Changes: French Narrator

Revision as of 19:40, 5 June 2017

Character

The French Narrator is a man with a French accent who speaks at the beginning, middle, and/or end of some episodes. His only physical appearance is in the episode "No Free Rides" and its book adaptation, featured in Crime and Funishment, where he is run over by SpongeBob.

Description

While he has never been seen more than just the lower half of his body, in the episode, "Mimic Madness," SpongeBob mimics the French Narrator, revealing that he has a gray goatee and gray hair. He also wears a red beanie, similar to the one that Jacques-Yves Cousteau is known to have worn.

Creation and development

The French narrator is based on Jacques-Yves Cousteau, the world-famous sealife expert who died in 1997. In the 2004 episode of Fresh Air With Terry Gross, Tom Kenny admits that Cousteau was the inspiration for the French narrator, as SpongeBob SquarePants creator Stephen Hillenburg considers Cousteau an idol.

Biography

A group of scientists enlisted his help to narrate, and at least, some of the time, film a group of unique sea creatures and one land creature in a colony of intelligent fish. The team's mission is to teach people how to behave better.^[1]

History

He speaks the first lines in the whole series (except Painty the Pirate who sings the theme song). His first lines were "Ah, the sea... so fascinating. So wonderful. Here, we see Bikini Bottom, teeming with life. Home to one of my favorite creatures, SpongeBob SquarePants. Yes, of course he lives in a pineapple, you silly." He narrates in most of the episodes in season 1 and season 2, but less in season 3-9.

	"I can turn into a skyscraper!" This section is too short. You can help Encyclopedia SpongeBobia by expanding it.

Video games

The French Narrator is heard in a few SpongeBob video games:

In Battle for Bikini Bottom, when you enter a new level, the French Narrator will start talking about the level while the camera flies around the area.
In Revenge of the Flying Dutchman, he teaches SpongeBob various moves. He also has a different voice in this game.
In Lights, Camera, Pants!, he narrates along with the TV Narrator, in the Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy Special.
In The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (video game), he narrates the cutscenes which show images from the movie.
In Creature from the Krusty Krab, he narrates the loading screens for the level Super-Sized Patty.
In SpongeBob vs. The Big One: Beach Party Cook-Off, he narrates the intro of the game.

Relationships

TV Narrator

He only works with the TV Narrator in the game, Lights, Camera, Pants!. When they first meet, they seem to not like each other, but by the end of the special they are friends.

Trivia

He physically appears in "No Free Rides," where he is run over by SpongeBob.
- Since he is seen in this episode with a camera it may suggest that SpongeBob knows he is being filmed.
In the Filipino dub, he is voiced by well-known anime dubber Jefferson Utanes who provided voices of famous anime characters such as Kouya Marino from Crush Gear Turbo and Yami Yugi from Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters.
He was heard crying once in the episode "Chum Caverns" while Mr. Krabs and Plankton comfort each other while crying.
- However, he was crying as he read the time card.
Patrick breaks the fourth wall in "Wet Painters" by actually holding one of the time cards that the narrator is reading, claiming that he is "running out of time cards."
He is heard in the first movie, but he doesn't return in the second movie.
In storyboards for "Help Wanted," he is listed as "Jacques Cousteau" which was seen in Square Roots: The Story of SpongeBob SquarePants.
In "Can You Spare a Dime?," a time card with the text "So much later that the old narrator got tired of waiting and they had to hire a new one," being read by the British Narrator with an English accent (voiced by Dee Bradley Baker), is shown, jokingly claiming that the French Narrator quit. However, this was not permanent.
In "Sun Bleached," he uses the time card "Two Hours Later" twice. The first time is when SpongeBob is overtanning in Patrick's tanning machine. The second time is when they dance for two hours when the lights are on "Bleached" causing everyone to dry up and change into little piles of sand.
He is very similar to the narrator from the Cartoon Network series, The Powerpuff Girls, as both are voiced by Tom Kenny, are used for comic relief, have interacted with characters, and their appearance is unknown (until recently in the French Narrator's case).

References

^ Life Lessons from Bikini Bottom

[1] Life Lessons from Bikini Bottom

[1]

@@ Line 50: / Line 50: @@
 *In "[[Can You Spare a Dime?]]," a time card with the text "So much later that the old narrator got tired of waiting and they had to hire a new one," being read by the British Narrator with an English accent (voiced by [[Dee Bradley Baker]]), is shown, jokingly claiming that the French Narrator quit. However, this was not permanent.
 *In "[[Sun Bleached]]," he uses the time card "Two Hours Later" twice. The first time is when SpongeBob is overtanning in Patrick's tanning machine. The second time is when they dance for two hours when the lights are on "Bleached" causing everyone to dry up and change into little piles of sand.
+*He is very similar to the narrator from the Cartoon Network series, The Powerpuff Girls, as both are voiced by Tom Kenny, are used for comic relief, have interacted with characters, and their appearance is unknown (until recently in the French Narrator's case).
 ==References==