Pearl Krabs is a fictional character in
Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...
's
animated television series
An animated series, or a cartoon series, is a set of Animation, animated films with a common title, usually related to one another. These episodes typically share the same main heroes, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series ...
''
SpongeBob SquarePants
''SpongeBob SquarePants'' is an American animated television series, animated comedy television series created by marine science educator and animator Stephen Hillenburg for Nickelodeon. It first aired as a sneak peek after the 1999 Kids' C ...
''. She is voiced by actress
Lori Alan and first appeared in the season one episode "
Squeaky Boots" on September 17, 1999. She was created by marine biologist and animator
Stephen Hillenburg, who was inspired to design a whale character while supervising
whale watches at the
Ocean Institute in
Dana Point, California
Dana Point () is a city located in southern Orange County, California, United States. The population was 33,107 at the 2020 census. It has one of the few harbors along the Orange County coast; with ready access via State Route 1, it is a popu ...
.
Pearl is an adolescent
sperm whale
The sperm whale or cachalot (''Physeter macrocephalus'') is the largest of the toothed whales and the largest toothed predator. It is the only living member of the Genus (biology), genus ''Physeter'' and one of three extant species in the s ...
who lives in a hollow
anchor
An anchor is a device, normally made of metal, used to secure a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ', which itself comes from the Greek ().
Anch ...
with her father
Eugene "Mr." Krabs, the greedy founder of the popular
Krusty Krab restaurant. Pearl will inherit the restaurant and become its owner when she grows older.
She is currently employed at the local shopping center, the Bikini Bottom Mall. The identity and whereabouts of Pearl's unseen mother have never been explained directly by the characters. While supplemental materials indicate her father married a whale who gave birth to Pearl, Hillenburg was strongly against revealing this in an episode.
Critical reception for Pearl has been largely positive. Her depiction as the child of a single parent has been praised by critics as an example of ''SpongeBob''s ability to challenge
social norms
A social norm is a shared standard of acceptance, acceptable behavior by a group. Social norms can both be informal understandings that govern the behavior of members of a society, as well as be codified into wikt:rule, rules and laws. Social norma ...
. She has been featured frequently in a variety of merchandise, such as
plush toys and
video game
A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...
s, and at amusement park attractions. She appears in the 2004 feature film ''
The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie
''The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie'' is a 2004 American adventure comedy film, animated adventure comedy film based on the television series ''SpongeBob SquarePants''. It was co-written, co-produced, and directed by series creator Stephen Hill ...
'', the 2017
Broadway musical based on the series, in ''
Kamp Koral: SpongeBob's Under Years'' as an infant, and as a young child in ''
The Patrick Star Show''.
Role in ''SpongeBob SquarePants''
Because she is a whale and most other characters are small
tide pool
A tide pool or rock pool is a shallow pool of seawater that forms on the rocky intertidal shore. These pools typically range from a few inches to a few feet deep and a few feet across. Many of these pools exist as separate bodies of water only ...
organisms, Pearl is depicted as extraordinarily tall and heavy. Her size compared to the other characters is often used for
visual gag
In comedy, a visual gag or sight gag is anything which conveys its humour visually, often without words being used at all. The gag may involve a physical impossibility or an unexpected occurrence. The humor is caused by alternative interpretation ...
s; for example, she is able to shake the entire Krusty Krab when she jumps and can fill the entire building with tears when she cries. The floors of the Krabs' residence are equipped with
drain plugs so the house can be emptied after Pearl cries or spouts water from her
blowhole. Wherever she goes, she stomps loudly and causes the ground to shake slightly.
Mr. Krabs attempts to interest Pearl in working at the Krusty Krab—their family business—but she does not want to work there until she graduates from high school, believing it would deprive her of a social life. Despite this, she manages the Krusty Krab when Mr. Krabs cannot,
and fills in for other employees when needed. Being a sperm whale, Pearl has the largest brain of any Bikini Bottom resident and is gifted in math. Mr. Krabs has tried to use this to his own advantage and wants Pearl to eventually become a bookkeeper for his restaurant.
Pearl's favorite activities are socializing at the Bikini Bottom Mall and using her father's credit card to buy anything that is totally "coral" (Bikini Bottom slang for "cool").
