by Jeremy Fuscaldo
Before SpongeBob Squarepants premiered on Nickelodeon, I was 8 years old. I still remember the first commercial advertising the show’s sneak peek premiere set right after the Kids’ Choice Awards in May of 1999. Something about it felt unusual but fitting for Nickelodeon animation—but no one anticipated the show to be a massive success.
I was not sure how long SpongeBob would last or if it had a future. But 25 years later, SpongeBob Squarepants has become a pop culture mainstay. Created by the late, great Stephen Hillenburg for Nickelodeon Animation Studios, the show officially premiered on Nickelodeon on July 17, 1999.
At New York Comic Con 2024, cast and crew gathered for a 25th anniversary panel moderated by podcast host and writer Matt Forte. Panelists included cast members Tom Kenny (SpongeBob), Bill Fagerbakke (Patrick Star), Roger Bumpass (Squidward), Clancy Brown (Mr. Krabs), Carolyn Lawrence (Sandy Cheeks), and Mr. Lawrence (Plankton), and executive producers Mark Ceccarelli and Vincent Waller.
The producers said they wanted the comedy of SpongeBob to feel like the original Monty Python. Cast members shared stories of working together, including some amusing antidotes from Brown and Fagerbakke. Brown joked about how “they knew they get the free food” and Fagerbakke joked about working with Brown, “No now wants to get Shawshanked.” Not even I can unsee the voice of Patrick making that comment without an artist’s rendition (seen below).
(Jeremy Fuscaldo)Additionally, Kenny and Mr. Lawrence shared that their friendship and creative partnership with Hillenburg on Rocko’s Modern Life (created by Joe Murray) led to them working on SpongeBob Squarepants until Hillenburg’s tragic death in 2018. But the fun and goofy legacy he created in the show still lives on.
The panelists also shared some of their favorite episodes of the series. Kenny’s favorite episode is “Sailor Mouth,” in which he, Fagerbakke, and Brown unleashed the profanity within, only to be accompanied by the infamous dolphin sounds bleeping them out. He claimed the archives for that episode, including the uncensored version, are buried somewhere deep at Nickelodeon. Fagerbakke’s favorite episode is “Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy” because he got to work with Tim Conway and Ernest Borgnine.
Mr, Lawrence’s favorite episode is “My Leg,” about a minor reoccurring side character he’s voiced throughout the series who would often shouts, “My leg!” He also wrote the episode. Brown said his favorite episode is every episode, and everyone agreed that their universal favorite is “Band Geeks.”
Following this discussion, the SpongeBob Squarepants panelists pivoted to a table read of the second act of the episode where Squidward teaches the Bikini Bottom community how to play in a band, accompanied by storyboards and animation. They also did a table read of the Halloween episode “Scaredy Pants,” once again accompanied by visuals.
The cast and producers also reflected on how the show has shaped meme culture and how meme culture has shaped them and the show’s development. SpongeBob memes are ubiquitous, and the cast and crew are inspired by their creativity. I even created a SpongeBob meme to emphasize the struggle of trying to find a full-time job in my dream or fallback fields, using a famous scene from the episode “Rock-a-Bye Bivalve.”
The crew revealed that three-quarters of the people now working on the series, its spinoffs, and films grew up watching the original series on Nickelodeon. As for its future, the panelists hope to see SpongeBob Squarepants go for another 25 years and that they live long enough to see the 50th anniversary and participate in its panel.
Finally, the panel announced holiday specials, renewal for The Patrick Star Show, and more.
Stay tuned for more NYCC ’24 coverage from The Beat.
English (US) · 