SpongeBob SquarePants

**SpongeBob SquarePants** is the main protagonist of the animated series of the same name. He is a childish sea sponge who lives in a pineapple with his pet snail Gary in the fictional underwater city of Bikini Bottom. He works as a fry cook at the Krusty Krab and attends Mrs. Puff's Boating School. Despite his reckless actions, SpongeBob is good-natured and enjoys hanging out with his best friend, Patrick.

## Origin

Stephen Hillenburg first became fascinated with the ocean as a child. He began developing his artistic abilities at a young age. During college, he studied marine biology and minored in art. He planned to return to graduate school and eventually to pursue a master's degree in art. After graduating in 1984 from Humboldt State University, he joined the Ocean Institute, an organization in Dana Point, California, dedicated to educating the public about marine science and maritime history. While he was there, he had the initial idea that would lead to the creation of *SpongeBob SquarePants*—a comic book titled *The Intertidal Zone*. The host of the comic was "Bob the Sponge" who, unlike SpongeBob, resembled an actual sea sponge. In 1987, Hillenburg left the institute to pursue an animation career.

A few years after studying experimental animation at the California Institute of the Arts, Hillenburg met Joe Murray, the creator of *Rocko's Modern Life*, at an animation festival, and was offered a job as a director of the series. While working on the series, Hillenburg met writer Martin Olson, who saw his previous comic *The Intertidal Zone*. Olson liked the idea and suggested Hillenburg create a series of marine animals, which spurred his decision to create *SpongeBob SquarePants*. Hillenburg did not think of making a series based on *The Intertidal Zone* at the time, later telling Thomas F. Wilson in an interview, "a show ... I hadn't even thought about making a show ... and it wasn't my show". Hillenburg later claimed it was "the inspiration for the show". *Rocko's Modern Life* ended in 1996. Shortly afterwards, Hillenburg began working on *SpongeBob SquarePants*. He began drawing and took some of the show's characters from his comic—like starfish, crab, and sponge. At the time, Hillenburg knew that "everybody was doing buddy shows"—like *The Ren & Stimpy Show*. He stated, "I can't do a buddy show," so he decided to do a "one character" show instead. He conceived a sponge as the title character because he liked its "versatility ... as an animal." Hillenburg derived the character's name from Bob the Sponge, the host of his comic strip *The Intertidal Zone*, after changing it from *SpongeBoy* because of trademark issues.

Hillenburg had made several "horrible impersonations" before he finally conceived of his character. He compared the concept to Laurel and Hardy and Pee-wee Herman saying, "I think SpongeBob [was] born out of my love of Laurel and Hardy shorts. You've got that kind of idiot-buddy situation – that was a huge influence. SpongeBob was inspired by that kind of character: the Innocent – à la Stan Laurel." The first concept sketch portrayed the character wearing a red hat with a green base and a white business shirt with a tie. SpongeBob's look gradually changed. He also wore brown pants used in the final design. SpongeBob was designed to be a childlike character who was goofy and optimistic in a style similar to that made famous by Jerry Lewis. Originally, the character was to be named *SpongeBoy* (and the series named *SpongeBoy Ahoy!*), but this name was already in use for another product. This was discovered after voice acting for the original seven-minute pilot was recorded. Upon learning this, Hillenburg knew that the character's name still had to contain "Sponge" so viewers would not mistake him for a "Cheese Man". In 1997, he decided to use the name "SpongeBob" with "SquarePants" as a family name, with the latter referring to the character's square shape and having a "nice ring to it".

Before commissioning *SpongeBob* as a full series, Nickelodeon executives insisted that it would not be popular unless the main character was a child who went to school. Stephen Hillenburg recalled in 2012 that Nickelodeon told him, "Our winning formula is animation about kids in school... We want you to put SpongeBob in school." Hillenburg was ready to "walk out" on Nickelodeon and abandon the series since he wanted SpongeBob to be an adult character. He eventually compromised by adding a new character to the main cast, Mrs. Puff, who is SpongeBob's boat-driving teacher. Hillenburg was happy with the compromise and said, "A positive thing for me that came out of it was [how it brought] in a new character, Mrs. Puff, who I love."

SpongeBob is a good-natured, naive, and enthusiastic sea sponge. In *The SpongeBob Musical*, his exact species of animal is identified: *Aplysina fistularis*, a yellow tube sponge that is common in open waters. He resides in the undersea city of Bikini Bottom with other anthropomorphic aquatic creatures. He works as a fry cook at a local fast-food restaurant, the Krusty Krab, to which he is obsessively attached, showing devotion to it above other restaurants. His boss is Eugene Krabs, a greedy crab who nonetheless treats SpongeBob like a son. Squidward Tentacles, an octopus, and SpongeBob's ill-tempered, snobbish neighbor, works as the restaurant's cashier. SpongeBob's hobbies include fishing for jellyfish, practicing karate with his friend Sandy Cheeks (a squirrel from Texas), and blowing bubbles. SpongeBob is often seen hanging around with his best friend, starfish Patrick Star, one of his neighbors. SpongeBob lives in a submerged pineapple with his pet snail, Gary. His unlimited optimistic cheer often leads him to perceive the outcome of numerous endeavors and the personalities of those around him as happier than they really are. He believes, for instance, that Squidward Tentacles enjoys his company even though he clearly harbors an intense dislike for him (though they have been shown to get along on rare occasions). SpongeBob's greatest goal in life is to obtain his driver's license from Mrs. Puff's boating school, but he often panics and crashes when driving a boat.