SpongeBob SquarePants
American animated television series
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
SpongeBob SquarePants, also known simply as SpongeBob, is an American animated comedy television series created by marine science educator and animator Stephen Hillenburg for Nickelodeon. It first aired as a sneak peek after the Kids' Choice Awards on May 1, 1999, and officially premiered on July 17, 1999. It chronicles the adventures of the character SpongeBob SquarePants and his aquatic friends in the underwater city of Bikini Bottom.
| SpongeBob SquarePants | |
|---|---|
| |
| Also known as | SpongeBob |
| Genre | |
| Created by | Stephen Hillenburg |
| Developed by | |
| Showrunners |
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| Creative directors | |
| Voices of | |
| Narrated by | Tom Kenny |
| Theme music composer |
|
| Opening theme | "SpongeBob SquarePants Theme Song"[d] |
| Ending theme | "SpongeBob Closing Theme"[e] |
| Composers | Various
|
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 16 |
| No. of episodes | 330 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | |
| Producers |
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| Running time | 22–51 minutes |
| Production companies | |
| Original release | |
| Network | Nickelodeon[i] |
| Release | May 1, 1999 – present |
| Related | |
Many of the series' ideas originated in The Intertidal Zone, an unpublished educational comic book Hillenburg created in the 1980s to teach his students about undersea life.[5][6] Hillenburg joined Nickelodeon in 1992 as an artist on Rocko's Modern Life.[7] After Rocko was cancelled in 1996, he began developing SpongeBob SquarePants into a television series, and in 1997, a seven-minute pilot was pitched to Nickelodeon. The network's executives wanted SpongeBob to be a child in school, but Hillenburg preferred SpongeBob to be an adult character. He was prepared to abandon the series, but compromised by creating a boating school so SpongeBob could attend school as an adult.[8]
SpongeBob was an immediate hit and received widespread critical acclaim in its early years, with praise given to its characters, surreal humor, writing, visuals, animation, and Hawaiian-influenced soundtrack. After three seasons, Hillenburg made The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (2004), then departed the series, although he later returned. The show received criticism for a perceived decline in quality following Hillenburg's initial departure.
SpongeBob has won a variety of awards, including six Annie Awards, eight Golden Reel Awards, four Emmy Awards, two BAFTA Children's Awards, and a record twenty-two Kids' Choice Awards. The show has been noted as a cultural touchstone for Millennials and Generation Z,[9][10] becoming ubiquitous within Internet culture and spawning numerous online memes.[11]
The series has run for fifteen seasons, with its sixteenth season premiering on June 27, 2025.[12] SpongeBob is the fourth longest-running American animated series in history, and the longest-running American children's animated series as of 2025.[13] Its popularity has made it a multimedia franchise and Nickelodeon's most profitable program, generating over $16 billion in merchandising revenue by 2024.[14] The franchise now includes four theatrical feature films, two streaming feature films, a Broadway musical, a comic book series, numerous video games and two spin-off series: Kamp Koral: SpongeBob's Under Years (2021–2024) and The Patrick Star Show (2021–present).[15][16]
Premise
Characters
The series follows SpongeBob SquarePants—an energetic and optimistic sea sponge who lives in a submerged pineapple—and his aquatic friends. SpongeBob has a childlike enthusiasm for life and works as a fry cook at the Krusty Krab, a fast food restaurant. His favorite pastimes include "jellyfishing", which involves catching jellyfish with a net in a manner similar to butterfly catching, and blowing soap bubbles into elaborate shapes. He has a pet sea snail named Gary, who meows like a cat.
SpongeBob's best friend is Patrick Star, a dimwitted yet friendly pink starfish who resides under a rock. Patrick is unaware of his stupidity and considers himself intelligent.[17] Squidward Tentacles, SpongeBob's neighbor and co-worker at the Krusty Krab, is a grumpy and cynical octopus who lives in an Easter Island moai. He despises his job and is constantly annoyed by the antics of SpongeBob and Patrick. Mr. Krabs, a greedy red crab, is the owner of the Krusty Krab and often serves as a father figure to SpongeBob. He has a teenage daughter, a grey sperm whale named Pearl, who has no interest in taking over the family business.[18] Another of SpongeBob's friends is Sandy Cheeks, a thrill-seeking squirrel from Texas, who wears a diving suit to breathe underwater.[19] She is an expert in karate.
Located across the street from the Krusty Krab is an unsuccessful rival restaurant called the Chum Bucket.[20] It rarely has any customers due to its sale of chum-based food, which is considered cannibalism by most of the fish population. It is run by a small, green, one-eyed copepod named Plankton and his computer wife, Karen.[21][22] Plankton constantly tries to steal the secret recipe for Mr. Krabs's Krabby Patty burgers, hoping to put the Krusty Krab out of business.[23][24] When SpongeBob is not working at the Krusty Krab, he can often be found taking boating lessons from Mrs. Puff, a paranoid but patient pufferfish. SpongeBob wants to obtain a boat-driving license, but he often panics and crashes, causing him to fail the course multiple times.[25][26]
The French Narrator, or "Frenchy", is an unseen narrator who often introduces episodes and narrates intertitles as if the series were a documentary about the ocean. His role and manner of speaking are references to the oceanographer Jacques Cousteau.[27] Beginning in season 10, the narrator has appeared infrequently in live-action as a diver in a heavy deep sea diving suit.
Recurring guest characters include the retired superheroes Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy, who are idolized by SpongeBob and Patrick; a pirate specter known as the Flying Dutchman; the muscular lifeguard Larry the Lobster; and the merman god of the sea, King Neptune.
Special episodes of the show are hosted by a live-action pirate named Patchy and his pet parrot Potty, whose segments are presented in a dual narrative with the animated stories.[28] Patchy is depicted as the president of a fictional SpongeBob fan club, and his greatest aspiration is to meet SpongeBob himself.
