UrbanWire

Nickelodeon is constantly producing beloved cartoon characters like Jimmy Neutron, Eliza from The Wild Thornberrys, Arnold from Hey Arnold!, Tommy from Rugrats and now, a crowd pleaser in the form of a yellow sponge strangely called SpongeBob.

Living in a tropical pineapple under the Pacific Ocean in a small aquatic town called Bikini Bottom, SpongeBob Squarepants is back for his second instalment of undersea mayhem, with his other nautical characters.

Producer Stephen Hillenburg draws influences from his college natural science degree in marine biology and his childhood fascination with tide pools. Growing up in Southern California, he loved going to the beach and watching sea creatures in these pools of seawater left on shore when the tide recedes. The characters from Spongebob Squarepants are based on marine life found in the tide pools - sponges, starfishes, crustaceans and squids.

Just how fascinating are these organisms that they draw hordes of kids to the TV weekly for some amazing sea adventures? UrbanWire dives in to examine the characters.

Spongebob Squarepants

SpongeBob is a glaringly yellow oblong sea sponge full of zest for life and is always inadvertently creating catastrophes in Bikini Bottom. Loyal to his job as a fry cook at a fast food joint, The Krusty Krab, SpongeBob ardently protects the Krabby patty secret formula from a rival fast food joint, The Chum Bucket. Trust him to turn the undersea town of Bikini Bottom upside down, and back up again, with the reverberations from his deliberately annoyingly infectious laugh and squeaky shoes.

Patrick Starr
Every hero needs a sidekick and none of SpongeBob's adventures would be completely and hilariously disastrous if not for his best friend and neighbour, Patrick Starr - a pink starfish in surf shorts and a tummy to match. With the intelligence of seaweed stuck under a rock, Patrick's very Singaporean preoccupations include eating and more eating.

Squidward Tentacles
If SpongeBob is the cool hero, then this must be the antithesis. Squidward Tentacles, much as he tries to distance himself from SpongeBob and Patrick, always ends up getting himself entangled with them and becoming the accidental target of their misadventures. With zero tolerance and a negative interest factor, Squidward is your typical cashier at The Krusty Krab and bears a grudge against the Krabby patty.

Mr Krabs
The penny-pinching boss of The Krusty Krab equates his customers to money and ferociously guards his Krabby patty secret formula from his arch-rival - Plankton of The Chum Bucket. Mr Krabs foils all of Plankton's microscopic attempts at stealing the secret formula. Caution: Those pincers bite. Don't make feeble attempts at the treasure chest in Mr Krabs' office.

The wonderful cast promises to be a good catch (no pun intended) and a wet and wild adventure for all. For all the bubbles of laughter SpongeBob Squarepants delivers, it gets two fins up.