From comic book to TV show: The history of SpongeBob SquarePants By Washington Post, adapted by Newsela staff on 12.04.18 Word Count 557 Level 670L

Image 1. (From left) Sandy Cheeks, SpongeBob SquarePants, Squidward, Mr. Krabs and Patrick Starfish in Nickelodeon’s "SpongeBob SquarePants" cartoon show. Photo by: Nickelodeon

SpongeBob SquarePants lives in a pineapple under the sea. But he came to life in an ocean education center in California, in 1989.

He was just called Bob the Sponge then. He was a sea sponge with cool black shades and a happy smile. Bob the Sponge had no arms or legs. He was a talking blob. He starred in a comic book and described life in an intertidal pool. An intertidal pool is an ocean habitat where millions of sea creatures live.

Bob the Sponge's world was created by Stephen Hillenburg. He was a teacher and artist at the Orange County Marine Institute in California. Hillenburg made the comic book to teach kids about intertidal pools.

This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. 1 Bikini Bottom

Ten years later, it became one of the most popular TV cartoons ever. Bob the Sponge became SpongeBob SquarePants. The Intertidal Zone became Bikini Bottom.

Hillenburg died Monday, November 26, of Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. It is called ALS for short. ALS affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. This causes the muscles to weaken. It also takes away a person's ability to walk.

Touched The Lives Of Many Students

"He touched the lives of many students," said the Ocean Institute. It used to be called the Orange County Marine Institute. "He brought laughter to millions."

This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. 2 Hillenburg always loved the ocean. When he was a child, he learned how to surf and snorkel. His favorite show was "The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau." After he graduated from high school, he spent a few summers working as a cook at a seafood restaurant in Maine. The restaurant became the inspiration for the Krusty Krab.

Later on, Hillenburg said, he made Bob a sponge because sponges looked funny.

Hillenburg tried to sell the comic book to different publishers. No one was interested.

That was no problem for Hillenburg. In 1989, he went back to school to study animation. He eventually went to work for Nickelodeon, the children's cable network. Someone there suggested that Hillenburg should create a cartoon about Bob the Sponge.

Hillenburg started brainstorming. He wanted to change how Bob looked. He began drawing sea sponges with stubby limbs and faces that drooped. Finally, he decided a square, kitchen sink sponge would work best.

The result was Sponge Boy. That's what Bob was called when Hillenburg suggested the show to Nickelodeon in 1996.

"Sponge Boy is our hero!" he wrote to the network. "He's a single male sponge who resides in a fully furnished, two bedroom ... pineapple."

The Krusty Krab

He loves his job at the Krusty Krab. In fact, he is so proud of his Krusty Krab uniform that he never takes it off.

Nickelodeon executives loved the idea. There already was a mop named "Spongeboy," and so they renamed the character "SpongeBob."

The rest is history. Millions of people have seen Hillenburg's cartoon. Hillenburg's mission always remained the same. He wanted to teach young people about ocean conservation and the beauty of the sea.

People need to realize how important our oceans are. "If you watch SpongeBob, you see the plankton and the crabs and starfish," he said. "You'll want to take care of our oceans."

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