Robert Eggers talked to The Hollywood Reporter about his new horror flick, ‘Nosferatu,’ at its Los Angeles premiere on Thursday. He sent special thanks to ‘SpongeBob SquarePants’ – yes, the cartoon where they flip burgers under water – for introducing the infamous horror figure to younger audiences.
“There was a show called ‘Muppet Babies’ when I was a kid that would play little clips of Lon Chaney’s ‘Phantom of the Opera’ and early versions of ‘Cyrano de Bergerac’ and stuff; that weird cartoon gave me exposure to a lot of movies that I watched when I was a little older with memories from ‘Muppet Babies.’ So, thanks SpongeBob,” the Director jokingly said.
Eggers’ ‘Nosferatu,’ as well as the 1922 original German silent film of the same name, follows a Transylvanian vampire stalking a young haunted woman. Thankfully, the character’s appearances in ‘SpongeBob’ present less spooky elements than that.
Photo Credit: Kim Newman – X
Count Orlok first creeps into Bikini Bottom in the 2002 episode ‘Graveyard Shift.’ During SpongeBob and Squidward’s night shift at the Krusty Krab, mysterious light flickering drives the duo into a panic. When the culprit is revealed to be Nosferatu flipping the switch for fun, the characters react like it’s just another day dealing with this pesky vampire.
Fast-forward to Season 13’s ‘Squidferatu,’ where the lights start flickering again. This time, Nosferatu himself is caught off guard when the true troublemaker turns out to be none other than the Phantom of the Opera. Phantom shows up as a one-off guest star unlike our Transylvanian vampire, though.
Photo Credit: IMDb
Nosferatu’s made regular cameos in ‘SpongeBob SquarePants’ over the years. His most recent appearance came in the November 2024 episode, ‘Biscuit Ballyhoo.’
On the big screen, Eggers’ darker take on Nosferatu is set to arrive on December 25. This time, Bill Skarsgård steps into the role, taking over from Max Schreck’s silent film version, whose archive stills were used in the animated Nickelodeon show.
The cast also includes Nicholas Hoult, Lily-Rose Depp, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Emma Corrin, Willem Dafoe, Simon McBurney, and Ralph Ineson.
