Stephen Hillenburg

At 57 years old, Stephen Hillenburg has this physical status:

Stephen McDannell Hillenburg (August 21, 1961 – November 26, 2018) was an American animator, voice actor, and marine science educator.

SpongeBob SquarePants is Nickelodeon's best-known animated television series.

Hillenburg appeared as the showrunner for the first three seasons of the show, which has since been the fifth-longest-running American animated series. Hillenburg, a native of Lawton, Oklahoma, and raised in Anaheim, California, the artist became obsessed with the sea as an infant and developed an interest in art.

He began teaching marine biology at the Orange County Marine Institute in 1984, where he wrote The Intertidal Zone, an educational comic book about tide-pools, which he used to teach his students.

Hillenburg enrolled at the California Institute of the Arts in 1989 to pursue a career in animation, two years after leaving teaching.

After his success with The Green Beret and Wormholes (1993–1996), he was offered a job on Nickelodeon's Modern Life (1993–1996), he was then involved in making short films while researching animation. Hillenburg began creating The Intertidal Zone characters and designs for what became SpongeBob SquarePants in 1994.

Since its debut in 1999, the show has been on repeats.

He also produced The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (2004), which was supposed to be the series's finale.

However, Nickelodeon wanted more episodes, so Hillenburg resigned as the showrunner.

In 2013, he returned to making short films with Hollywood Blvd., but SpongeBob SquarePants' executive producer Tom Carter was still in charge of SpongeBob SquarePants.

Hillenburg co-wrote the script for the second film version of the series The Sponge Out of Water, which was released in 2015. Hillenburg received additional awards, including Heal the Bay for his efforts to promote marine life awareness and the National Cartoonist Society's Television Animation Award.

Hillenburg was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in 2017, but he has stated that he will keep working on SpongeBob SquarePants as long as possible.

He died as a result of heart disease caused by the disease on November 26, 2018, at the age of 57.

Early life and education

Stephen McDannel Hillenburg was born in Fort Sill, Oklahoma, where his father, Kelly N. Hillenburg Jr., served in the US military. Nancy (née Dufour), his mother, taught visually impaired students. When he was a year old, the family moved to Orange County, California, where his father began a career as a draftsman and designer in the aerospace industry. Bryan, his younger brother, became a draftsman/designer as well.

Hillenburg was "probably well-meaning and naive like all boys" when an interviewer asked him to identify himself as a child. His passion for sea life can be traced back to his childhood, when French oceanographer Jacques Cousteau's films left a lasting impression on him. Cousteau, Hillenburg, "provided a glimpse into that world," which he had no idea existed. As a child, he loved to explore tide pools, collecting things that "should have been left there and ended up dying and smelling bad."

Hillenburg also developed an interest in art at a young age. The first drawing was of an orange slice. His first praise for his art came from an illustration he drew in third grade depicting "a group of army guys... kissing and hugging rather than fighting." "Of course, this is 1970. She loved it because, I mean, obviously that was in the middle of [the Vietnam War]. She was, I would imagine, not a hundred percent for the war like a lot of civilians back then. ... I had no idea about the risks, but I had no idea because it was just a funny idea. I can recall that it was "oh my gosh, look at that," Hillenburg described at a time when she said, "oh my god, look at that." It was then that he knew he had "some [creative] talent." Despite his father's being a draftsman, he said his artistic talent came from his mother's side, and that his maternal grandmother was "absolutely gifted" and a "great painter." Someone took Hillenburg to the International Tournée of Animation at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in the 1970s. He was "knocked out" by the foreign animated films, including Dutch animator Paul Driessen's The Killing of an Egg (1977). "I thought it was peculiar, and it stuck itself in my head early on," he recalled.

He attended Savanna High School in Anaheim, referring to himself as a "band geek" who played the trumpet. Hillenburg participated in a "dive course" at Woods Coves, Laguna Beach, as part of the Regional Occupational Program at Savanna at age 15. "I loved being a biologist, but I also liked being an artist," the switch ignited his interest in diving, leading to his decision to pursue marine biology in college. Some of his high-school teachers, who were aware of his art and fascination with the ocean, told him otherwise: "You should only draw fish." The possibility of drawing fish seemed boring to him, and he was more riveted by "making weird, little paintings." He worked as a fry cook and lobster boiler at a fast-food seafood restaurant in Maine for a few summers after finishing high school. (SpongeBob SquarePants' involvement in the television series, which he would begin developing in 1994, was inspired by this.)

