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Spongebob Squarepants has been a mainstay in pop culture ever since it's debut in 1999. Though few would have predicted the lasting impact Spongebob would have on it's fanbase. It seems the fandom stretches from older millennials all the way to their kids. But going through the history of Spongebob, it's hard to tell who Spongebob was even made for. Kids, or the adults that would be watching alongside them?
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Patrick
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What? I thought of something funnier than 24. Let me hear it
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25. It's impossible to deny that ever since audiences took that first dive to a pineapple under the sea
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SpongeBob SquarePants has been a cultural phenomenon. From TV shows to movies, even a Broadway musical
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the character SpongeBob attained a level of cultural ubiquity not seen since the likes of Mickey Mouse or Bugs Bunny
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but spongebob carried with it an idiosyncratic design and sense of humor that seemed to fly
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over the heads of most young children and yet it has become a multi-generational hit beloved
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by people of all ages all these contradictions leave us asking one question though just who is
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spongebob squarepants for whoever sent this obviously has no idea about the physical
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limitations of life underwater well might as well throw these in the fire spongebob squarepants was
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the brainchild of animation writer and director Steven Hillenburg, the concept of the series was
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born out of Hillenburg's love of marine biology and science. Initially, Hillenburg was an instructor
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at the Orange County Marine Institute in Dana Point, California. During this time, he created
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a comic book called The Intertidal Zone, featuring a group of anthropomorphic undersea creatures
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which he used to teach his students about marine life. Many of the characters from that comic would
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evolve into characters in SpongeBob SquarePants, including a character by the name of Bob the
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Sponge, who, of course, would someday evolve into the icon SpongeBob SquarePants
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Hillenburg's passion for cartooning and animation would grow, and he decided to leave his job as an educator
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to pursue animation at the California Institute of the Arts. After graduating from CalArts, Hillenburg's short film
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animation would land him one of his first jobs as a director for the show Rocko's Modern Life
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The experience gave Hillenburg the foot in the door needed to pitch SpongeBob SquarePants to Nickelodeon
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But the executives at Nick insisted on making SpongeBob a kid in school
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to make the character more relatable, rather than an adult with a job. Hillenburg stood strong on SpongeBob's age
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ultimately compromising that he'd be a perpetual student in boating school in order to have episodes with a day at school dynamic What the executives at Nickelodeon couldn have predicted was how crucial Hillenburg choice to keep SpongeBob a working class adult or at least the sea sponge equivalent of one
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was to the show's universal appeal. As evidenced by the ubiquity of SpongeBob memes
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that dominate internet culture, the character and series has remained special to viewers regardless of their age
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To fully understand the massively broad appeal of SpongeBob SquarePants, we have
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to take a look at the structure of the character dynamics and the episode plots
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If you're familiar with Rocco, you can no doubt see the influence of that series on SpongeBob
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Both shows are centered in a world that is meant to be a funhouse mirror reflection of reality
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Although the characters are all anthropomorphic animals, they all hold jobs, have interests and hobbies
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that anyone living in the real world would. Problem with comic books is the ink comes off on your hands
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Every time you turn a page, you have to wash your hands. You turn the page, you wash your hands
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However, SpongeBob walks this strange line between the two worlds. He deals with the drudgery of a minimum wage job
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but he does so with the wide-eyed wonderment of a child. Adults recognize satirical jabs at workplace culture
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dead-eyed co-workers, and money-hungry bosses. Meanwhile, kids experience the kinetic thrill of pretending to have a job
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imagining that adulthood must be as fun and adventurous as SpongeBob makes it seem
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So much of the show's comedy is built around an understanding of each character's wants, desires, and truths
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This can range from Squidward's pathetic attempts at artistic respect And now for some soothing sounds from Squidward's clarinet
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Thank you, thank you. to Mr. Crabb's depth of stinginess. Let's see, a five-letter word for happiness
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Money. With SpongeBob himself, Hillenburg sanded off some of the more cynical edges from Rocco
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and injected an air of relentless optimism to create SpongeBob SquarePants. SpongeBob is a modern version of a classic cartoon protagonist
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He has the endearing innocence of a Mickey Mouse and the sardonic charm of Bugs Bunny
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Each of the characters that populate SpongeBob's world have the toyetic lovability that any toy
