| SpongeBob SquarePants
is a popular animated television series created
by marine biologist/animator Stephen Hillenburg.
The pilot episode first aired in the US on Nickelodeon
after Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards on May 1,
1999. It officially aired on July 17 of the same
year with the second episode "Bubblestand/Ripped
Pants". The main characters are a sponge,
SpongeBob SquarePants; his dumb starfish pal Patrick
Star; the stingy octopus Squidward Tentacles;
the cheapskate crab Mr. Krabs; and the overly
hyper squirrel Sandy Cheeks, who wears an astronaut
suit all the time. Most episodes take place in
the town of Bikini Bottom or the surrounding lagoon
floor, islets, deep, or at their own houses.
The cartoon is designed to appeal to older viewers as much
as to children. This has a lot to do with the
way underwater life and situations are represented,
absurdly, as though they are almost equivalent
to normal terrestrial lifestyles. Instead of cars,
the residents of Bikini Bottom drive boats—with
wheels of course. Once, while on a camping trip,
Patrick questions how they could have a camp fire
on the lagoon bottom—the fire is immediately
extinguished with a sizzle. A flurry of bubbles
accompany many actions, just to remind the viewer
everything is underwater. SpongeBob lives in a
pineapple, while his neighbour Squidward lives
in an Easter Island head and Patrick lives under
a rock. The suggestion is that both have fallen
from a tropical island to become underwater habitats.
Spongebob's house-pet is a snail named Gary, who
only meows like a cat (though characters have
shown signs of being able to understand him).
Jellyfish are the equivalent of bees (buzzing
and stinging), but are collected or appreciated
like butterflies and are used for their jelly.
The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, which was released on November
19, 2004, features a cameo appearance by actor
David Hasselhoff whose previous roles were in
Baywatch and Knight Rider.
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