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Critical reception for Plankton and Karen has been positive, with praise directed toward their voices and dialogue together. They began as minor characters, but Lawrence developed their personalities throughout the show's early seasons and they eventually became the franchise's main [[antagonist]]s. The Planktons play central roles in the [[The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie|2004 theatrical film]], which promoted them both to main cast members in its credits, and the [[The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water|2015 sequel]]. They have also been featured in a variety of spin-off media, including tie-in publications, playsets and other merchandise.
Critical reception for Plankton and Karen has been positive, with praise directed toward their voices and dialogue together. They began as minor characters, but Lawrence developed their personalities throughout the show's early seasons and they eventually became the franchise's main [[antagonist]]s. The Planktons play central roles in the [[The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie|2004 theatrical film]], which promoted them both to main cast members in its credits, and the [[The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water|2015 sequel]]. They have also been featured in a variety of spin-off media, including tie-in publications, playsets and other merchandise.

==Plankton==
===Role in ''SpongeBob SquarePants''===
{{quote box|align=right|bgcolor=#c6dbf7|width=34em|style=max-width:40%
|quote=[Plankton is a] complex, wounded character who is really looking for a friend in a way, but can't let that happen because of his evil front. He carries deep hurt underneath and doesn't want to let anybody know that.
|source=— [[Mr. Lawrence]] on the character of Plankton<ref name="Beck105"/>
}}

Plankton is the [[archenemy|nemesis]] and the former best friend of Mr. Krabs.<ref name="Friend">{{cite episode|title=Friend or Foe|series=SpongeBob SquarePants|season=5|number=81|network=Nickelodeon|airdate=April 13, 2007|credits=Writers: Casey Alexander, Zeus Cervas, Mike Mitchell, [[Steven Banks]], [[Tim Hill (director)|Tim Hill]]}}</ref> He operates the Chum Bucket, located directly across the street from Krabs' restaurant, the [[Krusty Krab]].<ref name="Komputer Overload">{{cite episode|title=Komputer Overload|series=SpongeBob SquarePants|season=6|number=118b|network=Nickelodeon|airdate=March 19, 2009|credits=Writers: [[Aaron Springer]], Richard Pursel}}</ref> The Chum Bucket primarily sells [[chumming|chum]] (bait consisting of fish parts), which is considered mostly inedible by the other characters. As a result, his restaurant is a commercial failure. Plankton's primary goal in the series is to put Krabs out of business and secure a [[monopoly]] on the fast food industry. His villainous efforts to do this are widely known within the show; fellow character [[Squidward Tentacles]] refers to Plankton as "the most hated thing in Bikini Bottom".<ref name="F.U.N.">{{cite episode|title=F.U.N.|series=SpongeBob SquarePants|season=1|number=10b|network=Nickelodeon|airdate=September 18, 1999|credits=Writers: [[Sherm Cohen]], [[Aaron Springer]], Peter Burns|quote=How does it feel to be the most hated thing in Bikini Bottom, Plankton?! It hurts, doesn't it?!}} "Get moving, genius, don't let him get away." "Befriend the SpongeBob, then when the time is just right, take the Krabby Patty!"</ref>

A [[running gag]] throughout the series is the fact that Plankton is smaller than the other regular characters; he is easily stepped on and sent flying back to the Chum Bucket with a mere flick of the finger.<ref name="Truth or Square">{{cite episode|title=Truth or Square|series=SpongeBob SquarePants|season=6|number=123/124|network=Nickelodeon|airdate=November 6, 2009|credits=Writers: [[Luke Brookshier]], [[Nate Cash]], [[Steven Banks]], [[Paul Tibbitt]]}}</ref> His small size has led him to develop a [[Napoleon complex]], which is occasionally manifested as a desire for global domination.<ref name="Absorbing">{{cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lT7VzFW0acE|title=The Absorbing Tale Behind "The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie"|last=Lawrence|first=Doug|author-link=Mr. Lawrence|date=March 1, 2005|time=9:50–9:58|quote=Plankton's about this big, a little cyclops&nbsp;... he's got a little bit of a Napoleon complex, I'd say.}}</ref> He is a skillful inventor and regularly builds machines, both to help him in his plots, and for his own personal gain. Although he uses his intellect for evil, Plankton did not start out as a villainous scientist; he built Karen, his first invention, when he was friends with Mr. Krabs in grade school.<ref name="Friend"/> Prominent in his earliest appearances, Plankton's catchphrase is "I went to college!", uttered to illustrate the character's intelligence.<ref name="Beck107"/>

