"SpongeBob SquarePants" Creator Stephen Hillenburg Dies at 57

Stephen Hillenburg, the creator of the iconic SpongeBob SquarePants television series and the SpongeBob Comics comic book series, died Tuesday due to complications from ALS. He was 57. 

In 1984, Hillenburg wrote The Intertidal Zone, an informative comic book about tide-pool animals, while teaching marine biology at  Orange County Marine Institute, where he used the book to educate his students. He began his professional animation career in 1993 as a director on Nickelodeon's Rocko's Modern Life. 

Hillenburg began developing SpongeBob SquarePants in 1994, with the show debuting five years later. The show has since becoming Nickelodeon's longest-running series of all-time with episodes still currently being produced. 

In 2011, Hillenburg began creating SpongeBob Comics under his studio United Plankton Pictures. Alongside other independent comic book creators, he contributed to the series until its end earlier this year. 

Hillenburg directed 2004's The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie and co-wrote and served as an executive producer on 2015's The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water. 

He is survived by his wife, Karen, and as his son, Clay. 

 

— Nickelodeon (@Nickelodeon) November 27, 2018