SpongeBob SquarePants is one of the few children’s cartoons that can be enjoyed by adults, too. With all of its double entendres, absurdist gags, and surreal visuals, the show is just as fun for adults as it is for kids. Among the fans’ favorite characters from the show is the titular sea sponge’s neighbor, Patrick Star.
He’s one of the only characters who were there from the beginning in the pilot episode “Help Wanted” and he’s since become an icon in the world of animation.
10 There’s a reason why Patrick doesn’t have a job at the Krusty Krab
Pretty much everyone in the main cast of SpongeBob SquarePants works at the Krusty Krab. SpongeBob is the fry cook, Squidward is the cashier, and of course, Mr. Krabs is the boss. But Patrick doesn’t have a job there, curiously. He has nothing to do with his time, SpongeBob would love having him around – why not slap an apron on him? According to Clancy Brown, who plays Mr. Krabs, there’s a reason why Patrick doesn’t have a job at the Krusty Krab: “The only person that he [Mr. Krabs] doesn’t hire is Patrick, because Patrick is just too stupid to work for nothing.”
9 His and SpongeBob’s innocence is the focus of the whole show
According to an interview in the Washington Post with SpongeBob creator Stephen Hillenburg, the whole series is built around the childlike innocence of SpongeBob and Patrick. In fact, focusing on how innocent they are is one of the rules in the writers’ room of the show. Hillenburg explained, “SpongeBob is a complete innocent – not an idiot. SpongeBob never fully realizes how stupid Patrick is. They’re whipping themselves up into situations – that’s always where the humor comes from. The rule is: Follow the innocence and avoid topical [humor].” That’s why SpongeBob never gets political – it’s not about the issues, it’s about the characters.
8 His voice will be familiar to How I Met Your Mother fans
Bill Fagerbakke is the actor who provides the voice for Patrick Star in SpongeBob SquarePants. Fagerbakke’s voice will be familiar to any fans of How I Met Your Mother, since he played the role of Marvin Eriksen, Sr., Marshall’s dad.
Remember the heartbreaking episode with the countdown leading up to Lily telling Marshall his dad died? Well, the reason that was so heartbreaking was that Fagerbakke had made us love Marshall’s dad so much, and built such a close relationship and strong rapport with Jason Segel, so we really felt that a son was losing his father on the show.
7 Bill Fagerbakke wasn’t particularly interested in the character when he auditioned
When the opportunity to audition for the role of Patrick Star came up, Bill Fagerbakke wasn’t too bothered about it. He said, “Steve [Hillenburg, the creator] is such a lovely guy, and I had absolutely no feeling for the material whatsoever.” Initially, Fagerbakke wasn’t interested in the role: “I was just going in for another audition, and I had no idea what was in store there, in terms of the remarkable visual wit and, really, the kind of endearing childlike humanity in the show. I couldn’t pick that up from the audition material at all. I was just kind of perfunctorily trying to give the guy what he wanted.”
6 Patrick’s dark side came up by accident
We all know about Patrick’s dark side now. He is prone to the occasional outburst or fit of fury. But that was never a part of the character when he was initially conceived. A tantrum scene was written for the character in the season 1 episode “Valentine’s Day” and it just seemed natural that the character would blow his lid out of the blue, so it became a huge part of the character. The episode’s writer Jay Lender explained, “When that show came back, it felt so right that his dark side started popping up everywhere. You can plan ahead all you want, but the characters eventually tell you who they are.”
5 He can be seen on Broadway
In 2016, a stage musical based on the characters of SpongeBob SquarePants premiered in Chicago, and one year later, it was given a Broadway debut. The musical has been enjoyed by fans of the show, with the Evening Chronicle’s review calling it “a silly riot of colour...as you’d have to expect from an adaptation of a cartoon TV show.” John Fricker played Patrick in the musical and has been praised and, in some cases, even singled out by critics for his performance. The Chichester Observer’s critic wrote, “John Fricker is in his element as the simple but lovable Patrick Star.”
4 He’s an expert in the “art of doing nothing”
Ostensibly, it looks as though Patrick doesn’t know anything or have any education. However, he does claim to be an expert in one particular field: the “art of doing nothing.” This makes sense, since we often see him doing nothing. He has hobbies, like jellyfishing, but most of the time, when we see him in his element, he’s just sitting in his pit under the rock, sitting on his couch made of sand, and watching his TV, which is also made of sand. Considering that’s his whole life, it does seem an awful lot like he has mastered the “art of doing nothing.”
3 His footsteps are recorded wearing slip-on shoes
Foley is all the sound effects that come from everyday sounds, like the whir of an air conditioner or the hum of street traffic. This is particularly prominent in animation, because everything has to be created. In live-action, the characters’ footsteps will be picked up when the actors walk around the set. But in animation, like in SpongeBob, every character needs to be given their own unique footstep sound effect.
While Patrick never wears shoes, the Foley artist who records his footsteps puts on slip-on shoes. Jeff Hutchins, who is in charge of the sound design for SpongeBob SquarePants, has said, “[Going] barefoot makes it tough to have much presence, so we decided that Patrick would be performed with shoes on.”
2 He’s a gay icon
Patrick Star, and also SpongeBob for that matter, have become icons in the gay community. Their free expressions of love for each other – whether it’s romantic or not – have led to the show being embraced by the gay community. Tom Kenny, who plays SpongeBob on the show, has commented on the debate: “I had heard that gay viewers enjoy the show in the same way that lots of people – college students, parents, and children – like the show...I thought it was rather silly to hang an entire article on that. I don’t think it’s a case of it being a gay-friendly show – it’s a human being-friendly show. They’re all welcome.”
1 There’s a reason why Patrick is a starfish
Stephen Hillenburg, the creator of SpongeBob SquarePants, was a marine biologist before he went into animation. So, there’s a reason why most of the characters are the sea creatures that they are. He knows the biology of all these animals and he assigned their characterizations and personalities accordingly. He said that while starfishes look “dumb and slow,” they are actually “very active and aggressive,” like Patrick. Patrick might be “probably the dumbest guy in town,” as Hillenburg put it, but he is also one of the angriest and most active people in town, too. His looks are deceiving, like a real starfish.