page_title: Plankton and Karen
section_title: Voice
hierarchical_section_title: Plankton and Karen / Plankton / Development / Voice
caption_attribution_description: English: American voice actor and writer Mr. Lawrence sitting on the SpongeBob SquarePants panel at the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con panel
context_page_description: Sheldon J. Plankton and Karen Plankton are fictional characters in the Nickelodeon animated television series SpongeBob SquarePants. They are respectively voiced by Mr. Lawrence and Jill Talley. Their first appearance was in the episode "Plankton!" that premiered on July 31, 1999. They were created and designed by marine biologist and animator Stephen Hillenburg, the creator of the series. Hillenburg named Karen after his wife, Karen Hillenburg.
  Plankton and Karen are the married owners of the unsuccessful Chum Bucket restaurant. Plankton is an intellectual planktonic copepod and Karen is a waterproof supercomputer. Plankton shares a rivalry with Mr. Krabs, who owns the far more profitable Krusty Krab restaurant and sells a fictional burger called the Krabby Patty. Plankton and Karen often devise schemes to steal the secret Krabby Patty recipe, but their efforts are always thwarted by Krabs and his employees.
  Critics have praised the characters’ voices and dialogue together. They began as minor characters, but Lawrence developed their personalities throughout the show's early seasons and they eventually became the franchise's main antagonists.
context_section_description: Plankton's voice is provided by show writer and actor Doug Lawrence, normally credited as "Mr. Lawrence". The voice originated as an imitation of one of his deep-voiced high school friends. On television, Lawrence first used this voice for incidental characters on Rocko's Modern Life. Fellow voice actor Tom Kenny found it amusing, leading to Lawrence's decision to use it when auditioning for roles on SpongeBob. Lawrence initially tried out for the role of SpongeBob during the series' pre-production, but Stephen Hillenburg wanted a more innocent voice for the character and turned him down. Lawrence continued to work on the show, voicing minor characters, eventually leading to him being offered the role of Plankton for the "Plankton!" episode. He describes Plankton's voice as a "combination of Gregory Peck and Tony the Tiger."
  When the "Plankton!" episode was pitched to Nickelodeon, Hillenburg had already decided that he wanted Lawrence to play Plankton. However, network executives wanted a guest star to provide his voice since he was set to appear in only one episode. Lawrence mentioned in an interview with fellow SpongeBob actor Thomas F. Wilson that the studio said, in his words, "'we could stunt-cast this. You know, we could have Bruce Willis do this voice.' And Steve [Hillenburg] was just like, 'it's Doug, don't you hear it? This is the character! '"
caption: Mr. Lawrence (right) and Jill Talley (left), the voices of Plankton and Karen.
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