“SpongeBob” is 25 years old: everything you wanted to know about the world of the animated series (13 photos)

SpongeBob SquarePants is an American animated television series on Nickelodeon. It was first broadcast on May 1, 1999, and to date it has already completed 14 and a half seasons, making it the longest-running project in the channel's history.





"SpongeBob SquarePants", 1999 - present. Photo: frame from the animated series

Over the course of 25 years, the cartoon universe has grown to completely indecent proportions, but in essence has remained almost unchanged: it is an absurdist, surreal comedy, which, despite the comic nature of what is happening, much more often appeals to an adult audience.

Who is this SpongeBob of yours?



"SpongeBob SquarePants", 1999 - present. Photo: frame from the animated series

SpongeBob, aka SpongeBob, is... a yellow square sponge. Initially, the series was planned to be called SpongeBoy, that is, “Sponge Boy.” But the name has already been patented by mop manufacturers. The main character looks like a foam sponge, but in fact he is a sea sponge. This is nonsense, you say. And you'll be right. But it is precisely this “nonsense” with which the cartoon is filled to the brim that makes it special. In the good sense of the word.

SpongeBob lives at the bottom of the ocean in a town called Bikini Bottom. This, by the way, is a real place - a coral island in the Pacific Ocean in the Ralik chain (Marshall Islands). In the 40s and 50s, the United States conducted no less real nuclear tests there. Draw your own conclusions.





"SpongeBob SquarePants", 1999 - present. Photo: frame from the animated series

In general, the town is quite well developed from an economic point of view. There are businesses, restaurants, shops, clinics, amusement parks. And even some kind of legislation! In a word, life in Bikini Bottom is in full swing.

Who else lives at the bottom of the ocean?



"SpongeBob SquarePants", 1999 - present. Photo: frame from the animated series

SpongeBob works at the Krusty Krab fast food establishment, where they cook Krabby Patties. Naturally, such work involves a lot of pleasant and not so pleasant acquaintances, but most of the episodic characters do not stay long in the series. The main backbone of the characters was formed in the first seasons. Meet me.

Gary is SpongeBob's pet sea snail who lives with him in his pineapple house and meows like a cat.

Patrick is a pink starfish and SpongeBob's best friend. He is very kind, but very stupid. And this is not surprising, because starfish have no brains.

Squidward is either an octopus or a squid, works as a cashier at the Krusty Krab, and is SpongeBob's neighbor. A sarcastic snob who considers himself an elite, for which he constantly becomes the object of ridicule and bullying.



"SpongeBob SquarePants", 1999 - present. Photo: frame from the animated series

Mr. Krabs is actually a crab, the owner of the Krusty Krab, cunning, smug, obsessed with the idea of ​​money - getting and increasing it.

Sandy Cheeks is a squirrel from Texas (what? yeah!). Lives in an air-filled glass dome and wears a wetsuit.



"SpongeBob SquarePants", 1999 - present. Photo: frame from the animated series

Penelope Puff is a hedgehog fish and SpongeBob's teacher at boating school. Often takes responsibility for the destructive activities carried out by the main character.

Pearl Krabs is a teenage sperm whale and the daughter of Mr. Krabs. Interests: shopping, pop music, dad's credit card.



"SpongeBob SquarePants", 1999 - present. Photo: frame from the animated series

Sheldon Plankton is a one-eyed copepod with high self-esteem and an inferiority complex, the main antagonist of the series. Owner of the Pomoinoye Vedro restaurant. Constantly trying to steal the secret Krabby Patty recipe.

And if after reading the list you have a million questions, that’s okay, that’s how it was intended.

Who came up with the idea for this creation?



"SpongeBob SquarePants", 1999 - present. Photo: frame from the animated series

SpongeBob was invented by marine biologist and teacher at the Oceanographic Institute Stephen Hillenburg. In 1987, after another dive, he decided to create a cartoon about sea creatures. But the idea had to wait in the wings for quite a long time.

Hillenburg's first professional work in animation was the animated series of the same Nickelodeon channel, Rocco's New Life. In this project, Stephen directed, wrote scripts, and did storyboards. In 1995, he was offered to make his own animated show. Hillenburg did not pause to come up with the concept - it was ready a long time ago. Thus SpongeBob was born.

The animated series premiered on May 1, 1999. Today, “SpongeBob” is by far Nickelodeon’s most successful project, surpassing in duration such hits as “Rugrats!”, “The Cool Beavers,” “Catdog,” and “Hey Arnold!”

How do you even come up with stories for new episodes?



"SpongeBob SquarePants", 1999 - present. Photo: frame from the animated series

Most episodes are based on absurdist humor. Acid surrealism, which nevertheless manages to maintain integrity. The screenwriters' method of work is well known: it's a word game. The authors write on pieces of paper any nouns that come to mind, then they throw the pieces of paper into a hat, mix them, and blindly take out three or four pieces. Within a minute, based on the words that came out of the hat, they come up with a short basis for the plot of the future episode.



"SpongeBob SquarePants", 1999 - present. Photo: frame from the animated series

In addition, one of the screenwriters, Merriweather Williams, identified a collection of essays by Ray Bradbury, “Zen in the Art of Book Writing,” as a creative method for the entire team of authors. At the same time, even in the early stages of creating SpongeBob, it was decided that the main character would be in many ways similar to a child - spontaneous, naive, kind and optimistic. Like the characters of the famous comedian Jerry Lewis. Or, if you prefer, Woody Woodpecker's woodpecker. And so it happened.

On November 28, 2018, Hillenburg died at the age of 57. A couple of years earlier, he was diagnosed with a disease of the central nervous system - amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. But, despite the death of the creator, SpongeBob continues to live and smile. And this universe is still full of secrets and surprises.

Interesting facts and references



"SpongeBob SquarePants", 1999 - present. Photo: frame from the animated series

This list, if desired, can be extended to a good thousand points. “SpongeBob” is packed to the brim with references - some of them are quite obvious and lie, pardon the pun, on the surface. Some are hidden quite cleverly. We list the most interesting ones, supplementing them with various interesting facts.



"SpongeBob SquarePants", 1999 - present. Photo: frame from the animated series

What does this animated series teach children?



"SpongeBob SquarePants", 1999 - present. Photo: frame from the animated series

In fact, nothing. Nothing at all. Therefore, it would not be entirely correct to consider it as a child’s one. “SpongeBob” is an extremely exaggerated, exalted and, in a good way, crazy parody of our reality. And its goal is to play out in a vivid form certain fundamental properties of this reality. Where a child sees only a colorful wrapper, an adult will see (with due care, of course) subtle satire and clever irony. “SpongeBob” can be interpreted endlessly. The main thing is to just enjoy watching.