Nickelodeon has gone all out this 12 months celebrating the twenty fifth anniversary of its marquee character SpongeBob SquarePants. If nothing else, this 12 months has confirmed SpongeBob is simply as related and stays within the zeitgeist as ever. Final month we had the pleasure of getting to sit down down and interview the solid and crew of SpongeBob SquarePants together with voice actors Tom Kenny (SpongeBob), Invoice Fagerbakke (Patrick), Carolyn Lawrence (Sandy), Rodger Bumpass (Squidward), and Mr. Lawrence (Plankton) in addition to govt producers Marc Ceccarelli and Vincent Waller.
This interview has been edited for readability and size.
Taimur Dar: There was this nice documentary about Jim Henson that got here out just a few months in the past. One of many issues that stood out to me was how his characters and creations like Sesame Road or the Muppets had been in a position to proceed after his dying. Very like Henson, it’s been nice the way you’ve been in a position to maintain the momentum of SpongeBob SquarePants going even after Stephen Hillenburg’s passing in 2018. How has it been selecting up the torch throughout the previous couple of years?
Marc Ceccarelli: He arrange and put collectively such an important present at first. Persevering with it ahead is a pleasure. We have now this nice mannequin.
Vincent Waller: All the set items you want and characters [are there]. I don’t suppose he was making an attempt for the seven lethal sins, however we’ve been informed that he did.
[Laughter]
Rodger Bumpass: [Squidward’s voice] I’ve a bone to select with that!
Mr. Lawrence: It’s the Gilligan’s Island connection. And it was. We did speak about Gilligan’s Island at first.
Vincent Waller: What Marc mentioned, he left us such an important place that it’s actually laborious to get incorrect. There are specific edicts when he was there that he would say and you’d always remember them. We are able to’t veer that method as a result of we had been informed to not.
Carolyn Lawrence: I additionally suppose it’s wonderful that we not solely have unique individuals, you guys, from the early days like writers and artists. However we even have individuals who had been followers once they had been younger. There’s an intense want to maintain the franchise pure.
Vincent Waller: Three quarters of our workforce grew up watching SpongeBob.
Marc Ceccarelli: And so they draw SpongeBob method higher than I do!
[Laughter]
Tom Kenny: Three quarters of the workforce grew up watching SpongeBob. One quarter of the workforce has grown outdated whereas engaged on SpongeBob. Taking your analogy under consideration, in contrast to Jim Henson’s factor which was actually a “right here immediately and gone tomorrow,” Steve’s situation was progressive, so it wasn’t a case of right here immediately gone tomorrow. It was a decline that was tragic, however he was nonetheless in a position to work on and be concerned with present and let his plans be identified.
Vincent Waller: He had stepped again and we had been simply sending boards and scripts for approval. However after the second film, he remembered how a lot enjoyable it was to work on the present. That’s when he began again within the studio. It was nice having him within the room
Tom Kenny: He simply wanted somewhat break from it as a result of it’s this factor that you just drew on a serviette as soon as takes over your life 24/7. And also you’re like, “I have to reside life. I’ve obtained a spouse and child.” He was feeling that keenly. He by no means needed to be a mogul. However you then’re prepared to return to highschool and see your mates. Steve all the time had a hand in issues however to differentiating levels by his personal selection firstly and on the finish.
Taimur Dar: I feel it’s becoming that this 12 months being the twenty fifth anniversary of SpongeBob SquarePants, there’s been this renewed love for the franchise that started off firstly of 2024 with the Tremendous Bowl LVIII Dwell telecast. I don’t know the laborious metrics, however between SpongeBob SquarePants and Taylor Swift, I feel soccer has obtained a surge in recognition. What was the expertise being a part of that Tremendous Bowl occasion?
Mr. Lawrence: That was loopy. It was one of many craziest issues we’ve finished I’ve to say.
Carolyn Lawrence: It was hectic and enjoyable and improbable.
Mr. Lawrence: And Martha Stewart that’s all I’m saying.
Carolyn Lawrence: Seeing Martha Stewart, it took each as soon as of my being to not soar on her little golf cart.
Tom Kenny: Martha, what was it like within the massive home?
Invoice Fagerbakke: Doing the characters reside for 4 straight hours taxed my mind in a stunning method. Simply to be reside and adlibbing basically [and] taking part in off these two skilled announcers who had been each thrilled to be concerned within the Tremendous Bowl. And right here they’re caught working with a few goofballs.
Tom Kenny: They had been additionally thrilled to be working with SpongeBob and Patrick too as a result of certainly one of them is a younger man in his 20s and the opposite man has obtained youngsters. So that they had been into each features of the mission. There’s no actual cause for one thing just like the Tremendous Bowl and SpongeBob to coexist. Identical with Broadway musicals and SpongeBob. Generally you ask, “Does this make sense for this to be taking place? Is that this simply popular culture consuming itself?” When it’s finished in a method that is smart and also you pull it off efficiently, it’s form of exhilarating. I’m the king of self-doubt. When it really works it releases these endorphins like skydiving.
Mr. Lawrence: We’re in a position to be humorous too and maintain the custom of the humorous going. And we must be snug to carry the humorous. That was a cushty scenario though it was hectic. It was like being a surgeon. Half of it was us ready to go on and ensure we don’t miss our cues. I used to be throughout the room when certainly one of my cues got here in. I used to be within the nook on the lookout for a chip and all of a sudden, “You’re on Doug!”
