22, 2018, in New York.īut he has his troubles, too. The SpongeBob SquarePants balloon floats across Central Park South during the 92nd annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, Thursday, Nov. SpongeBob can play his nose like a flute and could not possibly be happier to work his fast-seafood job of flipping Krabby Patties. Hillenburg's undersea world of Bikini Bottom was a realm like no other, real or fictional. Krabs, and his always-exasperated neighbour Squidward Tentacles. Its vast cast of oceanic creatures included SpongeBob's starfish sidekick Patrick, his tightwad boss Mr.
"The essence of the show is that SpongeBob is an innocent in a world of jaded characters," Hillenburg told The Associated Press in 2001. The eternally, obliviously jolly SpongeBob and his yell-along theme song that opened "Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?!" quickly appealed to college kids and parents as much as it did kids.
Hillenburg conceived, wrote, produced and directed the animated series that began in 1999 and bloomed into hundreds of episodes, movies and a Broadway show. His death comes just weeks after the passing of another cartoon hero in Marvel creator Stan Lee. He had announced he had the disease in March 2017.
Hillenburg died Monday of Lou Gehrig's disease, also known as ALS, the cable network said in a statement. Stephen Hillenburg, who used his dual loves of drawing and marine biology to spawn the absurd undersea world of "SpongeBob SquarePants," has died, Nickelodeon announced on Tuesday. Stephen Hillenburg, creator of the popular animated series Spongebob Squarepants is interviewed by Reuters in Singapore. Stephen Hillenburg conceived, wrote, produced and directed the animated series that began in 1999 and bloomed into hundreds of episodes, movies and a Broadway show.