Setting
The series takes place primarily in the fictional underwater city of Bikini Bottom located in the Pacific Ocean beneath the real-life coral reef known as Bikini Atoll.[j] Its citizens are mostly multicolored fish who live in buildings made from ship funnels, and use "boatmobiles" for transportation. Recurring locations within Bikini Bottom include the neighboring houses of SpongeBob, Patrick, and Squidward; two competing restaurants, the Krusty Krab and the Chum Bucket; Mrs. Puff's Boating School, which includes a driving course and a sunken lighthouse; the Treedome, an oxygenated glass enclosure where Sandy lives; Shady Shoals Rest Home; a seagrass meadow called Jellyfish Fields; and Goo Lagoon, a subaqueous brine pool that is a popular beach hangout.[33]
When the SpongeBob crew began production of the series' pilot episode, they were tasked with designing stock locations where many scenes would take place. The idea was "to keep everything nautical", so the crew included objects like ropes, wooden planks, ships' wheels, netting, anchors, boilerplates, and rivets. Transitions between scenes are marked by bubbles filling the screen, accompanied by the sound of rushing water. The settings also feature "sky flowers", which have a similar function to clouds, according to background designer Kenny Pittenger. The sky flowers are also meant to "evoke the look of a flower-print Hawaiian shirt".[34]
In 2015, Tom Kenny, who voices SpongeBob, denied a fan theory claiming that the series' characters are mutants who were exposed to nuclear testing at Bikini Atoll.[29] In 2024, Plankton voice actor Mr. Lawrence said the theory is true, and that the real-life nuclear testing influenced other aspects of the show as well.[35]
Production
Development
Early inspirations
Series creator Stephen Hillenburg became fascinated with the ocean as a child and began developing his artistic abilities at a young age. Although these interests would not overlap for some time—the idea of drawing fish seemed boring to him—Hillenburg pursued both during college, majoring in marine biology and minoring in art at Humboldt State University. After graduating in 1984, he joined the Ocean Institute, an organization in Dana Point, California, dedicated to educating the public about marine science and maritime history.[36][37]
While Hillenburg was working at the Ocean Institute, his love of the ocean began to influence his art. He created a comic book precursor to SpongeBob titled The Intertidal Zone, which was used by the institute to teach visitors about the animal life of tide pools.[37] The comic featured various anthropomorphic lifeforms, many of which would evolve into SpongeBob characters.[38] Hillenburg tried to get the comic published, but none of the companies he sent it to were interested.[37]
One of Hillenburg's major inspirations was Ween's 1997 album The Mollusk, which had a nautical and underwater theme. Hillenburg contacted the band shortly after the album's release, explaining the baseline ideas for SpongeBob. He also commissioned a song, "Loop de Loop", which was used in the SpongeBob episode "Your Shoe's Untied".[k]
Concept
While working as a staff artist at the Ocean Institute, Hillenburg intended to return to college for a master's degree in art. However, after attending an animation festival, he decided to instead study experimental animation at California Institute of the Arts.[37] His thesis film, Wormholes, is about the theory of relativity.[5] It was screened at festivals, and at one of these, Hillenburg met Joe Murray, who was in the process of developing the popular Nickelodeon animated series Rocko's Modern Life. Murray was impressed by the style of Hillenburg's film and offered him a job as a director for the first season, which began airing in 1993.[5][42] Hillenburg worked on the series throughout its entire four-season run, and during the fourth season he took on the roles of producer and creative director.[l]
Martin Olson, one of the writers for Rocko's Modern Life, read The Intertidal Zone and encouraged Hillenburg to create a television series with a similar concept. At that point, Hillenburg had not considered creating his own series.[m] He began to develop some of the characters from The Intertidal Zone, including Bob the Sponge. He wanted his series to stand out from other popular cartoons of the time, many of which were buddy comedies like The Ren & Stimpy Show. Hillenburg decided to focus on a single main character: a sea sponge, the "weirdest" sea creature he could think of.[37] Bob the Sponge resembled a real-life sea sponge, and Hillenburg used this design in the early stages.[n] He decided to model the character after a kitchen sponge after realizing it would perfectly match the character's "square" personality.[o] In determining the character's behavior, Hillenburg was inspired by innocent, childlike figures that he enjoyed, such as Charlie Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy, Jerry Lewis, and Pee-wee Herman.[p]
Seeking a voice actor for the series' main character, Hillenburg approached Tom Kenny, whose career in animation had started alongside Hillenburg's on Rocko's Modern Life. Elements of Kenny's own personality were employed to develop the character further.[48] Initially, Hillenburg wanted to use the name "SpongeBoy"—the character had no last name—and the series would have been named SpongeBoy Ahoy! [45][48] However, the Nickelodeon legal department discovered that the name "SpongeBoy" was already in use by a line of pencils.[q] In choosing a replacement name, Hillenburg felt he still had to use the word "Sponge", so that viewers would not mistake the character for a "cheese man". He settled on the name "SpongeBob". The surname "SquarePants" was chosen after Kenny saw a picture of the character and remarked, "Boy, look at this sponge in square pants, thinking he can get a job in a fast food place."[47] When he heard Kenny say it, Hillenburg loved the phrase and felt it would reinforce the character's nerdiness.[47][50]
Assembling the crew
Many of the major contributors to SpongeBob had previously worked with Hillenburg on Rocko's Modern Life, including creative director Derek Drymon, art director Nick Jennings, supervising director Alan Smart, writer and voice actor Mr. Lawrence, and Tim Hill, who helped develop the series bible. Although Drymon would go on to have a significant influence on SpongeBob, he was not offered a role on the series initially. As a late recruit to Rocko's Modern Life, he had not established a strong relationship with Hillenburg prior to SpongeBob's development. Hillenburg first sought to recruit Drymon's storyboard partner, Mark O'Hare, but he had recently created the soon-to-be syndicated comic strip, Citizen Dog, and lacked the time to get involved with SpongeBob, although he would later join the series as a writer. Drymon begged Hillenburg for a job, and after Hillenburg gave it some thought, he brought Drymon on as creative director. The two began meeting at Hillenburg's house several times a week to develop the series. According to Drymon, this occurred in 1996, shortly after the end of Rocko's Modern Life.[34]
Nick Jennings was also instrumental in SpongeBob's genesis, and was described by Kenny as an "early graphics mentor".[34] On weekends, Kenny joined Hillenburg, Jennings, and Drymon for creative sessions where they recorded ideas on a tape recorder. Kenny performed audio tests as SpongeBob during these sessions, while Hillenburg voiced the other characters.[45][34] Tim Hill contributed scripts for the pilot and several first-season episodes, and was offered the role of story editor. He turned down the offer, and Pete Burns was hired instead.[r]
Pitching
When pitching the idea for the series to Nickelodeon executives, Drymon said the SpongeBob crew "went all out" because they thought the pilot would only be accepted if the executives laughed. Hillenburg wore a Hawaiian shirt, brought along a terrarium containing models of the characters, and played Hawaiian music to set the tone. Executive Eric Coleman described the pitch as "pretty amazing"; his colleagues Kevin Kay and Albie Hecht had to step outside because they were exhausted from laughing. Drymon expected the executives to take weeks to make a decision, but they offered to make the series immediately. The crew was given money and two weeks to write the pilot episode "Help Wanted".[5]
Before commissioning the full series, Nickelodeon executives insisted that it would not be popular unless SpongeBob was a child who went to school, citing one of their shows, Hey Arnold!, as an example.[57] Hillenburg was ready to abandon the series, since he wanted SpongeBob to be an adult, but he compromised by adding a new character, Mrs. Puff, a boat-driving teacher whose school SpongeBob would attend. Hillenburg was satisfied with the compromise and happy that it brought in a new character.[37]
Executive producers and showrunners
Hillenburg served as the executive producer of the series from its debut in 1999 until his death in 2018. He was its showrunner from 1999 until 2004. Hillenburg halted production of the show in 2002 to work on the feature film The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, which he intended to be the series finale. However, the show's massive financial success led to its continuation.[34] Hillenburg appointed Paul Tibbitt, who had previously served as a writer, director, and storyboard artist, to take over as showrunner.[58] He considered Tibbitt one of his favorite crew members, and deeply trusted him.[59][60] Although Hillenburg no longer had a direct role in the series' production, he maintained an advisory role and reviewed each episode.[61][62]
