Yes, SpongeBob SquarePants made his debut on Nickelodeon in 1999 and to celebrate 10 years of underwater-based laughs, celebrations are taking place. Luckily, none of these involve Krabby Patties. Instead, to illustrate SpongeBob's demographically blind appeal, i-D magazine have done an entire photoshoot with the invertebrate, while Nickelodeon are dedicating a week of special shows to Bob starting on Saturday.
Beginning in 1999, the show was a hit straight out of the box. Audiences were already au fait with "cross generational" animation shows such as The Simpsons and Ren and Stimpy, where there were rib-ticklers for both kids and parents.
Creator Stephen Hillenburg perfectly melded his past life as a marine science graduate with his TV present, where he worked on the similarly surreal Rocko's Modern Life. His vision was a show that would focus on a "nerdy goofball … an innocent" and take place "in a surreal undersea world inspired by surf/tiki kitsch and nautical nonsense". And so the legend who inhabits a place called Bikini Bottom and lives in a pineapple was born.
Fast forward to 2005 and the toon had become the biggest kids TV programme in the US, garnering a huge, celeb-tastic fanbase. There were the ones who voiced characters, such as Johnny Depp (in SpongeBob vs The Big One), David Bowie (Atlantis SquarePantis), and the others who didn't. Gordon Brown admitted it was the only programme he watched (sorry Question Time) as did a certain Barack Obama. Both of them blaming their kids for their televisual addiction. Yeah, right.
Proving that SpongeBob-loving wasn't confined to the higher end of the natural selection food chain, Liam Gallagher said: "I'm having a huge painting done at the minute, a proper Andy Warhol-style portrait of SpongeBob. He'll be facing Elvis and Hendrix in the living room."
With that piece of high praise, we present our Top Five Favourite SpongeBob moments.
Amazing on many levels. From the "bankrupt retirement homes" to P.O.O.P. to the moment Patrick tries to place an order.
2. Band Geeks
Squidward comes face to face with his high school rival Squilliam. To feed his latent inferiority complex, Squidward ropes in the gang to form a fake band. The resulting song (Sweet Victory) is a sweet slice of 1980s hair metal, with SpongeBob sounding like a dead ringer for Europe's Joey Tempest. Who knew?
Poor Squidward, trapped with a particularly infuriating Bob as they get lost trying to delivery a pizza. Check out the Krusty Krab Pizza song at 3.30.
The frankly creepy (not the mention live action) Patchy the Pirate – 'president of the SpongeBob fan club' – tells the story of how Xmas first came to Bikini Bottom.
In a desperate attempt to win an award, Patrick comes to the Krusty Krab to work with SpongeBob. Notable for the hilarious interplay between hapless Pat and the ever hopeful 'Bob.
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