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This article is a transcript of the SpongeBob SquarePants DVD bonus feature "Square Roots: The Story of SpongeBob SquarePants." that aired on VH1 on July 17, 2009 It can be found in the The First 100 Episodes DVD, which was released on September 22, 2009.
- Realistic Fish Head: And now a special report. In July of 1999, the world was first introduced to SpongeBob SquarePants.
- SpongeBob: I'm ready! [duplicates himself] I'm ready! [duplicates himself again] I'm ready! [duplicates himself again] I'm ready! [several flyswatters squish the SpongeBob duplicates.]
- Realistic Fish Head: First considered too bizarre for mainstream success, it has now become one of the most popular television shows in history. Join us as we discover how this little yellow sponge became a worldwide phenomenon.
- Robert Thompson: It's not only a program it's become a lifestyle for a lot of people.
I don't think we can possibly overestimate how
much this is penetrated American culture spongebob is the coolest thing on the planet we told you watch it gene you get
a big belly laughs and you feel good about it I mean I like the fact that he's yellow I like the fact that he's
porous I like the fact that he wears pants any age any race any type of
person and you can relate to this character
do you split my sides
- Robert Thompson: It was a though the territory that had been once dominated by Mickey Mouse was now being rehab attained by SpongeBob SquarePants.
The central character is a sponge with distinctive taste in trousers. he's the top
show on a top cable channel running several times a day in animation there's
just so many hurdles so many obstacles so many difficult challenges how do you
know that your audience is gonna take to a sponge character I mean wow that's
that's quite a leap
- Stephen Hillenburg: My name's Steve Hillenburg and I'm the creator of SpongeBob SquarePants. I've always been fascinated with the ocean. It's just a place that is unlike anywhere on the planet and there's unexplored areas and animals and plants that we don't even know about still.
I stepped on one of these once I think my interest in the ocean started with those documentaries that Jacque
Cousteau did it was like looking at another planet once more I'd reached
down word for the blue spaces of this
I ended up getting a job right there teaching marine biology my dream job
also I was kind of like the staff artist I was drawing a comic book about tide
pool animals that was in that comic that I drew the first sponge named Bob which
eventually would become SpongeBob I decided I wanted to do a show about one
character that was innocent well-meaning and kind of an oddball
- Derek Iversen: Especially at the time SpongeBob came out, there were a lot of shows that were sarcastic. They had characters who were almost like little adults.
there's no question that you know when you look at the 90s the things that we're connecting were the South Park sand and the Ren and Stimpy
and that was great and it is what made SpongeBob so distinctively different i think SpongeBob was an attempt instead to make a character who's genuine and
earnest I think that's something people really connected with there is an innocence a naivety and a sincerity to
it that you get practically no place else on the television dial Mr. Krabs
is really cheap but SpongeBob doesn't care so bottom line is a sponge so we've
got it we've got it and they said what do you got they said we have something yellow and square it's a sponge you're gonna love it and I
was like okay
I'm not sure there was a lot of confidence and the idea that it was gonna go anywhere how do I make the
biggest show in the world you know I think if you try to synthesize that then there's no way that
you can succeed at it I had no idea what was going on with this cartoon I just thought it was just so many name pulp
for preschoolers I heard the initial concept for it I
said those guys must be crazy SpongeBob
SquarePants it just sounds weird there's a lot of pressure there's a lot of risk there's a lot of money riding on this and a lot of
people jobs all involved with this kind of thing I just wanted it to be funny and I didn't want to be embarrassed for
anything that I made there's a lot of executives that would have taken one look at that and said you've got to be
kidding you're gonna put this hallucination on our air no ultimately it's the audience that decides they are
the ones that have the final say in the success and failure what we do the audience is the ultimate jury on any
show
there's a lot of cartoonists who have ideas for cartoon shows Nickelodeon as
as daring as they are with the kind of shows they do you know each one is a
risk so fascinating so wonderful
here we see Bikini Bottom teeming with life home of one of my favorite features
SpongeBob SquarePants yes of course he lives in a pineapple you silly there's no science to funny
the things that strike you is funny they either strike you as funny or they don't
let's face it this is one weird puppy of a TV show these characters are strange
they behave in really strange ways things that look like snails meow like cats it was so different we just didn't
quite know what to expect but when we viewed the pilot I mean it was non-stop
laughter
[the next scene take place in a bar where adults are viewing SpongeBob, laughing, and making a toast.]
