Bikini Atoll is an island in the real-world country of Marshall Islands. In SpongeBob SquarePants, it is represented as a small island with three palm trees. It is the area of where Bikini Bottom is located under the sea, it is located approximately halfway between Hawaii and the Philippines.
It appears in the theme song and also during the openings and closings of every episode and it plays an important role in "Pressure," The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water, "Whale Watching," and "High and Dry."
Description[]
Location of the Bikini Atoll.
It appears as a small island with sand in the middle of the ocean at Oceania. Its most notable landmarks are the three palm trees that inhabit one side of the island. It appears small, but in reality, it is much larger and appears small because of an optical illusion.[1]
On the other side of the island, there is a forest filled with an array of wildlife and a skeleton who previously guarded the Magic Book.[1]
History[]
Bikini Atoll has been around for millennia. The trees that inhabit the island have had its ancestors during the times of prehistory.[2]
At one point, Davy Jones was either on the island or at least had the Magic Book, which previously resided on the island.[1]
Role in series[]
SpongeBob SquarePants[]
"Sandy's Rocket"[]
SpongeBob and Patrick fly Sandy's rocket above the ocean near the island. Later, Sandy uses her jetpack to also rise above the ocean near the island.
"Hooky"[]
Fishermen can be seen fishing at the beginning of the episode as the French Narrator explains their dangerous effects on aquatic species.
"Big Pink Loser"[]
Bikini Atoll appears when Patrick jumps out of the ocean to tell it about his newly attained award, only to almost suffocate from lack of water moments later.
"Christmas Who?"[]
SpongeBob launches bottles with paper to the surface of the ocean. Later, Santa's sleigh flies over the island.
"Pressure"[]
To prove that sea creatures are better than land creatures, Sandy makes SpongeBob, Patrick, Squidward and Mr. Krabs go up to the island. They survive, although they get attacked by seagulls.
"Snowball Effect"[]
A big piece of iceberg breaks off and floats across the ocean near this island.
"No Weenies Allowed"[]
Sandy karate-kicks SpongeBob out of the ocean and up to the surface of the island, where he is briefly seen in live-action kitchen sponge form.
"Pranks a Lot"[]
After Sandy is frightened by SpongeBob and Patrick (as ghosts), she leaves Bikini Bottom and travels back to Texas via an acorn-shaped rocket, which launches out of the ocean and to the landmark of Austin, Texas.
"Fear of a Krabby Patty"[]
The state of the Krusty Krab's 24-hour business is documented on a Bikini Atoll background.
"Roller Cowards"[]
The Fiery Fist O' Pain roller coaster in Glove World! is so high that SpongeBob and Patrick reach ocean distance.
"Truth or Square"[]
The island appears when Patchy goes looking for SpongeBob, who did not arrive at his TV Extravaganza.
"Demolition Doofus"[]
SpongeBob comes flying out of the ocean as a result of the demolition derby, once again briefly seen in his live-action sponge form.
"Mall Girl Pearl"[]
The island appears in Beatrice's scrapbook.
"Lame and Fortune"[]
The island appears when a carrier boat is dropping a box of fortune cookies into the ocean.
"Feral Friends"[]
The French Narrator appears to tell Patchy about Neptune's sun, in which the Bikini Atoll is seen.
"Whale Watching"[]
The island is seen when the cool teen party hosts some members to breach into the surface.
"The String"[]
The island is completely stripped away by SpongeBob.
"Welcome to Binary Bottom"[]
One of the island's trees is revved and taken over by Sandroid, and she then goes jet-skiing as she head towards a real-life city skyline in the distance.
"A Skin Wrinkle in Time"[]
It is seen in the GrandPat Star version of the SpongeBob SquarePants theme song.
"Ma and Pa's Big Hurrah"[]
It is seen in the night when SpongeBob's parents roller-skate up the Fiery Fist O' Pain in Glove World! as SpongeBob chases after them.
"Hot Crossed Nuts"[]
When Bubble Bass eats lots of cooked acorns, he bursts lots of fire to the island.
"Spatula of the Heavens"[]
SpongeBob runs over Bikini Atoll on his way to the Mystical Misty Mountains.
