“Who lives in a pineapple under the sea? SpongeBoy SquarePants!” You read that right, “SpongeBoy,” and that’s not a typo, it’s what that talking yellow square sponge that we have grown to love would have been called if his creators had, had their way. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you looked at it) SpongeBoy was already trademarked by a mop company. That’s just one example of how SpongeBob SquarePants has a much more storied history than its wacky and illogical nature lets on. The following is a list of some of my favorite facts about the show.

• SpongeBob’s creator, Stephen Hillenburg, was a marine biologist before he became an animator.
• Bikini Bottom is a real place located in Bikini Atoll, though shockingly it does not actually have the fish city the SpongeBob calls home.
• Bikini Bottom, the fictional town where SpongeBob lives, is largely based off of Seattle.
• SpongeBob’s flamboyant style gave rise to his popularity in the gay community, while earning him enemies in the Evangelist one. Hillenburg, has come out stating however that SpongeBob is not gay and is “almost asexual.”
• SpongeBob’s laugh is supposed to be a mix of a dolphin and a seagull; it is achieved by voice actor, Tom Kenny, repeatedly hitting his Adam’s apple while doing his Sponge Bob voice.
• People who have had a guest spot on the show include Alec Baldwin, Amy Poehler, David Bowie, Johnny Depp, and Mark Hamill just to name a few.
• President Obama has been quoted saying that his favorite television character is the SpongeBob.
• Why does SpongeBob live in a pineapple? Because Hillenburg thinks that SpongeBob would love the smell that comes with living in a pineapple.
• SpongeBob was originally a sea sponge, not the kitchen sponge he is today, but Hillenburg’s drawings of the sea sponge version were deemed to be aesthetically unpleasing so SpongeBob was turned into a kitchen sponge.