As a marine-science major, Hillenburg graduated from Humboldt State University in Arcata, California. He minored in art and said, "he] blossomed as a painter in Humboldt." He earned his bachelor's degree in natural-resource planning and interpretation in 1984, with a special emphasis on marine resources. He wanted to get a master's degree, but said it would be in art." "I suspect that if I went to art, I would never have any way of making a living," said the author, so I think it would be better to keep art my passion and interest rather than studying something else." However, by the time I came to the end of my undergrad work, I knew I wanted to be in art."

Personal life

Hillenburg married Karen Umland, a Southern Californian chef who teaches at the New School of Cooking in Culver City in 1998. Karen Plankton was named after her, and he deemed her the funniest person he knew, and the essence of her was described after her. Clay, the couple's first and only child, was born in 1998. Hillenburg used to reside in Hollywood and Pasadena and spent his remaining days with his family in San Marino, California, before his death. His interests included surfing, snorkeling, scuba diving, swimming, and playing "noisy rock music" on his guitar. "He jammed with his son, who is a drummer, which Hillenburg described as a "great way to connect with each other." He loved birdwatching at home, but said he was still "an ocean freak."

Among his family, colleagues, and supporters, he was formally referred to as "Steve." He was described as a "perfectionist laboraholic" by his coworkers, who was also known for his private appearance. Hillenburg was "very shy," Julia Pistor, co-producer of The SpongeBob SquarePants Film, said. "He doesn't want people to know about his life or family," she said. He's just a really funny, down-to-earth guy with a dry sense of humor, who puts his family first and keeps us on our toes in retaining our company's integrity." "I make animation because I like to draw and create stuff." Hillenburg said of himself: "I make animation because I like to draw and create things." I have no intention to be on camera or to be a celebrity. I don't like people, but I like having my privacy," says the author.

Through the United Plankton Charitable Trust, Hillenburg and his wife Karen created several projects and organizations in 2005, which named after Hillenburg's United Plankton Pictures. It promotes areas of their personal interest, with less than $500,000 a year as of 2017. The Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Society for the Activation of Social Space Through Art and Sound, which Karen is co-chair, are among the grantees. Planned Parenthood (where Karen has been on the board of directors as of 2014) and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society are two major health organizations; health accounts for the bulk of their grantmaking.

They have donated to schools, including the Polytechnic School in Pasadena (which their son attended), CalArts, and Humboldt State University, among others in education. Donations to the university's marine science research students were able to finance the HSU Marine Lab and the Stephen Hillenburg Marine Science Research Award Endowment, which were established in 2018 to fund the university's marine-science research students. The Stephen Hillenburg Animation Scholarship was given to emerging animators in the previous year.

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Early career

Hillenburg started in college as a park service attendant in Utah and an art director in San Francisco before finding the career he wanted: teaching children. He aspired to work in a national park on the coast and then joined the Orange County Marine Institute (now the Ocean Institute), an institute in Dana Point, California dedicated to educating the public about marine science and maritime history. "We taught tide-pool ecology, nautical history, diversity, and adaptation." Hillenburg was a marine biology instructor at the University of Toronto for three years. "I was amazed how enamored kids are with undersea life, especially with tide-pool creatures." He worked at Dana Point Marina and was also a staff artist. Although "it was a rewarding journey" for him, he discovered that he was more interested in art than in his chosen field.

While working there, one of the educational directors asked if he would be interested in publishing an educational comic book about the animal life of tidal lakes. He created The Intertidal Zone, a comic he used to tutor his students. It featured anthropomorphic aspects of sea life, many of whom would develop into SpongeBob SquarePants characters, such as "Bob the Sponge," the comic's co-host, who resembled an actual sea sponge rather than his SpongeBob SquarePants character who looks like a kitchen sponge, rather than his later SpongeBob SquarePants character, who resembles a sponge. He tried to get the comic out but the publishers refused to help him, but the publishers refused to hire him.

During this period, Hillenburg began attending animation festivals, including the International Tournée of Animation and Spike and Mike's Festival of Animation, where student films from the California Institute of the Arts (colloquially called CalArts) were exhibited. He decided he wanted to work in that field. He had intended to pursue a master's degree in art but instead of "going back to school for painting," he left his career in 1987 to become an animator.