Plankton's roles are not exclusively antagonistic. In ''[[The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water]]'', Plankton discards his enmity for SpongeBob and works with him towards a common goal. The movie has been described by ''[[The Guardian]]'' as a "buddy film" between Plankton and SpongeBob.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/feb/03/spongebob-movie-sponge-out-of-water-first-look-review|title=The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water first look review – superhero slugfest drags a good sequel down|work=[[The Guardian]]|publisher=[[Guardian Media Group]]|last=Hoffman|first=Jordan|date=February 3, 2015}}</ref> Series creator [[Stephen Hillenburg]] considers Plankton "more of a caricature of a villain" than a truly evil character.<ref name="Beck102"/>

===Development===
When ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' premiered, Plankton was not part of the series' main cast. Plankton's voice actor, [[Mr. Lawrence]], has stated that after producing Plankton's debut episode in the late 1990s, creator Stephen Hillenburg was unsure if he would continue to use the character. After recording it, Hillenburg was noncommittal, telling Lawrence: "We'll probably do another [Plankton episode] next year," <ref name="Beck111"/> Lawrence summarized Plankton's origins in 2015, saying that he "was only supposed to be in one or two episodes, but I was a writer on the show and I really liked this character".<ref name="courier">{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/138093814/|title=Meet the voice behind a 'SpongeBob' character|newspaper=[[Courier News]]|publisher=[[Gannett Company]]|last=Bourbeau|first=Mary Ann|date=November 15, 2015}}</ref> Following his first voice recording as Plankton, Lawrence drafted some of his own ideas for the character and passed them to Hillenburg. From then on, Plankton began to appear more often. Lawrence considers the [[SpongeBob SquarePants (season 3)|third season]] the first in which Plankton is a main character.<ref name="Beck111"/>

During production on ''SpongeBob''{{'}}s early seasons, Lawrence was the only staff member writing premises and outlines involving Plankton. At the time, he felt he "had to prove Plankton could survive as more than a one-note character".<ref name="Beck105"/> Since then, multiple writers have written for Plankton without Lawrence's involvement, including the teams of writers responsible for Plankton's starring roles in both ''SpongeBob'' films. Lawrence continues to write Plankton episodes, having said in 2015, "I'm not just his voice. I get to create how the character is written and how he evolves over time."<ref name="courier"/>

Preliminary design sketches for Plankton depict him in a robotic suit, with Karen's system built into it; that suit does not appear in the series.<ref name="BoytoBob">{{cite magazine|title=From Boy to Bob|magazine=[[Nickelodeon Magazine|Nick Mag Presents: SpongeBob SquarePants]]|publisher=[[Viacom International]]|date=June 2003}}</ref> The suit functioned as a way to increase Plankton's presence, as one of Hillenburg's original intentions was for the character to be too small to see without a magnifying glass.<ref name="Lawrence2015">{{cite interview|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRuj3zHSwyE|title=Interview with Mr. Lawrence|last=Lawrence|first=Doug|subject-link=Mr. Lawrence|interviewer=Robert Dente|date=November 2015}}</ref> As the series progressed, the animators enlarged Plankton's size, feeling that being microscopic was "not conducive to him interacting with other characters".<ref name="Lawrence2015"/>

===Voice===
[[File:Mr. Lawrence on Panel.jpg|thumb|250px|right|[[Mr. Lawrence]] (right) and [[Jill Talley]] (left), the voices of Plankton and Karen.]]
Plankton's voice is provided by American actor Doug Lawrence, normally credited as "Mr. Lawrence." The voice originated as an imitation of one of his deep-voiced high school friends.<ref name="courier"/> On television, Lawrence first used this voice for incidental characters on ''[[Rocko's Modern Life]]''. Fellow voice actor [[Tom Kenny]] found it amusing, leading to Lawrence's decision to use it when auditioning for roles on ''SpongeBob''.<ref name="Beck105"/> Lawrence initially tried out for the role of SpongeBob during the series' pre-production, but Stephen Hillenburg wanted a more innocent voice for the character and turned him down.<ref name="courier"/> Lawrence continued to work on the show, voicing minor characters, eventually leading to him being offered the role of Plankton for the "Plankton!" episode.<ref name="courier"/> He describes Plankton's voice as a "combination of [[Gregory Peck]] and [[Tony the Tiger]]."<ref name="Beck105"/>

