well Christmas again already time sure is flying yeah it is oh yeah
you scared me is this gonna be a yearly thing I hope not
SpongeBob SpongeBob
in honor of the holiday spirit my friend Scott and I are going to tell you the tale of how one of the
biggest cartoons of all time came to be SpongeBob SquarePants just wanting to share our love for the
series and pay a tribute as the show was such an important part of our individual upbringings
SpongeBob was always my favorite show as a kid I feel like it was one of the most influential
when it came to my creativity when I was a child I drew a lot and I conceptualized ideas for shows
and movies I would make and I would generally follow SpongeBob's formula when it came to
writing jokes visual design all of that I didn't like doing pop culture references or too much
gross out humor because those early seasons of SpongeBob did not do that unless it felt organic
or it felt deserved so many cartoons at time relied too heavily on those things and even as
a child I respected SpongeBob a lot for that and I think that's what really made it stand apart when
it came to its humor its humor was fully based on witty dialogue character interaction it was
a show that I could show my parents and they would laugh at they would understand they they
understood the value of it whereas with other cartoons on Nickelodeon or other networks it
was much harder for them to get those it was much harder for them to truly get behind those and say
yeah that's funny and it never felt patronizing as a kid it always felt like entertainment it
didn't feel like kids entertainment and I think that just shows how amazing those first three
seasons are because everything what I described those first three seasons are because everything
I described what SpongeBob wasn't was pretty much what it turned into after those few seasons but
I still stuck with it for a couple more years after its golden era was over and while it's
been a very long time since I've actually sat down and watched any newer episodes of the show
it is a show that will always remain in my heart as my childhood show for me I was hooked right
away the first few seasons which everyone will tell you were the best truly are as good as you
remember them almost every episode had quotable lines that I still say to this day heck I can
picture episodes of the show in my head like they are burned into my brain SpongeBob always
felt reliable I think that's the right word I want to use there it was always there and
it was always delivering quality entertainment but it was also one of those formative shows
for me that helped me bond with other people as I grew up having discussions with friends
having lifelong jokes because of the show but it was really imaginative really creative you can
think outside the box or in this case outside of the square and while I'm no great artist
or anything it did get me into doodling I had a big problem growing up in school where on all of
my assignments I would always just draw on them and not gonna lie a fair bit of them aside from
being that s that we all Drew for some reason was drawing characters from SpongeBob I even
remember creating my own fake little comic series of SpongeBob my own little stories of SpongeBob
Patrick Squidward Mr Krabs Plankton Sandy it just felt like there was something special about this
show but how did this influential show come to be the show that we all know and love it for today
you're watching SpongeBob SquarePants we'll be right back SpongeBob Squarepants no other
introduction is truly needed the long running cartoon has been the bread and butter for
Nickelodeon for the fishtail end of the 90s and has no signs of stopping anytime soon currently
it's on its 13th season with three theatrical movies and two spin-off shows the SpongeBob
brand cannot be any stronger putting aside any personal feelings you have towards things like
the spin-offs SpongeBob has always found a way to adapt and evolve since its early conception but
one thing that does seem to be consistent is the fact that adults Now who grew up with SpongeBob
still endlessly make references or quote jokes from the earlier Seasons to a point you'd think
our brain is 10 common knowledge 90 SpongeBob jokes your Genius is showing where quantums and
Nickelodeon has surely fallen into the well if it isn't a SpongeBob love a success right away
trap when giving new shows a try there is no questioning the validity of why SpongeBob is
their golden sponge for their Network it came together in an unconventional way way and became
one of the top earning franchises one of the most notable franchises and one of the most cherished
franchises if we head back to the 1980s we take a look at Stephen Hillenburg a man who was in love
with the ocean a deep Fascination and appreciation for the ecosystems Under the Sea at the Orange
County Marine Institute in California Hillenburg was teaching Marine Biology one of those days he
put together a comic book to help showcase the world within the institute's tide pool as an aid
to help the students understand the teachings a bit more the comic was called the intertidal
zone which would take a bunch of sea life and make them anthropomorphic leading us to the
first appearance of what would eventually become SpongeBob SquarePants then named Bob the sponge
from here he tried to see if he could pitch this idea to be a published comic as he did minor in