Like look at each other and going I say are you gonna get this but us I mean is
this just entertaining to us or you know I don't know let's see we have an excellent SpongeBob's I can't even say
it I don't know if Mark can SquarePants SpongeBob you know the cartoon guy it took a couple of seasons we were just going
about our business making a show that we thought was hilarious for the first year two or three he was
kind of quietly on the network gaining building his audience it wasn't in the papers I don't remember anybody making a
big deal about it any time a family with kids came over I'd say I've got someone want you to watch and everyone loved
that I thought oh man please someone recognize this besides me we're doing
jokes where you know they're so surreal and you're thinking no one's gonna get this but I guess more people than you
would think got it together his buddy Squidward yes
a little yellow sponge who's making a big splash
I mean it is the biggest most powerful argument for just being open to where your your passions bring you and you
know look look where they brought today Steve's passions were animation and the ocean he called me to come over to his
place then he showed me what he had drawings watercolor treatments of
SpongeBob's pineapple house and Squidward's big Easter Island Tiki head
house and the Krusty Krab lobster trap I just fell in love with the character the
visuals the relationships between the characters and I just wanted to be in on it so bad Steve and I started on Rocko's
Modern Life that's where I met Steve we had sort of a meeting of the minds as far as comedy what we thought was funny
there were a lot of ideas Steve wanted to do on Rocco that we eventually got to
do on SpongeBob like the live-action cutaways it was
sort of like well if any of us gets our own show we're gonna do all that stuff it's do it
I always hate going in there there was a
conscious effort to emulate what we grew up on we all wanted to do that kind of cartoon SpongeBob is a really
well-crafted show and part of that is the use of squash and stretch you know pulling and squeezing they can flatten
him like a pancake they can do anything with him material it's incredibly funny
and there's just fantastic writing a great storyboarding you know these are the elements of classic animation we
love Bugs Bunny and we talked about these things wasn't that awesome the way this worked and this happened and we used to talk it out for hours and hours
that kind of thing goes back to the old classic movie cartoons and the theatrical cartoons and the Bugs Bunny's
the things that were done in the 40s and 50s and haven't been done in decades we're trying to stay true to that what
we loved about cartoons when we were young
I'm sorry Mr. Krabs could you run that by me again sure I said I'm worried
that's what I thought you said now let me offer this as a rebuttal you know
Mark Twain says make your vocation of vacation animation is a lot of work so I
definitely felt like hey we're gonna be here every day is for friends who do
stuff together U is for you and me there
was a sign on my door that said it have fun or you're fired and I think in a way that's true it was a joke but you know
peaceful fire that burns down the whole town useful uranium bombs those things
aren't what fun is all about we just thought it would be fun to take
a day to the aquarium in Long Beach maybe getting some ideas and see some of the things that people were drawing
every day Steve's a great collaborator
and he was real open to our ideas and everyone was just really excited to be making a show that was so different one
of the most brilliant things Steve did on the show is choosing the group that's
on the show it is kind of like a relay race you know we have writers and then they hand their thing off to the
storyboard artists we take what's written here and you think of jokes that maybe you couldn't explain and writing
that gets handed off to the cast and that gets handed off to the animators one episode includes about 20,000
drawings you have to do it all by hand the single goal that everyone who works on the show has in mind is just bringing
all they can to their little piece of the pie along the way it's snowballing you know picking up everyone's input
along the way and I feel very lucky because I feel like everyone really just is focused on how do we make this the
best bunch of all cartoon that we can
ever be
very good standby for pickups on that my name is Andrea Romano and I'm the voice
director for SpongeBob SquarePants cartoons are made by recording a vocal track first the animation comes
afterwards somebody has to tell the actors what's going on how loud they need to be what does that stand for the
characters are the most important part of the show as crazy as they are you
would like to be their friend too the great thing is is that we were given such a wonderful set of characters
they're an ensemble that that you can just milk endlessly
- Carolyn Lawrence: I'm Carolyn Lawrence and I play Sandy Cheeks on SpongeBob SquarePants. She's a land squirrel but she's living in the ocean as a scientist she's very bright she's very motivated as squirrels are.