In 1989, Hillenburg joined the CalArts Experimental Animation Program. "Changing careers as a result of this is scary, but the truth is that animation is a healthy occupation right now, and science education is becoming more of a challenge." He studied under Jules Engel, the program's founding director, who referred to him as his "Art Dad" and mentor. Engel, who was impressed by the Intertidal Zone, accepted him into the programme. "Engel" was also a painter, so I guess he saw my paintings and said, 'This guy could fit in to this scheme,' Hillenburg said.' I have no [prior knowledge] of animations [especially]" "I have no experience of [animation] animations. Hillenburg received a Master of Fine Arts in experimental animation in 1992. He briefly drew comics for the surfing magazine KEMA in 1990, during his time at CalArts.

Animation career

While at CalArts, Hillenburg made his first animated films, short films The Green Beret (1991) and Wormholes (1992). The Green Beret was about a physically disadvantaged Girl Scout with massive fists who demolished houses and destroyed communities while selling Girl Scout cookies. Wormholes was his seven-minute thesis film about the relativity of the theory. In his grant request in 1991 to the Princess Grace Foundation, which supports emerging artists in American theater, dance, and film, he referred to the latter as "a poetic animated film based on relativistic phenomena." The foundation decided to finance Hillenburg with a Graduate Film Scholarship. In 2003, he said, "It meant a lot." "They funded one of the programs I'm most proud of, even with SpongeBob." It gave me the opportunity to make a film that was personal, as well as free of any of the commercial needs." Wormholes were shown at many international animation festivals, including the Annecy International Animated Film Festival, the Hiroshima International Animation Festival, the Los Angeles International Short Film Festival, and the Ottawa International Animation Festival, where it received Best Concept. The film was described by Los Angeles Weekly as "road-trippy" and "Zap-comical," as well as "Inventive" by Manohla Dargis of The New York Times.

In experimental animation, Hillenburg said that "anything goes." Despite the fact that he was able to explore alternative to traditional filmmaking, he nonetheless attempted to develop "an industry style"; rather than, for example, making cartoons "by filming piles of sand changing." He made at least one other short film as an animation student, but the film's name has not been given.

Hillenburg's first commercial work in animation was as a producer on Rocko's Modern Life (1993-1996), Nickelodeon's first in-house cartoon production. After meeting Joe Murray, the show's creator, at the 1992 Ottawa International Animation Festival, where Wormholes and Murray's My Dog Zero were both competing, he "ended up finding work in the industry and assumed a job" at the television network. Murray, who was looking for people to direct Rocko's Modern Life at the time, saw Hillenburg's film and offered him a directorial role on the television film. He [had] friends who [gave him] a rough time about [the offer]. ... But doors opened when [he] stepped into the animation industry, so he accepted it. He was planning on being a celebrity artist": "I spent] many thousand dollars to make a film but [realized] I couldn't make it back because loans were out." Fortunately, Joe Murray enjoyed my film "and it took him by surprise," Hillenburg said.

Hillenburg spent time on the radio with Murray on Rocko's Modern Life. In addition to directing, he wrote and storyboarded for some episodes and was also the executive story editor. "Fish-N-Chumps," Hillenburg's third season episode, involved Rocko, Heffer, and Filburt, who were oblivious to the fact that two species of anthropomorphic sea creatures are attempting to catch them from deep underwater; this would foreshadow his later work with SpongeBob. Hillenburg was promoted to creative director in 1995, where he helped with pre- and post-production. He was able to pay his loans while working on the series. From his time on Rocko's Modern Life, he later remarked that he "learned a great deal about writing and making animated animation for television."

Some evidence shows that SpongeBob SquarePants dates back to 1986, during Hillenburg's time at the Orange County Marine Institute. "Ity Mouse's television series, The New Adventures of Mighty Mouse (1987–1988) and Pee-wee's Playhouse (1986–1991) "sparked something in [him," he said. "I don't know if this is true for everyone else, but it sure seems that for me, I'll start worrying about something and it takes about ten years to make it happen or have someone else believe in it." [SpongeBob SquarePants] came together after I took a few years to get [SpongeBob SquarePants] together.

Martin Olson, one of the writers, read The Intertidal Zone and encouraged Hillenburg to produce a television series with a similar theme during the development of Rocko's Modern Life. At that time, he had not even considered creating his own series: "I would never want to produce a show of my own" after seeing Joe [Murray] ripping his hair out a lot, dealing with all of the problems that came up." However, he discovered that this would be the right option: "For the first time in all those years, it seemed like I was doing these two completely different things." I was curious what it all meant. I didn't get a synthesis. When [my two passions] all came together in [a show], it was amazing. I was relieved that I hadn't wasted a lot of time doing something that I later regretted for doing something else. Hillenburg said in 2002 that it has been really rewarding. As he was driving to the beach on the Santa Monica Freeway one day, he said he had decided to create a sequence.

