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Turning 10: Nickelodeon celebrates SpongeBob and friends

By Rene Guzman

SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS NEWS

Published: July 16, 2009

Well, I'll be an absorbent invertebrate. Has it really been 10 years since we first met a happy little cartoon sponge that lives in a pineapple under the sea?

You'd better believe it. SpongeBob SquarePants celebrates 10 years of underwater delirium this month, and Nickelodeon is making a big splash to celebrate with a weekend marathon.

Nickelodeon calls it the "Ultimate SpongeBob SpongeBash Weekend." SpongeBob SquarePants geeks call it 50 hours of cartoon nirvana. Here's a rundown of the marathon.

The frivolity begins at 8 p.m. Friday with the premiere of the new episode "To SquarePants or Not to SquarePants," which sees our little yellow hero facing life with -- gasp! -- round pants.

Saturday, fans weigh in with their 10 most-memorable episodes. For a nightcap, enjoy The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie at 8 p.m.

It's another top-10 countdown Sunday, this time with celebrity-picked episodes. The marathon will wrap with 10 all-new premieres.

For SpongeBob executive producer Paul Tibbitt, 10 years of SpongeBob is a lot to soak in.

"I got a feeling early on that it would at least be good, a good cartoon," he says. "As far as being on for 10 years and all the other stuff that comes along with it? No idea. I don't think anyone really knows when that's going to happen."

SpongeBob creator Stephen Hillenburg developed the character back in the '80s to amuse kids at the Orange County Marine Institute in California. The former marine biologist gave those doodles new life when SpongeBob SquarePants made its debut July 17, 1999.

Tibbitt has been with the show from the beginning, first as a writer and director and now as executive producer.

"Steve had a really solid idea of what he was doing before he even made the pilot," Tibbitt says. "I think still to this day, this many seasons in, we're finding new channels of humor for SpongeBob."

That humor is as innocent and earnest as it is manic and quirky.

Tibbitt says that SpongeBob is up for anything and tries to find the bright side in every situation -- good intentions that naturally result in wackiness for him and fellow Bikini Bottom cohorts Patrick (a dim-bulb starfish and SpongeBob's best friend), Sandy Cheeks (a sassy squirrel in an astronautlike outfit), Squidward (a grouchy squid) and Mr. Krabs (a penny-pinching crab).

"We knew we were making a cartoon for Nickelodeon, which is mainly watched by children," Tibbitt says. "Luckily there were some adults paying attention."

That cross-generational fan base speaks volumes with its remote controls as well as with its wallets.

Nickelodeon says that SpongeBob averages 70 million viewers a month and has been the top animated program for ages 2 to 11 for more than seven consecutive years. As for all those SpongeBob plush dolls and other items, the network figures the franchise pulls in almost $8 billion a year in retail sales. Take that, Bart Simpson.

Speaking of The Simpsons, SpongeBob SquarePants boasts its own share of celebrity guests.

John O'Hurley of Dancing With the Stars fame has lent his comically haughty voice to King Neptune, and Gene Simmons used his infamous tongue to voice the one-eyed Sea Monster. And who could forget Ernest Borgnine as Mermaidman and Tim Conway as Barnacleboy. Johnny Depp, David Bowie, Lux Interior of punk rock group The Cramps, and Amy Poehler have also made vocal contributions.

But for all that star power, Tibbitt says that celebrities dig SpongeBob SquarePants for the same reason that parents without paparazzi love the cartoon: It's a show they enjoy watching with their kids.

"I'm always for anything that brings kids and adults together," Tibbitt says. "I had somebody tell me once that ‘the day that my son graduated from Barney to SpongeBob was a very good day for us.' Just sort of knowing that parents aren't going to want to tear their hair out and run out of the room when our show comes on, that's nice because people should watch TV with their kids."