Close Menu
    What's Hot

    CNY Preschool and Pre-Kindergarten Guide

    May 1, 2025

    How to Develop ‘Momfidence’

    April 30, 2025

    Helping Your Child Cope with Seasonal Allergies

    April 29, 2025
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
    Trending
    • How to Develop ‘Momfidence’
    • Helping Your Child Cope with Seasonal Allergies
    • Fostering Healthy Sibling Relationships
    • How to Find the Right Summer Sitter
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram YouTube
    Family Times Family Times
    • Community Guide
    • CNY Events Calendar
    • Things to Do in CNY
      1. Activities
      2. Treat Yourself
      Featured

      Treat Yourself: Mark your calendar for Disney’s “The Lion King”—and the other Broadway shows coming to Syracuse in 2025

      By Courtney KlessNovember 26, 20240
      Recent

      Treat Yourself: Mark your calendar for Disney’s “The Lion King”—and the other Broadway shows coming to Syracuse in 2025

      November 26, 2024

      Ride the Rails: Scenic Train Rides for Families

      October 1, 2024

      Treat Yourself: Spend a day—or a weekend—exploring Inlet

      October 1, 2024
    • Parenting
      1. Pregnancy
      2. Babies
      3. Kids
      4. Preschoolers/Toddlers
      5. Special Needs
      6. Teens
      7. Pets
      8. View All

      The Power to Save a Life: Cord blood is being used to treat more than 80 diseases

      January 30, 2020

      It’s Not What It Looks Like: Reflections on motherhood’s changes, outside and inside

      July 29, 2019

      In Search of Sleep: 8 Strategies for coping with wakeful babies

      July 29, 2019

      A Surgical Birth: Many pregnant women are likely to deliver by cesarean

      July 29, 2019

      Strangers Bearing Advice: New babies bring out the expert in everyone

      August 1, 2021

      Hand to Mouth: How to help babies start to sample solid food

      August 1, 2020

      315 Bulletin

      August 1, 2020

      Name, Please? Expectant parents face another momentous decision

      August 1, 2020

      Prep Work: Keep your family’s food safe this summer

      June 1, 2022

      A Blooming Craft: These homemade flowers make a great centerpiece

      March 1, 2021

      Rainbow Snowflakes: A colorful craft even little ones can make

      November 24, 2020

      DIY Critter Magnets: Make cute clips for hanging reminders and more

      September 1, 2020

      DIY Critter Magnets: Make cute clips for hanging reminders and more

      September 1, 2020

      Allergy Adjustments: Parents can support their food allergic child

      September 3, 2019

      Calming Commotion: How to deal with car sickness and more

      June 27, 2019

      Introducing Riff Rockit: Kindie artist to play jingles at Leon Fest

      June 1, 2017

      What Is ABA Therapy for Autism? How To Find a Provider for Your Child 

      September 9, 2024

      A History of Inclusion: The Jowonio School marked 50 years in 2019

      March 30, 2020

      Reaching a Milestone: Now the largest chapter in the country, Special Olympics New York is celebrating 50 years

      March 30, 2020

      Come Out and Play: Move Along offers adaptive sports for youth, adults

      March 30, 2020

      Freedom on Wheels: How E-Scooters Empower Teens and Support Family Routines

      November 4, 2024

      Prep Work: Keep your family’s food safe this summer

      June 1, 2022

      A Little Jolt: Caffeine’s risks for kids and teens

      March 1, 2021

      A Blooming Craft: These homemade flowers make a great centerpiece

      March 1, 2021

      Is Puppy Financing Right For Your Family? Pros And Cons Explored

      April 22, 2024

      Furry Friends: What it takes to adopt a pet for the first time

      July 1, 2020

      Tail Wagging Fun: Lights on the Lake Dog Walk 2019

      November 14, 2019

      Uncommon Companions: Local pet store sticks to its niche

      May 30, 2019

      Helping Your Child Cope with Seasonal Allergies

      April 29, 2025

      College Savings 101

      April 29, 2025

      Fostering Healthy Sibling Relationships

      March 28, 2025

      The 8 Best Sunscreens for Kids: Top Picks for Every Need

      March 3, 2025
    • Education
      1. Educator of the Month
      2. Class of the Month
      3. Education News
      4. Reading
      5. Teaching
      Featured