Hillenburg recalled his teaching experience at the Orange County Marine Institute and how mesmerized children were by tide-pool animals, including crabs, octopuses, starfish, and sponges, as he was designing the show's concept. "I wanted to create a small town underwater where the characters were more like us than like fish." They have fire. They go on walks. They are all driven. They have pets and holidays." "Something that was amazing but believable" was what Hillenburg liked for a show. He also wanted his cartoons to stand out from the majority of popular cartoons of the day, such as The Ren & Stimpy Show (1991–1995). As a result, he decided to concentrate on one key figure: the weirdest sea creature he could imagine. "I wanted to do a show about an innocent child, but a sea sponge was the right one for that." Hillenburg began to develop some characters from The Intertidal Zone, including Bob the Sponge, in 1994.

The Sponge is Bob the Sponge, the comic's "announcer." He looks like a real sea sponge, and Hillenburg continued this style at first because it was "the right thing to do biologically as a marine-science teacher." He drew inspiration from innocent, childlike figures he loved, such as Charlie Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy, Jerry Lewis, Pee-wee Herman, Abbott and Costello, and The Three Stooges to determine the new character's personality. He then considered modeling the character after a kitchen sponge and discovered that this option would fit the character's square personality perfectly: "I]t looked so funny." I think he was much simpler to recognize as far as cartoon terms go. He seemed to be a little nerdy, squeaky clean oddball." Hillenburg used Tom Kenny to voice the central character of the series, whose career in animation had begun with his appearance on Rocko's Modern Life. In order to further develop the character, elements of Kenny's own personality were used.

Hillenburg, who wore a Hawaiian shirt, carried an "underwater terrarium with models of the characters" and performed Hawaiian music to set the tone. Eric Coleman, a Nickelodeon executive, described the entire process as "pretty spectacular." Despite the fact that SpongeBob SquarePants' creative director, Derek Drymon, referred to the pitch as tense, the execution went "very well." Hillenburg was funded by Nickelodeon, who gave the show to them.

SpongeBob SquarePants was Nickelodeon's first original Saturday-morning cartoon. It premiered on May 1, 1999 as a preview, and it premiered on July 17 of the same year. "I think innocence reigns," Hillenburg said, "although I don't think it does in real life." Critics have lauded the product's appeal to a variety of age groups, and others have praised it. The titular character, according to James Poniewozik of Time magazine, is "the anti-Bart Simpson," both mentally and physically: his head is as squared-off and neat as Bart's is unruly, and he has a personality to match: conscient, optimistic, and blind to the world's greatest mistakes. On the other hand, Joyce Millman of the New York Times said that the show "is clever without being impenetrable to young viewers" and goofy without boring grown-ups to tears. It's the most charming toon on television and it's one of the weirdest. SpongeBob dances on the fine line between childhood and adulthood, defletion and camping, the warped and the sweet, as Pee-wee's Playhouse.

SpongeBob SquarePants was a direct hit. It surpassed Pokémon (1997–) as the first-rated Saturday morning children's program on television, within its first month on air. The program had the most viewers of any children's program on television by the end of 2001. SpongeBob SquarePants were added to Nickelodeon's Prime Time Block from Monday to Thursday. The number of older viewers who attended this program increased dramatically as a result. The show's total viewership hit more than 61 million by May 2002, 20 million of whom were aged 18 to 49. Hillenburg said that the program would be very popular among adults: "I never thought that it would get to this point." You can't imagine this craze if you're planning to do a show about a sponge. We just try to make ourselves laugh and then ask if it's appropriate for children. We hoped it would be liked by adults, but I can tell you that we wished it would be admired by adults. However, we did realize that a college audience was the best we could have hoped for. SpongeBob SquarePants has developed to become one of Nickelodeon's longest-running series. "Ten years ago, this was my first encounter with the world." I had no idea how long I would be on the show. It's never been possible to imagine that. ... "I was hoping we'd get a season and a cult following, and that could be it," Hillenburg said in 2009, when the show's tenth anniversary. Its success has made it a media brand, which is MTV Networks' most dispersed property. It has brought in $12 billion in merchandising income as of 2015.

