Twenty-five years ago, a yellow sponge defied the odds to land a job at the Krusty Krab, the most popular fast food restaurant in the underwater city of Bikini Bottom. That was just the beginning of “SpongeBob SquarePants,” which ran for 14 seasons and became one of the longest-running American animated series. The SpongeBob universe has expanded to include two spinoff series, three feature films, a musical and a galaxy of Internet memes.
Sponges
Why is SpongeBob a kitchen sponge? Ten years before SpongeBob became a television sensation, series creator Stephen Hillenburg wrote and illustrated an educational children’s book called “The Intertidal Zone,” featuring a talking sea sponge. Hillenburg turned the character into a square sponge because he thought it would be funnier.
Literature
“SpongeBob SquarePants” is widely known for its absurd plots, but it also contains its fair share of literary parodies. For example, the pair of squeaky boots hidden under the floorboards, much like the infamous ever-beating heart in Edgar Allan Poe’s macabre short story “The Tell-Tale Heart.”
Fish
“SpongeBob” features as diverse a range of animation styles as it does comedic styles, so a realistic fish and a cartoon of a humanoid fish both fit seamlessly into the same series. The show’s art style draws on earlier shows like “The Ren & Stimpy Show” and “Rocko’s Modern Life,” which Hillenburg also worked on before “SpongeBob.” Later shows depicted here, like “Chowder,” “Gravity Falls,” and “Fish Hooks,” then closely followed the visual aesthetic of “SpongeBob.”
Cameos
David Bowie was such a fan of SpongeBob that he said he “achieved the holy grail of animated gigs” with his appearance as Lord Royal Highness in the episode “Atlantis SquarePantis,” where his character even shared the iconic singer’s heterochromia.
Fashion
Many fashion brands paid tribute to the show, including Moschino, Patrick Mohr, Nike and GCDS, so much so that even this yellow sponge walked the runway.
Simple sentences
Tom Kenny
Tom Kenny may be best known for voicing SpongeBob SquarePants and dozens of other Bikini Bottom residents, but his lengthy resume also includes roles on “The Powerpuff Girls,” “Dexter’s Laboratory,” “CatDog,” “Rocko’s Modern Life,” “Adventure Time,” “Johnny Bravo” and “Rick and Morty.”
Hang out
“Am I a pretty girl?”
Take Bugs Bunny as an example: There’s a long tradition of wacky drag queens in cartoons. “SpongeBob” is no exception. But many fans also see SpongeBob’s love of drag as further evidence of the queerness of the character, who was presumed gay, then confirmed asexual, and finally embraced as an LGBTQ+ icon.
Kitchen
Bob Belcher may have his own grilling and bun-making heritage, but even his daily specials can’t compare to the complex culinary delicacy that is a Krabby Patty, whether it’s a disgusting patty, a pretty patty, a retired Halloween gummy burger from the early 2000s, or a king-sized Ultra Krabby Supreme with the toppings, double-battered fried on a stick.
Plankton FUN
“F like the fire that burns the whole city.
You is for uranium bombs.
NOT is for _____ _____ …”
“Plankton! These are not the funny things!
Squidward fails
“Why must every 11 minutes of my life be filled with misery?”
Patrick the scholar
Patrick, the quintessential idiot savant, claims to know a lot, despite his very brief and rare moments of genius; but when it comes to the law of interplanetary doorknobs, SpongeBob is the self-proclaimed expert.
Real Estate in Bikini Bottom
“Home is a place where you are surrounded by other creatures who care about you.” — Sandy Cheeks
Best friends
The dynamic of these two best friends is based on that of other famous comedy duos like Laurel and Hardy and Abbott and Costello.
#FOOTER
VICTORY CRY!!!
(alarming screams and yells)
Photos via Nickelodeon; Getty Images; Cartoon Network; Adult Swim; Fox; Disney Channel; Amir Hamja/The New York Times; Nina Westervelt for The New York Times
Produced by Leo Dominguez, Sean Catangui, Tala Safie, Jolie Ruben and Alicia Desantis.
Correction: July 19, 2024
An earlier version of this quiz featured an image identified as SpongeBob SquarePants, but was actually the character Girly Teengirl.
