GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — SpongeBob SquarePants himself is coming to West Michigan. Grand Rapids Comic Con has announced that voice actor Tom Kenny will be a guest at the upcoming event, which will be held November 3-5 at the DeVos Place.
SpongeBob SquarePants was created by Stephen Hillenburg, and premiered on Nickelodeon in 1999. In the series, Kenny also voices SpongeBob’s pet snail Gary. The series has spawned three feature films: The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (2004), The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water (2015), and The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run (2020). Kenny also voices a younger version of SpongeBob in the prequel series Kamp Koral: SpongeBob’s Under Years, which premiered on Paramount+ in 2021. A spin-off series about SpongeBob’s best friend, The Patrick Star Show, premiered on Nickelodeon in 2021. Kenny has also appeared in the series as SpongeBob as a special guest.
One of Kenny’s other roles for Nickelodeon was Heffer Wolfe in Rocko’s Modern Life, which ran from 1993-1995. He later reprised the role in the 2019 Netflix television special Rocko’s Modern Life: Static Cling. Kenny also voiced Dog in the series CatDog, which aired on Nickelodeon from 1998-2005. The series followed Dog and Cat (voiced by Jim Cummings), two brothers who share the same body.
In the Cartoon Network series The Powerpuff Girls, Kenny voiced the Mayor of Townsville. He also played the character in the 2002 film The Powerpuff Girls Movie. Kenny later reprised the role in the reboot series, which aired on Cartoon Network from 2016-2019.
Kenny also voiced the Penguin/Oswald Cobblepot in the animated series The Batman, which aired on Kids’ WB from 2004-2008. The character also appeared in the 2005 direct-to-video film The Batman vs. Dracula. Kenny also played the character in Scooby-Doo! & Batman: The Brave and the Bold (2018), Batman: Ninja (2018), and Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2019).
For Marvel, Kenny voiced Iron Man, Captain America, and MODOK in the series The Super Hero Squad Show, which ran on Cartoon Network from 2009-2011. Kenny later voiced the villains Doctor Octopus and the Vulture in Ultimate Spider-Man, which ran on Disney XD from 2012-2017.
Grand Rapids Comic Con will be held November 3-5 at the DeVos Place.