my name is Bill I am the voice of
Patrick Star so it's the only person
I've seen in fiction or documentary that I feel smarter that
you know the world thinks Patrick you know has nothing going on upstairs and that he's a doofus
SpongeBob doesn't put down Patrick he thinks Patrick's are pretty smart happening guy
My name is Clancy Brown and I play Mr. Krabs. if I could be any character on the
show to be a Mr. Krabs you got all the
money he always want more volume later word for I always say Squidward is me in
a comic sense I'm not that sarcastic Kyle really welcome to the Krusty Krab
where it's almost as if the evolutionary clock ticks backward living between
Patrick and SpongeBob Swit word is the recipient of all the craziness and he's
the one that gets hurt and knocked down and humiliated in the end
My name is Mr. Lawrence I play Plankton on SpongeBob's my favorite character is
plankton plankton this little tiny character but he's got
this big voice he has one goal in his life it's destroying him as soon as
people found out I was working on it they all went so crazy actors asking me please can you find something for me on
SpongeBob I'll come in and play a fish who just goes move because they want to be a part of it they want to be able to
save their kid there was a part of it a grown man came up to me you're so famous
and I said well happy days you know he said no he said you're a SpongeBob
SquarePants grandma come here give you a kissy Kissy my name is Tim Conway it
used to be Betty but I had to change it you know in the business and everything will you
stop calling me boy my granddaughter said you know have you seen spongebob and I said I don't think so and she said
you know you're on it so I tuned in and by golly she was right
I've had older people from up old men you're mermaidman I should have mermaid
oh I've had the great good fortune to
work with Tom Kenny on many different series but this show is really Tom Kenny's show he is SpongeBob SquarePants
my name is Tom Kenny and for the last dozen years or so I have been the voice
of Spongebob Squarepants that's really fascinating there's a little bit of Tom in the character you know there's an
innocence and a well-meaning attitude that I think Tom emanates I think his silliness the actors silliness
absolutely is incorporated into the character he really represents the ten-year-old and all of us who's got a day off from
school he lives in the moment he's very childlike and he takes things as they come
Hey I like that he always believes the best
of people he'll never see that Squidward's crabby it just won't ever happen he just you know that's his buddy
it all comes from an honest place I
think one of the most appealing things about spongebob is his lack of fear and
his lack of negative emotions and in the world that we live in now he is a beacon of how to be happy in this world the
flip side of that is that when he does occasionally hit a wall he just falls apart lows are just as precipitous as
his highs
spongebob throws himself into everything 110 percent
not because of what reward he's going to glean at the end but just because he can't help but be that way from episode
to episode these characters maintain their personalities those personalities are winning and appealing and that
really helps to account for the universal popularity of the show
nice and he's yellow and spongy there he is
there's a spongebob phenomenon there's nobody cooler than you spongebob kids of
all ages have been wondering what is going on at Bikini Bottom have you seen spongebob oh it's so
cuddly I don't know this becomes a kind of a cult-like following
it's always tough to figure out what makes a phenomena because who knows
sea-dwelling cartoon character on Nickelodeon is the second highest rated show for kids on TV we hoped it would go
one season we hoped it would go to season it's a figure you do the best you can and and and you hope it ultimately
became one of the biggest shows in the history of television invertebrate hoo
Nickelodeon reports is attracting 28 million viewers a month this crazy kitchen sponge in a tie and a pair of
private school shorts has managed to penetrate the culture in a way that very
very few other things have done hey I
saw you on TV last night new bran flakes bold new taste bran
flakes you did I don't know if you guys caught this but there's a poll in this
week's Us Weekly it's about the the sexiest stars around in sixth place
spongebob in seventh place just behind this sexy character not quite as sexy as
spongebob our own Simon it got to a point where you couldn't turn on the TV
without seeing Spongebob and not just on Nickelodeon happy Halloween everyone in case you couldn't tell I'm Katie
spongebob I think you'll agree
who doesn't love sponge it just suddenly was everywhere the rest of the world
finally caught on I took a trip to Europe and right on top of the garbage there was a little juice box with
spongebob giving the thumbs-up and winking one on the surf trip to Sumatra
and I cup and I see the schoolgirl on this little schoolgirl and I see this bag it's bright pink bag and it's a bootleg
spongebob back and I just I just couldn't believe it spongebob appeals to people everywhere
all around the world is an inanimate object that we can all project ourselves on to envision spongebob superfans
Michonne
in the world of cartoons it's as big as it comes and now getting bigger the
spongebob squarepants movie yes I saw
