He Lives in a Pineapple Under the Sea

The History of SpongeBob SquarePants

Oct 12, 2009 Heather Ashley

Over the years, this porous, yellow sea creature has become a cultural phenomenon to children and even adults around the world.

Set in the fictional ocean city of Bikini Bottom, Nickelodeon's SpongeBob SquarePants has aired for seven seasons.

Typically, the show centers around SpongeBob SquarePants, a youthful kitchen sponge who works in fast food and goes on nonsensial adventures with his friends and foes-- a goofy, dim-witted sea star named Patrick Star; Texan squirrel Sandy Cheeks; greedy boss Mr. Krabs; egomaniacal villain Plankton and grumpy octopus neighbor Squidward Tentacles.

The short-length animated segments are grouped into two per episode, running for eleven minutes each. None of them really connect to a greater storyline since the show is not about deep characters or a complex plot. What makes this hit cartoon special is its light-hearted humor that makes children and the young at heart giggle uncontrollably.

SpongeBob Was Almost Called SpongeBoy

Although SpongeBob Squarepants premiered in 1999, its history goes back even earlier than that. Some old images of the kid-friendly sea critter date back as far as 1987, but official development began in 1993 after the cancellation of Rocko's Modern Life.

Originally, the title character was supposed to be named SpongeBoy, but it was quickly changed due to the previous name already being in use.

Stephen Hillenburg structured SpongeBob's character to be similar to Pee Wee Herman and Jerry Lewis, both having similar child-like, optimistic personalities. His laugh is also inspired by Popeye and Woody Woodpecker due to the fact that Hillenburg saw their goofy chuckles as being irritating and unique.

Pre Movie: Seasons 1 through 3

SpongeBob began its first season with the pilot episode Help Wanted. Viewers are first introduced to SpongeBob and his pals Patrick, Squidward and Mr. Krabs.

The episode centers around SpongeBob attempting to get a job at a well-known fast food restaurant called the Krusty Krab, but Squidward and Mr. Krabs do everything possible to keep their future employee from getting the job (including giving him a made-up quest to fetch a "special spatula").

The series spiked in popularity later on, especially after the smoothly-animated and arguably more humorous second season was released.

Almost immediately, Nickelodeon launched a mega marketing campaign that has drawn in many children across the globe. This also helped the show's popularity rise to the point where SpongeBob is now a household name.

Season three began not too long after the movie launched, but it was delayed for awhile, leading some people to believe that the series had been cancelled.

The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie

The marine-based cartoon had gathered such a large fanbase that a movie was just waiting to be produced. Released in 2004, The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie grossed almost eighty-five million dollars in theaters.

While this was considered somewhat of a disappointment mainly because of stiff box-office competition like National Treasure and Shrek 2, in reality, it is generally moderately successful since it is one of the highest-grossing Nickelodeon movies of all time.

In this feature-length movie, SpongeBob is wishing to be promoted to management, but becomes disappointed when Squidward gets the award.

While SpongeBob cries his eyes out at his favorite ice cream hangout, Plankton drums up a scheme to trick King Neptune by stealing his crown and framing Mr. Krabs for it. It's up to SpongeBob and Patrick to find King Neptune's missing crown in six days and save the Krusty Krab boss before the furious king destroys him.

New characters such as King Neptune's peaceful daughter Mindy (voiced by Scarlett Johansson) and ruthless hitman Dennis (Alec Baldwin) are introduced in this film, with David Hasselhoff appearing as himself.

The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie DVD was released on March 1, 2005.

Post Movie: Seasons 4 to Present

Season 4 began in 2005, but several notable changes occured with the show. Some of the old team left to work on other projects and series creator Stephen Hillenburg handed over the executive producer rights to Paul Tibbitt.

Some of the writing and humor arguably suffered in later seasons, becoming even more ridiculous and childish almost to a fault.

Characters also began to behave differently, their main traits becoming exaggerated (with SpongeBob acting more immature, Squidward being more miserable and Sandy becoming more scientific).

The animation also began to look stiff and mechanical possibly due to new animators or budgetary concerns.

Since this time, several specials have aired on Nick, such as the adventure-themed Atlantis Squarepantis, where SpongeBob goes on a musical journey to an underwater kingdom. Plus, SpongeBob's Truth or Square, a TV Movie about the Krusty Krab's anniversary, is set to air soon.

A Future Sponge

As SpongeBob's popularity grows, more and more celebrities are doing character voices for the series. Even famous comedians like Robin Williams, Craig Ferguson and Will Ferrell are set to voice characters in Truth or Square.

With the cartoon's eighth season in the works, SpongeBob is sure to stay a household name in the near (and probably far) future.

The copyright of the article He Lives in a Pineapple Under the Sea in Animated Films is owned by Heather Ashley. Permission to republish He Lives in a Pineapple Under the Sea in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Absorbent and Yellow and Porous is He