Who lives in a pineapple under the sea? It turns out Abner Doubledeal, Dean Suspendington, and the Masked Unity do. Those are all characters voiced by the inimitable Tom Kenny.
Most audiences likely know Kenny’s work playing SpongeBob SquarePants, the title character from one of Nickelodeon’s biggest shows ever. SpongeBob is a childlike sea sponge, shaped like a kitchen sponge, who lives in blissful joy in his pineapple shaped house in Bikini Bottom. SpongeBob has achieved his dream of being a fry cook at the Krusty Krab, his favorite burger joint, and is rarely seem without a smile on his oblivious face. “SpongeBob SquarePants” debuted in 1999 and has been running ever since, occasionally pausing for a feature film or a spinoff series. The show’s creator, Stephen Hillernburg, passed in 2018.
Kenny has been loyal to SpongeBob ever since 1999, but the character is only one small piece of a long comedy career. The actor developed an interest in making people laugh way back in the first grade when he became friends with future comedian Bob Goldthwait. The pair began performing at open-mic nights in their teens and gave themselves the stage names of Tomcat and Bobcat (Goldthwait still goes by the name Bobcat to this day), with Kenny moving into movies and solo standup as an adult.
Kenny eventually appeared in the sketch comedy show “The Edge” (one of the best ever) before venturing into the world of cartoon voice acting, appearing in shows like “What-a-Mess,” “Rocko’s Modern Life,” and the “Dumb and Dumber” TV show. He has since racked up almost 400 voice acting credits.
The same year “SpongeBob” debuted, Kenny also began a series of guest appearances on “Futurama,” starting with the episode “Fear of a Bot Planet,” which aired April 20, 1999.
The nine future lives of Tom Kenny
Kenny’s first notable “Futurama” voice was the Resin-Offering Robot. In “Fear of a Bot Planet,” Fry (Billy West) and Leela (Katey Sagal) had to deliver a package to a planet populated entirely by robots. The planet was distant and isolated, and didn’t know much about humans, fearing them as fleshy space monsters. Fry and Leela dress in garbage cans and infiltrate the planet in disguise. Fry, however, has to pee, something robots do not do. When whizzing on a wall, a robot catches him, assuming he’s leaking coolant. The robot offers to seal up the leak with a blast of hot resin. Fry insists the leak will stop on its own … in a few seconds.
Kenny’s “Futurama” debut, in other words, was a robot who offered to blast Fry in the genitals with molten plastics.
In “The Cyber House Rules” (April 1, 2001), Kenny played Dr. Adlai Atkins, a cosmetic surgeon who develops a way to turn the cyclops Leela into a biclops. Leela loves having two eyes, having previously been teased for having just one. She and Dr. Atkins begin a calm, normal affair. Indeed, Dr. Atkins is obsessed with everything being average, normal, and not weird at all. It’s those qualities that make him weird. Leela eventually dumps him, insisting she be given one eye back.
Kenny’s most extensive role came in “The Luck of the Fryrish” (March 11, 2001), when he played Yancy, Fry’s older brother. The episode flashes back to 1999 (“Futurama” is set in the 31st century), revealing the rivalry Fry and Yancy had. Some lingering evidence leads Fry to believe that Yancy had stolen his identity back in the 21st century and used Fry’s good luck charm to succeed. The twist ending, however, reveals something much more touching.
The other Kennys
Kenny also had bit parts here and there. He played a computerized judge in “Fear of a Bot Planet” and a sewer mutant in “The Luck of the Fryrish.” He similarly voiced the Masked Unit, a lethal pro-wrestling robot in the episode “Raging Bender” (February 27, 2000). The Masked Unit could masquerade in public as a normal robot with a shrimpy body. He could then transform into a fighting robot with laser eyes. Kenny played both the wimpy and the “tough” versions of the character.
In that same episode, Kenny played Abner Doubledeal, the shady manager of the Robot Fighting League. Doubeldeal later gave up robot fighting and took on professional baseball in “A Leela of Her Own.” His name, of course, was derived from Abner Doubleday, the inventor of American baseball. Then, once baseball dried up, Doubledeal assumed management of Butterfly Derbies, a mid-air sport where the contestants wear arm-powered butterfly wings and crash into one another. Leela and Amy (Lauren Tom) become Butterfly Derby champs in “The Butterjunk Effect” (July 18, 2012), but only after becoming addicted to steroids.
Kenny appeared in the episode “Free Will Hunting” (August 8, 2012) playing Dean Suspendington. In that episode, Bender begins to wonder if he, a robot, possesses free will. He begins to look for meaning in his life, knowing he may die at any time. He tries going to college, but only lasts 32 seconds before being expelled for falling in with a gang, turning to crime and doing damage to Dean Suspendington’s wife (to the tune of $9,000).
Kenny’s most recent “Futurama” appearance was reprising the role of Yancy in “Game of Tones” (August 14, 2013). He came back to play Yancy frequently, standing by for any flashbacks the “Futurama” writers required.