Kamp Koral: SpongeBob's Under Years[]
"High and Dry"[]
It is the main setting of the episode, with SpongeBob, Patrick, Sandy, Squidward, and Elwood camping out for the night to earn a badge. Sandy pitches a tent for them to stay in, then she, SpongeBob, and Patrick look for food. They are eventually attacked by a seagull living on the island, which they try to sneak away from to get back underwater. Left with no other options, they sacrifice Elwood to it, but SpongeBob insists they go back to save him. They arrive at the seagull's nest and find that it is a makeup artist, giving them makeovers and letting them go back to the surface.
Roles in Other Media[]
The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie[]
The island appears in the opening and when David Hasselhoff arrives with both SpongeBob and Patrick to bring them back to Bikini Bottom.
SpongeBob SquarePants featuring Nicktoons: Globs of Doom[]
In the second level, Plankton and Jimmy Neutron have the chance to enter a pipe, which leads to Bikini Atoll. A Krabby Patty cheat trophy is on the island.
The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water[]
In this movie, the island is much larger than before, with the 3 main palm trees now around the size of small skyscrapers surrounded by a forest of smaller, normal-sized trees and bushes. The island itself appears when Burger Beard arrives to retrieve a magical book, and again at the end of the movie when Burger Beard is sent back there by Plankton. That is where Burger Beard and the seagulls sing the SpongeBob SquarePants Theme Song.
SpongeBob Appreciation Day: Patchy's Beach Bash![]
The island is the main place where Patchy the Pirate and some of SpongeBob's biggest fans celebrate SpongeBob Appreciation Day.
The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run[]
The island appears along with many other islands in the opening.
Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie[]
The island appears when SpongeBob and Sandy blastoff to the surface world to start their quest, and again while the citizens of Bikini Bottom bring their town back to the ocean.
Plankton: The Movie[]
Once again, the island appears in the opening.
Destruction[]
- In "The String," the island gets destroyed when SpongeBob unravels all of Bikini Bottom and the Milky Way with the string.
- In "The Big Bad Bubble Bass," the island gets destroyed by Mama Bass' massive belch.
- In "Hot Crossed Nuts," the island catches on fire due to Bubble Bass' massive fire burp after consuming Sandy's barbecue nuts.
Trivia[]
- The episode "Mrs. Puff, You're Fired" includes the footage from "No Weenies Allowed" where SpongeBob is flung out of the water and back in again.
- In a 2015 interview with Huffpost, SpongeBob's voice actor, Tom Kenny confirmed the fictitious city is named after Bikini Atoll.[3] He once debunked a popular internet fan theory that said the series' characters of Bikini Bottom was the result of a nuclear testing.
- According to the "Christmas Who?" audio commentary, Stephen Hillenburg filmed daytime shots of the Bikini Atoll island in a "friend of [his'] pool." In the San Diego Comic-Con panel in 2019, Tom Kenny revealed that "specific" friend of Stephen Hillenburg was Genndy Tartakovsky, who is best known as the creator of various animated television series on Cartoon Network and Adult Swim.[4]
- However, it was later revealed that the island was actually filmed in Steve Belfer's pool.[5]
- Starting with "Lame and Fortune," a CGI model of the island is used instead of the filmed island.[6]
- This is because the original model island has not aged well.[7] It's also because the original model island got buried somewhere deep within the Stephen Hillenburg storage facility, where he rented to pile things that he didn't have room for in his house.[8]
- When the island is shown at night, a human finger is visible in the water to portray a reflection of the moon.
- According to Vincent Waller on Twitter, nighttime shots of the island were shot in Steve Belfer's pool.[9]
- The "Whale Watching" version of the island was animated entirely by the stop-motion company Screen Novelties.
- The name of the island is derived from the Marshallese word "Pikinni" meaning "surface of coconuts" or "land of coconuts."
The Bikini Atoll in Drawn Together.
- The Bikini Atoll appeared in Drawn Together except that it has a few buildings on it.
External links[]
- Bikini Atoll on Wikipedia
References[]
- ^ a b c The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water
- ^ "Ugh." SpongeBob SquarePants. Nickelodeon. March 5, 2004. Television.
- ^ https://www.huffpost.com/entry/spongebob-squarepants-theory_n_6627556
- ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=123mJcEG2Uk&t=1492s
- ^ https://youtu.be/gTYZyZ26j-w?si=5zuFHKmVTbTPVm1s
- ^ https://twitter.com/VincentWaller72/status/755788852573253633
- ^ https://twitter.com/VincentWaller72/status/1281336776443846656
- ^ https://twitter.com/VincentWaller72/status/807082664050061312
- ^ https://twitter.com/VincentWaller72/status/903043979230420994