Nickelodeon Announces SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS Prequel Series

Everyone is getting a prequel these days. Big Bang Theory, Breaking Bad, and soon, Game of Thrones. Now, we can add SpongeBob to that list. According to a report coming out of Deadline,  Nickelodeon has ordered 13 episodes of Kamp Koral, a spin-off of the long running and beloved SpongeBob SquarePants. Although the original series is animated in a more traditional 2D format, this new prequel series will be a CG-animated affair. It will center around the 10-year-old version of SpongeBob during his summer at sleep-away camp. Production on Kamp Koral begins this summer, so expect it to debut sometime in 2020.

Nickelodeon Announces SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS Prequel Series_1

According to the report, Kamp Koral will show us how the kid versions of SpongeBob and his friends spent the summer. We’ll see them building underwater campfires, catching wild jellyfish, and swimming in Lake Yuckymuck at “the craziest camp in the kelp forest, Kamp Koral.” SpongeBob SquarePants‘ Marc Ceccarelli and Vincent Waller co-executive produce the prequel. No telling yet what other “junior” versions of classic SpongeBob characters we are going to see in the series, but we wouldn’t be surprised to see most of our favorites.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of SpongeBob, which debuted in May of 1999. It became an instant pop culture sensation, and has run for twelve seasons and 244 episodes and counting. In addition, there have been two SpongeBob movies, with a third on the way next year. There has even been a Tony award winning Broadway musical. Not to mention all the different video games and theme park rides, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. It’s surprising it has taken this long to produce a proper spin-off series. But it’s smart of the folks at Nickelodeon to wait for the right project to come along.

Images: Nickelodeon