art in college while majoring in Marine Biology unfortunately things didn't seem to go anywhere
with that but it did change his Direction in life finding a lot more enjoyment in creating
the comic leading him back to school to work towards a masters in animation specifically he
wanted to take the risk with another one of his passions once he acquired his Masters he would
end up connecting with Joe Murray the creator of the cartoon Rocco's Modern Life and they seemed
to really hit it off with hillenberg receiving a job offer and quickly joined on to fill many
different positions from writing to directing to being a storyboard artist and much more one of the
voice actors on the show Tom Kenny who played Heff would quickly become good friends with hillenberg
immediately knowing that if Bob the sponge would ever become a reality that Tom Kenny is
the perfect voice of the character it was that definitive moment where the magic of SpongeBob
started coming together their Communications about this went further as hillenberg was fully fleshing
out the development of this sponge character and it was not even half a minute until after
hillenberg's description of what he was thinking the character would be like that Tom Kenny found
the perfect voice one thing that every show has to keep everything in order for the character's
world and ideas for the show is a Bible that's a terminology used as for anyone working on
the show must follow the pre-established rules set within it Hillenburg would spend countless
amounts of time developing it once Rocco's Modern Life would finish its run on Nickelodeon Bob the
sponge would start to change into what SpongeBob would be especially in the look of the character
as the common person would think of a sponge more like a typical dishwashing one rather than their
natural sea look as when you hear the word sponge it's safe to assume people think of this rather
than this unless you're a marine biologist of course all of this form together to create the
final concept of his creation yup spongeboy okay maybe not the final but that was the next name for
SpongeBob at the show's current title at this time being sponge boy Ahoy things were going well and
they had just finished recording The Voice work for the short for sponge boy Ahoy only to right
after find out that that name is a no-go because of a mop related product on the market with the
same name or was there a mop yeah what are the chances but hillenberg wasn't too distraught
from this he knew that whatever the name comes out to be the word sponge needs to be involved
some time had passed a few discussions were had and it was determined that the name SpongeBob
would be the best it heck that sounds more like a name than sponge boy which sounds more like you're
describing him but where did the last name come from the iconic Square Pants it literally came
from a random side comment from none other than Tom Kenny who said boy look at this sponge in
square pants as if the light ball went on and exploded above his head Hillenburg loved the
sound of SpongeBob SquarePants it was just the perfect way to understand this sponge character
that you're looking at in 1997 he brought the full pitch to Nickelodeon having the connection
to do so thanks to his work on Rocco's Modern Life while the art of pitching by many who have
gone through state that you really need to keep it simple the base idea and concept plus some
sort of visual aid to sell what your vision is in most cases more than this really turns out
in the pitcher's creation moving forward with the network they pitched it to but Hillenburg
is not your average fella he has been putting his all into this and Charlie was gonna show it all
off for one a visual aid he had was a smaller replica of what Bikini Bottom looks like all
inside of an aquarium and yes there were even character is there as well along with hillenberg
on this pitch was Derek dryman someone he had met working on Rocco's Modern Life at that time he was
working as a storyboard artist on the show when he caught wind of hillenburg's ideas and won it
in as well as Nick Jennings who would jump aboard who would be crucial to Bringing SpongeBob to life
now together at the pitch wearing some Hawaiian shirts making a statement as they entered the
room with Hawaiian music as their backing track all of this ended up in a success as everyone
involved in this pitch meeting was thrilled with the idea of the show literally some Executives
had to take a moment to regain their composure from how funny SpongeBob could be in the end it
wasn't uh we'll give you a call back Vibe instead only moments later Nickelodeon told them that they
want their show and the pilot was greenlit on the spot the pilot episode Help Wanted would
eventually be created and it performed so well at the executive screening that they wanted to
repeatedly watch it over and over describing it as something they've never seen before it
had charm it was funny and it would have the same impact on adults to an extent that it would also
have on their kid viewership now it was going to Prime Time become mean the Network's first
Saturday morning cartoon airing a preview of the show on May 1st 1999 and eventually fully
premiering on July 17 1999. the reviews of the show were really high in majority positive the