Mr. Krabs disapproves of Pearl's prodigious spending, but nonetheless pays for her items to avoid disappointing his daughter. Pearl is employed as an assistant at Grandma's Apron, a store for elderly residents on the ground floor of the shopping center. Beatrice, her boss at Grandma's Apron, was voiced by actress
Betty White.
Fictional origin
The disparity in species between Pearl and her father has never been explained directly in an episode, but merchandise makers and production crew members have stated that Mr. Krabs was once married to a whale who gave birth to Pearl. A trivia book penned by former ''SpongeBob'' writer David Fain in 2000 states that Pearl "takes after her mother," implying that she is the biological offspring of Mr. Krabs and a whale.
According to creative director
Vincent Waller, Stephen Hillenburg received many letters requesting a Pearl origin story, but was still "very much against solving
hemystery" of how she joined the Krabs family. A
step outline
A step outline (also informally called a beat sheet or scene-by-scene) is a detailed telling of a story with the intention of turning the story into a screenplay for a motion picture.
The step outline briefly details every scene of the screenpla ...
for an episode focusing on her origin was written and started early development stages, but the episode has been shelved indefinitely because of Hillenburg's disapproval.
Pearl's name, and the decision to portray her as motherless, were an homage to the phrase ''
mother-of-pearl
Nacre ( , ), also known as mother-of-pearl, is an organicinorganic composite material produced by some molluscs as an inner shell layer. It is also the material of which pearls are composed. It is strong, resilient, and iridescent.
Nacre is ...
'', which refers to the inner layer of some sea-dwelling mollusk shells. Mr. Krabs uses this phrase when he is startled, in a similar vein to "
Mother of God
''Theotokos'' (Greek: ) is a title of Mary, mother of Jesus, used especially in Eastern Christianity. The usual Latin translations are or (approximately "parent (fem.) of God"). Familiar English translations are "Mother of God" or "God-bearer ...
", as a reference to the absence of Pearl's mother. His use of the phrase only when he is dismayed or shocked has led some viewers to believe something tragic happened to Mrs. Krabs.
At
Dragon Con in 2016,
Lori Alan and
Rodger Bumpass
Rodger Bumpass (born November 20, 1951) is an American actor. He is known for his role as Squidward Tentacles on the American animated television series ''SpongeBob SquarePants''. He voices several other characters on the show as well, includi ...
addressed Pearl's origins as their characters Pearl and Squidward. In the skit, Squidward asks Pearl if she is adopted. Pearl does not give a definite response, instead saying that she gets emotional over the topic.
Later at the same event, the actors discussed the disappearance of Pearl's mother. Alan affirmed that Mrs. Krabs' whereabouts are secret, and Bumpass joked that she had been taken to an
oceanarium
An oceanarium can be either a marine mammal park, such as Marineland of Canada, or a large-scale Public aquarium, aquarium, such as the Lisbon Oceanarium, presenting an ocean habitat with marine (ocean), marine animals, especially large ocean dwe ...
, saying: "Two words:
Sea World."
Character
Creation and design
Pearl was one of the first five characters Stephen Hillenburg created for ''SpongeBob''.
Her conceptualization is rooted in Hillenburg's tenure as a teacher at the
Orange County Marine Institute in
Dana Point, California
Dana Point () is a city located in southern Orange County, California, United States. The population was 33,107 at the 2020 census. It has one of the few harbors along the Orange County coast; with ready access via State Route 1, it is a popu ...
.
Screenwriter
Allan Neuwirth describes the Marine Institute as Hillenburg's "first stop on the road to ''SpongeBob SquarePants''," as it inspired the development of many of the series' characters; Hillenburg's decision to include a whale character was influenced by his regular supervision of
whale watches, and a cetacean skeleton exhibit at the institute.
Hillenburg's original sketch of Pearl in the
show bible included flukes and pigtails, which were dropped from her final design. Mr. Krabs and Pearl had matching yellow and orange clothes initially, but they were given individualized colors before the production of the pilot episode.
Hillenburg made Pearl a different species from her father because he wanted each member of the main cast to be a different type of animal.