In December 2014, it was announced that Hillenburg would return to the series in an unspecified position.[63] In March 2017, he was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and on November 26, 2018, at the age of 57, he died of complications from the disease.[s] In February 2019, incoming Nickelodeon president Brian Robbins vowed to keep SpongeBob in production for as long as the network exists.[67] As of 2024, former writers and storyboard directors Vincent Waller and Marc Ceccarelli are serving as the series' showrunners.[68]
Writing
According to writer and storyboard artist Luke Brookshier, SpongeBob is written differently from many other television shows—it does not use written scripts.[69][70] Instead, storylines are developed by a team of five "outline and premise" writers. A two-page outline is then assigned to a team of storyboard directors, who produce a complete rough draft of the storyboard. Most of the dialogue and jokes are added during this stage.[34][69] Brookshier has compared this process to how cartoons were made in the early days of animation.[69] Almost every episode is divided into two 11-minute segments, due to Hillenburg's belief that SpongeBob works better in short-form than in long-form.[60] The writing staff often used their personal experiences as inspiration for storylines.[34][60] For example, the episode "Sailor Mouth", in which SpongeBob and Patrick learn profanity and begin to swear profusely, was inspired by Drymon's childhood experience of getting into trouble for using the word "fuck" in front of his mother.[34][60]
Voice actors
Main cast
- Tom Kenny as SpongeBob SquarePants, Gary, French Narrator and Patchy the Pirate
- Bill Fagerbakke as Patrick Star[71]
- Rodger Bumpass as Squidward Tentacles
- Clancy Brown as Mr. Krabs
- Mr. Lawrence as Plankton, Potty the Parrot (starting in season 10), Larry the Lobster, Realistic Fish Head and Fred
- Jill Talley as Karen
- Carolyn Lawrence as Sandy Cheeks
- Mary Jo Catlett as Mrs. Puff[72]
- Lori Alan as Pearl Krabs
Most one-off and background characters are voiced by Dee Bradley Baker, Sirena Irwin, Bob Joles, Mark Fite and Thomas F. Wilson.[73]
Casting
As Hillenburg, Drymon and Hill were writing the pilot episode, Hillenburg was also conducting auditions for voice actors.[34][74] Tom Kenny had previously worked with Hillenburg on Rocko's Modern Life, and Hillenburg liked the voice he had used for a minor character.[48][75] He approached Kenny about voicing SpongeBob, but Kenny had forgotten how to perform the voice; Hillenburg used a video clip from Rocko to remind him.[48][34] Nickelodeon insisted on auditioning more actors for the role of SpongeBob, but Hillenburg turned them down.[34] According to Kenny, Hillenburg described SpongeBob to him as childlike and naive, somewhere between an adult and a child.[34] The casting crew wanted SpongeBob to have an annoying laugh in the tradition of Popeye and Woody Woodpecker.[76]
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During Bill Fagerbakke's audition for Patrick, Hillenburg played him a portion of Kenny's performance as SpongeBob to serve as a counterpoint.[74] Whenever Patrick is angry, Fagerbakke models his performance on the actress Shelley Winters.[77][78] Rodger Bumpass described his character Squidward as "a very nasally, monotone kind of guy." Bumpass found Squidward interesting due to his range of emotions, including frustration, apoplexy and sarcasm.[79] Hillenburg modeled Mr. Krabs after his former manager at a seafood restaurant, whose strong Maine accent reminded Hillenburg of a pirate.[80] Clancy Brown added a slight Scottish accent to the "piratey" voice of the character.[81]
When the series began, Mr. Lawrence voiced a variety of minor characters, including Plankton, who was only meant to appear in one episode.[82][34] According to Lawrence, Nickelodeon executives wanted Hillenburg to stunt-cast a celebrity for Plankton, but he declined.[82] Jill Talley, a Chicago native, uses a Midwestern accent for Karen.[72] Electronic sound effects are added to create a robotic sound when she speaks.[83] Talley and Mr. Lawrence often improvise the dialogue of Plankton and Karen; Lawrence said improvisation is his favorite part of the job.[84]
During her audition for Pearl, Lori Alan was shown an early drawing of the characters and noted that Pearl was much larger than the others. She decided to express the character's size by making her voice deep and full in tone, while also incorporating the low sound of whale vocalizations. At the same time, Alan sought to make the teenage Pearl sound childlike, spoiled and lovable.[85][86]
In addition to the main cast, some episodes feature guest voice performers. Recurring guest performers include Ernest Borgnine as Mermaid Man (1999–2012), Tim Conway as Barnacle Boy (1999–2019), Brian Doyle-Murray as the Flying Dutchman and Marion Ross as Grandma SquarePants.[t] Notable guests with cameo appearances include David Bowie as Lord Royal Highness,[u] John Goodman as Santa,[v] Johnny Depp as the surf guru Jack Kahuna Laguna,[w] and Victoria Beckham as Queen Amphitrite.[x][y]
Voice recording sessions always include the full cast of actors, which gives SpongeBob a unique feeling according to Kenny.[34] For the first three seasons, Hillenburg and Drymon directed the actors. Andrea Romano became the voice director in the fourth season, and Kenny took over during the ninth.[34]
Animation
Until at least 2009, the production of SpongeBob was overseen at Nickelodeon Animation Studio in Burbank, California, with additional animation services carried out at Rough Draft Korea in Seoul.[z] The California crew would create storyboards, which would then be used as templates by the crew at Rough Draft, who would animate each scene by hand, color each cel on computers, and paint backgrounds.[60][69] The final stages of production, including editing and adding music, would be completed in California.[69]
During the first season, the series used cel animation. A shift was made the following year to digital ink and paint animation.[58] Starting with the fifth season episode "Pest of the West" (2008), the crew began using drawing tablets, which allowed them to draw on computer screens and make immediate changes or undo mistakes. Background designer Kenny Pittenger noted that many of his colleagues did not like the tablets, preferring the immediacy of drawing on paper.[34]
Since 2004, the SpongeBob crew has periodically collaborated with the Los Angeles-based animation studio Screen Novelties to create stop-motion sequences for special episodes. The studio produced a brief claymation scene for the climax of The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, followed by an opening sequence for the series' tenth anniversary special in 2009.[aa] The abominable snow mollusk, an octopus-like creature who acts as the antagonist of the episode "Frozen Face-Off", was also animated by the company using claymation.[100]
In 2011, the SpongeBob team asked Screen Novelties to animate an entire episode—the holiday special "It's a SpongeBob Christmas!"—using stop motion animation. The episode reimagined the show's characters as if they were part of a Rankin/Bass holiday film.[ab] Unconventional materials such as baking soda, glitter, wood chips and breakfast cereal were used to create sets for the episode.[103] For their work on the holiday special, Screen Novelties earned one award and two nominations at the 30th Annie Awards, a nomination at the 2013 Golden Reel Awards, and a nomination at the 2013 Annecy International Animated Film Festival.[ac] A second stop-motion special, themed around Halloween and using the same Rankin/Bass-inspired character models, was produced for season 11.[108][109]
Music
Mark Harrison and Blaise Smith composed the SpongeBob SquarePants theme song, with lyrics written by Hillenburg and Drymon. The melody was inspired by the sea shanty "Blow the Man Down".[42] The opening sequence of each episode features "Painty the Pirate", a character in an oil painting who sings the theme song.[42][48] Patrick Pinney voices Painty, while Hillenburg's lips are superimposed onto the painting and move along with the lyrics.[48] Kenny joked that the lips are the closest fans will ever come to seeing Hillenburg, due to his private nature.[42]
A cover of the theme song by Avril Lavigne can be found on The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie soundtrack.[110][111] Another cover by the Violent Femmes aired on Nickelodeon as a promotion when SpongeBob moved to prime time.[112] Steve Belfer wrote and performed the music heard during the end credits of each episode.[34]
The series' music editor and main composer is Nicolas Carr. After working with Hillenburg on Rocko's Modern Life, he struggled to find another job in his field. He was considering a career change before Hillenburg offered him the role of composer for SpongeBob. The first season's score primarily featured selections from the Associated Production Music Library (APML), which Carr has said includes "lots of great old corny Hawaiian music and big, full, dramatic orchestral scores." Carr said he tries to make the show's music "as funny and ridiculous as possible."[34]
Hillenburg felt it was important for the series to develop its own music library, consisting of scores that could be reused and re-edited throughout the years. He wanted these scores to be composed by unknowns, and a group of twelve was assembled. They formed "The Sponge Divers Orchestra", which includes Carr and Belfer. The group went on to provide most of the music for later seasons, although Carr still draws from the APML, as well as a library he founded himself—Animation Music Inc.[34]
Release
Broadcast
SpongeBob SquarePants premiered on May 1, 1999, and is now in its 16th season.
