SpongeBob Voice Actors Dubbing Over Star Wars In Character Is Everything

The internet is a complicated beast, but sometimes it gives you with some incredibly bizarre, specific thing you never knew you needed in your life. In this case, it’s the lead voice actors from SpongeBob SquarePants dubbing over Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker in the climactic moment of Revenge of the Sith. And, no, they’re not doing Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen impressions. They’re doing it as SpongeBob and Patrick. It’s truly a wonder to behold.

The entity responsible for this watershed moment in voice acting history is IGN, who snagged Tom Kenny (SpongeBob) and Bill Fagerbakke (Patrick) over Zoom for the occasion. Kenny / SpongeBob is cast as Obi-Wan, while Fagerbakke / Patrick makes a stunning performance as Anakin. The petty way Fagerbakke says “I hate you!” will now be one of those references I make constantly, but no one understands. Especially when surrounded by the endless series of “ow”s and grunts, it’s a shame that there’s no Oscar equivalent for performances on TikTok.

Both Kenny and Fagerbakke have been voicing their iconic characters since SpongeBob premiered on Nickelodeon in 1999. Does thinking that SpongeBob is almost 25 years old make me feel old and withered? Because I specifically remember watching the first episode premiere after the Kids Choice Awards and how my life changed forever in that moment? Yes. Yes it does. And then you consider that SpongeBob and Episode I: The Phantom Menace came out in the same year, and that really does put me in a very specific time and place.

IGN posted the video with the caption, “The Fry Cook Games looking a little different.” For those who don’t have the first three seasons of SpongeBob burned into their memory, “The Fry Cook Games” is an episode from SpongeBob‘s second season (the Golden Era!) from 2001 (four years prior to the 2005 release of Revenge of the Sith). It’s actually quite an apt comparison: in the episode, the two besties are furious with each other and take it out in a series of Olympic-type competitions. It culminates in a brutal wrestling match, which goes so far as to alter Patrick’s name tag.

Yes, the Star Wars prequels are having a renewed moment, thanks to the Obi-Wan Kenobi series on Disney Plus. But “hot trends” moment aside, this TikTok made me yearn for a Wizard People Dear Reader-style overdub of Revenge of the Sith with the entire SpongeBob voice cast. Mr. Krabs as Yoda? Squidward as General Grievous? Plankton as Palpatine? Sandy as Padmé? What a dream.

Image credit: Lucasfilm