Search results
SpongeBob SquarePants: Created by Stephen Hillenburg, Tim Hill, Nick Jennings, Derek Drymon, Zeus Cervas, Casey Alexander. With Tom Kenny, Rodger Bumpass, Bill Fagerbakke, Clancy Brown. The misadventures of a talking sea sponge who works at a fast food restaurant, attends a boating school, and lives in an underwater pineapple.
- (113K)
- 1999-05-01
- Animation, Comedy, Family
- 23
- Overview
- Character conception
- See also
- References
- External links
This is a list of characters from the Nickelodeon animated comedy series SpongeBob SquarePants. The show focuses on the title character and his various aquatic friends in the underwater city of Bikini Bottom. In addition to the television series, they have appeared in three theatrical films and a Broadway musical.
The ten main characters were created and designed by Stephen Hillenburg, a former marine biology teacher at the Ocean Institute. Some of the characters originated in The Intertidal Zone, an educational book about undersea life that Hillenburg illustrated in the 1980s.
As described in the book SpongeBob Exposed!, Stephen Hillenburg first drew early versions of the show's characters in 1984 during his time as a marine biology teacher at the Ocean Institute in Dana Point, California. He wrote an educational comic book called The Intertidal Zone that featured talking sea animals, notably "Bob the Sponge". Bob acted as the co-host of the comic and resembled an actual circular sea sponge wearing sunglasses. In 1987, Hillenburg left the institute to pursue his dream of becoming an animator and eventually came to Nickelodeon to work on Rocko's Modern Life.
The first other characters Hillenburg created were Patrick, Mr. Krabs, Pearl, and Squidward. Their characteristics were inspired by the traits and appearances of their species. SpongeBob is a square sponge, befitting of his "square" and nerdy personality. Patrick's demeanor is similar to real starfish, because he looks dumb and slow but can get aggressive from time to time. Mr. Krabs is a penny-pinching crab who uses his big claws to grab money. Hillenburg decided to design Pearl while guiding whale watches at the Ocean Institute, taking some inspiration from a whale skeleton exhibit there as well. He drew Pearl with a small body and an oversized head to reference sperm whales' huge brain size. He designed Squidward as an octopus because of the species' bulbous mantle, which looks like a large bulbous head and gives the impression of an overinflated ego. Hillenburg drew Squidward with six tentacles instead of eight because it was simpler for animation.
Several new characters were added before Hillenburg pitched the series to Nickelodeon. He made a series bible outlining the show's central concepts. He added Sandy Cheeks as a new friend of SpongeBob. Plankton was briefly outlined in the book as a possible minor villain who would only show up in one or two episodes, and Karen was meant to be no more than his computer helper. However, after production on the first season started, Plankton's chosen voice actor, Doug Lawrence (also a staff writer for the show) really liked his character. Following his first voice recording, Lawrence drafted some of his own episode ideas for Plankton, hoping to prove he could survive as more than a one-note guest star. From the second season onward, Plankton and Karen's roles in the series grew as Lawrence wrote ideas to give them more personality. He decided to write Karen as Plankton's wife to enhance the two villains' relationship and create more story possibilities. Plankton and Karen were both officially promoted to main cast members in the credits of the 2004 movie, which they play central roles in.
Hillenburg added SpongeBob's teacher, Mrs. Puff, shortly after his pilot episode pitch was accepted. Executives for Nickelodeon asked him to make a major creative change: to have SpongeBob attend a school. They initially wanted to make him a child character, since their most successful cartoons at the time focused on school-age kids. Hillenburg said the network wanted SpongeBob to be like "Arnold [from Hey Arnold!] under the sea," but he told them, "No, that's not the show." To compromise, he decided to put SpongeBob in a boat driving school—this allowed him to keep writing SpongeBob as age-ambiguous while using the school idea as a main plot element. He designed Mrs. Puff as a pufferfish who would humorously blow up into a ball, just like a car airbag, whenever she is in a boat crash.
•List of Kamp Koral characters
•List of The Patrick Star Show characters
1.Banks, Steven (September 24, 2004). "SpongeBob Exposed!: The Insider's Guide to SpongeBob SquarePants". Simon Spotlight.
2.Hillenburg, Stephen (2003). "SpongeBob SquarePants, the Complete First Season: The Origin". Paramount Home Entertainment.
3."From Boy to Bob". Viacom International (June 2003).
4.Hillenburg, Stephen (March 1, 2003). The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie: The Case of the Sponge "Bob". Paramount Home Entertainment.
5.Neuwirth, Allan (April 1, 2003). Makin' Toons: Inside the Most Popular Animated TV Shows and Movies. Skyhorse Publishing. Archived from the original on April 15, 2017.
6.Encalada, Debbie (May 1, 2014). "How "SpongeBob SquarePants" Stayed Fresh and Subversive Over 15 Years". Verizon Hearst Media.
•SpongeBob character guide at NickSplat
•SpongeBob character microsite at Nick Asia
•Which SpongeBob Character Are You? at Nick.com
•List of SpongeBob characters at SpongePedia
•List of SpongeBob characters at Wikipedia
SquarePants
The characters in the American animated television series SpongeBob SquarePants were created by artist, animator, and former marine biologist Stephen Hillenburg. The series chronicles the adventures of the title character and his various friends in the fictional underwater city of Bikini Bottom.
May 1, 1997 · SpongeBob SquarePants episode (season 1, episode 1), Help Wanted SpongeBob SquarePants: Season 1, Episode 1, SpongeBob SquarePants, May 1, 1999, PILOT (1997 cut), 2515-127, Larry LeFranc-is, Tom Kenny, "Livin' in the Sunlight, Lovin' in the Moonlight" by Tiny Tim, SpongeBob Season 1, SpongeBob SquarePants 1999 ‧ Family ‧ 13 seasons, Stephen ...
People also ask
Who are the main characters in SpongeBob SquarePants?
Who are the actors in SpongeBob SquarePants?
Who are SpongeBob SquarePants friends?
How many characters are in SpongeBob SquarePants?
Main article: List of SpongeBob SquarePants characters. SpongeBob SquarePants - A square sea sponge who lives in a pineapple under the sea. He works at the Krusty Krab along with his boring neighbor Squidward. He has a best friend named Patrick Star.