You
cannot do the history of SpongeBob
SquarePants justice without acknowledging Rocko’s Modern Life. The former would never have happened without
the latter, and the key personnel overlap embodies the kinship of the two
Nicktoons.
There
is also barely a crossover between ’90s kids who grew up on Rocko and the Generation Zers who have
enjoyed SpongeBob’s cultural rise to Rugrats proportions and beyond. For
roughly a year, when the late Steve Hillenburg’s creation was finding its
groove, it shared the airwaves with his first animation endeavor on their
parent network.
Rocko’s removal from
the rerun mill in the summer of 2000 was as good as the official death of the
1990s. But by that point, SpongeBob
was raring for its encore campaign. While it premiered in the final year of the
old decade, it would inevitably have to be a “show of the future” if it yearned
for long-term traction.
Naturally,
it would need to be its own series, especially in order to become an adhesive
piece of the new millennium. But those who watched both show knew Rocko-influenced elements would help
Hillenburg’s creation gain that traction.
That
realization started dawning immediately in the summer of 1999, as SpongeBob’s run began in earnest 20
years ago today. After premiering its pilot as a Kids’ Choice Awards leadout 11
weeks prior, it became a Saturday staple in July.
This
meant more than the start of the next level in Tom Kenny’s (Heffer) profile as
he voiced the starring role. The first episode beyond the pilot also brought Mr.
Lawrence (Filburt) and Carlos Alazraqui (Rocko) onto SpongeBob’s all-time roster.
The
Internet Movie Database credits Lawrence as a customer in the “Bubblestand”
half of the July 17, 1999 episode. In the second segment, he announces the
surfing contest and voices the annoyed ice-cream salesman who fields multiple
pants-splitting jokes from SpongeBob.
Meanwhile,
IMDB bills Alazraqui as two types of fish and a “Loser” in the “Ripped Pants” segment.
As a tweet from Alazraqui on May 1 of this year indicates, that segment is
where one fish he voices first encourages SpongeBob’s antics.
Up
to that point in the burgeoning SpongeBob
chronicles, Kenny’s star character had been unequivocally exuberant, but only
in front of two or three people at a time. His onscreen audience is larger when
he accidentally tears his trunks and leaves the beach embarrassed before a
bystander notes his comedic potential. For the rest of that segment and many
more to come, SpongeBob is more outgoing and eager to amuse himself and others.
Intentionally
or not, the setting-off sequence mirrors Alazraqui pitching Kenny for a Rocko audition. The fish later identified
as Scooter catches SpongeBob’s knack for silliness the way Alazraqui unlocked Kenny’s
pathway to enlivening Heffer. In both cases, the speakers reverse the
recipients’ initial dearth of self-confidence.
As
Kenny told Parade’s Michele Wojciechowski in 2015, he was a “shy show-off” growing up. “I was always funny
to a select group of friends, but I wasn’t like the class clown with the
lampshade on my head.”
Landing
his first IMDB credit 10 years prior to SpongeBob,
Kenny subsisted largely on stand-up for the first quarter of the ’90s. But
while that earned him moments in the late-night sun on a laundry list of talk
shows, he finally stuck somewhere via Heffer on Rocko.
As
he told Wojciechowski, and has said elsewhere before and since, his connection
with Alazraqui on the Bay Area stand-up circuit bridged him there. At every
public opportunity, such as the 2012 cast reunion for a “Wacky Delly” live reading, Alazraqui jokes that Kenny owes him a sliver of his earnings.
But
perhaps Kenny and Hillenburg continuing their business relations with him is
sufficient. Apart from Winslow on CatDog
(1998-2005) and Mr. Crocker on The Fairly
OddParents (2001-2017), SpongeBob
has generated Alazraqui’s greatest volume of post-Rocko credits on Nickelodeon.
The
only way to perfect the reciprocation would have been to have Alazraqui voicing
SpongeBob’s best friend. That was not to be, but the two other since-ended
Nicktoons allowed him to establish his range.
Kenny
has done the same beyond Nickelodeon, particularly through a slew of Cartoon
Network programs. But with assists from Alazraqui, followed by Hillenburg, he
got what the former had first; namely the titular voice on a resonant Nicktoon.