When the "Plankton!" episode was pitched to [[Nickelodeon]], Hillenburg had already decided that he wanted Lawrence to play Plankton. However, network executives wanted a guest star to provide his voice since he was set to appear in only one episode.<ref name=MrLawrenceInt>{{cite interview|last=Lawrence|first=Doug|subject-link=Mr. Lawrence|interviewer=[[Thomas F. Wilson]]|date=April 2012|title=Big Pop Fun #22: Mr. Lawrence|url=http://hwcdn.libsyn.com/p/8/0/b/80ba5601f7d09e93/BPF22_Mr._Lawrence.mp3?c_id=4442198&expiration=1396087344&hwt=77616525493ac25efba1ba04f5cd6efc|format=mp3|medium=Podcast|publisher=[[Nerdist Industries]]|archiveurl=https://www.webcitation.org/6OQnV9e4n?url=http://hwcdn.libsyn.com/p/8/0/b/80ba5601f7d09e93/BPF22_Mr._Lawrence.mp3?c_id=4442198&expiration=1396087344&hwt=77616525493ac25efba1ba04f5cd6efc|archivedate=March 29, 2014|deadurl=yes|df=}}</ref> Lawrence mentioned in an interview with fellow ''SpongeBob'' actor [[Thomas F. Wilson]] that the studio said, in his words, "'we could [[stunt casting|stunt-cast]] this. You know, we could have [[Bruce Willis]] do this voice.' And Steve [Hillenburg] was just like, 'it's Doug, don't you hear it? This is the character! This is the guy!'"<ref name=MrLawrenceInt/>

===Reception===
The Plankton character has garnered a generally positive reception over the run of ''SpongeBob SquarePants''. In his review of the [[SpongeBob SquarePants (season 4)|fourth season]], Paul Mavis of ''[[DVD Talk]]'' stated that adult viewers would likely find Plankton more amusing than others, praising his "hilariously stentorian" voice.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/25858/spongebob-squarepants-season-4-vol-2/|title=SpongeBob SquarePants - Season 4, Vol. 2 review|work=[[DVD Talk]]|last=Mavis|first=Paul|date=January 9, 2007}}</ref> In his review of the season eight episode "[[Clash of Triton]]," Mavis called Plankton "the only secondary ''SpongeBob'' character who can [successfully] anchor his own short".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/44570/spongebob-squarepants-tritons-revenge/|title=SpongeBob SquarePants - Triton's Revenge review|work=[[DVD Talk]]|last=Mavis|first=Paul|date=July 13, 2010}}</ref> Bettijane Levine of ''[[Los Angeles Times|The Los Angeles Times]]'' wrote positively of Plankton's portrayal calling it poignant rather than genuinely immoral, describing him as a "town meanie&nbsp;... but mean is different than evil. There is no evil, not even a sense of menace, in SpongeBob's soggy, safe world."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2002/apr/07/news/lv-spongebob7/2|title=Adults Find Their Inner Sponge|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]|publisher=[[Tronc|Tronc, Inc.]]|date=April 7, 2002|last=Levine|first=Bettijane}}</ref> Ann Hagman Cardinal of [[Blogcritics]] praised the character, rhetorically asking in a 2007 review, "who isn't tickled by the tight-jawed, [[Kirk Douglas]]-voiced Plankton with his silent moviesque evil plans to steal the secret recipe for the Krabby Patty?"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://blogcritics.org/spongebob-philosopherpants/|title=SpongeBob PhilosopherPants|publisher=Critical Lens Media|work=[[Blogcritics]]|date=October 30, 2007|last=Cardinal|first=Ann Hagman}}</ref> [[Boston.com]] writer Jamie Loftus had mixed feelings about Plankton in a 2015 article, asserting that while "almost every episode featuring tiny supervillain Plankton is highly formulaic," he never "gets old".<ref name="bdcwire">{{cite web|url=http://www.bdcwire.com/best-spongebob-episodes/|title=The Complete Guide to SpongeBob's Greatest Episodes|work=[[Boston.com|BDCWire]]|publisher=[[The Boston Globe]]|last=Loftus|first=Jamie|date=February 9, 2015}}</ref>