Tom Kenny: I by no means fear in regards to the characters. The characters will all the time carry the day it doesn’t matter what scenario they’re in as a result of that’s the laborious work Steve did and these guys do. And individuals are predisposed to love them. That’s a pleasant technique to come into one thing with the nice vibes already baked in kind a possible viewers. That’s a magical scenario that I feel is fairly uncommon. That’s a safety blanket for me.
Invoice Fagerbakke: What I found as a lifetime soccer fan, there’s a sure redundancy on the planet of sports activities broadcasting.
Tom Kenny It’s like blues. There are solely three chords.
Invoice Fagerbakke: The Manning brothers broadcast has actually shaken the inspiration of sports activities broadcasting. We’re a celebration to that in a neat method and I feel individuals appreciated a distinct presentation of the product.
Mr. Lawrence: For my perspective, I felt secure as a result of Invoice and Rodger had been there they usually each know sports activities. I don’t.
Tom Kenny: Invoice has been watching soccer since he was ten. The Tremendous Bowl recreation was the primary soccer recreation I’ve ever watched. It was solely as a result of I used to be wired right into a mocap go well with and couldn’t go away.
Rodger Bumpass: No person ever watched the NFL till we did the Tremendous Bowl.
[Laughter]
Tom Kenny: It positively widened that out to a brand new viewers which was the intention all alongside. Get households with youngsters to look at the Tremendous Bowl collectively. That mission was completely completed. SpongeBob shouldn’t know something about soccer. My ignorance was a brilliant energy.
Invoice Fagerbakke: It’s nice when your job is being dumb.
Tom Kenny: That’s my way of living anyway.
Mr. Lawrence: I bear in mind asking Invoice just a few soccer phrases as a result of I used to be writing jokes and I don’t know something about soccer. Different writers in our group learn about soccer. I don’t.
Taimur Dar: That’s an ideal segue into my subsequent query. I bear in mind listening to Conan O’Brien describe his comedy because the intersection of good and silly. That’s SpongeBob SquarePants within the nutshell. Is that certainly the strategy for the franchise?
Tom Kenny That was all the time the intent. Brilliantly silly are the phrases I take advantage of. It’s not silly accidentally and it’s not good accidentally. The individuals making it know what they’re doing.
Mr. Lawrence: Like Monty Python. We had been all followers of that. It was so good in a method then utterly goes the opposite route to do one thing so silly.
Marc Ceccarelli: It’s all the time enjoyable to discover a special approach right into a dumb joke.
Taimur Dar: The character of Bubble Bass, voiced by the gifted Dee Bradley Baker, appeared within the early days of SpongeBob SquarePants then appeared to vanish. Over the previous couple of years nevertheless, he’s positively returned to larger prominence within the SpongeBob SquarePants franchise.
Mr. Lawrence: And his mother! Yeah, we rediscovered him. There have been a few characters in the previous couple of years the place we mentioned, “How come we don’t use this man?” He was a goldmine.
Vincent Waller: After we paired him with Patrick in that one episode it was like, “Oh yeah!”
Taimur Dar: It’s humorous you point out pairing Bubble Bass and Patrick. When The Patrick Present first debuted, I feel viewers had been a initially little bowled over. However individuals appeared to actually love the episode “Bubble Bass Evaluations” the place you parody Nostalgia Critic and web reviewers.
Mr. Lawrence: Half of that was reacting to issues that our followers had mentioned on-line.
[Laughter]
Rodger Bumpass: Bubble Bass matches up with lots of the opposite characters. He’s an excellent plug in for everyone.
Tom Kenny Squidward is form of a constructive man subsequent to Bubble Bass.
Marc Ceccarelli: It was actually enjoyable doing that episode lately the place we put Squidward and Bubble Bass collectively.
Rodger Bumpass: Their animosity labored nicely collectively and [they] had nice chemistry.
Mr. Lawrence: That’s one other one the place you discover new chemistries on the present generally that you just didn’t know had been there.
Invoice Fagerbakke: I’m nonetheless ready for Mrs. Puff and Patrick!
Taimur Dar: Sandy Cheeks obtained her personal film with Saving Bikini Backside. I bear in mind through the San Diego Comedian-Con panel, Carolyn talked about she was flying to Texas to attend the premiere. So I’ve to ask how was it seeing the film on the massive display?
Carolyn Lawrence: It was wonderful and actually enjoyable. It was held on a rooftop above a lodge and households had been invited to return. It was cool to look at it with the youngsters and oldsters. It was a fairly spectacular second in time. I don’t know that I’ll ever have a second fairly that thrilling in that method ever once more. The individuals in Fort Price had been wonderful. All people was so welcoming. It was enjoyable as a result of my youngsters had been there with me. We went and noticed the Longhorns. It was nice.
Rodger Bumpass: The soccer workforce or the precise animals?
[Laughter]
Carolyn Lawrence: Each!
Taimur Dar: It looks like yesterday we simply celebrating the SpongeBob SquarePants twentieth anniversary. I’ve little doubt it gained’t be lengthy till we focus on the thirtieth anniversary.
Vincent Waller: Will probably be right here in actually 5 minutes judging by how [fast] all the pieces else has gone. The tenth anniversary looks like it was every week in the past.
Invoice Fagerbakke: [Patrick voice] Time’s humorous!