When he was first developing the characters, Hillenburg wanted Pearl and Mr. Krabs to travel around town in a
caravan
Caravan or caravans may refer to:
Transport and travel
*Campervan, a type of vehicle also known as a motor caravan
*Caravan (travellers), a group of travellers journeying together
**Caravanserai, a place where a caravan could stop
*Caravan (trail ...
boat with a whale-sized
teardrop trailer connected to it; while this element did make it into the series, it was only used sparsely in season one. The decision to have Mr. Krabs and Pearl live in an anchor was made after production of the first season had begun. The original map of the show's setting, which Hillenburg showed Nickelodeon executives as part of his pitch to the network in 1997, did not include an anchor house, and instead labeled the Krusty Krab as both characters' residence.
Hillenburg originally planned for Pearl and Mr. Krabs to be mostly separate characters, with specific episodes dedicated to each character individually.
This happened in several early episodes, such as "The Chaperone," but the writers found it more natural to include Mr. Krabs in Pearl-centric stories. Hillenburg considered this the biggest difference between the series and how he originally envisioned it.
Animation historian
Jerry Beck
Jerry Beck (born February 9, 1955) is an American animation historian, author, blogger (person), blogger, and video producer.
Beck wrote or edited several books on classic American animation and classic characters, including ''Looney Tunes and ...
has stated that Pearl's breakout role was in "
Bossy Boots," which he considers the episode that best established her as one of the series' stars.
Voice
Pearl's voice is provided by American actress
Lori Alan in the series, both feature films, and the associated video games.
During her audition for the role, she was shown an early drawing of Pearl with the other main characters. She noted how Pearl was much larger than the rest of the cast, and decided to reflect the character's size in her voice by making it deep and full in tone. She also aimed to make the voice invoke the sound of whales’ low vocalizations while also sounding "spoiled and lovable".
In an interview with
AfterBuzz TV, Alan said that she knew Pearl "had to sound somewhat like a child," but at the same time needed "an abnormally large voice".
Pearl's catchphrase "Daddy!" was developed early during production of the first season, but was not used in an episode until later on. A script that the main voice actors were reading from during a rehearsal had the line fully capitalized, with the first syllable extended (''"daaaaddy!"''), so Alan knew to put particular emphasis on the line when it was in a script.
Rodger Bumpass
Rodger Bumpass (born November 20, 1951) is an American actor. He is known for his role as Squidward Tentacles on the American animated television series ''SpongeBob SquarePants''. He voices several other characters on the show as well, includi ...
, the voice of
Squidward Tentacles, describes Alan's portrayal of Pearl as a "unique and wonderful take on how this teenager should be ... No one else has a teenager that sounds like Pearl."
Reception
Critical response
Pearl's character has received popularity and critical acclaim. In a review of the first official trailer for ''The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water'', Victoria McNally of ''
The Mary Sue'' said that Pearl was her favorite character, and she was disappointed not to see her in the movie's preview. She writes, "if they can manage to work Pearl into the plot somewhere, I'll take back everything I've already said about this film. Maybe she could get beached on the shore, I don't know. Pearl's the best." Joseph Foy, author of the novel ''SpongeBob SquarePants and Philosophy'', felt that it was difficult not to sympathize with Pearl's situation since she believes she is "more important to her father than money," but "we, the viewing audience, know differently".
''
DVD Talk
DVD Talk is a home video news and review website launched in 1999 by Geoffrey Kleinman.
History
Kleinman founded the site in January 1999 in Beaverton, Oregon. Besides news and reviews, it features information on hidden DVD features known as ...
''s Paul Mavis wrote in his review of ''
Legends of Bikini Bottom'' that he found Pearl "annoyingly funny". In 2013,
José Antonio Gómez Marín of ''
El Mundo'' said that he felt Pearl brings an easily recognizable youthful tone to the show.
Like Mr. Krabs, Pearl has also been considered a stereotyped character;
Sharon Lamb and
Lyn Mikel Brown wrote in their 2007 book ''Packaging Girlhood'' that Pearl exhibits the traits of an archetypal
girly girl. A study by the federal office of gender equality in Mexico,
El Instituto Nacional de las Mujeres, found that Pearl's roles sometimes rely on characteristics associated with stereotypes of women, such as vanity and materialism.
