The tragic story and death of the creator of SpongeBob SquarePants

Besides Santa Claus and Mickey Mouse, Stephen Hillenburg is possibly responsible for bringing the greatest amount of happiness to millions of children around the world in history.

The first two are well known but the third, despite the fact that his name appears in each episode of SpongeBob Squarepants, does not ring a bell for everyone. Well, he's the creator f the famous comic.

Unfortunately, all the happiness that he brought to millions of homes was not enough to avoid the tragedy in his life. The creator of SpongeBob died prematurely at the age of 57.

In November 2018, Stephen Hillenburg died from Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). He had announced the diagnosis of his illness in March 2017.

Despite his death, the cultural legacy that Stephen Hillenburg left with the creation of SpongeBob SquarePants and his universe will last for decades.

The farewell that Nickelodeon dedicated to Stephen Hillenburg emphasized SpongeBob's success and the reason why parents and children adore this character.

"Steve imbued ‘SpongeBob SquarePants’ with a unique sense of humor and innocence that has brought joy to generations of kids and families everywhere," Nickelodeon stated. "His utterly original characters and the world of Bikini Bottom will long stand as a reminder of the value of optimism, friendship, and the limitless power of imagination."

But how did the idea to create SpongeBob SquarePants, Patrick Star, Squidward, and the other figures come about? What did Stephen Hillenburg have in his head? To answer this question, we need to go back to 1984, when SpongeBob's father graduated in natural resource exploitation from the Humboldt State University in California, specializing in marine resources.

The creator of SpongeBob was a professor of Marine Biology at the Orange County Ocean Institute, but another passion of his was animation. In 1992, he completed a master's degree in Animation at the California Institute of the Arts.

During the 90s, Stephen Hillenburg worked on 'Mother Goose Grimm', made several short films, and, finally, he came to Nickelodeon as a writer and creative director of 'Rocko's Modern Life'.

In this Nickelodeon series, he would meet Doug Lawrence and Paul Tibbit. They would end up being part of the SpongeBob team. But let's not forget about Tom Kenny (in the photo), the original voice of SpongeBob SquarePants. Getting to know these creative people, little by little, Stephen Hillenburg conceived his revolutionary idea of combining his two passions: the seabed and animation.

In 1989, Hillenburg had already created a comic for the California Institute of the Arts, titled 'The Intertidal Zone.' Martin Olson, the screenwriter of 'Rocko's Modern Life', suggested he redo this comic as if it were a series of drawings. And so he did.

In the first instance, SpongeBob was a natural sponge, but he would end up having a square shape to be more fun. It worked and Nickelodeon was excited about the pilot Hillenburg presented: 'Help Wanted'.

The year was 1998. In the pilot, SpongeBob was 'SpongeBoy' but, as fate would have it, that name was already registered. They had to change it to 'SpongeBob'.

On May 1, 1999, 'SpongeBob SquarePants' was released. It was a success right away. By now, nearly 300 episodes, 13 seasons, 3 movies, and millions of dollars in broadcasts and merchandising have been produced.

In fact, in the year of Stephen Hillenburg's death, 'The New York Times' estimated that the series had generated $13 billion in merchandising alone.

For 19 years, Stephen Hillenburg enjoyed the success of his creation. After his death, he wanted to join his 'children' in the ocean. His remains were cremated and his ashes were thrown into the Pacific Ocean, 804 km off the coast of California.

Then, in July 2019, 'SpongeBob's Big Birthday Party' premiered, celebrating the 20th anniversary of the series and dedicating the episode to Stephen Hillenburg. The honor was much deserved.