Why Spongebob Is In So Many Memes - Feat. Tom Kenny

with spongebob I guess there's no way to foresee that it'll have such a long life but I didn't know I loved it I just loved the world that Steve created and I thought that when we finished that 7 minutes short he had totally achieved what he set out to do and then whether it sinks or swims is is who knows my name is Tom Kenny and for the last 20 plus years I've been the voice of SpongeBob SquarePants SpongeBob SquarePants is everywhere this little yellow sponge has been around for 20 years now and in that time he has become as globally ubiquitous as cartoon legends like Bugs Bunny and Mickey Mouse [Music] but as much as spongebob impacted children's entertainment there's a whole other side of its influence that often goes unmentioned [Music] mr. Stephen Hillenburg this guy who created SpongeBob SquarePants now if you're not applying at home you should be when late creator Stephen Hillenburg first pitched spongebob there's no way that he could have predicted that the show would spawn a million memes online the concept of memes wasn't even really a mainstream trend on the internet until a few years after Nickelodeon greenlit the show so to understand how this naive sponge and his buddies would become the face of the Internet we need to first understand a little bit about what made spongebob such a special show Squidward was like for me that was he was fun to drive it really hard to from the get-go spongebob has always felt like a distinctly visual show and one person who can speak directly to that is Paul tibbitt I'm originally a storyboard artist he would eventually take over a showrunner after Stephen Hillenburg left the series in 2004 spongebob was this storyboard driven show nah we weren't script driven we were one of the few bored driven shows at that time there's been several more sense than but at that time we were we were sort of the one that gave the artists and storyboard directors the most freedom you know the movement in the animation is what's driving everything as opposed to I guess a show a family guy or The Simpsons that's kind of what people are saying is is spongebob not there at the bottom of the ocean giving squid with the business spongebob is just sort of like canvas for so many different expressions and emotions and you know things that people go through there's all kinds of crazy poses and faces and like weird extreme expressions of the characters and things like that that are so over the top that other animated shows just don't have as much of that you can see this visuals first approach reflected in the memes you can understand what's happening even if you're not familiar with the show or the particular scene that this is referencing you could probably even take a screenshot of any moment in spongebob and find the emotional state of the characters relatively easy to understand like this or like this I'd say those are both pretty clear and those literally just random screenshots that I grabbed for him to episodes I am Madison Malone courier and I am an associate editor at New York magazines Intelligencer I would in fact say I am a meme expert so spun job is a really highly visual show in a way that I think a lot of children's cartoons don't necessarily stick I think another spongebob meme that's very popular is the imagination it's spongebob takes his hands and makes a rainbow like this that sticks with you fun drawing imagination is in your head so then when you see that turn into you know an image macro meme on Twitter you already have sort of a placement for what that's going to be about and sort of what the inversion is going to be from there the other factor that made spongebob so ripe for memes was the nature of the characters in the show all of them had relatable issues and the adventures they went on were grounded in these real world problems my favorite episodes of spongebob are the really simple ones you know my job is just trying to tie his shoe for 11 minutes or he's trying to get through his procrastination so he can write an essay that he has to write the really simple ones are the ones I like the thing is while spongebob is a relatable kids show it's not just relatable to kids it told stories about distinctly adult problems dead-end jobs annoying neighbors homesickness even murder adults do love sponge driving kids love spongebob and since it's been around for 20 years now adults who are formerly kids who grew up with spongebob still have this affection for it you definitely relate more to Squidward as you get older I liken it to I remember when I was a kid and I would see the movie Mary Poppins the dad always seemed like kind of a jerk and now no and I watch Mary Poppins I'm like man I get it dude you want to fly a kite but sometimes you just don't have time I get you man I get you I feel you bro memes only work if people get them and get them pretty immediately as how you know effective internet sharing goes and spongebob memes work really really well on that level so one one that I think of as sort of like the textbook example is the spongegar cave and sponge the sort of mood he's in is if you're home alone your parents are gone you're you're