In an article for ''
Complex
Complex commonly refers to:
* Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe
** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...
'', Debbie Encalada praised the ''SpongeBob'' series for challenging social norms; the portrayal of the Krabses as a single-parent family was specifically highlighted as an example of the show's "subversiveness by subtly challenging the idea of the nuclear family". Psychologist Steve Harriman covers the Krabs family dynamic in the 2005
Berkley Book ''Absorbing SpongeBob''. He calls attention to the lack of explanation for the disparity between Pearl and Mr. Krabs' species, noting that it is only after watching several episodes that viewers realize the Krabs family is broken. He also questions the decision to focus on Patrick's family, rather than Pearl's, in the only episode dealing "head-on with a core pathology of family"—"
I'm with Stupid". In his review of the third season, Bryan Pope of ''
DVD Verdict
DVD Verdict was a judicial-themed website for DVD reviews. The site was founded in 1999. The editor-in-chief was Michael Stailey, who owned the website between 2004 and 2016, and the site employed a large editorial staff of critics, whose revie ...
'' called Mr. Krabs and Pearl (as well as Krabs' girlfriend
Mrs. Puff, whom he mistook for the character's wife) one of "the most head-scratching family units
e had
E, or e, is the fifth Letter (alphabet), letter and the second vowel#Written vowels, vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others wo ...
ever come across".
Fan theories
The absence of Pearl's mother has caused much speculation among viewers since the series' debut. Various fan theories about how Pearl became Mr. Krabs' daughter have become popular on the internet. Jon Negroni, creator of "the Pixar Theory," theorized that Mr. Krabs' fear of fish hooks in the episode "
Hooky" suggests a fish hook was involved in the death of Pearl's mother, who was presumably a whale like Pearl.
In other media
Pearl has been featured in a variety of merchandise such as plush toys, video games, comics and trading cards. The Krabs family restaurant, the Krusty Krab, has been the basis for a
Lego
Lego (, ; ; stylised as LEGO) is a line of plastic construction toys manufactured by the Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. Lego consists of variously coloured interlocking plastic bricks made of acrylonitri ...
playset, and many replicas at attractions. A float modeled after the Krusty Krab, featuring a
costumed mascot of Pearl that greeted guests and an
animatronic
An animatronic is a puppet controlled electronically to move in a fluent way. Animatronics are the modern adaptation of the automaton and are often used for the portrayal of characters in films, video games and in theme park attractions.
Anim ...
Mr. Krabs, regularly appeared at
Sea World's weekly "SpongeBob ParadePants" parade. A full-size replica of the building was built in
Ramallah
Ramallah ( , ; ) is a Palestinians, Palestinian city in the central West Bank, that serves as the administrative capital of the State of Palestine. It is situated on the Judaean Mountains, north of Jerusalem, at an average elevation of abov ...
, Palestine in 2014. In January 2016, Nickelodeon's parent company
Viacom filed a lawsuit against the operators of a similar for-profit "Krusty Krab" restaurant to be opened in Texas. A Texas federal judge ruled in January 2017 that the planned restaurant violated Viacom's rights to the ''SpongeBob'' property, thus halting its construction.
In 2011, the indie rock group
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo (Spanish language, Spanish for "I've got it"; also abbreviated as YLT) is an American indie rock band formed in Hoboken, New Jersey, in 1984. Since 1992, the lineup has consisted of Ira Kaplan (guitars, piano, vocals), Georgia Hubley ...
performed a live version of Mr. Krabs and Pearl's commercial from the episode "
As Seen on TV
"As seen on TV" is a generic phrase for products advertised on television in the United States for directresponse mail-order through a toll-free telephone number. ''As Seen on TV'' advertisements, known as infomercials, are usually 30-minute show ...
" at the
El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles, California. Included as part of Yo La Tengo's first tour, it starred
Ira Kaplan as Mr. Krabs and
Laura Krafft as Pearl. Billy Gil of ''
L.A. Record'' praised the performance in his review. An episode of the
sketch comedy
Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches" or, "skits", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. While the form developed and became popular in ...
series ''
Robot Chicken
''Robot Chicken'' is an American adult animation, adult stop motion, stop-motion animated sketch comedy television series created by Seth Green and Matthew Senreich for Cartoon Network's nighttime programming block Adult Swim. The twelve-minute ...
