Are you ready, kids?
I can’t hear you! (Because I’m an elder millennial, and chances are you reading his means you are, too.)
SpongeBob Squarepants has been a central part of childhoods since its debut in 1999. So, isn’t it time we all found out what the faces behind the voices look like?
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Spongebob as you know him: a sponge
SpongeBob Squarepants’ cartoon appearance is pretty self-explanatory: he’s a heckin’ sponge who wears square pants.
A seemingly sentient sponge who lives in a pineapple under the sea, SpongeBob’s voice is high-pitched, a little whiny, and a lot iconic.
The man behind the sponge
SpongeBob is voiced by voice actor Tom Kenny.
If you thought SpongeBob always sounded a little familiar, it’s because you’ve likely heard Kenny’s voice before.
He’s played the Mayor in Powerpuff Girls , the Ice King in Adventure Time , and The Collector in Guardians of the Galaxy .
Krusty Krab, this is Patrick
Patrick Star, SpongeBob’s best friend, is a pink sea star with interesting taste in pants.
He’s a delightful, slightly dim, thoughtful character who truly excels at being a meme several times over.
Meet Patrick’s sartorial twin
Special shout-out to those socks.
This is Bill Fagerbakke, whose voice brings Patrick to life.
You may have seen him in shows like How I Met Your Mother , or heard him as the Scarecrow in Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz .
Everyone’s favorite squirrel
A squirrel who permanently lives in a diving suit rounds out the trio of SpongeBob, Patrick, and Sandy.
Sandy Cheeks has a distinct Texan accent, and rocks a flower on the outside of her helmet. She’s fancy like that.
Carolyn Lawrence brings Sandy’s twang
Carolyn Lawrence went from dropping out of high school to the world-renowned voice of Sandy Cheeks in 1999.
She’s also voiced video game characters, including voicing Ashley Graham in Resident Evil 4 .
He’s definitely crabby
Mr. Krabs, owner of The Krusty Krab , is SpongeBob and Squidward’s boss.
He loves money, hates spending it, and has a fierce rivalry with Plankton, who owns the rival restaurant, The Chum Bucket .
He’s voiced by actor Clancy Brown
Mr. Krabs is voiced by Clancy Brown.
Clancy is no stranger to live-action TV and film. He appeared in Highlander , Shawshank Redemption , Starship Troopers , and even Thor: Ragnarok !
He’s also voiced video game characters, like Lex Luthor in Lego DC Super-Villains.
Mr. Krab’s nemesis is Sheldon Plankton
Plankton owns The Chum Bucket, the Krusty Krab’s rival restaurant.
He focuses much of his time on trying to steal Mr. Krabs’ Krabby Patty recipe, with largely unsuccessful results.
He’s married to a supercomputer, Karen Plankton.
The voice behind the plankton
Douglas Lawrence, credited and known as Mr. Lawrence, brings Plankton’s mischievous self to life.
His filmography is a veritable smorgasbord of iconic animation. He’s worked on Camp Lazlo, Rocko’s Modern Life, and The Ren and Stimpy Show .
Rounding out the gang is Squidward
The octopus everyone can relate to.
Squidward Tentacles is the grumpy, nasally neighbor and co-worker of SpongeBob.
Fun fact: even though he is named “Squidward,” he is, in fact, an octopus. The more you know!
Squidward is voiced by this legend
When you pictured who would be the voice behind the octopus, this is…probably exactly what you pictured, right?
Rodger Bumpass is precisely what I would have guessed Squidward’s voice actor looked like.
He’s worked on shows like Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? , and huge movies like Hercules, Lilo & Stitch, and Tarzan .
So, I’m sure you noticed…
Everyone is dressed up like their characters for a reason, I swear!
This year marks the 20th anniversary of SpongeBob Squarepants , which debuted in 1999.
To celebrate, Nickelodeon decided to get the cast together for a little more than a photoshoot.
They’re putting on a live-action episode!
Well, half of one, anyway!
Nickelodeon is celebrating SpongeBob’s 20th by airing SpongeBob’s Big Birthday Blowout , which will be an episode of SpongeBob that mixes animation with live-action.
Yeah, I immediately started thinking about Space Jam , too.
The human actors will play real-life versions of their characters
…Sort of!
They’ll portray versions of them. For their live action scenes, the cast will play characters like “JimBob,” and “Mr. Slabs.”
The episode is set to air July 19, 2019. Happy birthday, Spongebob!
