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Stephen Hillenburg, who used his two passions for drawing and marine biology to spawn the absurd underwater world of SpongeBob SquarePants, died, Nickelodeon announced Tuesday.
Hillenburg died Monday of Lou Gehrig's disease, also known as ALS, the cable network said in a statement. He was 57 years old.
He had announced that he was suffering from the disease in March 2017. His death comes just weeks after the death of another cartoon hero at Marvel's creator, Stan Lee.
Hillenburg has designed, written, produced and directed the animated series that began in 1999 and has developed into hundreds of episodes, films and a Broadway show.
SpongeBob, an absurdly joyful, and her screaming theme song that said, "Who lives in a pineapple under the sea ?!" Have quickly seduced college students and parents, as well as children.
"The fact that it's underwater and isolated from our world helps the characters preserve their own culture," Hillenburg told The Associated Press in 2001. "The essence of the show is that SpongeBob is an innocent person in a world. characterized by jaded characters, the rest is an absurd wrapping. "
Among his vast array of ocean creatures include Patrick, Bob's Spongebob Starfish Mordant, Mr. Krabs, Squirrel mate Sandy Cheeks and his ever-exasperated neighbor, Squidward Tentacles.
While Hillenburg introduced and popularized exotic creatures such as the sea sponge (which in the real world is not square), Bikini Bottom was a realm like no other, real or fictional. Bob the sponge can play his nose like a flute and could not be happier working his fast seafood work to return Krabby Patties.
But he is also in trouble. He is constantly failing his boat driving test, forcing his scared fish-fish teacher to swell. In one episode, he has broken buttocks and is afraid to leave his pineapple at home for several days.
"I do not want to face my fears," said Bob Sponge, voiced by Tom Kenny, in another episode. "I'm afraid of them!"
Bob the sponge and his best friend, Patrick the starfish. Photo: Filepic
Born in his father's army in Lawton, Oklahoma, Hillenburg graduated from Natural Resources Planning at Humboldt State University in California in 1984 and then taught marine biology at Orange County Marine. Institute.
There, he drew a cartoon, The intertidal zone, which he used as a teaching tool. It featured anthropomorphic creatures from the ocean, forerunners of "Sponge Bob" characters.
Hillenburg turned to drawing and graduated from the California Institute of the Arts in 1992 with a Master of Fine Arts in Animation.
The same year he creates an animated short film called Wormholes who won the festival's praise and helped him get a job on the Nickelodeon show The modern life of Rocko, where he worked from 1993 to 1996 before starting to create the underwater world of SpongeBob's Bikini Bottom, which shows his knowledge of marine life and his willingness to throw all the details out the window.
"We know that fish do not work," he told AP, "and that there is no organized community with roads, where cars are really boats. And if you know a lot about sponges, you know that live sponges are not equal. "
The show was an immediate success, which has not lost its dynamism for nearly 20 years since its inception and has helped define the culture of Nickelodeon.
"He was a beloved friend and a long-time creative partner for everyone at Nickelodeon, and our heart goes out to all his family," said the Nickelodeon statement. "His completely original characters and Bikini Bottom's universe will long recall the value of optimism, friendship and unlimited power of imagination."
The movie of Spongebob Squarepants was released in 2004 and even played David Hasselhoff. Photo: Filepic.
His nearly 250 episodes have won four Emmy Awards and 15 Kids Choice Awards, creating an endless array of products that can compete with any other pop culture of the 2000s.
"When you decide to do a show on a sponge, you can not anticipate that kind of craze," Hillenburg told the AP in 2002.
In 2004, the show came to the big screen with The SpongeBob SquarePants movie and a suite 2015, The sponge film: sponge out of the water.
Intensely involved in all aspects of the series, Hillenburg after the 2004 film returned in the role of executive producer of the series, where he remained all his life.
A musical adaptation on stage took place on Broadway in 2017, with musicians such stars as Steven Tyler, Sara Bareilles and John Legend. He has won 12 Tony Award nominations, including one for the best performance of a lead actor for Ethan Slater.
Hillenburg leaves behind his wife Karen Hillenburg, his son Clay, his mother Nancy Hillenburg and his brother Brian Kelly Hillenburg. – AP
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