[[James Poniewozik]] of ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine commented on Plankton in a 2001 article. He noted that "no one thinks it's strange that the town villain, the megalomaniacal Plankton, is a one-celled organism" as part of the "colorful, goofy" atmosphere of the program.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,187600,00.html|title=Soaking Up Attention|work=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|publisher=[[Time Inc.]]|date=December 9, 2001|last=Poniewozik|first=James|author-link=James Poniewozik}}</ref> In an article for ''[[The A.V. Club]]'', Zack Handlen stated that "the humor of Plankton comes from how his operative ambitions are constantly thwarted by a naïve, trusting kid".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.avclub.com/article/spongebob-squarepants-built-its-undersea-empire-on-201164|title=''SpongeBob SquarePants'' built its undersea empire on nonsense and enthusiasm|work=[[The A.V. Club]]|publisher=[[The Onion|Onion, Inc.]]|date=February 17, 2014|last=Handlen|first=Zack}}</ref> In 2015, ''[[Entertainment Weekly]]''{{'}}s Hillary Busis named Plankton one of the most devious characters on television, adding in her commentary that he is "voiced to wicked perfection by Doug Lawrence".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ew.com/gallery/devious-schemers-tv-characters/plankton-spongebob/|title=TV's most devious schemers|work=[[Entertainment Weekly]]|publisher=[[Time Inc.]]|date=March 1, 2015|last=Busis|first=Hillary}}</ref> {{ill|José Antonio Gómez Marín|es|José Antonio Gómez Marín|vertical-align=sup}} of ''[[El Mundo (Spain)|El Mundo]]'' favorably compared Plankton's plans to the stories of [[Georges Simenon]] in a 2013 article.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.elmundo.es/andalucia/2013/11/13/5283704d684341532f8b4574.html|title=La cruz del sur: Bob Esponja|work=[[El Mundo (Spain)|El Mundo]]|publisher=[[Unidad Editorial]]|date=November 13, 2013|author=José Antonio Gómez Marín|author-link=:es:José Antonio Gómez Marín|language=Spanish}}</ref>

In his 2011 book ''[[Open Court Publishing Company#Popular Culture & Philosophy series|SpongeBob SquarePants and Philosophy]]'', political scientist Joseph J. Foy argues that "Plankton may actually be the unsung hero of the series, and SpongeBob the true villain." He compares the character to the [[Übermensch|Nietzschean ''Übermensch'']], taking note of his mental superiority compared to the other characters in the show, and questions how Plankton is only "judged as bad because, no matter how many great things he accomplishes, his intentions are deemed ignoble". Foy concludes his analysis by criticizing the fact that "SpongeBob is praised as noble for trying to hold Plankton back."<ref name="Foy73-80"/>


==Karen==
==Karen==

Revision as of 01:07, 17 March 2018

Plankton and Karen
SpongeBob SquarePants characters
File:SpongeBob SquarePants Plankton.pngFile:SpongeBob SquarePants Karen Plankton Promotional Image.png
Plankton (left) and Karen (right)
First appearance"Plankton!" (1999)
Created byStephen Hillenburg
Voiced byPlankton: Mr. Lawrence
Karen: Jill Talley
In-universe information
SpeciesPlankton: Copepod[1]
Karen: Supercomputer
OccupationOwners and founders of the Chum Bucket
PetsSpot (pet amoeba)

Sheldon J. Plankton and Karen Plankton are fictional characters in the American animated television series SpongeBob SquarePants. They are respectively voiced by Mr. Lawrence and Jill Talley. Their first appearance was in the episode "Plankton!" on July 31, 1999. They were created and designed by marine biologist and cartoonist Stephen Hillenburg, the creator of the program, along with Lawrence.

