He Was Number One!

by Sage Kluge

Art by Ashlee Burroughs

The man, the myth, the legend, Stephen Hillenburg. The creator of Spongebob SquarePants passed away at the age of 57 on November 26, 2018, after being diagnosed with ALS in 2017.

Hillenburg was an animator, cartoonist, and marine biology teacher. He directed, produced and wrote the show himself. Spongebob has become the fifth longest-running American animated series on television.

Hillenburg’s career started in 1984 when he was 23 years old. Spongebob was premiered in 1999 and has aired ever since.

The show is currently made up of 12 seasons made up of around 13 episodes each. He was an inspiration to many kids and adults in our generation. NPHS senior, Ashlee Burroughs claimed that the TV show was an inspiration to her drawing passion.

“I started drawing because of Spongebob. At my elementary school there was a Nickelodeon step by step drawing book that I opened up and started to draw to,” Burroughs said.

Burroughs grew up to Spongebob, and having her inspiration pass away greatly affected her.

“It affected me because his style was very interesting to me, he studied to be a marine biologist and that’s how he came up with Spongebob,” Burroughs said.

As Hillenburg’s show progressively got popular and his audience grew, the details became more defined as the movement of the characters went on to become more smooth. Ashlee stated that she realized the HD effects have changed.

Much improvement has come to Spongebob and his creator. He has completed so much, including starting very young with a successful career in the producing, directing, and writing business.

“As a kid, I was watching it every day when I came home from school. I grew up watching it,” stated Burroughs. Many people find inspiration from Hillenburg because Spongebob is one of their childhood memories.

Children born in the early ‘2000 are the generation who watched Spongebob when it was most popular.

Spongebob has aired for over 30 years, meaning that over 56 million people had Spongebob Squarepants playing on their televisions or radios.