| Season | Episodes | Segments | Originally released | Avg. viewers (millions) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First released | Last released | |||||
| 1 | 20 | 41 | May 1, 1999 | March 3, 2001 | 2.65 | |
| 2 | 20 | 39 | October 20, 2000 | July 26, 2003 | 2.88 | |
| 3 | 20 | 37 | October 5, 2001 | October 11, 2004 | 4.42 | |
| 4 | 20 | 38 | May 6, 2005 | July 24, 2007 | 3.86 | |
| 5 | 20 | 41 | February 19, 2007 | July 19, 2009 | 4.11 | |
| 6 | 26 | 47 | March 3, 2008 | July 5, 2010 | 4.09 | |
| 7 | 26 | 50 | July 19, 2009 | June 11, 2011 | 4.54 | |
| 8 | 26 | 47 | March 26, 2011 | December 6, 2012 | 3.26 | |
| 9 | 26 | 11 | 20 | July 21, 2012 | March 29, 2015 | 2.79 |
| 15 | 29 | July 16, 2015 | February 20, 2017 | |||
| 10 | 11 | 22 | October 15, 2016 | December 2, 2017 | 1.95 | |
| 11 | 26 | 50 | June 24, 2017 | November 25, 2018 | 1.54 | |
| 12 | 26 | 48 | November 11, 2018 | April 29, 2022 | 0.95 | |
| 13 | 26 | 52 | October 22, 2020 | November 1, 2023 | 0.31 | |
| 14 | 13[ad] | 21 | November 2, 2023 | December 2, 2024 | 0.17 | |
| 15 | 13 | 26 | July 24, 2024 | June 20, 2025 | TBA | |
| 16 | 13 | 22 | June 27, 2025 | TBA | TBA | |
Home video
SpongeBob SquarePants DVD releases are distributed by Paramount Home Entertainment under the Nickelodeon label.
| Season | DVD release date | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Region 1 | Region 2 | Region 4 | |
| 1 | October 28, 2003[113] | November 7, 2005[114] | November 30, 2006[115] |
| 2 | October 19, 2004[116] | October 23, 2006[117] | November 30, 2006[118] |
| 3 | September 27, 2005[119] | December 3, 2007[120] | November 8, 2007[121] |
| 4 | September 12, 2006[122] | November 3, 2008[123] | November 7, 2008[124] |
| January 9, 2007[125] | |||
| 5 | September 4, 2007[126] | November 16, 2009[127] | December 3, 2009[128] |
| November 18, 2008[129] | |||
| 6 | December 8, 2009[130] | November 29, 2010[131] | December 2, 2010[132] |
| December 7, 2010[133] | |||
| 7 | December 6, 2011[134] | September 17, 2012[135] | September 12, 2012[136][137] |
| 8 | March 12, 2013[138] | October 28, 2013[139] | October 30, 2013[140] |
| 9 | October 10, 2017[141] | TBA | October 7, 2020[142] |
| 10 | October 15, 2019[143] | TBA | October 7, 2020[144] |
| 11 | March 31, 2020[145][146] | TBA | October 7, 2020[147] |
| 12 | January 12, 2021[148][149] | TBA | TBA |
| 13 | December 5, 2023[150] | TBA | TBA |
| 14 | November 19, 2024[151] | TBA | TBA |
| 15 | November 11, 2025[152] | TBA | TBA |
Streaming
In May 2013, a deal between Netflix and Nickelodeon's parent company Viacom expired, which resulted in shows such as SpongeBob and Dora the Explorer being removed from Netflix in the United States, although SpongeBob continues to be available on Netflix in certain other regions.[153][154][155][156] In June of that year, Viacom announced a $200 million multi-year licensing agreement which would move its programs, including SpongeBob, to Amazon.[157][158][159][160] SpongeBob was available on Hulu from 2012 until 2016, and on Amazon Prime Video after the Netflix deal ended.[161][153] In 2020, SpongeBob became available on Paramount+.[162][163] As of June 2025, the first six seasons of the series are available on Amazon, and the first 14 seasons are available on Paramount+.[164]
Anniversaries
Ten years. I never imagined working on the show to this date and this long...I really figured we might get a season and a cult following, and that might be it.
Nickelodeon began celebrating the series' 10th anniversary on January 18, 2009, with a live cast reading of the episode "SpongeBob vs. The Big One" at the Sundance Film Festival.[ae] In July, the Madame Tussauds wax museum in New York unveiled a wax sculpture of SpongeBob, which made him the first animated character to be sculpted entirely out of wax.[af] A documentary about the series, Square Roots: The Story of SpongeBob SquarePants, premiered on VH1 on July 14.[ag] Three days later, the network celebrated the series' official anniversary with a 50-hour television marathon titled "The Ultimate SpongeBob SpongeBash Weekend". It began with a new episode, "To SquarePants or Not to SquarePants". The marathon also featured a broadcast of The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, a countdown of the top ten episodes as selected by fans, and the premiere of ten new episodes.[ah] An eight-episode DVD set featuring "To SquarePants or Not to SquarePants" was released shortly after the marathon, and a 14-disc DVD set titled The First 100 Episodes was released in September.[ai] On November 6, an hour-long television film, titled Truth or Square, debuted on Nickelodeon. The film is narrated by Ricky Gervais and features live-action cameo appearances by various celebrities.[aj] It was released as part of a DVD set in November 2009.[185]
In 2019, Nickelodeon honored the twentieth anniversary of SpongeBob with a series of celebrations known as the "Best Year Ever".[186][187] Pantone created color shades known as "SpongeBob SquarePants Yellow" and "Patrick Star Pink" to be used by Nickelodeon's licensing partners.[ak] SpongeBob-themed garments were presented during New York Fashion Week and Amsterdam Fashion Week, and Nike released a SpongeBob series of shoes, accessories, and apparel.[al] The "Best Year Ever" also included the launch of a SpongeBob-themed cosmetics line, an official SpongeBob YouTube channel and a mobile game based on the series.[am] On July 12, a television special titled SpongeBob's Big Birthday Blowout premiered.[an] On July 15, Amazon celebrated SpongeBob on Amazon Prime Day with the early release of a 30-disc DVD set, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Best 200 Episodes Ever! [202] The 20th anniversary celebrations culminated with the August 14 release of The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run.[ao]
A celebration of the series' 25th anniversary, known as "SpongeBob 25", began on July 13, 2024, with SpongeBob and Patrick hosting the Kids' Choice Awards. The following week, Nickelodeon released a series of SpongeBob episodes with Easter eggs and nods to previous episodes.[204] A collaboration with Wendy's and other restaurants called the Krabby Patty Kollab began in October, in which the restaurants created real-life Krabby Patties.[205] A one-hour television special, Kreepaway Kamp, premiered on October 10.[205] A 44-disc DVD compilation of three box sets, titled SpongeBob SquarePants: The Best 300 Episodes Ever, was released on October 15.[206]
Reception
Critical response
Laura Fries of Variety described SpongeBob as thoughtful, inventive, charming, whimsical, and "clever enough" to appeal to teenagers and young adults as well as children.[207] James Poniewozik of Time magazine and Joyce Millman of The New York Times also praised SpongeBob for appealing to both children and adults.[208] In her 2001 review, Millman called SpongeBob "the most charming toon on television", describing SpongeBob himself as "darned lovable" and referring to his world as "excellently strange". She said that like Pee-wee's Playhouse, SpongeBob "joyfully dances on the fine line between childhood and adulthood, guilelessness and camp, the warped and the sweet."[209] Robert Thompson, a professor of communications and director of the Center for the Study of Popular Television at Syracuse University, described the series as "a refreshing breath from the pre-irony era". He felt the show is subversive because it is deliberately naive, and since it is not trying to be hip or cool, "hipness can be grafted onto it".[210] Bettijane Levine of the Los Angeles Times also acknowledged the series' appeal for adults, describing it as a "brain balm for stressed-out grown-ups".[211] Television critics Alan Sepinwall and Matt Zoller Seitz ranked SpongeBob as the 22nd greatest American television series of all time in their 2016 book TV (The Book).[212][213]
Ratings and run-length achievements
Within its first month on air, SpongeBob SquarePants overtook Pokémon as the highest rated Saturday-morning children's series on television.[214] It held an average national Nielsen rating of 4.9 among children aged two through eleven, denoting 1.9 million viewers.[215][216] Two years later, the series had firmly established itself as Nickelodeon's second highest-rated children's program, after Rugrats. SpongeBob was credited with helping Nickelodeon take the "Saturday-morning ratings crown" for the third straight season in 2001.[217] The series had gained a significant adult audience by that point—nearly 40 percent of its 2.2 million viewers were aged 18 to 34.[218] In response to its weekend success, Nickelodeon gave SpongeBob time slots at 6:00 pm and 8:00 pm, Monday through Thursday, to increase the series' exposure.[218][219] By the end of 2001, the show had the highest ratings for any children's series, on all of television.[ap] Weekly viewership of the series had reached around fifteen million, at least five million of whom were adults.[21]
