SpongeBob's incredible journey toglobal stardom

Image 1. (From left) Sandy Cheeks, SpongeBob SquarePants, Squidward, Mr. Krabs and Patrick Starfish in Nickelodeon’s

"SpongeBob SquarePants" cartoon show. Photo by: Nickelodeon

The most beloved cartoon sponge of a generation spent most of his life in a pineapple under the

sea. But he was born in a marine biology institute in Dana Point, California, in 1989.

He was just Bob the Sponge then, an actual sea sponge with cool black shades and a

shimmering smile. Bob the Sponge had no arms or legs. In his early days, he was only a talking

blob, floating in the top corner of a comic book. He narrated the shenanigans of an intertidal pool.

This is an ocean habitat home to millions of sea creatures.

"You are about to embark on a journey into one of the most incredible ecosystems on this planet,

the Intertidal Zone!" Bob says in the comic's opening frame.

By Meagan Flynn, Washington Post on 12.04.18

Word Count 1,293

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It was a world created by Stephen Hillenburg. He was an imaginative marine biologist equipped

with a fresh college degree in marine resources and a love for film and illustration. He made the

comic book while working as an instructor and staff artist at the Orange County Marine Institute in

Dana Point. He wanted to teach kids about the diversity of the intertidal pools in an entertaining

way.

For a time, Hillenburg's comic book creation existed only inside a pamphlet for kids. But within a

decade, Hillenburg would transform it into one of the greatest TV cartoons of the new millennium.

Bob the Sponge was traded for SpongeBob SquarePants. The Intertidal Zone was traded for

Bikini Bottom. And millions of kids and adults alike were charmed into falling in love with a nerdy,

neurotic, obnoxiously good-natured, burger-flipping sponge.

Nearly two decades after "SpongeBob SquarePants" hit Nickelodeon, Hillenburg died Monday,

November 26. He had ALS. His death elicited an outpouring of tributes from fans who grew up

captivated by Hillenburg's zany underwater community. He was 57.

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"Our condolences on the passing of Stephen Hillenburg, creator of SpongeBob SquarePants.

Prior to 1999 when the show first aired, he worked as a science instructor at Ocean Institute,

where he touched the lives of many students," the Ocean Institute said in a statement. They were

formerly the Orange County Marine Institute. "Through his dynamic career he brought laughter to

millions."

In many ways, "SpongeBob" is an amalgam of Hillenburg's passions and life experiences. It

stretches back long before he worked at the marine institute in California. He'd always loved the

ocean. He spent his childhood learning to surf and snorkel. He also watched "The Undersea

World of Jacques Cousteau." It was his favorite TV show from the 1960s and 1970s. After

graduating from high school in Anaheim, California, he spent a few summers working as a fry

cook and lobster boiler. He worked at a restaurant in Maine. The experience would serve as the

inspiration for Bikini Bottom's favorite fast-food restaurant, the Krusty Krab, and its owner, the

avaricious Mr. Krabs.

Hillenburg started working at the Orange County Marine Institute in 1986. And soon his boss

encouraged him to put his drawing skills to use with the educational comic book. In Hillenburg's

"intertidal zone," Bob the Sponge stars alongside a tuxedo-wearing Rocky the Shrimp. Rocky the

Shrimp is his co-host. They visit creatures such as a cranky Mr. Barnacle, a hungry lunch-hunting

crab. They also visit a "beautiful sea anemone," who has a hot date with the shrimp.

"This sponge character in my 1989 comic book, along with the undersea setting of the Intertidal

Zone, was the precursor to and served as my inspiration for the SpongeBob SquarePants

character and animated series," Hillenberg said in 2008. "I picked the sea sponge because I

wanted a funny-looking narrator/announcer and because I liked the versatility of the sponge as an

animal." Hillenberg said this in a declaration during a copyright lawsuit. A California cartoonist

accused Hillenburg of taking the idea of "SpongeBob" from his 1991 advertisement for a "Bob

Spongee" doll. Hillenburg and Nickelodeon prevailed in the case.

Hillenburg attempted to sell the comic book to various publishers in 1989. No one was interested.

But it was no problem for Hillenburg. He decided that same year that he wanted to go back to

school at the California Institute of the Arts to study experimental animation. The skills he picked

up there would eventually land him a job with Nickelodeon. He worked as a storyboard artist for

the children's series "Rocko's Modern Life." That's where Nickelodeon would first encounter

Hillenburg's initial undersea comic book, "The Intertidal Zone."

"One of the guys saw it and said, 'This should be your own show,'" Hillenburg told the Guardian in

2016.

So Hillenburg started brainstorming. He wanted more of a tiki vibe. This was inspired by a recent

visit to Tahiti and a love of Hawaii, he told the Guardian. He started drawing up a new sponge

character, starting with more amorphous sea sponges who had stubby limbs and droopy faces.

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He then turned to the square, kitchen sink sponge. This was more in tune with the squeaky-clean,

rule-following SpongeBob he would become. "I thought [it] fit perfectly the innocent, nerd image

and the series theme of a character forever stuck between a boy and a man," he said in 2008.

The result was Sponge Boy, the name of the character when Hillenburg first pitched the show to

Nickelodeon in 1996.

"Who is Sponge Boy?" Hillenburg wrote in his original pitch to the network in 1996. "Sponge Boy

is our hero! He's a single male sponge who resides in a fully furnished, two bedroom... pineapple.

He has an abnormal love for his job at 'The Krusty Krab,' a fast food restaurant. In fact, he's so

proud of his Krusty Krab uniform that he never takes it off — not even when he showers. His big

dream is to capture the not-so-coveted 'Employee of the Month' award. But, because of his

overzealous nature and the havoc it creates, this goal constantly eludes him."

He described Squidward, SpongeBob's grumpy neighbor and co-worker at the Krusty Krab, as

"the kind of guy who subscribes to Martha Stewart Living." And someone who "conducts along

with his favorite Beethoven recordings." He described Plankton, the owner of the failing Chum

Bucket restaurant, as "a textbook case of the Napoleon complex." Someone who "talks like

Gregory Peck and with perfect diction."

Nickelodeon executives were sold on the spot. Sponge Boy, however, would become SpongeBob

after Hillenburg discovered that a mop company had already copyrighted "Spongeboy" for its

product.

"SpongeBob" is perhaps most loved for, above else, its naivety and slapstick humor. It revolves

around SpongeBob's self-created fiascoes rather than dirty or cruel jokes. Tolerance and

diversity have long been central themes. SpongeBob is eager to befriend virtually every living

creature he meets (often oblivious of his intrusions). SpongeBob's optimism, Hillenburg said in his

2008 declaration, is intended to "transform the way the audience looks at things, helping them

find the irony in even the dullest of life's details."

But the mission that originally led Hillenburg to the Orange County Marine Institute was never far

behind either. He wanted to educate young people about ocean conservation and its beauty and

all of its endless curiosities.

As he told The Washington Post in 2009, just ahead of a release of a "SpongeBob SquarePants"

documentary: "People have to come together and realize how important our oceans are. One

thing I'm hoping will come out of the documentary is the realization that the show came from

something that's precious, and that we need to appreciate it. ...Hopefully, if you watch

'SpongeBob,' you see the plankton and the crabs and starfish, and you'll want to take care of our

oceans."

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