Plankton is an intellectual planktonic copepod who runs the unsuccessful Chum Bucket restaurant alongside Karen, who is a talking supercomputer. Plankton is the arch-rival of Mr. Krabs, who owns the far more profitable Krusty Krab restaurant and sells a fictional burger called the Krabby Patty. Plankton and Karen often devise schemes to steal the secret Krabby Patty recipe, but their efforts are always thwarted by Krabs and his employees.

Critical reception for Plankton and Karen has been positive, with praise directed toward their voices and dialogue together. They began as minor characters, but Lawrence developed their personalities throughout the show's early seasons and they eventually became the franchise's main antagonists. The Planktons play central roles in the 2004 theatrical film, which promoted them both to main cast members in its credits, and the 2015 sequel. They have also been featured in a variety of spin-off media, including tie-in publications, playsets and other merchandise.

Karen

Role in SpongeBob SquarePants

Sheldon Plankton is married to a supercomputer named Karen Plankton, who is also his sidekick and best friend.[2] Karen is Plankton's own invention, assembled from a calculator and a mass of wires.[3] She was Plankton's first invention when he was in grade school, and they dated before he became evil.[4] Her system is built into most of Plankton's machines (including the Chum Bucket itself) so that she and Plankton can communicate while the latter is on a mission. She is a Mark II Surplus UNIVAC with 256 gigabytes of random-access memory.[5]

Karen assumes various jobs at the Chum Bucket, including busser, chef and cashier; she rarely has to fulfill them because of the restaurant's unpopularity. She also tends to stay more focused than Plankton on the core mission of stealing Krabs' formula. Karen often reminds him to stay on task[6] and encourages him to keep going when he loses confidence.[7] Since she lacks a heart, Karen is usually unable to feel empathy for the people around her.[4] Her interactions are not limited to helping Plankton, however; she is a friend of Sandy Cheeks, who is also intelligent and interested in science.[8] Karen has a habit of addressing SpongeBob as "the SpongeBob."[6]

Karen is more competent than Plankton in formulating plots to steal the Krabby Patty recipe. Most of his effective plans have come from Karen, including "Plan Z"—the only scheme to result in Plankton successfully stealing the formula and using it to his advantage—in The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie. Nonetheless, he tends to take credit for them, much to her dismay. Karen has effortlessly stolen Krabs' formula without Plankton's help on many occasions, but her husband always inadvertently gets in the way.[5] Because of their contrasting behaviors, Plankton and Karen have a tendency to argue. Tom Kenny, SpongeBob's voice actor, has called their marriage "Honeymooners-like," comparing them to the bickering couple from the sitcom The Honeymooners.[9]

As a computer on the ocean floor, Karen's ability to operate underwater has not been explained in any of the series' episodes. Tom Kenny addressed this in a 2004 interview with the Associated Press, stating that Karen's functionality is a "don't-ask-why" aspect of SpongeBob and that "logic doesn't have a place" in the series' universe.[10]

Development

Karen was also created by Stephen Hillenburg, who named the character after his wife. Hillenburg initially designed a laboratory for Plankton to convey the character's technological abilities, leading to Karen's development as his lab's central computer system.[11] Like Plankton, she was not initially intended to be a main character; her role in the series grew as Lawrence wrote ideas to give the Planktons more personality. Throughout the series' first and second seasons, Karen is not defined as Plankton's wife; Plankton's official biography from 2000 simply states that he works "with the help of his computer, Karen".[12]

In the series' third season opener, 2002's "The Algae's Always Greener," Plankton refers to Karen as his wife for the first time.[13] Aspects of their marriage, such as their anniversary and their honeymoon, have become the frequent focus of episodes since then.[14] In early episodes, Karen is always supportive and friendly toward her husband. But, as the series progresses, she becomes more cynical and sarcastic because of Plankton's relentless obsession with the Krabby Patty formula.[15] However, she remains loving and affectionate toward him.

