David Hasselhoff and other personalities say goodbye to Stephen Hillenburg, creator of SpongeBob

The creator of the series, Stephen Hillenburg, said his presentation was very particular to convince the leaders of Nickelodeon. Hillenburg attended the meeting dressed in a Hawaiian shirt, an aquarium with "character models" and Hawaiian music create a tropical environment That was the resulting impression that he had received approval

Subsequently, in the statements relating to the additional content of the DVDs in the series, the director Eric Coleman said that "the presentation was very amazing". Hillenburg managed to receive a budget for the production of the pilot episode, which ended in two weeks. Cyma Zarghami, president of Nickelodeon, said that "The executives were very surprised to see the series, it was completely different from what they had seen before […] He had something magical, different ".

The case of Stephen Hillenburg is one of the strangest. His initial vocation was to be a marine biologist. In fact, he studied and taught at the prestigious Orange Ocean Institute. But it was just then that Hillenburg began to be fascinated by animation, so much so that he created the comic "The Coastal Zone", the first project in the series.

In 1987, she began developing her acting career after leaving the Marine Institute and joining the prestigious CalArts in 1992., the art school where prestigious filmmakers such as John Lasseter, Henry Selick, Brad Bird and Tim Burton have studied. After starting working on Nickolodeon in the series "Rocko's Modern Life", then in the well-known "SpongeBob", his creation. The funny thing is that all his animation projects are related to the animal world, especially to the marine world.

Bottom of Bikini, the place where SpongeBob lives and works, is inspired by the Bikini Atoll, located in the Pacific Ocean and part of the Marshall Islands island territory. In fact, the Bikini Atoll is known because between 1946 and 1958, several nuclear tests were conducted. They allowed to examine more than 20 atomic and hydrogen bombs. Some fans believe that the inhabitants of Bikini Bottom have acquired this anthropomorphic form by nuclear radiation.

In addition, the city Bottom of Bikini, presented as a very cosmopolitan city, inspired by Seattle, the largest city in the state of Washington and one of the most prosperous in the United States.

Although his popularity in the world has come with his second season, the first month of publication of the first chapters was a success in the United States. In fact, he managed to defeat his main rival in his time slot, the anime of "Pokémon", which until now was the most watched children's show of the moment. A year later, she became the absolute leader, making the series seen by more than 2.2 million viewers. The curious thing was to see that the fiction, which was intended for a public between 2 and 9 years old, began to be seen by a more adult audience, from 18 to 34 years old.. The phenomenon was born.

After becoming a symbol for Nickelodeon, he set a new record in 2013. The series reached 178 episodes. In this way, it became the oldest animated series of Nickelodeon, breaking the mark "Rugrats"., which arrived at nine seasons and 172 episodes between 1991 and 2004. "SpongeBob", with its ninth season, has overcome the barrier of 200 episodes.

The popularity of "Bob Sponge" has led to a successful merchandising activity. Among the stuffed animals, t-shirts, posters, glasses and a long list of other things, "SpongeBob" has managed to create $ 8 billion benefits for Nickelodeon. Its success on this territory has triumphed in a market as strange as Japan, where SpongeBob has gained a lot of popularity among young girls. The leaders of Nickelodeon were surprised to see a character with a very different design triumph over Hello Kitty or Pikachu. .

Among the strangest merchandise you'll find the Toyota Highlander car, launched on Sponge Bob's day, as well as a vanilla ice cream bearing his name or bottles of mineral water carrying his face . In addition, In July 2009, Madame Tussauds wax museum in New York created a wax sculpture of the iconic character, becoming the first animation character to make a wax statue.

In 2011, SpongeBob became very popular in several Arab countries. After the Egyptian revolution, in which a young man dressed in a shirt "Bob sponge" appeared, the character became a symbol of rebellion against President Morsi. In fact, the yellow character began to appear in clothes like t-shirts or hijabs. The phenomenon has spread in other countries after creating a Tumblr account titled "Spongebob on the Nile", a project created by a group of American students who recounted how it had grown up. the popularity of the character in Egypt.

Activist Sherief Elkeshta, in an essay published in the Midan Masr monthly press, said the phenomenon was an example of political incoherence in Egypt. The phenomenon has spread to other countries such as Libya, where rebels disguised as SpongeBob SquarePants have been photographed. and celebrate the revolution. In fact, as a joke, SpongeBob was present "as a candidate" for the Egyptian and Syrian Presidencies. Despite this, international media such as The Guardian or Vice felt that despite this, "there is no political sense" to the appearance of Bob Sponge in these campaigns.

Such has been the popularity of "SpongeBob", which The character inspired the name of a mushroom discovered in 2011 in Malaysia. The "spongiforma squarenpantsii" is the scientific name for this fungus that produces sporocarps similar to sponges about ten centimeters wide by about seven inches long. The shape of the mushroom recalls the character, hence its name.

In 2005, the non-profit organization We Are Family launched a video featuring several children's series such as "Rugrats", "Bob the Builder", "Winnie the Pooh" or "Barney, the dinosaur ". Among the many characters were those from "SpongeBob". This video was launched with the aim of promoting tolerance and diversity of what is a family. However, This led the evangelical associations to protest. James Dobson, founder of the conservative Focus on the Family movement, publicly denounced the fact that the series "encouraged homosexuality".

Creator Stephen Hillenburg said that these accusations "are absurd and that the series deals with topics that do not go beyond humor and entertainment". In fact, consider SpongeBob as a "sexless" character. In the United States, moreover, Some have suggested that the characters in the series such as Patricio, Arenita, Calamardo or Don Crab are inspired by "the seven deadly sins".

Although this has not been the only controversy of "SpongeBob & # 39; linked to the "subject". A study by the National Commission of Ukraine called for banning the series on the grounds that it "constituted a real threat to children" since they consider that SpongeBob "is homosexual and undermines the morality of society".

This was not the only set in which the Commission for the Defense of Morals demands its prohibition. The Commission stated that "The Simpsons", "The Father of the Family" and "Futurama" were "special projects aimed at the destruction of the family". and that children's shows such as "The Teletubbies" want "the man to be subnormal". These series of Japanese accusations have not been rid of these accusations either. "Pokémon" or "Sakura, hunter of letters", only for the "study" are propaganda of vice and drugs and an example of sexism ".

This sounds obvious but has provoked long discussions within the fan community. When you see SpongeBob, you see that it's a sponge, just as his friend Patrick is a starfish, his boss a crab or his friend Arenita a squirrel. Your neighbor and colleague, Squidward bitter, is an octopus. However, some thought that because of his name, the character was a squid.

Such was the doubt that the very Stephen Hillenburg said in an interview that the character is an octopus and that this is noticed because his head is round, if it was a squid, it would be pointed.

That's SpongeBob & # 39; is an audience success, no one doubts, But what many do not know is that the series is also highly appreciated by critics and experts. The series has two Emmy awards, one for the best animation program in 2010 and the other for the best sound editing in 2014; as well as two BAFTA awards and six Annie prizes.

Alan Sepinwall and Matt Zoller Seitz, television reviews, included & # 39; Bob & # 39; sponge & # 39; in his book of the best TV series of all time claiming that "This series is an absurd masterpiece that Salvador Dalí and Groucho Marx would have seen together while they were smoking."

The popularity of the series has been such that There are many celebrities who openly admit to being fans of the series. For example, David Hasselhoff and Antonio Banderas agreed to appear in the films because they and their children were part of the series. Her fans include celebrities such as Victoria Beckham, Johnny Depp, Mark Hamill, Scarlett Johansson (nicknamed Princess Mindy in the first film) or the late Robin Williams and David Bowie.