Published by Mason Oldridge, 17 July 2024
CONTAINS SPOILERS!
Who lives in a pineapple under the sea? The question is as easy to answer as 2+2 as over the past quarter of a century, the lovable sea sponge has grown to become one of the biggest media franchises in the world. As the show celebrates its 25th anniversary, we take a look at what makes SpongeBob the ultimate cartoon.
SpongeBob SquarePants follows the titular protagonist and his aquatic friends in the underwater city of Bikini Bottom. The show debuted in 1999 and was created by real life marine biologist Stephen Hillenburg. But what is the key to its success?
I believe there are three factors attributed to its popularity, the first being the dynamic of the characters. SpongeBob SquarePants is a happy-go-lucky sea sponge with an enthusiastic and positive personality. He loves his pet snail Gary, his job working as a fry cook at local greasy spoon The Krusty Krab and spending time with his friends engaging in his favourite hobbies such as jellyfishing, bubble-blowing and karate. His best friend is dim-witted and lazy starfish Patrick Star. A loyal friend to SpongeBob (most of the time), he is also greedy and prone to angry outbursts. The two friends are very close and enjoy playing together in a childlike way, much to the annoyance of their grumpy and miserable neighbour Squidward Tentacles. It is the core dynamic between these three that creates the best comedy setups, particularly as Squidward lives in between them in the middle house and is also outnumbered 2-1 even though he is usually the voice of reason. Also, he works at the same restaurant as SpongeBob as a cashier and unemployed Patrick is a frequent diner there, forcing him to be in their company at work as well as at home. Squidward shuns their childish activities and prefers more high-brow interests; he fancies himself as a skilled clarinet player, dancer and artist, despite his many attempts in these arts going unappreciated by everyone around him. SpongeBob and Squidward’s boss is Mr Krabs, a cheapskate crustacean who loves money, which overpowers his moral compass, even at the expense of his teenage daughter Pearl, who is a whale. Despite overworking and underpaying him, Krabs has a soft spot for SpongeBob, again not pleasing Squidward. Mr Krabs comes from a Navy and pirate background. His business rival and former friend is Plankton, who runs the unsuccessful Chum Bucket across the street and consistently fails in his attempts to steal the Krabby Patty secret formula. Plankton is married to his computer wife Karen and finds his tiny size a difficulty in life. SpongeBob’s other friend is land squirrel Sandy Cheeks, who lives in an oxygenated treedome and enjoys high-octane sports and science. She wears an air helmet when leaving her treedome, as do her guests with a water helmet when visiting her. SpongeBob is also a learner driver, having failed his driving test multiple times, and is therefore a student at Mrs Puff’s Boating School. Mrs Puff is a puffer fish who also finds SpongeBob irritating and annoying, though partly as he is unteachable and frequently crashes, causing her to puff up and regularly require medical attention as a result of this. SpongeBob and Patrick enjoy visiting the local beach Goo Lagoon, where they are friends with gym buff lifeguard Larry the Lobster. They are also superhero fans, admiring local ageing superheroes Mermaid Man & Barnacle Boy.
Another reason for the show’s triumph is the setting. Bikini Bottom is one of the best fictional animated locations ever. SpongeBob lives in a pineapple, Squidward lives in a moai and Patrick lives under a rock. The three houses are isolated on their own separate from the main town which allows episodes focused on the trio at home to be primarily unaffected by other characters or happenings. The interior of the houses are always fun to go in and it is particularly exciting to visit rarely seen areas such as SpongeBob’s library or garden rooftop. The Krusty Krab is ironically fashioned after a crab trap and features the dining area, the kitchen area, the toilets and Mr Krabs’ office. Sandy’s treedome often appears, sometimes getting to see inside the tree, while Mr Krabs lives in an anchor. Mrs Puff’s Boating School is another common building as we get to see both the classroom and the halls. Outside of the town is other nice places to visit such as Jellyfish Fields, an enchanting nature area where SpongeBob and Patrick go jellyfishing, Goo Lagoon, a beach where the residents often go and Glove World, the theme park where SpongeBob and Patrick have had many a day out.
The final key to the show’s success is the traditional animation style used in the early days. Season 1 is the only season to use cel animation, meaning the show is produced with hand-drawn images rather than computer-generated imagery, creating a more authentic feel to the show. Furthermore, this draws comparison to 90s cartoons on Nickelodeon such as Rugrats, CatDog, Ren & Stimpy and Rocko’s Modern World, the latter of which Hillenburg worked on prior to SpongeBob. The production of the show has developed over the years, moving away from cel animation and switching to high-definition widescreen from Season 9, but a specifically nice touch that has remained throughout is the way that bubbles are incorporated in relation to underwater movement.
SpongeBob has definitely declined in quality in recent years and it can be argued that the show has sold out ever since Hillenburg’s devastating death in 2018 as the series is now in its fourteen season and the franchise has branched out into spin-off shows such as Kamp Koral and The Patrick Star Show, allegedly against the creator’s wishes. With several more films in the pipeline and no sign of the main series ending, the production team should have protected such an amazing series. However, looking at the earlier seasons and the first film, SpongeBob SquarePants is the greatest animated series of all time and therefore the ultimate cartoon.