SpongeBob is a fun yellow sponge that, as fans of the animated series of the same name know, lives on the ocean floor. Her image would certainly not be so memorable for the viewer without the character's peppy voice. From this article, you will find out who voiced SpongeBob for the English and Russian versions.
A bit about the character
Sponge Bob Square Pants - the hero is very kind and optimistic. He lives in a pineapple house, works in a restaurant called Krusty Krabs. SpongeBob's best friend is Patrick, who lives in a nearby house. This is a pink starfish. Sponge loves to hunt jellyfish, play with soap bubbles and chat with his pet snail Harry. Fun SpongeBob and other residents of the fictional town of "Bikini Bottom" liked not only children but also adults. Therefore, the cartoon began to rapidly gain its popularity. Especially attractive is his tolerance towards others and innocence.
The idea to create such an unusual character, his behavior resembling a disinterested child, came from Steven Hillenberg, an animator and marine biologist. The character’s image changed several times, but in the end he came to what he is now - big blue eyes, brown pants and a red tie.
Scoring
First of all, it will be worthwhile to find out who voiced SpongeBob in the original in English. "Revive" the cartoon character was able to American actor Tom Kenny. By the way, this is not his first such work in voicing cartoons. His voice is also spoken by the heroes of such animated series as Cotopes and The Wild Thornberry Family.
Kenny worked with the author of Sponge Bob Hillenberg once before - voiced the character in the cartoon "Rocko's Modern Life". The voice was invented spontaneously, and after some time the actor forgot his distinctive features. However, Hillenberg remembered him and even found a clip of the episode to recreate the image. The laughter of the character turned out to be especially unique - he was so thin and whistling that he quickly got bored.
When the animated series began to be translated into other languages, then the understudies took exactly the real voice of SpongeBob in English as a starting point. However, some even added their original elements to his pronunciation. So, in France, SpongeBob says a little lisping, reminiscent of something of Donald Duck.
Who is voicing SpongeBob in Russia?
In the Russian version, SpongeBob SquarePants speaks in the voice of actor Sergei Balabanov. He works at the Moscow Theater of Young Spectators, and also often duplicates foreign cartoons and films. He received his first experience in such dubbing back in 1988, taking part in the dubbing "Scooby Doo." In Soviet times, Sergey Balabanov worked on the creation of the then famous TV program "ABVGDeyka", where the clown Klepa spoke with his voice. The actor also voices many foreign films. For example, his last work was the teddy bear from “The Third Extra”.
Today, many Internet users are interested in the question of who voices the SpongeBob. And many become real fans of Sergey Balabanov’s work. Indeed, without his painstaking work on creating a voice for a famous character, he would hardly have liked a Russian audience.