What’s funnier than 24? Twenty-five (years of SpongeBob Squarepants)! The Nickelodeon series about the energetic fry cook under the sea premiered in 1999 and quickly became an icon of animation. In the video above, stars Tom Kenny (SpongeBob Squarepants) and Bill Fagerbakke (Patrick Star) talk about the animated favorite’s legacy.
Both stars are touched by the “longevity” of the show, and how diverse the fanbase is. Says Kenny, “The legacy of of SpongeBob is just hopefully the impact that it had on people that watched it at a formative stage of their lives…are now watching it with their kids and maybe even watch it with their parents or grandparents.”
Kenny says that it’s “gratifying” to have people cite SpongeBob as a source for their senses of humor. Fagerbakke noted they’re in a great club, saying, “…for me, it was Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies and Bugs Bunny that shaped my sense of humor.”
The reach of SpongeBob can still surprise them after all these years. “SpongeBob seems to unite a lot of people on the humor scale and, and cross culturally too,” Kenny says. He continues that when his friends are on vacation across the world, they send him pictures of SpongeBob merchandise.
The stars also share that creator Stephen Hillenburg, who died in of ALS, loved SpongeBob fan art. The more imperfect the better, “because it’s authentic,” says Fagerbakke.
SpongeBob SquarePants, All Seasons, Streaming Now, Paramount+
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