      Girl Scouts of NYPENN Pathways

      By Courtney KlessApril 29, 20250
      Recent

      Girl Scouts of NYPENN Pathways

      April 29, 2025

      Tom Meier, Program Manager and Camp Director at Baltimore Woods Nature Center

      March 28, 2025

      Danielle Maciorowski, PharmD, Manager of Hematology-Oncology Associates of CNY’s Patient Rx Center

      February 27, 2025
    • Crafts & DIY
      • Create
      • Holiday Crafts
    Family Times Family Times
    Home»CNY Community»East Syracuse voice actor continues SpongeBob SquarePants legacy
    CNY Community

    East Syracuse voice actor continues SpongeBob SquarePants legacy

    Bill DeLappBy Bill DeLappJune 27, 2019Updated:September 26, 2019No Comments7 Mins Read
    ST. PATS PARADE 2016
    Share
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email

    Cable’s Nickelodeon channel will celebrate 20 years of its flagship cartoon series SpongeBob SquarePants with an hour-long special slated for July 12. And cartoon voice specialist Tom Kenny, who has supplied the character’s childlike sound for two decades, is pretty excited about it.

    SpongeBob’s Big Birthday Blowout features a live-action segment in which the animated characters meet their human voiceover partners, with Kenny working on the grill at the Trusty Slab restaurant. More about that later.

    But first, Kenny extended his sympathies regarding the passing of the Syracuse New Times after its 50-year run. “I know the alternative weeklies are struggling big time,” Kenny noted. “LA Weekly is much smaller in terms of its format and page count than it was. I picked one up yesterday and I said, ‘This feels more like a brochure; it doesn’t feel like a newspaper anymore.’”

    Kenny, 57, was certainly a longtime SNT reader: An Idle Chatter item in the Dec. 3, 1978, issue of the Syracuse New Times asked local would-be comedians to call Barry “Bear” Crimmins to perform during comedy nights at Under the Stone, located beneath the Old Stone Mill in Skaneateles. which lured then-Bishop Grimes High School student cutups Bobcat Goldthwait and Kenny to enlist in the comical cause. “My 16-year-old self meeting Barry Crimmins probably changed the course of my whole life,” Kenny commented last year.

    Kenny’s life was also considerably changed by his association with Stephen Hillenburg, the series creator of SpongeBob SquarePants. Hillenburg passed away last Thanksgiving from complications with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), so the birthday episode is part of an ongoing salute to the creator’s legacy. And that tribute will continue with the big-screen release of The SpongeBob Movie: It’s a Wonderful Sponge, slated to reach multiplexes on May 22, 2020.

    Tell me about the upcoming birthday show.

    After 20 years of voicing this character that’s still in production and still doing new episodes– over one-third of my life has been voicing SpongeBob– when you do the math it’s pretty surprising because you don’t notice time is passing that much because you’re still having this job that’s multi-fun.

    Keeping yourself afloat as a freelance guy in show business is always a bit of a challenge, so we did this big birthday special hot on the heels of Stephen Hillenburg passing away last Thanksgiving. And it’s definitely a lot of sweet to go with the bitter because the captain is not at the helm anymore. And that’s strange, it’s hard, so were celebrating with a big smile on our faces.

    It’s a good episode, with a little meta sequence where the characters spy on their live-action voiceover counterparts. They come up above the water and happen upon a diner that’s very much like the Krusty Krab, except it’s people instead of fish, and every character has his human simulacrum. And there’s a spazzy, four-eyed frycook that looks like Tom Kenny and he’s flipping burgers and SpongeBob is smitten with his technique, so it’s really fun and weird.

    The episode also has good celebrity cameos such as David Hasselhoff for the first time since The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (2004). He and I spent a day on the beach together clowning around, with me in full Patchy the Pirate regalia riding a tricycle over his foot. Hasselhoff is always either coming back from a triumphant gig in Germany or on his way to a triumphant gig in Germany where he is a rock’n’roll god. He’s totally got that William Shatner thing where he’s 100 percent aware of who he is and what his persona is, and he’s just workin’ it. He is ultra-super-comfortable in his own skin in a way that I completely envy.

    How is the movie progressing?

    We’ve been recording sessions on it and those things always move slower than the breakneck pace of the TV shows, and you record for much smaller increments for much longer periods of the calendar, so it’s eking along. We’re doing that animated feature thing where you record a page and a half at a time, whereas I’m used to knocking out an 11-minute episode in a four-hour session. And I’ve been the voice director for the last few seasons, so I’m the guy that’s gotta crack the whip for these sessions.

    Can you recall the first cartoon voice imitation you did as a youth?

