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Hillenburg died Monday of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, the television channel said in a statement. He was 57 years old.
The creator of the comic series announced that he was suffering from the disease in March 2017. His death comes weeks after that of another cartoon hero, the creator of the comic Marvel, Stan Lee.
Hillenburg has designed, written, produced and directed the cartoon series that began in 1999 and has resulted in hundreds of episodes, films and a Broadway show.
The absurd Bob SpongeBob, as well as the main theme of the series that began with the cry of "living in a pineapple under the sea," quickly appealed to students, parents and children.
"The fact that it's under the sea and isolated from our world helps the characters maintain their own culture," Hillenburg told The Associated Press in 2001. "The essence of the program is that SpongeBob is naive in a world of jaded characters, the rest is a crazy envelope. "
His vast group of sea creatures included SpongeBob's buddies, Patrick Star, his infamous boss, Mr. Krabs, his squirrel friend, Arenita Cheeks, and his grumpy neighbor, Squidward Tentacles.
SpongeBob could touch his nose like a flute. He loved working at Don Krabs, but he also had problems. He failed his test again and again to drive boats, his back broke and he was afraid to leave his pineapple for days.
"I do not want to face my fears," he said in another episode. "I'm afraid of you!"
Born in his father's military base in Lawton, Oklahoma, Hillenburg earned a Bachelor's degree in Natural Resource Planning from Humboldt State University, California, in 1984, focusing on marine resources. Subsequently, he taught marine biology at the Orange County Marine Institute.
While he was working at the institute, he drew a comic entitled "The Intertidal Zone", which he used as a teaching tool. In the cartoon, appear anthropomorphic oceanic creatures, precursors of the characters of "Sponge Bob".
Hillenburg concentrated on drawing and obtained a master's degree in animation from the California Institute of the Arts in 1992.
The same year, he creates an animated short film entitled "Wormholes" which is acclaimed at a festival and helps get a job in the show "Modern Rocko's Life" from Nickelodeon, where he works from 1993 to 1996. He then begins to create the underwater world of Bob the Sponge, the Bikini Bottom, in which he demonstrated his knowledge of marine life and his willingness to jump details.
"We know that fish do not work," he told AP, "and that there is no organized community with roads where cars are real And if they knew anything about live sponges, they'd know they're not square. "
This program was an immediate success, which has not lost popularity for nearly 20 years and has helped to define the culture of Nickelodeon.
"He was a very dear friend and, for a long time, a creative partner for everyone on Nickelodeon, our condolences to the whole family," said the channel. "Their completely original characters and the universe of Bikini Bottoms will remain a reminder of the value of optimism, friendship and unlimited power of imagination."
His nearly 250 episodes have won four Emmys and 15 Kid's Choice Awards. In addition, the series gave birth to a range of endless products to compete with any other phenomenon of pop culture in the 2000s.
"When you plan to do a program on a sponge, you can not anticipate all this madness," Hillenburg told AP in 2002.
In 2004, the show went on the big screen with the movie "The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie" ("Bob Sponge, the movie") and in 2015 she had a sequel, "The SpongeBob movie: a sponge out of the water "(" SpongeBob: A hero out of the water ").
Hillenburg was very involved in all aspects of the program, but after the 2004 film, he became executive producer, a position he held until the end of his days.
The Broadway play arrived in 2017, with music from stars such as Steven Tyler, Sara Bareilles and John Legend. He received 12 nominations for the Tony, including one for the best performance of a lead actor for Ethan Slater.
"I'm sorry to hear Stephen Hillenburg's death," Slater said in an email on Tuesday. "Thanks to my work on" SpongeBob ", I was able to meet him not only as a creative genius, but also as a truly generous and kind person.He warmly welcomed us all as as the newest members of his wonderful family 'SpongeBob' and clearly explained from the start why he was so loved: his sincere kindness. "
Hillenburg is survived by his wife Karen, son Clay, mother Nancy and brother Brian Kelly Hillenburg.
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