Hillenburg suspended production of the show after the third season was over to concentrate on the development of The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, which was released in 2004: "I don't want to try and do a movie and the series at the same time." We have 60 episodes, and that is certainly as many as [Nickelodeon] actually needs. It's a normal number for a show like this. I've done a little research and people tell it it's just crazy to do both a series and a movie at the same time. "I would rather concentrate on doing a good job on the film than worrying about doing well," he said. Tim Hill directed the film from a tale he created with five other writer-animators from the series: Paul Tibbitt, Derek Drymon, Aaron Springer, Kent Osborne, and Tim Hill. SpongeBob and his closest friend Patrick appear on the surface, leading to a mystic hero's quest for a robbed crown. Jules Engel, his mentor, died at the age of 94 in 2003 during the making of The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie. Hillenburg dedicated the film to his memory. Engel "truly was the most influential artist in [his] life," he said. The SpongeBob SquarePants Film earned $140 million worldwide and received critical praise. Rotten Tomatoes, a review portal, rates it 68 percent positive based on 125 reviews, with an average score of 6.2 percent. In summary, "both kids and their parents" are "perpetually goofy and entertaining."

Hillenburg wanted to end the film "so [it] wouldn't jump the shark." "We're currently working on episodes 40-60, and I've always thought of it as a normal run for an animated show." For example, the Ren & Stimpy Exhibition lasted about the same length. And I thought now was a good time to take a step back and look at a new venture. Hillenburg said in 2002 that it's "better not to go to a point where people don't want to see your show anymore." Nickelodeon wanted to produce more episodes, but storyboard director Sam Henderson noticed that the show was so expensive for the station that it couldn't afford not to." Initially, Hillenburg was skeptical that the network would continue without him, but said: "I think [Nickelodeon executives] acknowledge that my contribution is important." They may want to maintain the original idea and quality, according to me. As a result, he resigned as showrunner and instead named Paul Tibbitt as his trusted employee. Despite the fact that he no longer had a direct interest in the creation of SpongeBob SquarePants, he maintained his position as an executive producer and continued an advisory role, reviewing each episode. Tibbitt began working as a supervising producer but as Hillenburg went into semi-retirement in 2004, he rose to executive producer. When he was on the show, he voiced Potty the Parrot and sat in with Derek Drymon at the record studio to guide the voice actors while recording. Tibbitt took on acting for Potty during the fourth season, although Andrea Romano took over the two voices as the voice director.

Hillenburg will return to the show in 2014, Tibbitt revealed on Twitter. However, he did not specify what the former showrunner would hold. Hillenburg had already been contributing to another film based on the series's first release in 2011 and then announced the following year as director Tibbitt. "I had] been in the studio every day [the crew]," Tibbitt wrote the tale with Hillenburg, who "had] been in the studio every day. Hillenburg also produced executive-produced in addition to writing. "I want to get back to the show when [the film] comes," he said in 2014. It's becoming more and more difficult to come up with stories. So, Paul [Tibbitt] and I will really brainstorm and come up with new information." The Sponge Out of Water, a sequel to The SpongeBob Movie, received a high approval rating from Rotten Tomatoes and an average rating of 6.5 percent. It earned $323.4 million worldwide, making it the second highest-grossing film based on an animated television show after The Simpsons Movie (2007).

Hillenburg founded United Plankton Pictures Inc., a television and film production firm that produces SpongeBob SquarePants and related media in 1998. SpongeBob Comics, a comic-book series based on the cartoon, was released from 2011 to 2018. Hillenburg unveiled the venture in a 2011 press release, where he wrote, "I'm hoping that readers will enjoy having a SpongeBob comic book from me." Various cartoonists, including James Kochalka, Hilary Barta, Graham Annable, Gregg Schigiel, and Jacob Chabot have contributed to the comic's pages.

Hillenburg co-authored and co-directed a second animated feature film based on Rob Zombie's comic-book series The Haunted World of El Superbeasto, which was scheduled for a 2006 release, according to Jeff Lenburg in his book Who's Who in Animated Cartoons. He wrote Diggs Tailwagger, Derek Drymon's 2007 pilot. In 2009, Hillenburg said he was working on two other television projects that he did not want to discuss.

He began filming on Hollywood Blvd., the United States, in 2010, a new short film for animation festivals. He caught people walking and animated them in walking cycles in his two-minute film. "I want to get [the film] done," Hillenburg said in 2012. It takes forever." He was aiming to finish it last fall. Hollywood Blvd., USA, was released to festivals in 2013, three years since the company's existence began. Hillenburg referred to it as a "personal film" and said that "it is not a plot." It's just about people in our area."

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