25 years ago, Nickelodeon television showed the first episode of the series “SpongeBob SquarePants” and few could have guessed that the cartoon would become a world phenomenon translated into 25 languages and watched on television in 170 countries. However, this cartoon character turned 38 years old. How, you ask. An explanation follows.
SpongeBob SquarePants is the protagonist of the American animated television series of the same name. He is voiced by Tom Kenny, and is determined by his optimism and childlike attitude. SpongeBob is usually seen hanging out with his friend Patrick, getting into crazy antics along the way. SpongeBob also has a pet snail named Gary.
How the character was created
Originally, the character was supposed to be called SpongeBob (boy), but this name was already in use for another product. This was revealed after the seven-minute pilot was filmed. When he learned this, Hillenburg knew that the character’s name still had to contain “Sponge” so that viewers would not confuse him with “Cheese Man”. In 1997, he decided to use the name “SpongeBob” with “SquarePants” as his last name, which has to do with his character’s square shape.
Printscreen: Youtube
Before accepting SpongeBob as the protagonist of the series, Nickelodeon executives insisted that the show would not be popular unless the main character was a school-going child. Stephen Hillenburg recalled in 2012 that Nickelodeon told him, “Our winning formula is an animation about kids in school… We want you to put SpongeBob in school.”
Hillenburg was ready to leave the series. since he wanted Spongebob to be an adult character. In the end, he compromised by adding a new character to the main cast, Mrs. Puff, who is SpongeBob’s boating teacher. Hillenburg was happy with the compromise and said, “The positive thing for me that came out of it was a new character, Mrs. Puff, who I love.”
The 2000 and 2001 episodes give SpongeBob’s date of birth as July 14, 1986, although his age remains unclear throughout the series. However, one frame of the ID card was enough to record this day as SpongeBob’s birthday.
Source: bizlife.rs
