Pearl Krabs | |
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SpongeBob SquarePants character | |
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First appearance |
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Created by | Stephen Hillenburg |
Designed by | Stephen Hillenburg |
Voiced by | Lori Alan |
Portrayed by | Jai'len Josey (Broadway) |
In-universe information | |
Species | Sperm whale[1] |
Gender | Female |
Occupation | Assistant at the Bikini Bottom Mall |
Family |
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Relatives |
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Pearl Krabs is a fictional character in the Nickelodeon animated television series SpongeBob SquarePants. She is voiced by actress Lori Alan and first appeared in the season one episode "Squeaky Boots" on September 17, 1999. She was created by marine biologist and animator Stephen Hillenburg, who was inspired to design a whale character while supervising whale watches at the Ocean Institute in Dana Point, California.
Pearl is a adolescent sperm whale who lives in a hollow anchor with her father Eugene "Mr." Krabs, the greedy founder of the popular Krusty Krab restaurant. Pearl will inherit the restaurant and become its owner when she grows older.[2] She is currently employed at the local shopping center, the Bikini Bottom Mall. The identity and whereabouts of Pearl's unseen mother have never been explained directly by the characters. While supplemental materials indicate her father married a whale who gave birth to Pearl, Hillenburg was strongly against revealing this in an episode.
Critical reception for Pearl has been largely positive. Her depiction as the child of a single parent has been praised by critics as an example of SpongeBob's ability to challenge social norms such as the construct of a nuclear family. She has been featured frequently in a variety of merchandise, such as plush toys and video games, and at amusement park attractions. She appears in the 2004 feature film The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, the 2017 Broadway musical based on the series, in Kamp Koral: SpongeBob's Under Years as an infant, and as a young child in The Patrick Star Show.
The principal characters in 'SpongeBob SquarePants' are ... a teenage sperm whale who is somehow the crab's daughter
Mr. Krabs: Pearl ... one day, all this will be yours. Soon as you graduate high school, I'll start you as manager.