In October 2002, the Nickelodeon children's series The Fairly OddParents briefly surpassed SpongeBob's 2.4 million child viewers aged two to eleven.[222][223] Due to the climbing ratings of The Fairly OddParents, Nickelodeon installed it in an 8:00 PM time slot previously occupied by SpongeBob.[222] In 2012, SpongeBob's viewership among children began to decline. Nielsen reported a 29% drop in viewership in the first quarter of 2012 compared with the previous year. John Jannarone of The Wall Street Journal suggested that the decline in viewership could be due to the age of the series, or to overexposure; with Nickelodeon frequently airing SpongeBob reruns, SpongeBob programming accounted for between 31–40% of the network's total programming in 2011.[224] Media analyst Todd Juenger attributed the decline in network viewers to the availability of Nickelodeon content on streaming services such as Netflix.[aq] A Nickelodeon spokesman denied that SpongeBob's decline was related to the channel's overall ratings.[224][227]
SpongeBob is one of the longest-running series on Nickelodeon, and one of the longest-running American animated series on television.[172] It became the Nickelodeon series with the most episodes during its eighth season, surpassing the 172 episodes of Rugrats,[228] and in 2025 became the longest-running American children's animated series.[13] According to CNN, SpongeBob has become a fixture in pop culture, especially among millenials.[229]
Perceived decline in quality
In the mid-to-late 2000s, the tone and emphasis of the show began to change.[230] Some media outlets including MSN, The A.V. Club, and Vulture commented on the show's perceived decline in quality, after Hillenburg's departure as showrunner following The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie in 2004.[231][230][232] In 2012, MSN cited a post on Encyclopedia SpongeBobia, a Fandom-hosted wiki, which said that many fans felt the series had "jumped the shark" following the release of the film and that online fansites were becoming "deserted".[231] In 2018, Vulture noted the most popular online memes of the series typically originated in episodes from the first three seasons.[232] That same year, The A.V. Club wrote that as the series went on, "[it] leaned hard into kid-friendly physical humor and gross-out moments that appealed to no one in particular."[230]
Social and political issues
SpongeBob has occasionally provoked public debates about social and political issues. In 2002, after The Wall Street Journal reported that SpongeBob was popular with gay men, Hillenburg said that the character SpongeBob is not gay, but rather "somewhat asexual".[233]
In 2005, an online video that included clips from SpongeBob and other children's shows set to the Sister Sledge song "We Are Family" was attacked by Focus on the Family, an American evangelical group.[234][235] The group's founder, James Dobson, accused the video of promoting homosexuality because it was created by the We Are Family Foundation, a pro-tolerance group.[ar] Following Dobson's accusation, John H. Thomas, the general minister and president of the United Church of Christ, stated that his ministry would welcome SpongeBob. He said, "Jesus didn't turn people away. Neither do we."[239]
In his article "Queertoons", queer theorist Jeffery P. Dennis argues that SpongeBob and Patrick "are paired with arguably erotic intensity".[240][241][242] The Ukrainian organization Family Under the Protection of the Holy Virgin, which has been described as a "fringe Catholic" group by The Wall Street Journal, tried to have SpongeBob banned for its alleged "promotion of homosexuality".[243] Questions about SpongeBob's sexuality resurfaced in 2020 after Nickelodeon posted an image on Twitter of the character, in rainbow colors and with text celebrating the LGBTQ+ community during Pride Month.[244]
The season 9 episode "SpongeBob, You're Fired" was the subject of a debate in the media about government social services.[as]
In 2019, University of Washington professor Holly M. Barker wrote an article titled "Unsettling SpongeBob and the legacies of violence on Bikini Bottom". She argues that because Bikini Bottom is named after Bikini Atoll, where indigenous people were displaced by the U.S. government for nuclear testing, SpongeBob promotes "violent and racist" colonialism.[at]
In 2021, the season 3 episode "Mid-Life Crustacean" was removed from circulation. Popular speculation is that the removal is due to its ending in which SpongeBob, Patrick, and Mr. Krabs partake in a panty raid. The release of a season 12 episode, "Kwarantined Krab", was delayed for two years because its themes were reminiscent of the COVID-19 pandemic.[251][252]
Effect on children
In 2006, the watchdog group Parents Television Council accused SpongeBob of promoting the use of profanity among children through the season 2 episode "Sailor Mouth".[253]
A 2011 University of Virginia study published in the journal Pediatrics suggested that allowing preschool-aged children to watch SpongeBob caused short-term disruptions in mental function and attention span because of frequent shot changes, compared to control groups watching Caillou and drawing pictures.[254][255] A Nickelodeon executive responded in an interview the series was not intended for an audience of that age and that the study used "questionable methodology and could not possibly provide the basis for any valid findings that parents could trust."[256][257][258]
In 2014, Zabira Orazalieva, chairwoman of the Committee for the Protection of Children's Rights in Kazakhstan, deemed the series too violent for children, calling SpongeBob a "self-absorbed hooligan" who enjoys inflicting violence on others.[au]
Accolades
SpongeBob has received many awards and nominations, including four Emmy Awards,[av] six Annie Awards,[aw] and two BAFTA Children's Awards.[269][270] In 2006, IGN ranked SpongeBob the 15th best animated series of all time, and in 2013 it ranked the series 12th on its list of the Top 25 Animated Series for Adults.[ax]
TV Guide listed SpongeBob SquarePants himself at number nine on its list of the 50 Greatest Cartoon Characters of All Time in 2002.[274] In June 2010, Entertainment Weekly named SpongeBob one of the 100 Greatest Characters of the Last 20 Years.[275] Viewers of UK television network Channel 4 voted SpongeBob SquarePants the 28th Greatest Cartoon in a 2004 poll.[276][277] The series is among the All-TIME 100 TV Shows, as chosen by Time television critic James Poniewozik in 2007. He said, "It's the most funny, surreal, inventive example of the explosion in creative kids' (and adult) entertainment that Nick, Cartoon Network and their ilk made possible."[278] In 2013, the publication ranked SpongeBob SquarePants eighth on its list of the Greatest TV Cartoons of All Time.[279] Television critic Matt Zoller Seitz included the series in his 2016 book written with Alan Sepinwall titled TV (The Book) as the 22nd greatest American television series of all time, saying that "SpongeBob SquarePants is an absurdist masterpiece that Salvador Dalí and Groucho Marx would have watched together in their smoking jackets".[280][281]
Franchise
Spin-offs
Kamp Koral: SpongeBob's Under Years
In June 2019, production began on a SpongeBob spin-off series titled Kamp Koral: SpongeBob's Under Years.[199][282] The plot focuses on the adventures of a 10-year-old SpongeBob and his friends at a camp in the Kelp Forest, where they spend the summer catching jellyfish, building campfires, and swimming in Lake Yuckymuck.[282][283] The series served as a tie-in to the animated film The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run (2020), and had the same executive producers as SpongeBob: Marc Ceccarelli, Jennie Monica, and Vincent Waller. Kamp Koral is produced using computer-generated animation (CGI) rather than the digital ink and paint animation used for SpongeBob.[283][284] The series premiered on March 4, 2021, and a second season debuted on July 10, 2024.[285][286][162][163]
The Patrick Star Show
On August 10, 2020, it was reported that a Patrick Star talk show titled The Patrick Star Show was in development with a 13-episode order. Additionally, it was reported that the show would be similar to other talk shows such as The Larry Sanders Show and Comedy Bang! Bang![287][288] The series premiered on Nickelodeon on July 9, 2021,[289] with the series set to be available on Paramount+ sometime in the future.[290]
