Stephen Hillenburg, the former marine biology teacher whose love for all things aquatic inspired him to create SpongeBob SquarePants, has died at age 57, Nickelodeon said Tuesday.
“We are sad to share the news of the passing of Stephen Hillenburg, the creator of SpongeBob SquarePants,” the network said in a statement. “Today, we are observing a moment of silence to honor his life and work.”
💛 We are sad to share the news of the passing of Stephen Hillenburg, the creator of SpongeBob SquarePants. Today, we are observing a moment of silence to honor his life and work. 💛
— Nickelodeon (@Nickelodeon) November 27, 2018
In 2017, Hillenburg told Variety he’d been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
“Anyone who knows me knows that I will continue to work on SpongeBob SquarePants and my other passions for as long as I am able,” he said at the time.
Hillenburg began his animation career while still teaching marine biology, creating a comic book he called The Intertidal Zone to use with his students. He later worked on Rocko’s Modern Life, where he met Tom Kenny, who voices SpongeBob.
SpongeBob SquarePants, which began airing in 1999, is the highest-rated Nickelodeon show of all time. And there have been two feature films. Its title character is a happy-go-lucky sea sponge who famously lives in a pineapple under the sea with a meowing snail named Gary, and works as a fry cook at the Krusty Krab restaurant. Pals Patrick Star, Squidward and Sandy Cheeks are just part of his underwater universe in an aquatic city called Bikini Bottom.
Fans remembered Hillenburg with numerous images from the show, many featuring a teary-eyed SpongeBob himself. One fan said he was “truly a genius,” while another said Hillenburg “fueled” his childhood and nurtured his “sense of humor for years into adulthood.”
Some shared memories of what the show meant to them.
when i was a kid my mom wouldn’t let me watch Spongebob … so i’d wake up an hour before her to watch my favorite show … i hope he died knowing his legacy affected millions 😭
— lulabell (@lula_bell8) November 27, 2018
Truly a genius. Created something that can go far beyond the restraints of a kids show. Taught us all lessons that stuck with us for life. He will be missed. #AlaskanBullwormsForLife
— The Alaskan Bullworms (@YbTuber) November 27, 2018
This year has just absolutely shattered my heart. Lost two creative, imaginative individuals in both Stan Lee and Stephen Hillenburg, who both shaped so much of my own childhood, and my childhood wonder.
— Noravity (@Noravity) November 27, 2018
yo man i hate doing these rip tweets. rip stephen hillenburg though. you fueled my childhood and gave me after school cartoons that nurtured my sense of humour for years into adulthood. i still watch spongebob til this day as a grown ass man.
RIP to my guy.
— RUSSELL! 🎡 (@RUSSELLislovely) November 27, 2018
Made growing up so much better. We only got 30 minutes of tv a day and that was the perfect amount for two episodes of pure joy.
— ⏱ (@RITEGREENS6) November 27, 2018
In a 2012 history of the show, Kenny said that Hillenburg knew how he wanted SpongeBob’s underwater universe to look right from the start.
“He asked me to look at some stuff, and it was a very well-thought-out, well-conceived bible, the only difference being that the character was called SpongeBoy,” Kenny told Cartoonician. “But there were character drawings … personality profiles, graphic studies of SpongeBob’s pineapple house and Squidward’s tiki head house, the Krusty Krab, a lobster-trap-shaped structure. It was typical Steve: fully realized before he even mentioned it to anyone.”
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