the movie and I liked it alive I will never know how spongebob learned all those life absorbed felt like you used
to be Knight Rider and was always Baywatch but now it's spongebob with all generation and kids had never saw Knight
Rider it's awesome we chose to do a movie and the show took a hiatus now we had paramount a big movie studio and
they had to be responsible and they were gonna prove everything and I was trying to explain it this is the movie process
and he's like Alby that's all fine but if it's not with my team we're not making a movie
for this we do it all right for a couple
of goofballs
I don't think Steve knew that this would become as big a show as it as it would I
don't think any of us knew that we didn't really expect the kind of reaction that we've gotten worldwide and
we're just trying to make ourselves laugh and the rest is gravy if something is culturally successful it means almost
by definition that you have got a lot of people who are committed to it things that really really reach success are
also you know the ones that are likely to be targeted is something about
spongebob that whispers
where you're gonna get it after had been on for a couple of years there were a few episodes that somehow acted as a
Rorschach card for some people where they would watch the show and they would say wait a minute these characters are gay one of the channels most popular
characters is coming under attack from Family Values advocate James Dobson first insidious pro homosexual agenda
which character SpongeBob SquarePants you have to bring up the James Dobson
thing because it was this bizarre bump in the spongebob Road Dobson told a
mostly congressional audience in January that SpongeBob SquarePants for his quote pro-homosexual
it becomes a lightning rod for people and they see different things in it and it becomes the stimulus for national
discussion are you SpongeBob SquarePants I gotta be honest I thought it was the
greatest the show did nothing to discourage that I remember one time they
were wrestling for the fry cook games and they found out that they were wearing each other's color underwear it
wasn't like when they threw the Beatles records in a big bonfire you know they everyone in the town came out with their
records nobody wanted to hear it there nobody showed up to the bonfire all I'm
saying is why is he wearing pants he has no jenos we're not even talking
about sex at all kids seem to get it it's only certain adults that don't get it you know I think it did help and it
did kind of give spongebob this kind of cultural hip nosotras show because it
has become such an icon of our family existence
how did I become president of the Spongebob Squarepants fan club I elected myself and luckily I accept it
graciously why do I love spongebob so much why do I breed the salty sea air
why do I drink a flag in a grog who knows it just feels right for me my name
is Kristen Flores I have been working on spongebob for about two years this here is a pile of fan mail dear
SpongeBob and Patrick I really like your movie because it's free Stephen Hillenburg my name is Jose I watched
spongebob every day we also watch it and the more I come you don't make spongebob a girl Fred isn't plankton just make
friends with mr. Krabs and SpongeBob you made Patrick tack so dumb it does get to be a little overwhelming
cuz everyone tends to like him I've gotten fan mail here and oddly enough a lot of it comes from prisons spongebob
is not just a television show it really is a lifestyle for a lot of people
Jennifer Jones of Des Moines is one of the nicest people you're ever going to meet this is the Sponge Bob room there
is a phenomenon of the superfriend it's curious to think about what makes them so zealous and their pursuit of the show
and everything to do with the show you've got a little addicting and it's everywhere her arms are covered with no
less than twenty spongebob tattoos I have the pineapple house too there are a lot of people who not only
watch Spongebob a lot they sleep in spongebob pajamas they eat spongebob
pasta spongebob pencils spongebob cups and cushions I could do
this all day meet you there's a really wide range of people that connect with the show I watch it with the grandkids
and sometimes I watch it when I'm by myself there's this dance called Spongebob dance and I know how to do
spongebob style is being featured in magazines dad and actor Rob Lowe as a fan we just wanted to make official best
spongebob episode ever Sailor man I was
fascinated to learn that the one time graffiti artist and now pop artist Claus really loves spongebob and uses this
Vistage in his art quite a bit it's a tree to the broad appeal of the show
this thing's much bigger than just a kid's merchandize play SpongeBob's penetrating the culture in ways you
never expect he's guest hosting countdown in a couple of weeks I don't think it's going too far human and a six-year-old California
boy is safe this morning after falling through a hole and being trapped underground in a drainage pipe last night immediately after a bayit pulled
him out the first thing he said was that he wanted to watch Spongebob Squarepants people have an intimate relationship
with these characters they mean something to them and it can get a
little out of hand Burger King had a promotion with SpongeBob and they used a giant
inflatable spongebob and they put them on top of the stores our number one
story in the countdown it's not funny now an Amber Alert for a yellow sponge SpongeBob SquarePants
