You can get a train to Ballymun ...

thomasj

That is, if you live in bikini bottom, home of children's favourite spongebob squarepants

http://www.joe.ie/entertainment/television/why-is-spongebob-squarepants-getting-a-train-to-ballymun-0018644-1

He’s everybody’s favourite sponge-based cartoon character and in an episode Spongebob Squarepants is spotted hopping on a train to Dublin suburb Ballymun. Why?

On the Ray D’Arcy Show on Today FM this morning, an eagle-eyed child spotted that Spongebob and Patrick recently boarded a train in the subway with the destination Ballymun written on it. A grown-up then rang in to ask the help of the Irish public to explain this bizarre reference.

From our extensive viewership of all the antics at Bikini Bottom we thought we knew everything and we don’t remember any scenes in Ballymun before so where did this come from?

The episode in question is called Yours, Mine and Mine and it teaches you the value of sharing and all that other good stuff that the Nickelodeon show does so well.

But in a chase between Spongebob and Patrick over a toy they end up boarding the train. Does Patrick (possibly Irish) have a relative there? Is there a writer or animator on the show with a Ballymun connection? Is it, as some suggested, a very sly and obscure dig at the poor public transport links to Dublin 11?

The mystery train was spotted before, and there has been some discussion on both Twitter and Facebook as to the appearance of Ballymun in this episode, but nobody seems to know for sure why the train is destined for the northside.

Got a good laugh listening to the show this morning!

n97 mini

Niles

The animator must have been a Metro West supporter.

foggy_lad

The train driver is also wearing green:D

L1011

foggy_lad wrote: »

The train driver is also wearing green:D

And looks stoned...

Cookie_Monster

I'm sure there's more than one Ballymun in the world...

If there are 6 Dublins in the US there are bound to be a few dumps called Ballymun there too.

n97 mini

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

I'm sure there's more than one Ballymun in the world...

If there are 6 Dublins in the US there are bound to be a few dumps called Ballymun there too.

I'd be pretty sure there are no Ballymuns with a subway system...

Niles

Wild theory but is it possible that there was a Metro West publicity image featuring a Ballymun bound train? If so maybe the animator did a search for a Metro train picture for inspiration and found such a publicity pic.

Karen23

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

I'm sure there's more than one Ballymun in the world...

If there are 6 Dublins in the US there are bound to be a few dumps called Ballymun there too.

I live in Ballymun and my home is definitely not a dump.

thomasj

Sorry for dragging up the old thread but this may clear up the confusion

THE Metro North may be cancelled but in the land of SpongeBob SquarePants, there is a rail network to Ballymun.

Confusion, disbelief and mystery surrounded the bizarre appearance of a train to the ‘mun’ in an episode of the hit children’s television series called ‘Yours, Mine and Mine’.

After checking and double-checking the scene, sure enough Patrick, one of the show’s main characters can be spotted boarding a train bound for Ballymun.

An eagle-eyed viewer of the Nickelodeon produced cartoon show recently contacted the Ray D’Arcy Show on Today FM to highlight the nod to the Northside, and so the hunt for clues began.

The cartoon’s rolling credits turned up several possible links with many names of the show’s creators and animators of Irish origin.

American and Irish animation companies were contacted but none were forthcoming with any useful information.

The scent went cold for a few days until Bob Dixon, a photographer in Ballymun, discovered the missing link to solve the mystery – an envelop he’d received four years ago.

The photographer contacted the Ray D’Arcy show recalling how he’d sold a number of paintings of the demolition of the Towers to a man called Derek L’Estrange in America who issued payment in a Nickelodeon branded envelop and so the plot thickened.

With a quick Google check, it was discovered that Derek L’Estrange was in fact a noted animator who had worked on the Prince of Egypt and other world-famous animations such as Eight Crazy Nights.

The Ray D’Arcy show contacted him through Facebook and found that he was indeed the one responsible for the Ballymun-bound bus on SpongeBob SquarePants, the show he’s been a key animator on for the last four years.

While L’Estrange isn’t the most Irish of names, Derek revealed that he hails from Sandyhill Gardens in Ballymun and that he and other animators often include personal details and subtle clues to their lives in episodes.

The train to Ballymun was Derek’s way of “giving a little shout-out to the Northside”.

http://www.dublinpeople.com/article.php?id=711&l=100

CIE

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

I'm sure there's more than one Ballymun in the world...

If there are 6 Dublins in the US there are bound to be a few dumps called Ballymun there too.

There appears to be no Ballymun disambiguation page on Wikipedia. "Baile Munna" in "Fingal" (how I hate that name) would be the only one, then.

You can find towns called Belfast in New York, Pennsylvania (two of them), California (also two of them), Maine and Minnesota over in the USA; South Africa has two towns called Belfast, and there are towns called Belfast in Canada (Prince Edward Island) and New Zealand.

Pennsylvania has five Donegal Townships and one Donegal Borough. Ontario, Canada has two towns called Donegal.

In Canada, there are towns called Limerick in Ontario and Saskatchewan. In the USA, a neighbourhood of Lousville is called Limerick; there are also towns called Limerick in Pennsylvania and Maine (the latter of which also has a "New Limerick"). California's San Ramon and Camanche were both once called Limerick.

New Hampshire has two separate neighbouring towns called Derry and Londonderry in Rockingham County...

...I think I'll stop there; the rest can be easily found via the "intarwebs".

Our man in Havana

foggy_lad wrote: »

The train driver is also wearing green:D

Probably a Celtic jersey.