From the moment Tom Kenny got on the phone the other day, his enthusiasm for being the voice of SpongeBob Squarepants was infectious.
Need a pick-me-up if you’re having a bad day? Those who actually know Kenny — as opposed to a reporter just lucky enough to snare him for an interview — obviously are pretty lucky. I’d bet one quick chat with Kenny, and his pals’ bouts with the blues quickly disappear.
The actor, comedian and veteran voice of animated characters started to laugh when asked about the latest episode: voicing his iconic children’s cartoon character in the new film “The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water,” the 3-D big-screen romp hitting multiplexes Friday.
“Just when I’m ready to close the book on SpongeBob, a new chapter gets written,” said Kenny, who obviously is not in any true hurry to walk away from the role, the TV series or the subsequent movies that are sure to come.
Kenny called the success of “SpongeBob” a “weird, harmonic convergence of the elements.”
“I knew when we made the first animated short of ‘SpongeBob,’ back in 1997, that I liked it, that it was good and that it was funny,” he said. “I hadn’t really seen anything like it before. Never had seen anything that sounded like it or looked like it, or had the kind of cool, Hawaiian 1930s vibe to it. It seemed quite original. I loved those weird ‘Dating Game’ kind of flowers in the background.”
Review: Lots of humor to absorb in ‘The SpongeBob Movie’
Of course liking a project’s concept and finding success are different things — “two separate kettles of fish,” Kenny said. “Or maybe I should say sponges!”
Speaking of sponges, does Kenny get a lot of sponges as gifts? “It’s funny you should ask about that,” he said. “Last night I was in a restaurant and someone came out from the kitchen with a yellow sponge and had me sign it!”
As for the plethora of “SpongeBob” merchandise out there, Kenny said, “I have hardly any of it. I would have to buy the [Los Angeles-based] Getty Museum if I were to buy one of every ‘SpongeBob’ product that’s out there.
“I’m happy it’s out there. But when something gets sent to the house, I usually sign it and give it to the auction basket for some school’s charity event,” he said.
“I may have less ‘SpongeBob’ stuff in my house than any guy with two kids in America!”
Kenny noted that he’s gratified the show is now touching a second generation of fans. Kids who watched it from the beginning “are now in their 20s and many have kids of their own and now can watch with them.”
The actor also mentioned something that has touched him over the years. “People who have had good childhoods will come up to me at events and say ‘SpongeBob’ always brings back happy memories from that period of their lives. … Then there are people who tell me, ‘I had an awful childhood, and it was those times I could escape to Bikini Bottom [where the animated world of ‘SpongeBob Squarepants’ is set] that kept me sane growing up. … Kind of makes you pause and think.”
Before we got off the phone, Kenny made a point of saying his wife, Jill Talley, formerly a Second City player, is “a true Chicago girl. … None of that growing up in Wilmette stuff. She’s from the Southwest Side. Midway Airport was virtually in her backyard. He dad was a Chicago fire captain.”
Slipping into his SpongeBob voice, he added, “She’s about as Chicago as you can get!”