Fans and former SpongeBob showrunner Paul Tibbitt criticized Nickelodeon when it greenlit spin-offs after the death of Hillenburg in 2018. In a tweet, Tibbit said Hillenburg would have hated the spin-offs, and he angrily admonished his former colleagues for working on them.[291] In a 2009 interview, Hillenburg had been skeptical about the viability of spin-offs focusing on characters other than SpongeBob, and in 2017 Hillenburg's colleague Vincent Waller had stated that Hillenburg was against the creation of spin-offs.[292][293][294]
Super Bowl
SpongeBob SquarePants first appeared in the Super Bowl during the Super Bowl LIII halftime show, making a cameo appearance in the form of a short animation featuring Squidward, Mr. Krabs, Mrs. Puff, SpongeBob, and Patrick Star, which included footage of the Bikini Bottom band from the episode Band Geeks, before segueing into Travis Scott's section of the performance.[295][296][297][298] This led to fan outrage, as fans requested "Sweet Victory", the song featured in the episode, be played during the show, which ultimately did not occur.[299] According to animator Nico Colaleo, the animation was completed in a few days.[300]
On August 1, 2023, CBS Sports announced that it would carry a youth-oriented alternate broadcast of Super Bowl LVIII on Nickelodeon, the first such broadcast for a Super Bowl.[301] Billed as Super Bowl LVIII: Live from Bikini Bottom, the broadcast incorporated SpongeBob-themed augmented reality effects and features (in addition to those seen on previous games aired by the network), and appearances by characters from the series (SpongeBob and Patrick acted as "analysts" alongside announcers Noah Eagle and Nate Burleson, with Sandy Cheeks taking on "sideline reporter" duties).[302]
Comic books
The 32-page bimonthly comic book series, SpongeBob Comics, was announced in November 2010[303] and debuted the following February.[304] Before this, SpongeBob SquarePants comics had been published in Nickelodeon Magazine,[303][305][306] and episodes of the television series had been adapted by Cine-Manga,[303][307] but SpongeBob Comics was the first American comic book series devoted solely to SpongeBob SquarePants.[303][305][306] It also served as SpongeBob SquarePants creator Stephen Hillenburg's debut as a comic book author.[304][305][306] The series was published by Hillenburg's production company, United Plankton Pictures, and distributed by Bongo Comics Group.[303][305][306] Hillenburg described the stories from the comic books as "original and always true to the humor, characters, and universe of the SpongeBob SquarePants series." Leading up to the release of the series, Hillenburg said, "I'm hoping that fans will enjoy finally having a SpongeBob comic book from me."[305][306]
Chris Duffy, the former senior editor of Nickelodeon Magazine, serves as managing editor of SpongeBob Comics.[305][306] Hillenburg and Duffy met with various cartoonists—including James Kochalka, Hilary Barta, Graham Annable, Gregg Schigiel, and Jacob Chabot—to contribute to each issues.[305][306] Retired horror comics writer and artist Stephen R. Bissette returned to write a special Halloween issue in 2012, with Tony Millionaire and Al Jaffee.[308] In an interview with Tom Spurgeon, Bissette said, "I've even broken my retirement to do one work-for-hire gig [for SpongeBob Comics] so I could share everything about that kind of current job."[309]
In the United Kingdom, Titan Magazines published comics based on SpongeBob SquarePants every four weeks from February 3, 2005,[310] through November 28, 2013.[311] Titan Magazines also teamed up with Lego to release a limited edition SpongeBob-themed comic.[312]
Films
There have been five SpongeBob films that have been released theatrically or via streaming services: The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (2004), The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water (2015), The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run (2020), Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie (2024), and Plankton: The Movie (2025). The series' regulars have reprised their roles for each film. The films have had an overall positive reception.[citation needed]
The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants was released in theatres in 2025, while another unnamed character spin-off project remains to be released on Netflix in the foreseeable future, according to ViacomCBS' revision in February 2022.[313]
Main series
The first SpongeBob film, The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, an animated film adaptation of the series, was released on November 19, 2004.[314] The film was directed by Hillenburg and written by long-time series writers Derek Drymon, Tim Hill, Kent Osborne, Aaron Springer, Paul Tibbitt, and Hillenburg. He and Julia Pistor produced the film, while Gregor Narholz composed the film's score.[315][316][317] Its plot concerns Plankton's evil plan to steal King Neptune's crown and send it to Shell City. SpongeBob and Patrick must retrieve it and save Mr. Krabs' life from Neptune's raft and their home, Bikini Bottom, from Plankton's plan. It features guest appearances by Jeffrey Tambor as King Neptune, Scarlett Johansson as the King's daughter Mindy, Alec Baldwin as Dennis, and David Hasselhoff as himself.[318] The film received a positive critical reception[319][320] and was a box office success, grossing over $140 million worldwide.[321]
A sequel to the 2004 film, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water, was released in theaters on February 6, 2015.[322] The series' main cast members reprised their roles.[323] The underwater parts are animated traditionally in the manner of the series—the live-action parts use CGI animation for the SpongeBob characters.[324][325] The film had a budget similar to the previous film, costing less than $100 million to produce.[326][327][328] It was met with positive reviews,[329] and was also a financial success, grossing over $325.2 million worldwide.[330]
A third film, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run, was initially scheduled for a May 2020 release date. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the film faced multiple delays.[331][203] Eventually in June 2020, it's worldwide theatrical release was canceled, opting Paramount to eventually release the film as a launch-day exclusive for its premium video on demand service Paramount+ in the US on March 4, 2021.[285][332][333] Internationally, Canada received a theatrical release on August 14, 2020, while Netflix received the streaming rights in foreign regions excluding the US, China, and Canada on November 5, 2020.[334][335][336] Unlike the other two SpongeBob films, the film mainly uses stylized-CGI animation. The film received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics, with audiences being less favorable.[337] Due to the pandemic, the film was not financially successful, grossing $4.8 million from its limited theatrical run.[338]
In August 2021, Brian Robbins, CEO of Nickelodeon, stated that a new theatrical SpongeBob film was "in the works."[339] The film was initially set for release on May 23, 2025,[340] but was later delayed to December 19; Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning took its previous date due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike.[341] It will be the fourth main SpongeBob film as well as the franchise's sixth film overall, titled The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants.[citation needed]
Spin-off films
Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie is an animated adventure comedy film released on Netflix on August 2, 2024.[342] It is the first character-focused spin-off film, as well as the franchise's fourth film overall. It centers around Sandy and SpongeBob going on a mission to save Bikini Bottom, while a subplot centers on the latter's family's exploits in the Circus. Prior to its release, the entire film was leaked on January 21, 2024, as a video upload on X (the website formerly known as Twitter).[343] The film received mixed reviews from critics.[344]
Plankton: The Movie is an animated musical comedy film which was released on Netflix on March 7, 2025.[345] It is the second character-focused spin-off film, and the fifth film in the franchise overall. As with the Sandy Cheeks Movie, the entire film was leaked onto X (Twitter) in August 2024.[346]
Television films
Three television films were released: SpongeBob's Atlantis SquarePantis (2007), SpongeBob's Truth or Square (2009), and SpongeBob's Big Birthday Blowout (2019).
