February 5, 2008 - 1:00am
By Sammy Perlmutter
Who lives in a pineapple under the sea? Sponge Bob Square Pants, of course — and his pet snail Gary, who oddly purrs like a cat. Other eccentrics living down there include a squid in a collared shirt, a crab that sells hamburgers and a Texan squirrel in a scuba diving suit. Although this motley mix of characters is unequivocally charming, even the most peculiar aspects of this famed cartoon have become commonplace, thanks in large part to the commercialization of the show and the fortification of the Sponge Bob Empire (shadowed only by the Nickelodeon Universe).
