INDIANAPOLIS — As the saying goes, you might live under a rock if you aren't familiar with "SpongeBob SquarePants" — or you could live in a pineapple under the sea or a treedome.
It's hard to believe Nickelodeon's animated TV series premiered 25 years ago in 1999.
"It's been 25 years of two idiots on either side of me, and I've survived. It is an endurance test, and I've survived," joked Rodger Bumpass, who voices Squidward Tentacles and channeled his character with his answer.
"It's amazing. I still can't quite believe it," said Carolyn Lawrence, who voices Sandy Cheeks. "I always think to myself, 'What's it going to be like even later in life, like when I'm 104?' Am I going to look back and be like, 'Wow. That was the craziest journey ever.' We are so lucky."
Who knew a quarter of a century ago that a sponge who lives in Bikini Bottom would result in more than 300 episodes, two spinoff series, three original movies, a Tony-winning Broadway musical, more than a dozen video games, theme park rides and endless merchandise?
Bumpass and Lawrence both described their favorite memories from voicing these iconic characters.
"It's the things that turned into memes – 'future,' 'too bad that didn't kill me' and 'oh, please' – just these little things that the fans, once you say it, their eyes pop open and they have that recognition moment, and that moment never gets old," Bumpass said.
"The fans, the whole thing with them is, 'Dirty Dan. Who's the real Dirty Dan?' I don't know how that caught on, but it did," Lawrence said.
And in a first for the franchise, a character not named SpongeBob is getting their own spinoff film: "Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie" debuts Friday, Aug. 2 on Netflix.
"Twenty-five years in, you don't think there's gonna be another new thing," Lawrence said. "Getting her own movie at this point in the game blows my mind."
Don't think there's any fatigue with "SpongeBob SquarePants" either. The animated series just won its 21st Kids' Choice Award — and the title character and Patrick Star virtually hosted the awards show.
"I think it's so exciting that you get to share something you loved so much as a kid, and then as a parent, you get to sit and share it with your child. It's an amazing multigenerational thing," Lawrence said.
New episodes of "SpongeBob SquarePants" air on Nickelodeon throughout the year.