Music
Collections of original music featured in the series have been released on the albums SpongeBob SquarePants: Original Theme Highlights (2001), SpongeBob's Greatest Hits (2009), and The Yellow Album (2005). The first two charted on the US Billboard 200, reaching number 171 and 122, respectively.[347][348]
Several songs have been recorded for the purpose of a single or album release and have not been featured on the show. The song "My Tighty Whiteys" written by Tom Kenny and Andy Paley was released only on the album The Best Day Ever (2006). Kenny's inspiration for the song was "underwear humor,"[349] saying: "Underwear humor is always a surefire laugh-getter with kids ... Just seeing a character that odd wearing really prosaic, normal, Kmart, three-to-a-pack underwear is a funny drawing ... We thought it was funny to make a really lush, beautiful love song to his underwear."[349]
A soundtrack album, The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie – Music from the Movie and More, featuring the film's score, was released along with the feature-length film in November 2004. Various artists including the Flaming Lips,[350] Wilco,[351] Ween,[352] Motörhead,[353] the Shins,[354] and Avril Lavigne[110] contributed to the soundtrack that reached number 76 on the US Billboard 200.[355]
Theme park rides
A SpongeBob SquarePants 4-D film and ride opened at several locations, including Six Flags Over Texas, Flamingo Land Resort, and the Shedd Aquarium.[356] The ride features water squirts, real bubbles, and other sensory features. In 2012, Nickelodeon teamed up again with SimEx-Iwerks Entertainment and Super 78 to produce SpongeBob SquarePants 4-D: The Great Jelly Rescue.[357] The attraction opened in early 2013 at the Mystic Aquarium & Institute for Exploration.[358] It was also installed at the Nickelodeon Suites Resort Orlando in Orlando, Florida.[359][360][361] The seven-minute film follows SpongeBob, Patrick, and Sandy rescuing the jellyfish of Jellyfish Fields from Plankton's evil clutches.[358] On May 23, 2015, an interactive 3D show titled SpongeBob SubPants Adventure opened in Texas at Moody Gardens.[362] The show was replaced with a generic "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" re-theme in 2019.[363] A dark ride shooter attraction titled SpongeBob's Crazy Carnival Ride opened at the Circus Circus Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada in 2024.[364]
A variety of SpongeBob SquarePants-related attractions are currently located within Nickelodeon themed-areas at Movie Park Germany, Pleasure Beach Blackpool, Sea World, American Dream Meadowlands, and Mall of America, which includes the SpongeBob SquarePants Rock Bottom Plunge euro-fighter roller coaster.[citation needed]
In 2026, Universal Kids Resort will open a themed land based on the franchise.[365]
Video games
Numerous video games based on the series have been produced. Some of the early games include: Legend of the Lost Spatula (2001)[366] and SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom (2003). In 2013, Nickelodeon published and distributed SpongeBob Moves In!, a freemium city-building game app developed by Kung Fu Factory for iOS and Android.[367][368][369][370] On June 5, 2019, THQ Nordic announced SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom – Rehydrated, a full remake of the console versions of the original 2003 game.[371][372][373] The game was released one year later on June 23, 2020[374][375] and includes cut content from the original game.[376] On May 28, 2020, Apple Arcade released a game called SpongeBob SquarePants: Patty Pursuit.[377] In 2021, EA Sports introduced a SpongeBob-themed level to the Yard section of its Madden NFL 21 video game.[378]
On September 17, 2021, THQ Nordic announced SpongeBob Squarepants: The Cosmic Shake, a new original game based on the franchise.[379]
SpongeBob SquareShorts
Nickelodeon launched the first global SpongeBob SquarePants-themed short film competition, SpongeBob SquareShorts: Original Fan Tributes, in 2013.[380][381] The contest encouraged fans and filmmakers around the world to create original short films inspired by SpongeBob for a chance to win a prize and a trip for four people to a screening event in Hollywood. The contest opened on May 6 and ran through June 28, 2013.[382][383] On July 19, 2013, Nickelodeon announced the competition's finalists.[384][385][386] On August 13, 2013, the under-18 category was won by David of the United States for his The Krabby Commercial, while the Finally Home short by Nicole of South Africa won the 18 and over category.[387]
Theater
SpongeBob was adapted as a stage musical, SpongeBob SquarePants, The Broadway Musical, by director Tina Landau. It premiered in Chicago in 2016 and opened on Broadway at the Palace Theatre on December 4, 2017.[388] It received twelve award nominations at the 72nd Tony Awards in 2018.[389][390]
Merchandise
By the time the SpongeBob franchise celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2024, it had generated $16 billion in retail sales.[14] Popular board games such as Monopoly,[391] Life,[392] Operation,[393] Ants in the Pants,[394] and Yahtzee have been given SpongeBob-themed editions.[395]
In 2001, Nickelodeon signed a marketing deal with Target Corporation and Burger King, expanding its merchandising.[218][396] In 2002, SpongeBob dolls sold at a rate of 75,000 per week—faster than the popular Tickle Me Elmo dolls were selling at the time.[397] By 2007, SpongeBob merchandise was gaining popularity in Japan, thanks to a carefully orchestrated marketing campaign targeting young Japanese women.[398] Ratings and merchandise sales showed SpongeBob SquarePants had caught on with parents and with college audiences.[31] In a 2013 promotion, college-oriented website Music.com gave away 80,000 SpongeBob T-shirts, four times more than during a similar promotion for Comedy Central's South Park.[31]
Kids' meal tie-ins have been released in fast food restaurants in many parts of the world, including Burger King in Europe and North America, as well as Wendy's in North America, and Hungry Jack's in Australia. A McDonald's Happy Meal tie-in with SpongeBob-themed Happy Meal boxes and toys was released in Europe and other international markets in the summer of 2007.[399] In Australia, the advertisement for the McDonald's SpongeBob Happy Meal won the Pester Power Award because the ads enticed young children to desire its food because of the free toy.[400] As a tie-in beverage for the DVD release of The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, 7-Eleven released the limited edition Under-the-Sea Pineapple Slurpee in March 2004.[401] Pirate's Booty released limited edition SpongeBob SquarePants Pirate's Booty snacks in 2013.[402][403]
In 2007, high-end SpongeBob-themed electronics were introduced by Imation Electronics Products under the Npower brand, including MP3 players, digital cameras, a DVD player, and a flatscreen television.[404] Pictures of SpongeBob SquarePants began to appear on the labels of 8-ounce cans of Green Giant cut green beans and packages of frozen Green Giant green beans and butter sauce in 2007, which featured free stickers. This was part of an initiative to encourage children to eat vegetables.[405] Simmons Jewelry Co. released a $75,000 diamond pendant as part of a SpongeBob collection.[172][406] In New Zealand, the UK-based Beechdean Group unveiled the SpongeBob SquarePants Vanilla Ice Cream character product as part of a license deal with Nickelodeon.[407] NZ Drinks launched SpongeBob SquarePants bottled water.[408]
Build-A-Bear Workshop introduced the new SpongeBob SquarePants collection in stores and online in North America on May 17, 2013.[409][410][411] Shoppers can dress their SpongeBob and Patrick plush in a variety of clothing and accessories. Sandy Cheeks and Gary the Snail are also available as pre-stuffed minis.[412] Build-A-Bear Workshop stores nationwide celebrated the arrival of SpongeBob with a series of special events from May 17 through May 19.[413]
On July 13, 2013, Toyota, with Nickelodeon, unveiled a SpongeBob-inspired Toyota Highlander.[414] The 2014 Toyota Highlander was launched on SpongeBob Day at the San Diego Padres v. Giants game.[415][416][417] The SpongeBob Toyota Highlander visited seven US locations during its release, including the Nickelodeon Suites Resort Orlando in Florida.[418]
In April 2019, Nickelodeon released a series of toys adapted from various SpongeBob Internet memes. These included "Handsome Squidward", "Imaginaaation SpongeBob", "Mocking SpongeBob", "SpongeGar", and "Surprised Patrick". Shortly after the release of the line, most of the toys sold out on Amazon.[419][420]
