Syracuse native Tom Kenny and his alter ego, SpongeBob Squarepants, will be celebrating an important milestone this coming summer. 2019 marks the 20th anniversary of the debut of the iconic cartoon character!To mark the anniversary, Nickelodeon will broadcast a one hour tribute show during its “Best Year Ever” celebration called “SpongeBob’s Big Birthday Blowout” on July 12th. This will also coincide with new releases of the regular half hour shows.Nickelodeon will cap off the celebration with a release of a new full-length feature movie titled “The SpongeBob Movie: It’s a Wonderful Sponge” in the summer of 2020.Syracuse native Tom Kenny will participate in the celebration. Kenny has been the voice of SpongeBob since it’s debut on Nickelodeon on July 17, 1999. Since then the beloved character has been on Broadway, the movie screen, and in holiday parades. SpongeBob was created by Stephen Hillenburg who passed away in 2018. His creation lives on though, and we hope it will do so for many years to come! Congratulationsto all involved!