Nickelodeon confirms ‘SpongeBob SquarePants’ prequel series

MANILA, Philippines – Who lives in a pineapple under the sea? A 10-year-old SpongeBob Squarepants does!

It’s the premise of Nickelodeon’s upcoming prequel spin-off series, tentatively titled Kamp Koral, starring the younger version of the world-famous yellow sponge away at summer camp.

According to IGN, Kamp Koral will have 13 episodes and will feature “SpongeBob and his pals spending the summer building underwater campfires, catching wild jellyfish, and swimming in Lake Yuckymuck at the craziest camp in the kelp forest, Kamp Koral.”

The CGI-animated series will begin production in June 2019, and will have veteran SpongeBob executive producers Marc Ceccarelli and Vincent Waller at the helm.

“SpongeBob has an incredible universe to expand upon and the greenlight for Kamp Koral is a testament to the strength and longevity of these characters known and loved by generations of fans around the world,” said Ramsey Naito, Nickelodeon’s executive vice president for animation production and development, according to a Deadline report.

The announcement comes shortly before the show celebrates its 20th anniversary on July 17.

SpongeBob SquarePants was created by Stephen Hillenburg, who passed away in November 2018.

After the show’s premiere in July 1999, SpongeBob not only became Nickelodeon’s number one kids’ animated series for 17 years, but also grew to be a world-wide franchise and a pop culture icon on its own. 

Since then, feature films have also been released, such as The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie in 2004, its sequel The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water in 2015, and a third, The SpongeBob Movie: It’s a Wonderful Sponge, slated for a 2020 release. – Rappler.com