series' eponymous protagonist SpongeBob, a yellow anthropomorphic sea sponge, attempting to get a job at a local fast food restaurant called the Krusty Krab.
The tenth season of the American animated television series SpongeBob SquarePants, created by marine biologist and animator Stephen Hillenburg, aired on Nickelodeon in the United States from October 15, 2016, to December 2, 2017. The series chronicles the exploits and adventures of the title character and his various friends in the fictional underwater city of Bikini Bottom. This season, which opened with "Whirly Brains" and finished airing with "The Incredible Shrinking Sponge", is the shortest in the show's history, containing 11 half-hours only instead of the usual length of 26.
Patrick Star is a fictional character in the American animated television series SpongeBob SquarePants. He is voiced by actor Bill Fagerbakke and was created and designed by marine biologist and animator Stephen Hillenburg. He first appeared in the series' pilot episode "Help Wanted" on May 1, 1999. In addition to his supporting role on SpongeBob SquarePants, Patrick also serves as the main protagonist of The Patrick Star Show, which premiered in 2021.
Sheldon J. Plankton and Karen Plankton are a pair of fictional characters and the main antagonists of SpongeBob SquarePants, the Nickelodeon animated television series. They are voiced by Mr. Lawrence and Jill Talley, respectively. Their first appearance was in the episode "Plankton!", which premiered on July 31, 1999. They were created and designed by the marine biologist and animator Stephen Hillenburg, the creator of the series. Hillenburg named Karen after his wife, Karen Hillenburg.
SpongeBob SquarePants is a series of live-action/animated adventure comedy films based on the Nickelodeon animated television series of the same name. The films are produced by Nickelodeon Movies and distributed by Paramount Pictures. The films feature the regular television voice cast Tom Kenny, Bill Fagerbakke, Rodger Bumpass, Clancy Brown, Mr. Lawrence, Jill Talley, Carolyn Lawrence, Mary Jo Catlett, and Lori Alan.
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