SpongeBob has also appeared as a guest character in multiple video games, mainly Nickelodeon based ones such as the Nicktoons Unite! and Nick All-Star Brawl franchises, and a crossover game with the MLB entitled Nicktoons MLB.[421] Additionally, there are SpongeBob skins in mobile games such as Stumble Guys[422] and Brawl Stars.[423]
In 2024, Nickelodeon collaborated with various local restaurants and fast food chain Wendy's to create Krabby Patty Kollab meals,[205] including a recreation of the Krabby Patty (which was just the Dave's burgers from Wendy's with special sauce) and various SpongeBob themed food items, including a Pineapple Under The Sea Frosty from Wendy's, along with specialized items at select local restaurants nationwide. While the promotion was popular, it was also criticized for allegedly going against Stephen Hillenburg's wishes of not selling themed fast food based on the property.[424]
In 2025, Wizards of the Coast released a SpongeBob-themed Secret Lair would be released for Magic: The Gathering (Secret Lair is the label for special limited edition cards for the game).[425] Also in 2025, clothing brand Uniqlo released SpongeBob-inspired designs by streetwear brand Cactus Plant Flea Market.[426][427] In August of 2025, the United States Postal Service released a series of SpongeBob-themed stamps.[428][429][430]
Legacy
SpongeBob has been viewed in at least 170 countries and has been available in at least 24 languages.[431]
SpongeBob has become a trend in Egypt at Cairo's Tahrir Square.[432] After the Egyptian Revolution of 2011, SpongeBob became a fashion phenomenon, appearing on various merchandise items from hijabs to boxer shorts.[433][434] The phenomenon led to the creation of the Tumblr project called "SpongeBob on the Nile". The project was founded by American students Andrew Leber and Elisabeth Jaquette and attempts to document every appearance of SpongeBob in Egypt.[435] Sherief Elkeshta cited the phenomenon in an essay about the incoherent state of politics in Egypt in an independent monthly paper titled Midan Masr. He wrote, "Why isn't he [SpongeBob] at least holding a Molotov cocktail? Or raising a fist?"[436] The phenomenon has even spread to Libya, where a Libyan rebel in SpongeBob dress was photographed celebrating the revolution.[437] Although The Guardian and Vice have asserted that the trend has little to no political significance,[432][433] "joke" presidential campaigns have been undertaken for SpongeBob in Egypt and Syria.[433][435]
A clip was posted to YouTube in February 2013 that features soldiers in the Russian army and navy singing the SpongeBob SquarePants theme song as they marched.[438][439] According to the website that uploaded the video, it was one of the "most popular marching songs" in the Russian military.[438] The video garnered nearly 50,000 views within its first week.[439]
In his 2005 commentary for The Ren & Stimpy Show episode "Stimpy's Cartoon Show", creator John Kricfalusi said SpongeBob SquarePants was a spiritual successor to the series.[440]
In 2014, a SpongeBob-themed eatery opened in Ramallah, West Bank, Palestine. The restaurant is modeled after the Krusty Krab and serves Krabby Patties.[441][442][443]
Following Hillenburg's death in November 2018, more than 1.2 million fans signed a petition for the National Football League to have the song "Sweet Victory" from the season 2 episode "Band Geeks" performed in his honor at the Super Bowl LIII halftime show. Speculation about the song's inclusion intensified in the weeks leading up to the Super Bowl when Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium's Twitter account, the venue of the show, tweeted a GIF of a scene from the aforementioned episode, and Maroon 5, the headliner, including a brief clip of SpongeBob in a preview video. While the song's opening was ultimately included, it served as a transition into rapper Travis Scott's set, which was negatively received by fans.[444][445] In response to fans' disappointment at not hearing the complete "Sweet Victory" song during the halftime show at Super Bowl LIII, the Dallas Stars of the National Hockey League showed a clip of the full "Sweet Victory" song during a game at the American Airlines Center. In the clip, the characters' band uniforms are recolored green, modeled after the Stars.[446][447] An animated remake of Sweet Victory opened Nickelodeon's broadcast of Super Bowl LVIII, implementing clips of the 2023 San Francisco 49ers and 2023 Kansas City Chiefs during the performance.[448][449]
In honor of Hillenburg, a nonprofit fan project titled The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie Rehydrated was released online on May 1, 2022. It consists of a re-creation of the SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, reanimated by 300 people with re-recorded music and dialogue. Amid the YouTube premiere, the video was taken down by Paramount Global due to copyright laws. As a result, the hashtag #JusticeForSpongeBob trended on Twitter against Paramount's action. The video was restored the following day.[450][451]
SpongeBob in internet culture
Online memes originating from or relating to SpongeBob SquarePants have achieved widespread popularity on the Internet, so much so that Vox's Aja Romano declared in 2019 that "Spongebob memes came to rule internet culture".[11] A subreddit devoted to memes based on the animated series has, as of May 2019, accumulated over 1.7 million subscribers, a figure much higher than subreddits devoted to the series itself.[11]
Matt Schimkowitz, a senior editor for Know Your Meme, told Time magazine that a combination of factors make SpongeBob memes so popular. He speculated that nostalgia for the past, alongside the cartoon's young audience, contributed to SpongeBob SquarePants' outsized presence in Internet meme culture. Schimkowitz further added that memes derived from the series are exceptionally good at expressing emotions.[452] Michael Gold of The New York Times opined that because of the show's "high episode count" and that it was "so ubiquitous at the beginning of the 21st century", SpongeBob SquarePants became "easy meme fodder".[453]
Nickelodeon and members of the SpongeBob cast have expressed approval for the trend. Tom Kenny told Time that he found SpongeBob memes relatable and good-natured. Kenny said that while the show's characters can be considered complex, they are also simple, creating a wealth of content for meme creators to work with.[452] Nickelodeon has manufactured a line of toys based on some of the show's most recognizable meme formats,[11] and has even included references to well-known memes in SpongeBob video games.[454]
Among the show's most popular memes are the mocking SpongeBob meme, referring to an image macro from the episode "Little Yellow Book",[455] an image of Spongebob appearing exhausted in the episode "Nature Pants",[456] and a particularly disheveled illustration of Squidward from "Squid's Day Off".[457]
A Spongebob meme that surfaced in 2023 is the 'Freakbob' meme. Associated with Gen Z humor, Freakbob (sometimes called Freaky Bob) is typically shown on the dialing end of a phone call. The vast rise in popularity has sparked many variations of the meme on social media.[458]
In 2024, an Internet meme surfaced consisting of Richard Myhill's "Woe Is Me!", taken from the episode "Squilliam Returns", paired with a hamster staring up in despair.[459] Dubbed the "sad hamster meme", the trend experienced rapid popularity on social media platforms as a way for users to express reflection to sadness and unfortunate situations.[460]
Fans of the show have created various pages replicating Bikini Bottom News, a news show within the SpongeBob universe, with versions of the anchors Realistic Fish Head and Perch Perkins generated with artificial intelligence.[461] Some of these pages are criticized for how they handle topics and potentially facilitate fear mongering as a result.[citation needed]
Notes
- Seasons 1–3
- Seasons 4–9
- Season 9–present
- Performed by Patrick Pinney, Devin Johnson, Sara Paxton, and Camryn Walling
- Composed by Steve Belfer
- Hillenburg remains posthumously credited as executive producer after his death in 2018.
- Seasons 6–9
- Season 13–present
- Episode 175, "It's a SpongeBob Christmas!", was first broadcast on CBS.[4]
- In the television film Atlantis SquarePantis
- In the episode "It's a SpongeBob Christmas!"
- In the episode "SpongeBob SquarePants vs. The Big One"
- In the episode "The Clash of Triton"
- The second half of the season was split into a fifteenth season bringing the number of episodes to 13.
