Life according to Patrick

Depending on the species, a starfish can live up to 35 years. That means Patrick, the overweight, slightly dimwitted pink starfish who is best buddies with SpongeBob SquarePants looks to have years of entertaining ahead of him.

The animated series launched in 1999 and has grown into an entertainment empire with everything from toys to TV. The latest big-screen offering from the gang at Bikini Bottom, “The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water,” will be available on DVD on Tuesday. SpongeBob and the gang go on a quest to find a stolen formula.

Bill Fagerbakke, the voice of Patrick, is both surprised and delighted that the animated silly sea stories keep getting told.

“It’s crazy,” Fagerbakke says. “My business is so moment-to-moment. But, I got to do ‘Coach’ for nine years and now we have been doing the show for 15 years and counting.”

Countless animated shows have come and gone during that time. Fagerbakke is certain that “SpongeBob” has survived because the series rolled out the silliness slowly building to the crazy levels that now draw fans both young and old.

Fagerbakke’s children were 5 and 7 years old when the show started and now they are in their 20s. Patrick made him a star with his children’s friends when they were young.

“When I would stop by their elementary school, I felt like The Beatles,” Fagerbakke says.

Fagerbakke, who was raised in Rupert, Idaho, played football at the University of Idaho, but turned to theater when an injury derailed his sports career. He graduated in 1981. His rise to stardom started with his work on the live-action comedy “Coach” in 1989. Fagerbakke laughs and says that the voice of his “Coach” character, Dauber Dybinski, is not that different than Patrick.

In 1994, a casting director told him about a casting call for a new animated show based on the movie “Beethoven.” One of the dogs was supposed to sound like Dauber. Fagerbakke agreed to audition but was worried if he didn’t get the voice work it would be embarrassing.

He landed it, and Fagerbakke has been a busy voice actor since then. He has always felt comfortable with voice work, having been in his high school choir. Fagerbakke loves it when Patrick has to sing a sea ditty. The new “SpongeBob” movie comes with three sing-along music videos: “Thank Gosh It’s Monday,” “Teamwork” and “Theme Song/Rap Battle.”

At 6-feet-6, Fagerbakke stands out in a crowd, but he rarely gets recognized solely for his voice since he uses some variations to speak for Patrick. Once he’s recognized, a lot of people ask him to record a message for their voice mail.

“I really enjoy that kind of interaction. When I was doing on-screen acting, it felt weird when people asked for a photo,” Fagerbakke says. “I do try to dissuade people who want me to call a birthday party. There’s usually 15 kids who are 6 or 7 in a big room. All I hear is silence until one person will say ‘Hi Patrick’.”

The success of “SpongeBob” shows no signs of drying up. As for the job he was doing before becoming the voice of a starfish, Fagerbakke would love to go back to revisit the role of Dauber but the California native has no idea if he will be a part of the plans by NBC to relaunch “Coach.”

Either way, Patrick continues to be a shining animation star(fish).