EXCLUSIVE: Nickelodeon has given a 13-episode series order to Kamp Koral (working title), a spinoff of the network’s signature series SpongeBob SquarePants. While the mothership is a classic 2D cartoon, the offshoot will be a CG-animated series, which serves as a prequel to SpongeBob. It introduces 10-year-old SpongeBob SquarePants during his summer at sleepaway camp.

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Earlier this year, Nickelodeon, under new president Brian Robbins, announced it is developing for the first time ever spinoff projects for SpongeBob SquarePants characters. Kamp Koral marks the first such project to get a green light. It is slated to begin production in June at Nickelodeon’s facilities in Burbank.

In the series, SpongeBob and his pals spend the summer building underwater campfires, catching wild jellyfish, and swimming in Lake Yuckymuck at the craziest camp in the kelp forest, Kamp Koral. SpongeBob SquarePants‘ Marc Ceccarelli and Vincent Waller co-executive produce the prequel.

Nickelodeon

“SpongeBob has an incredible universe to expand upon and the greenlight for Kamp Koral is a testament to the strength and longevity of these characters known and loved by generations of fans around the world,” said Ramsey Naito, Nickelodeon’s EVP Animation Production and Development.

So far, the creative forces behind SpongeBob had tried a CG approach to the characters in The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water, the 2015 sequel to the successful live-action/2D film The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie. A third feature, The SpongeBob Movie: It’s a Wonderful Sponge, is slated for release next year from Paramount Animation.

The pickup for Kamp Koral comes on the eve of the 20th anniversary of SpongeBob SquarePants‘ debut on July 17, 1999. It will be marked with Best Year Ever, a tribute that includes an original one-hour special, SpongeBob’s Big Birthday Blowout, premiering Friday, July 12.

Nickelodeon

Created by Stephen Hillenburg and produced by Nickelodeon in Burbank, the character-driven cartoon chronicles the nautical and sometimes nonsensical adventures of SpongeBob, an incurably optimist and earnest sea sponge, and his undersea friends. While his exact age on the mothership series has never been disclosed, he is an adult who has a job and owns a (pineapple) home.

Since its launch, SpongeBob SquarePants has reigned as the No 1 kids’ animated series on TV for the last 17 years, while generating a universe of beloved characters, pop culture catchphrases and memes, theatrical releases, consumer products, a Tony award-winning Broadway musical and a global fan base. SpongeBob SquarePants is the most widely distributed property in Viacom International Media Networks history, seen in more than 208 countries and territories, translated in 55+ languages, and averaging more than 100 million total viewers every quarter.