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company would die for but still retains an absurdist edge that gives it genuine comedic
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bona fides Additionally by largely avoiding comedy that relies on excessive pop culture references or parodies the series maintains a sense of timelessness Its aesthetic designs feel retro often like a lost 70s Jacques Cousteau documentary But the designs of its undersea
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neighborhoods make it feel like a time period all on its own. The show's humor certainly has
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gags directed towards adults. Hurry up! What do you think I'm paying you for? You don't pay me. We don't even exist. We're just
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a clever visual metaphor used to personify the abstract concept of thought
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But the jokes can work with the youngest and the oldest of viewers. The series also showed a willingness to experiment with form
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to the humorous delight of younger viewers and the fascination of older ones
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Whether it's the use of cutaways to live-action clips, such as the dry land outside Bikini Bottom
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or by completely upending the episode's structure. It's hard to imagine another cartoon series doing an episode structured entirely like an employee training video
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as it did in the episode Krusty Krab training video. but the show's dedication to helping us understand the characters and the significance of the Krusty
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Krab to SpongeBob's world makes that episode one of the highlights of the entire series
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Once you understand poop, you'll understand your place at the Krusty Krab
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The show's appeal also lied in the way audiences could see themselves in its plot lines. When
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looking back at the aforementioned cartoon icons Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny, you'll find a lack
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of character depth. Mickey and Bugs were joke delivery devices first and characters second
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However, the show about an ecosystem of goofy aquatic life forms managed to build genuine
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pathos through relatable problems. When you look at the central conflicts of many SpongeBob
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episodes, they're actually quite mundane. Whether it's trying to obtain a dream job
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help wanted, wanting to impress a new friend, tea in the tree dome, or dealing with a customer
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service nightmare, pickles. SpongeBob is something of a working class protagonist. Each episode finds
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SpongeBob and his friends facing conflicts that test their characters' flaws. And while the show may not feature any earth-shaking character growth or development
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there is always an attempt to root the conflict in character first and foremost
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and to end the show on a cheerful note. The show's humor flourished in absurdity
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and the occasional adult-directed joke, such as the infamous classic Sailor Mouth
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which stirred up controversy for its creative use of censored curse words Nuh to the parents television console to openly condemn the episode not to mention the panty raid in the episode Midlife
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Crustacean, a scene that led to the episode being banned from both reruns on Nickelodeon
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and Paramount+. Yet through it all, the show was always anchored by its hopeful, charmingly
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naive hero. As Hillenburg himself said in the series, SpongeBob SquarePants is a show where innocence prevails
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which I don't think it always does in real life. This idea is perhaps best exemplified
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by the SpongeBob SquarePants movie. The plot of the film follows SpongeBob and Patrick
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on a quest to retrieve the stolen crown of King Neptune, while also trying to prove their capacity for heroism
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to the people of Bikini Bottom. SpongeBob ultimately wins the day by embracing his inner Goofy Goober
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a philosophical belief in embracing the inner child and doing so without fear or judgment from the world around us
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Take it easy! What the scallop? I'm a goofy goomer! SpongeBob SquarePants was a show that thrived in optimism in a sea of TV cynicism
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This ultimately underlies the universality of SpongeBob SquarePants. The show does not have to be confined to one age group
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It can, and always will be, enjoyed by people of all ages
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Sadly, Steven Hillenburg passed away in November of 2018. Since his death, there have been numerous spinoffs of the SpongeBob series that, according to those who knew him, largely go against the creative wishes of Hillenburg
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Paul Tibbett, the former showrunner of SpongeBob SquarePants, has been openly critical of Camp Coral, which features kid versions of the characters, something Hillenburg actively fought against in the initial pitch for the show
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Tibbett stated, my colleagues who work on Camp Coral all know full well Steve would have hated this
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It's sad to see that the executives who hold the IP of Spongebob have lost sight of what made the
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character so beloved by so many in the first place. The universality to its approach to comedy
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its keen understanding of characters, and its refusal to talk down to even its youngest audience
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members are what launched it into the echelon of great cartoons that will last for generations
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The answer to the question, who is SpongeBob SquarePants for, is quite simple
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SpongeBob is for everyone
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