History

History of Spongebob

Stephen Hillenburg, the creator of Spongebob Squarepants, first formed the idea in 1984 while studying and teaching marine biology at the Ocean Institute in California.  Here, he wrote The Intertidal Zone, and this had many forms of sea life, which would evolve into Spongebob Squarepants characters.  He left the institute to become an animator, and later attended the California Institute of Arts.  Here, he made a thesis film called Wormholes, and this led to him being hired as a writer, producer, director, storyboard artist, and executive producer of the series Rocko’s Modern Life.  Following Rocko’s Modern Life, he started to develop the Spongebob Squarepants series.  The first episode of Spongebob Squarepants first aired in the United States on Nickelodeon on May 1, 1999, after the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards.  After the second episode premiered on July 17, 1999 the show reached enormous popularity and has remained popular ever since. A feature film of the series was released in theaters on November 19, 2004.  The series is currently in its eighth season and celebrated it’s tenth anniversary on July 17, 2009.