    You know, I really didn’t do too much of that. I liked the voices but I wasn’t that guy who worked on them and dazzled people with it; that wasn’t my thing. I wish I had done more like that because you can do really good for yourself when you inherit those franchise characters: “I should have worked more on my Tasmanian Devil. Who knew?” I realize that (old-school cartoon voice) Daws Butler was always in my wheelhouse pretty good; I could always do a passable Elroy Jetson. And Don Messick, too; I could always do a good Boo Boo Bear.

    What was it like being part of the Tony Award-winning production of SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical?

    Again, it goes back to Hillenburg, and because of him I got to be a Broadway songwriter. And just last week me and Bill Fagerbakke (voice of Patrick Star on the series) were in Monaco at the Royal Palace with Prince Albert and his two 4-year-old kids because they like SpongeBob. It was really surreal: He’s asking questions like “How long does it take you guys to record an episode?” and “What’s it like being SpongeBob?” and I’m like, “What’s it like being a prince (in a country with no taxes)?”

    The reason that whole thing happened is because Hillenburg had been very involved with the Princess Grace Foundation that funds grants to artists and they were very helpful to him when he was completing his thesis film. And that’s how SpongeBob had a relationship with the Royal Family.

    Because Hillenburg picked us to do these voices, he gave us all these crazy ongoing experiences. There’s a hundred things I could list of the oddball adventures and tributaries that the river takes you into. Most jobs after 20 years are like Dunder Mifflin in The Office, but there is always bizarre new wrinkles to this job that keep on coming, and every so often it hits me that this is an amazing job.

    Can you recall the events of working on the SpongeBob pilot episode?

    I had met Fagerbakke before on the very short-lived Dumb and Dumber Saturday-morning show that Hanna-Barbera did. When we came in to do the pilot, he didn’t 100 percent get the concept; he just thought it was a baby show for little kids, whereas I knew Hillenburg and I watched him pitch it to Nickelodeon (executives). I was amazed by how great the voice casting was for those characters, and I had a ton of fun doing it– and still do.

    I had no idea how popular it would become. Now 20 years later, time has never really stopped; we never took a Luke Skywalker-Mark Hamill break. SpongeBob has always been a presence in my life; not like a Jimmy Stewart-Harvey thing where I think he’s real. But he’s always been a constant companion for 20 years, and his personality is always living inside mine, and I’m sure the other actors feel the same way about their characters.

    I am SpongeBob to a certain degree in terms of life, attitude and outlook, and it amazes me that Hillenburg intuited all of that. His instincts were incredible: He had a vision and he would not be dissuaded from that vision. He left a big square-shaped footprint that I’m lucky enough to be a little part of.

    activities movie reviews One-on-One SpongeBob SquarePants Tom Kenny
    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit Tumblr Email
    Bill DeLapp

    Former editor-in-chief of Family Times sister publication, the Syracuse New Times. The New Times closed in June 2019.

    Related Posts

    ‘This Collaboration Has Broken Down Barriers’

    February 27, 2025

    Danielle Maciorowski, PharmD, Manager of Hematology-Oncology Associates of CNY’s Patient Rx Center

    February 27, 2025

    Milton J. Rubenstein Museum of Science & Technology (MOST)

    January 30, 2025
    Flip Through Our Latest Issue!
    Stay In Touch
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram
    • LinkedIn
    Top Posts

    2025 Summer Camp Guide

    April 1, 2025693 Views

    DIY: Make your own vibrant, paper fans in only a few easy steps

    July 1, 2020523 Views

    Host a Kid-Friendly Friendsgiving Party

    November 1, 2024407 Views

    CNY Day Camp Directory

    March 31, 2023351 Views

    Family Times Magazine publishes a digital magazine highlighting events, businesses, and content to inform and entertain families here in Central New York. Sign up for our twice monthly newsletter to have the magazine and other featured content.
    ____

    Email Us: [email protected]
    Contact: 1.315.422.7011

    Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn RSS
    Our Picks

    Fall Activities Guide

    October 1, 2024
    Most Popular

    2025 Summer Camp Guide

    April 1, 2025693 Views

    DIY: Make your own vibrant, paper fans in only a few easy steps

    July 1, 2020523 Views

    Host a Kid-Friendly Friendsgiving Party

    November 1, 2024407 Views
    © 2025 Family Times, CNY. Designed by Crossroads Marketing.
    • Our Authors
    • Archives
    • Things to do around Syracuse and CNY: Local Events Calendar
    • Advertising

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.