Bikini Atoll

Bikini Atoll is an island in the real-life Marshall Islands. In SpongeBob SquarePants, it is represented as a small island with three palm trees. It is the marker of where Bikini Bottom is located﻿[citation needed] under the sea. It is located halfway between Hawaii and Australia.﻿[citation needed]
It appears in the theme song and also during the openings and closings of many episodes. It plays an important role in "Pressure," The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water, and "Whale Watching."
== Description ==
It appears as a small island with sand in the middle of the ocean. Its most notable landmarks are the three palm trees that inhabit one side of the island. It appears small, but in reality, it is much larger and appears small because of an optical illusion.
On the other side of the island, there is a forest filled with an array of wildlife and a skeleton who previously guarded the Magic Book.
== History ==
Bikini Atoll has been around for millennia. The trees that inhabit the island have had its ancestors during the times of prehistory.
At one point, Davy Jones was either on the island or at least had the Magic Book, which previously resided on the island.
== Role in series ==
=== "Hooky" ===
Fishermen can be seen fishing at the beginning of the episode as the French Narrator explains their dangerous effects on aquatic species.
=== "Big Pink Loser" ===
Bikini Atoll appears when Patrick jumps out of the ocean to tell it about "his" newly attained award, only to almost suffocate from lack of water moments later.
=== "Pressure" ===
To prove that sea creatures are better than land creatures, Sandy makes SpongeBob, Patrick, Squidward and Mr. Krabs go up to the island. They survive, although they get attacked by seagulls.
=== "Snowball Effect" ===
A big piece of iceberg breaks off and floats across the ocean near this island.
=== "No Weenies Allowed" ===
Sandy karate-kicks SpongeBob out of the ocean and up to the surface of the island, where he is briefly seen in live-action kitchen sponge form.
=== "Pranks a Lot" ===
After Sandy is frightened by SpongeBob and Patrick (as ghosts), she leaves Bikini Bottom and travels back to Texas via an acorn-shaped rocket, which launches out of the ocean and to the landmark of Austin, Texas.
=== "Fear of a Krabby Patty" ===
The state of the Krusty Krab's 24-hour business is documented on a Bikini Atoll background.
=== "Roller Cowards" ===
The Fiery Fist O' Pain roller coaster is so high that SpongeBob and Patrick reach ocean distance.
=== "Truth or Square" ===
The island appears when Patchy goes looking for SpongeBob, who did not arrive at his TV Extravaganza.
=== "Demolition Doofus" ===
SpongeBob comes flying out of the ocean as a result of the demolition derby, once again briefly seen in his live-action sponge form.
=== "Mall Girl Pearl" ===
The island appears in Beatrice's scrapbook.
=== "Lame and Fortune" ===
The island appears when a carrier boat is dropping a box of fortune cookies into the ocean.
=== "Feral Friends" ===
The French Narrator appears to tell Patchy about Neptune's Moon, in which the Bikini Atoll is seen.
=== "The String" ===
The island is completely stripped away by SpongeBob.
=== "Christmas Who?" ===
SpongeBob launches bottles with paper to the surface of the ocean.
== Roles in other media ==
=== The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie ===
The island appears in The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie when David Hasselhoff arrives with both SpongeBob and Patrick to bring them back to Bikini Bottom.
=== The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water ===
The island appears in "The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water" when Burger Beard arrives on the island to retrieve a magical book. Here, it is revealed that the island is much larger than it was previous established with the 3 pine trees revealed to be massive, probably around the size of small skyscrapers surrounded by a forest of smaller, normal-sized palm trees and bushes. It also appears at the end of the movie when Burger Beard is sent back there by Plankton. That is where Burger Beard and the seagulls sing the SpongeBob SquarePants Theme Song.
=== The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run ===
The island appears in "The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run," along with many islands.
=== SpongeBob SquarePants featuring Nicktoons: Globs of Doom ===
In the second level, Plankton and Jimmy Neutron have the chance to enter a pipe, which leads to Bikini Atoll. A Krabby Patty cheat trophy is on the island.
== Destruction ==
* In "The String," the island was destroyed when SpongeBob unraveled all of Bikini Bottom and the Milky Way with the string.
== Trivia ==
* The episode "Mrs. Puff, You're Fired" includes the footage from "No Weenies Allowed" where SpongeBob is flung out of the water and back in again.
* In real life, Bikini Atoll was used by the United States for nuclear bomb testing from the year 1946 until 1958.
** In 2015, SpongeBob's voice actor, Tom Kenny confirmed the fictitious city is named after Bikini Atoll. He once debunked a popular internet fan theory that said the series' characters of Bikini Bottom was the result of a nuclear testing.
* According to the "Christmas Who?" audio commentary, Stephen Hillenburg filmed daytime shots of the Bikini Atoll island in a "friend of [his'] pool." In the San Diego Comic-Con panel in 2019, Tom Kenny revealed that "specific" friend of Stephen Hillenburg was Genndy Tartakovsky, who is best known as the creator of various animated television series on Cartoon Network and Adult Swim.
* Starting with "Lame and Fortune," a CGI model of the island is used instead of the filmed island.
** This is because the original model island has not aged well. It's also because the original model island got buried somewhere deep within the Stephen Hillenburg storage facility, where he rented to pile things that he didn't have room for in his house.
* When the island is shown at night, a human finger is visible in the water to portray a reflection of the moon.
* According to Vincent Waller on Twitter, nighttime shots of the island were shot in Steve Belfer's pool.
== References ==
Category:SpongeBob SquarePants