A Life-Long Fan’s Retrospective on Spongebob
Who lives in a pineapple under the sea, is adored by millions, and reigns as the Internet’s meme monarch? If your response wasn’t Spongebob Squarepants, you’re either jesting or sheltered longer than Patrick’s rock.
On May 1st, 2024, Spongebob Squarepants, the star of the titular show and one of the most famous cartoon characters of all time, celebrated an important milestone. Twenty-five years ago that night, Nickelodeon aired a sneak peek of his then-upcoming cartoon following the 12th annual Kids Choice Awards. The brainchild of marine biologist and Rocko’s Modern Life alum Stephen Hillenburg, I doubt that few could’ve imagined just how giant Spongebob was going to be. Fast forward to the present day, though, and there probably isn’t a single person in the Western World who hasn’t heard of Spongebob. He and his friends are everywhere. He’s got merchandise, Internet memes, fan works, dozens of games, two spin-offs, three movies (with a fourth on the way), and even a Broadway musical. At this point, the number of cartoon characters as famous as Spongebob can be counted on one hand. And now he’s turning 25.
Well, technically, that didn’t happen until July, when his show officially premiered on Nickelodeon, but everyone considers May 1st his birthday.
I Don’t Remember When I First Found Spongebob…
I don’t remember when I first started watching Spongebob myself. I was five when the show premiered, and still focused mainly on Nick Jr. By the time I graduated to Nickelodeon proper, the show had been running for around a year or two. Once I did start watching it, it quickly became my favorite cartoon. I watched the episodes whenever they came on, played the video games, and had my parents get me the toys. It got to the point where my parents, believing it to be negatively influencing my behavior, banned me from watching his show for a while. That didn’t last, and I was soon back to worshipping Spongebob and wishing that he was real so he could be my best friend.
And when Nick teased us about The Spongebob Squarepants Movie at their 2003 New Year’s Eve broadcast, I spent the whole year getting excited to watch it. Needless to say, it was one of the fondest moments of my childhood. That, and I played the video game and listened to the soundtrack over and over.
I kept watching SpongeBob for years after the original movie came, but as time went on, I began to notice something…different. At first, I was afraid that, as I was getting older, I was starting to fall out of love with SpongeBob. In hindsight, though, I realize that this wasn’t entirely my fault. After the movie, Hillenburg and a lot of his team took a step back from his creation, and the execs at Nick got dollar signs in their eyes and started milking the series for all it’s worth. By the time the age that fans collectively dubbed the “Dark Age” came to an end, I had stopped watching it entirely.
…But I Never Stopped Loving Him
But just because we no longer watched it didn’t mean that we didn’t love SpongeBob anymore.
Despite the show’s evolution and the passing of its creator, those of us who grew up in the golden age of Spongebob still hold a deep affection for the show and its characters. The first three seasons alone have spawned a treasure trove of memes and gifs, cementing Spongebob and his friends as the reigning monarchs of meme-dom. Try as you might, it’s impossible to scroll through social media without encountering a Spongebob reference. This shared love and nostalgia unite us, creating a vibrant community of Spongebob fans.
And the fan works. I have fallen in love with the fan-made content that can be found on YouTube. From Narmack’s insane Spongebob Anime (yes, it’s real!) to Uncle Al’s trash posting. The Spongebob Movie Rehydrated project was a love letter to the franchise. One fan horror game, Sinister Squidward, even got the attention of major gaming YouTubers like Markiplier. Too bad Viacom took it down.
Spongbob is Love, Spongebob is Life
But if you need any further examples of how beloved Spongebob and his creator are, look no further than the Super Bowl. After Hillenburg passed away in 2018, fans petitioned in droves to the NFL to have them play the song “Sweet Victory” at the halftime show for the next Super Bowl, thus recreating the climax of the episode “Band Geeks.” AKA what many consider to be the best episode of the entire series. Instead, we got trolled.
I was one of the many people outraged by this. Thankfully, the NFL made up for their mistake a few years later. But not before the Dallas Stars Hockey Team beat them to it.
The bottom line is that I’m a massive Spongebob fan and hope to remain as such even after I die. Spongebob has made the world a better place just by existing in it, and even after the people who play the characters in his show retire or die, I hope Spongebob remains popular. That little yellow sponge has more than earned the right to stand alongside the Cartoon GOATS. I hope future generations will continue to discover and love Spongebob, just as I did. So, on behalf of one lifelong fan…
Happy birthday Spongebob!