'' titled "
Major League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" includes a skit that stars Mr. Krabs and Pearl. The segment, animated in
stop motion
Stop-motion (also known as stop frame animation) is an animated filmmaking and special effects technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exh ...
like most other sketches on the program, features Mr. Krabs using crab legs as the secret ingredient for Krabby Patties. Before he is exposed for serving cannibal meals, Pearl is shown unsuspectingly eating the patties. Several tracks on ''
The Best Day Ever'', a 2006
soundtrack album
A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television show. The first such album to be commercially released was Walt Disney's ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs ( ...
, feature the vocal performance of Lori Alan as Pearl. The segment "Pearl Krabs aka Caller #5!" is a skit between Pearl and a disc jockey voiced by radio personality
Jerry Blavat.
Broadway musical
In the
2017 Broadway musical based on ''SpongeBob'', which premiered at the
Palace Theatre in New York City, Pearl is played by Jai'len Christine Li Josey. Her attire in the musical was inspired by her animated counterpart; it includes a cheerleading uniform, an Afro styled into the shape of Pearl's whale head, and a pair of
platform sneakers that replicate Pearl's signature loud stomping from the cartoon. In the production, Mr. Krabs plans to make her the Krusty Krab's new manager rather than SpongeBob. However, Pearl wants to become a rock band singer instead and is troubled by her father's disregard for her own hopes and dreams. She sings a duet with Mr. Krabs titled "Daddy Knows Best," an original composition written by
Alex Ebert that highlights the two characters' differences.
Josey's performance as Pearl has been critically lauded, with some reviewers highlighting her as the breakout star of the musical. ''
Entertainment Tonight
''Entertainment Tonight'' (or simply ''ET'') is an American Broadcast syndication, first-run syndicated news broadcasting news magazine, newsmagazine program that is distributed by CBS Media Ventures throughout the United States and owned by Par ...
'' named Josey one of the eight best Broadway debuts of 2017, writing that none of the musical's other debuts "were more impressive than Josey, who at 18, quite literally stormed the stage as the teenage sperm whale Pearl Krabs. Her looming presence was only matched by her stunning vocal performance." Josh Ferri of
BroadwayBox.com included Pearl's "Daddy Knows Best" on a list of his 15 favorite Broadway songs of 2017, calling it "a rare star is born moment...this is for
oseywhat '
Miss Marmelstein' was for young
Streisand
Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand ( ; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress, songwriter, producer, and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success across multiple fields of entertainment, being the ...
." Jo Rosenthal of ''
Vice
A vice is a practice, behaviour, Habit (psychology), habit or item generally considered morally wrong in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character trait, a defect, an infirmity, or a bad or unhe ...
'' wrote that "Josey nearly stole the entire show as Pearl, her voice eliciting roars of joy from the audience as she lamented the greed of her dad, Mr. Krabs." Casey Curtis of the ''New York Theatre Guide'' said that Josey's voice "was so beautifully strong and clear that it made me get misty-eyed."
Vulture.com's Sara Holdren said, "Definitely try not to say 'daaamn' under your breath
uring'Daddy Knows Best.' This whale can wail." Isabella Biedenharn of ''
Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...
'' called Josey's Pearl a "vocal powerhouse" and Siddhant Adlakha of ''
Birth.Movies.Death.'' said that "every solo she gets is a moment to behold." Audience reception was similarly positive; in an analysis of reviews from children who attended the musical, ''
Newsday
''Newsday'' is a daily newspaper in the United States primarily serving Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, although it is also sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. The slogan of the newspaper is "Newsday, Your Eye on LI" ...
'' reported that Pearl's character was "a part of the show that everyone seemed to enjoy" and that Josey's vocal performance "was an outstanding addition."
See also
*
List of individual cetaceans
Cetaceans are the animals commonly known as whales, dolphins, and porpoises. This list includes individuals from real life or fiction, where fictional individuals are indicated by their source. It is arranged roughly taxonomy (biology), taxonomic ...
References
Bibliography
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Krabs, Pearl
Comedy film characters
Anthropomorphic mammals
Television characters introduced in 1999
Animated characters introduced in 1999
Fictional cheerleaders
Fictional whales
SpongeBob SquarePants characters
Teenage characters in television
Female characters in animated television series