Many episodes written by Lawrence develop and explore the relationship between Karen and her husband. Lawrence has stated that he feels Karen makes Plankton-focused episodes more humorous and that her presence helps portray him as a multidimensional character. In a 2009 interview with Andy Goodman, he said, "I want more Karen on the show ... The married life of an evil genius is the funniest thing to me, so in that regard [Karen] definitely enhances Plankton's stories, making him more than just your typical bad guy."[16]

Most of Karen's appearances in the first four seasons depict her as a large, blue monitor in the Chum Bucket's laboratory;[17] at other times, only her voice is heard from within Plankton's robotic creations.[18] In The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, a mobile unit is introduced to allow Karen to interact more easily with others.[19] Showrunner Vincent Waller stated that the mobile unit was introduced because having Karen able to move was more convenient for storytelling purposes.[20] Karen alternates between her multiple forms in most episodes produced after the film. As of the tenth season, her wall monitor is no longer used and her mobile form is always equipped with a pair of robotic arms.[21]

Voice

Karen is voiced by American actress Jill Talley, who is also the wife of SpongeBob's voice actor, Tom Kenny. Talley uses a Midwestern accent for the character.[22] Whenever Karen talks, her voice is mixed over electronic sound effects by the series' audio engineers to create a robotic sound.[23] Her voice, which was more monotonous in earlier episodes, has been described as "deadpan" by the Associated Press.[10] Some of Karen's conversations with Plankton are improvised between Talley and Lawrence. The latter described this improvisation as one of his "favorite part[s] of the voice over" in 2009.[16] He elaborated in a 2012 interview, saying, "I always enjoy the back-and-forth. [Talley and I] start to actually overlap so much talking to each other that [the voice directors] have to tell us, 'hey, stop doing that, separate what you're saying!'"[24] Lawrence also feels that voicing the characters for so long has built a close relationship between the two actors. On the topic, he said, "This on-TV marriage we have, the whole world knows us being married ... We start becoming a married couple [when recording]."[24]

Reception

Karen has received generally positive reactions from critics. In a 2010 review of SpongeBob's Last Stand, DVD Talk's Paul Mavis wrote highly of Karen and Plankton's dialogue, stating that the two "could have their own sitcom".[25] Sandie Angulo Chen of Common Sense Media praised the amount of screen time given to Karen in Sponge Out of Water, calling her "hilarious".[26] In 2015, Boston.com's Jamie Loftus cited Karen as her reason for naming 2002's "Welcome to the Chum Bucket" one of the sixteen greatest SpongeBob episodes.[27] Gizmodo's Ryan Lufkin wrote in 2016 that SpongeBob's "90s-level weirdness" is proven by characters like Plankton and Karen.[28] The About Group's Nancy Basile commended Jill Talley's portrayal of the character, saying that it is "no surprise she plays [the role] so well" due to her earlier work with Second City and Mr. Show.[22]

In an analysis of how the show has changed throughout its run, Channel Frederator argued that the main characters of SpongeBob–specifically Sandy, Patrick, Mr. Krabs, Squidward and Karen–have been reduced from multidimensional to reliant on single traits. According to this view, "Karen is now a full-blown nag" in newer episodes.[29] This aspect of Karen's character has also been criticized by author Joseph J. Foy, in his book SpongeBob SquarePants and Philosophy. He considers this trope one of several harmful stereotypes present on the program, writing that "the motif of the nagging wife is certainly an issue worthy of dissection in dealing with a young audience, along with the spoiled teen daughter [Pearl] and the stupid best friend [Patrick]".[15]

Lampooning a controversy surrounding SpongeBob's sexuality, essayist Dennis Hans wrote a 2005 satirical piece for the National Catholic Reporter focusing on the marriage of Plankton and Karen. He remarked, in jest, that SpongeBob's sexual orientation was a lesser issue compared to the positive representation of Plankton's "technosexuality". Hans identified instances where both Planktons were portrayed as a loving couple and joked: "the subliminal message from SpongeBob's insidious creators ... [is that] the technosexual lifestyle means bonding forever with your one true love".[30]

In other media

Plankton and Karen have been featured in various forms of SpongeBob SquarePants merchandise, including video games and action figures.[31] In 2006, Ty Inc.'s Beanie Babies introduced a plush toy based on Plankton.[32] A Lego building set based on the Chum Bucket, including a Plankton minifigure and his laboratory with Karen, was released in 2007.[33] The fourteenth issue of SpongeBob Comics, titled "Plankton Comics," is centered around the Planktons and includes six original stories set at the Chum Bucket.[34] The 2013 video game Plankton's Robotic Revenge is Plankton-themed and features Lawrence and Jill Talley reprising their voice roles from the show as Plankton and Karen.[35]

