SpongeBob SquarePants And Friends Lose Creator Hillenburg
/ CBS Detroit
LOS ANGELES (AP) - 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 Tuesday.
NEW YORK, NY - DECEMBER 04: SpongeBob Creator Stephen Hillenburg attends Opening Night of Nickelodeon's SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical at Palace Theatre on December 4, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Jenny Anderson/Getty Images for Nickelodeon)
Hillenburg died Monday of Lou Gehrig's disease, also known as ALS, the cable network said in a statement. He was 57.
TOKYO, JAPAN - MARCH 23: Stephen Hillenburg, the writer of a U.S. cartoon "The SpongeBob SquarePants" poses with its charactor SpongeBob SquarePants at an event held at Tokyo International Anime Fair on March 23, 2006 in Tokyo, Japan. The film of this popular U.S. Cartoon will open on April 22 in Japan. (Photo by Junko Kimura/Getty Images)
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.
NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 08: SpongeBob SquarePants attends T.J. Martell Foundation's 17th Annual New York Family Day at PlayStation Theater on April 8, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for T.J. Martell Foundation)
"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 rest is absurd packaging."
NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 04: Patrick Star, Sandy Cheeks and Squidward Tentacles attend the SpongeBob SquarePants themed, 41st birthday party for Pharrell Williams at Bikini Bottom at Cipriani Wall Street on April 4, 2014 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Nickelodeon)
Its vast cast of oceanic creatures included SpongeBob's starfish sidekick Patrick, his tightwad boss Mr. Krabs, and his always-exasperated neighbor Squidward Tentacles.
NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 04: Mr. Krabs and Mrs. Poppy Puff attend the SpongeBob SquarePants themed, 41st birthday party for Pharrell Williams at Bikini Bottom at Cipriani Wall Street on April 4, 2014 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Nickelodeon)
Its nearly 250 episodes have won four Emmy Awards and led to an endless line of merchandise to rival any other pop cultural phenomenon of the 2000s.
LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 10: Television characters SpongeBob SquarePants and Patrick Star attend the Variety and Nickelodeon 10 Animators to watch event at Siren Studios on March 10, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Michael Buckner/Getty Images for Variety)
"When you set out to do a show about a sponge, you can't anticipate this kind of craze," Hillenburg told the AP in 2002.
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