sitting in the house and you're totally an adult you're definitely not scared but something makes a noise and all of a sudden you're just terrified that's primitive sponge and that you get immediately by looking at this tiny curtain sponge in a loincloth it's not just in image macros that spongebob pops up online one of the most bizarre examples of spongebob as a meme is in the world of YouTube poop youtube poop refers to heavily edited absurdist videos cut together from outside source material that usually ends up being jarring shocking and sometimes really really loud watch this one it's called the sky had a ouija and it's a mash-up of the spongebob episode shanghaied and some clips from the old Super Mario Brothers cartoon the result is weird and brash and it's a little bit hard to watch and believe me this is one of the tamer YouTube poops out there but even with all the weirdness added in the spirit of the comedy stays somewhat true to the source material just watch this clip from the same episode of Spongebob [Music] that's the same kind of absurdity as in the YouTube poops just toned down a lot these videos aren't just referencing spongebob but also building on the show's foundational sense of humor a lot of the comedy in these YouTube poops comes from the juxtaposition of spongebob with obscene or offensive humor it's that same juxtaposition that can help us explain why spongebob often shows up in another unexpected place hip-hop for me like in the in like the hood boutiques or like the street clothing stores they'd have like spongebob and patrick with like fantana's and their sagging and they're wearing do-rags they like I don't know who thought to do that but we were definitely wearing it this is Chewie an la-based rapper who went viral a few years ago for his spongebob themed track Bikini Bottom made off the stuff the money hid my SquarePants gasps 260 like a Maybach up in the bad grip the steering wheels calling sandy trying to mask out like craziest wildest things I could say involve me spongebob this trend started with bootleg Sponge Bob merch but the character has now been mentioned in more than a hundred songs many of which are by young artists like Chewie who started out making music on the Internet it's funny too because like people walk up to me it shows like my kid loves that song like that so with spongebob finding his way into memes and weird YouTube mashups and rap lyrics there's really only one question are there any other shows that are this pervasive online frankly no and I think that's why we're still still talking about it still writing about it I was at the March for our lives in New York last year and I wanted running a piece about how many kids I saw with spongebob means on their signs and these are these are kids who didn't grow up in the era of spongebob in real time but it's still impactful and important to them in both funny and serious ways when Stephen Hillenburg passed away in November 2018 from als the internet showed an outpouring of love for their favorite show's creator a lot of spongebob memes even popped up in his honor and there was a petition to get the famous bubble bowl scene shown during the Superbowl halftime show which kind of happened with all of the factors that made spongebob special its visual style its relatable characters its appeal to adults it's hard to envision the show and by extension the Internet's obsession with it without Stephen Hillenburg ease influence Steve I think he's the only creator I've worked with it's ever done this is that you know most of the time when you're the voiceover actor you know you're on this side of the glass and then you know other people aren't on that side of the guys and they're using a talkback button yeah that was good you know try to shave 1/8 of a second off of it or whatever Steve would sit on the same side of the glass as the actors like he had a desk and he had his storyboard like he wanted to be in there with us to feel the energy like he did things a different way what I really appreciated about Steve was that he you know he knew what he wanted and he believed in his show and his idea and he knew what was right and he knew that if he gave it the chance you know and let it be what it is you know people will find it and connect with it you know sponge Robbie's Sponge Bob he's just gonna keep on keepin on and we're gonna try to keep the character in the spirit of the show and the spirit of our fearless leader steve Hillenburg in the world and going sponge bob is 20 years old this year and it seems like the show doesn't have any plans of stopping regardless of its future on television I think it's safe to assume that Sponge Bob spirit will continue to influence and live on through the internet sense of humor [Music]

Channel: New York Magazine

Views: 395,980

Keywords: Spongebob, Squarepants, Memes, Spongegar, YouTube Poop, Bikini Bottom Remix, Spongebob Remix, Chuuwee, Paul Tibbitt, Interview, Madison Kircher, Voice of Spongebob, Voice Actor, Nickelodeon, 20th Anniversary, Plankton, Patrick Star, Mr. Krabs, Squidward, Bubble Bowl, Halftime Show, Stephen Hillenburg

Id: OkseR8AXGa0

Length: 10min 55sec (655 seconds)

Published: Thu Jul 11 2019