snatched again and again from coast to coast it's the cartoon crime of this century ten different states in all
America was distraught who would steal some our fingering teens and college
kids with the crime wave they weren't deflating them or defacing them or anything they were taking them
we have received ransom notes set of requested various items like Krabby Patties we think there's probably a
serial spongebob thief police nationwide on the lookout for a kidnap Vic
wearing SquarePants we're gonna be very vigilant on our patrol plan what sick
mind could be behind something like this
what can I do for you boys if you can't
do the time don't do the front okay times up
now get out what makes great cartoon characters is a creator who has a strong
vision for what his character is and Steve Hillenburg was really the guiding
light he's the guy you've got some seriously awesome ratings from it from this show which was terrific but what
you gonna do when mr. Hillenburg leaves Sponge Bob was Steve Hillenburg baby
he worked around the clock you're still here get get out after years and years
honing and refining this idea there was a real question if the show could go on
without Steve Hillenburg experience
you
after the movie I had pretty much decided that I was gonna step back it was time to get some new blood the movie
had just been out and there was a real question if the show could go on without Steve Hillenburg trying to start running
a show that's not only become a phenomenon but that has somebody like Steve it was such an enormous job to
take on Lou is weird around here find it different that left some pretty big
shoes for Paul to fill Paul be one of my favorite board artist writer directors
on the show I talked to Paul about would you be interested in running show and he was he was pretty much the obvious
choice well training animation has worked on a lot of shows knows what it's like writing storyboarding all those
steps turned out he was the right guy
and it turned out he had all the right leadership qualities too so I wish
they'd leave us out of the politics
it really is interesting that of all the things that Barack Obama could have
mentioned that spongebob is one that actually gets his thumbs up Barack Obama's favorite TV character lives in a
pineapple under the sea SpongeBob SquarePants SpongeBob brings
us back to a more innocent time so to speak kids respond to it probably because they can relate to the way he
sees things there's one called the paper where the entire episode is about spongebob picking up a piece of paper
that Squidward discards and having fun with it for 11 minutes end of the show
Squidward finally gets that piece of paper back it's not magical it wasn't
the paper Squidward I am such an idiot whatever it is about spongebob that can
make a piece of paper the greatest fun toy on the planet that's the magic of spongebob
there is something comforting and knowing that you can make something that maybe is shown in another country in
another language and then they find it funny - and that maybe we all do have something in common I think that's the
thing I enjoy about it mouths spongebob it just brings a smile to everybody's face adults and kids alike we try to hit
the gamut from the four-year-olds that are just sitting to watch the silly haha stuff and hopefully there's something in
there for his dad who's sitting next to him Krabs is do you kiss your mother
with that mouth I don't think we really change I think you develop your sense of humor early and and it sort of it sort of sticks
with you I have plenty of children in my life and I watch it as an adult by myself oh yeah Sponge Bob makes me laugh why
Sir I'm flattered really I don't smell anything you're on you a
kid really whip the edge the brilliance I am a spongebob devotee sponges don't
have hearts the real ones they don't have hearts they don't have organs but spongebob has
a heart yes the secret ingredient of Spongebob Squarepants is heart but I
think it's the heart of a for you and a heart doesn't get much purer than that I think it's it's so good harder than has
such a nice generosity of spirit and just the neverending optimism of spongebob yeah he's so good he's just
always optimistic and it's and that's a great thing
well good luck with that I'm ready I've worked with nicole kidman I've worked with Mike Nichols Oliver
Stone I've worked with some pretty big people in this business everything is just left in the dust by Sponge Bob when all is said and done in
the history of animated cartoons I would by all means put Sponge Bob Squarepants
on the list of the masterpieces all the great characters in cartoon history you know Mickey Mouse Bugs Bunny the Pink
Panther you know SpongeBob SquarePants absolutely spongebob has arrived it's in
the culture it's in the zeitgeist there's something charming and wonderful and innocent and sweet and just so
completely huggable about Bob and that's why he has and will endure
I think there's a huge future for spongebob he's still got to get his
Krusty Krab franchise spongebob is not going away for a long long time I don't
know it could go 20 seasons I hope so I like it here
the best day ever is a song that incorporates SpongeBob's Ruby and his
philosophy very sunny very bubbly you've kind of a worldview and that's the son
that all kids come up and sing you know they--they all they all know that song
- Squidward: Boy, I'm glad all that's over.