SpongeBob SquarePants premiered on Nickelodeon in 1999, created by Stephen Hillenburg, and its sea shanty style theme sung by Painty the Pirate became one of television's most recognisable cartoon intros. This Chinese style arrangement belongs to a long online tradition of reimagining famous themes in another culture's instrumentation, alongside other Bikini Bottom memes like the spongebob sad song and the My leg! gag. Creators keep reusing it because the melody needs no explanation and the remix instantly signals parody.