Plankton and Karen appear in several Nickelodeon crossover works, including 2005's Nicktoons Unite! game[36] and one of its sequels, Nicktoons: Globs of Doom.[37] Both games feature the Chum Bucket as a playing location and in the latter, Plankton is a player character.[38] Additionally, Plankton and Karen are both mentioned by Eric Lange (as his character Sikowitz) in "Tori Goes Platinum," an episode of Nickelodeon's sitcom Victorious.[39]

A replica of Plankton's laboratory in Zhongzheng District, Taipei.

Sea World Australia's "SpongeBob ParadePants" event, which opened in December 2011, included a float featuring Karen and a talking Plankton.[40] In 2015, a recreation of Plankton's laboratory was constructed for a SpongeBob event at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Zhongzheng District, Taipei.[41] It included a replica of Karen's monitor, functioning as a television, screening episodes of SpongeBob, and a miniature Plankton statue.[42]

The Flaming Lips' song "SpongeBob and Patrick Confront the Psychic Wall of Energy," recorded for The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, closes with several lines focusing on Plankton and Karen. The song characterizes Plankton as a confused faultfinder who would be much happier if he stopped focusing on his failures and complaining to Karen.[43][44] Plankton sings a track on the novelty album The Best Day Ever titled "You Will Obey," on which Elvis Presley's former guitarist James Burton played guitar.[45] Of the album, Tom Kenny said "one of our hidden Easter eggs that hopefully more than three people in the world will get is during the guitar solo when Plankton says 'Take it, James', which was what Elvis said in every one of those concert movies".[45] Film composer John Debney produced Plankton's theme music for the second SpongeBob movie, using low brass and trombones.[46] The film's score includes several tracks named after Plankton, including "Plankton Rescues Karen," which is used during a scene highlighting Plankton's cooperation with hero SpongeBob.[47][48]

Plankton and Karen are the central antagonists in the Broadway production The SpongeBob Musical.[49] In it they are portrayed by Nick Blaemire and Stephanie Hsu. In addition to wearing costumes inspired by the characters, Blaemire and Hsu sing a musical number (titled "When the Going Gets Tough," composed by T.I.)[49] along with a Plankton puppet and a replica of Karen's mobile form. The plot features them attempting to hypnotize the residents of Bikini Bottom into liking the food they serve at the Chum Bucket. In 2009, actor Andy Peart portrayed Plankton in the musical adaptation of the third-season episode "The Sponge Who Could Fly".[50] Viv Hardwick of The Northern Echo positively reviewed the production and noted that Peart had very similar mannerisms to the cartoon Plankton.[51]

References

  1. ^ Wilson, Amy (February 12, 2002). "Stephen Hillenburg created the undersea world of SpongeBob". Orange County Register. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |subscription= ignored (|url-access= suggested) (help)
  2. ^ Banks, Steven (September 21, 2004). SpongeBob Exposed!: The Insider's Guide to SpongeBob SquarePants. Schigiel, Gregg (illustrator). Simon & Schuster. p. 15. ISBN 978-0-689-86870-2.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Komputer Overload was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Friend was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ a b Writers: Luke Brookshier, Nate Cash, Richard Pursel (June 3, 2009). "Single Cell Anniversary". SpongeBob SquarePants. Season 6. Episode 122b. Nickelodeon.
  6. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference F.U.N. was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Truth or Square was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Writers: Aaron Springer, C.H. Greenblatt, Merriwether Williams (March 22, 2002). "Salsa Imbecilicus". SpongeBob SquarePants. Season 3. Episode 41a. Nickelodeon.
  9. ^ "SpongeBob SquarePants: Tom Kenny's Top 20". iTunes. Apple Inc. May 15, 2009. Archived from the original on June 13, 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  10. ^ a b Associated Press (November 15, 2004). "Ten secrets of the SpongeBob movie". Today.
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference BoytoBob was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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Bibliography

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