Tangled up in
yellow
Kenny,
who Hillenburg had in mind for the role of SpongeBob when the series was still
a sketched-out concept, is the first to acknowledge the common threads between
his topmost Nickelodeon characters. Along with Dog on CatDog, Heffer and SpongeBob are endearingly energetic,
marble-missing, yellow-tinged man-children.
Last
Wednesday, Vanity Fair ran a video interview on its YouTube channel, capturing Kenny’s reaction to fan impressions
of his characters. Going deep into his analysis, he singled out the latter two
on their generally limitless optimism.
“There’s
never any negatives with Heffer,” he told the magazine, “and SpongeBob’s kind of
like that too.”
As
it happened, Kenny’s colleagues on SpongeBob
gave him ample material early on to establish that continuity from Rocko’s deuteragonist to the new show’s
protagonist. While young viewers want to root for SpongeBob, much of the comedy
stems from his obliviousness to downsides, danger, rules or regulations.
On
August 21, 1999, the segment “Hall Monitor” had the title character taking the
honorary position too far beyond proper boundaries. His behavior in the uniform
outside of school ultimately lands him in trouble with the town police.
How
could any Rocko fan with analytical
inclinations have not thought back to “Uniform Behavior” after seeing “Hall
Monitor” unfold? Before SpongeBob does so at the expense of Bikini Bottom’s
public safety, Heffer, in Filburt’s words, lets the badge go to his head, to
the detriment of Conglom-O’s security.
Through
hallucinations in the form of the Seven Udders of Justice, Heffer’s disoriented
conscience gives him a pep talk on the eve of his first and only night on duty.
SpongeBob, after a long wait for his turn as hall monitor, delivers a
protracted and passionate speech on the honor. Both subsequently see crimes
that are not there, then crack under undue, self-imposed pressure when their
environment gets dark.
Of
course, between those two storylines, only Heffer ends up in prison, on one
count of indecent exposure. SpongeBob will not streak until much later in
Season 1, as he learns a hard safety lesson in “Hooky.”
Delayed
gratification
Other
hard-earned lessons come to each character when they realize their limits. With
Rocko’s “Mama’s Boy” and SpongeBob’s “Jellyfish Jam”, Heffer and
SpongeBob’s respective party guests become pests. They would rather carry on
the loud music and dancing to no end while the host wants to retire for the
night.
Individually
and with the company, respectively, Heffer and SpongeBob take things outside
and come away slightly more responsible than before. For the sake of continued
comedy, though, they only learn so much from that for so long in the saga.
But
on more decidedly uplifting notes, each yellow fireball also rides his optimism
to succeed in apparent fool’s errands. From the first season of SpongeBob, “Mermaid Man and Barnacle
Boy” comes to mind. The series star and his starfish friend Patrick may not get
their favorite superheroes back in their original form. But they do shake them
out of retirement and get them back on TV.
Previously,
Heffer had defied Rocko’s qualms about racing to Flem Rock before its
bulldozing demise. Despite various speed bumps, detours, vehicular breakdowns
and one bout of road rage, “Road Rash” culminates in the travel partners
getting an exclusive view of the national park’s final eruption.
They
get there with the help of Rocko acquiring some of Heffer’s infectious
determination after the latter’s uncharacteristically runs low. While the sight
they reach is smaller than advertised and quickly gives way to a fast-food
restaurant, Heffer admits that “It’s more glorious than I ever imagined.”
Some
may say the same about the project that came to define Hillenburg and Kenny in
the 21st century. Or, if it is not glorious, it is objectively far more
successful than most insiders or critics imagined. Multiple theatrical films,
theme park rides, Macy’s parade balloons and a Broadway musical speak to the
franchise’s mainstream power.
With
the character being an extension of the artist via his voice, SpongeBob has
practically given Kenny the equivalent of what Rocko promised the American
Balding Eagle could achieve by ditching wigs. He has made Kenny what Wedgie Boy
made Rocko for one segment of his own show.
So
far there are no signs of an Alazraqui character supplanting SpongeBob on the
billboards and posters. But a project catalyzed by Alazraqui in the recording
booth should keep collecting an intangible debt.
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