Orange County Register

SpongeBob SquarePants is about to encroach on Mickey Mouse’s territory.

On Saturday, a character dressed as the Nickelodeon Channel cartoon star is scheduled to serve as grand marshal in Anaheim’s Spooktacular Halloween Parade sponsored by Disney, which runs the rival Disney Channel. The parade route sits about two miles away from the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim.

As far as parade planners see it, SpongeBob and Disney can co-exist in harmony, despite the fight for ratings between their competing children’s networks.

“It’s not an issue, as far as we are concerned,” said Suzi Brown, Disneyland Resort spokeswoman. “We’ve been a sponsor of the parade for many years.”

After all, SpongeBob has roots in Anaheim, too: Creator Stephen Hillenburg grew up in Anaheim and graduated from Savanna High School. Read more about SpongeBob’s creator HERE.

Disney characters already grabbed the limelight in the parade as youth grand marshals: Mickey Mouse in 2002 and Buzz Lightyear of the “Toy Story” movies in 2001.

The parade landed SpongeBob through another major sponsor, Time Warner Cable. The Disneyland Resort and Time Warner each contributed $10,000 for sponsorships, said Ruth Ruiz, spokeswoman for the city of Anaheim.

“There was not any conflict with Disney. We just look at the parade as it’s a family parade. What would the children really like to see?” said Ruth Ruiz, spokeswoman for Anaheim.

The Halloween Parade has a long history in Anaheim, beginning in 1924 with baseball legends Babe Ruth and Walter Johnson serving as grand marshals.

On Saturday, the parade is set for 6 to 8 p.m. in downtown Anaheim. The parade will begin at Broadway and West Street, continuing east on Broadway, heading north on Anaheim Boulevard and concluding at Lincoln Avenue. Read more about Halloween events in Anaheim HERE.

Photo courtesy of Viacom International.

Previous Halloween posts:

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.