viewership was quickly growing and by the time you blinked it was a success by three years in
the viewership was beyond 60 million but what really made the show different on the back end
of the network was the portion of the viewership that were adults over 20 million of those viewers
were in the 18 plus demographic for a cartoon as an adult who enjoys cartoons SpongeBob was helping
prove to the networks as well as naysayers that cartoons are a medium to tell stories not just
something to keep kids entertained for a chunk of time at this time in 2002 hillenberg took
his Focus from the show and pointed it towards the theatrical movie that Nickelodeon wanted to
create this would cause a problem on the show as he only wanted to focus on one project and not
both the show and the movie plus he figured that since he had already delivered them 60 episodes
It's about on par with what most cartoons life cycles are little did he know the future the
show would have the SpongeBob SquarePants movie would Premiere in November of 2004 grossing 141
million dollars on a budget of 30 million making it a huge financial success and the reviews from
critics and fans of SpongeBob were both pretty positive I mean I know for me the SpongeBob
movie was a pretty massive moment as a kid being a fan of the show yeah I agree I feel like they
really took the essence of who SpongeBob was as a character and they effectively turned it into
a full feature film giving each character way more depth while also making them still feel like the
characters from the show taking all these guys and putting them in this life or death situation
that's actually being taken seriously but still maintaining that level of SpongeBob wackiness and
fun really impressive and it shows that hillenberg understood these characters to a T he wasn't gonna
do a movie just to do a movie he wanted to do a movie when it felt right when it felt like he
had something to do with these characters on the big screen that you couldn't do in an 11 minute
or 20 22 minute episode but but Mr crazy cheers for SpongeBob now back to SpongeBob SquarePants
after this Hillenburg wanted to end SpongeBob not make it too much of a good thing but of
course with a series this popular and this valuable Nickelodeon wasn't going to be on
board for that Ellenberg stated though that I think Nickelodeon Executives respect that my
contribution is important I think they would want to maintain the original concept of quality this
disagreement about continuing with the show led to hillenberg stepping away as showrunner leaving
Paul Tibbett to take over Hillenburg would still serve as a base executive producer role helping
advise where and when needed while still having an eye on each completed episode but this really
was his retirement from the property spending time reconnecting with his love of the sea SpongeBob at
this point would hit its middle years for about a decade without Hillenburg there with a lot of
fans finding a good chunk of episodes to not be as good at best or just plain bad at worst again
personal opinions definitely come into play there but in 2014 it was announced that Hillenburg would
be coming back to SpongeBob Tibbett and Hillenburg worked together on the second SpongeBob theatrical
movie titled sponge out of water that came out in 2015 still one of the coolest blu-ray
releases ever right here heck even check out this steelbook it also was a huge financial win as well
making 325 million dollars on around a 70 million dollar budget also receiving pretty decent reviews
as well as it even became the second highest grossing film that was based on an animated TV
show just behind The Simpsons Movie doing the film LED to helenberg really wanting to come
back to the show as it had been going on for so long there was definitely room for some creative
help to come up with new ideas and tell stories however not too long into his return He put out
an announcement in 2017 regarding his diagnosis of ALS a neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve
cells in the spinal cord in the brain he commented on this not affecting his want and passion to work
on SpongeBob as long as he can sadly however on November 26 2018 Stephen hilleberg would pass away
from the disease at the age of 57 and his ashes were scattered into the Pacific Ocean as a tribute
to what inspired his whole career from marine biology to the animation field while SpongeBob
job would continue on hillenberg's Legacy would as well having the episode of SpongeBob SpongeBob's
big birthday blowout as well as the third SpongeBob Movie sponge on the Run being both
dedicated to him and everything he helped create and while the full performance of Sweet Victory
from The Band Geeks episode wasn't played during the Super Bowl it was at least nice to somewhat
see it incorporated as it then would transition into sicko mode the arena itself would put out
a video of the full performance of Sweet Victory playing on the screens but it was when there was
not a soul in the arena well the gesture was nice one day I hope that the actual performance is just
Sweet Victory despite some helpful guidelines and rules to follow to carry on the SpongeBob
franchise the series would continue on and is today worth over 13 billion dollars in the end
SpongeBob SquarePants would continue to go on Paving ways for newer generations of Watchers
to enjoy while the show itself has gone through a lot of changes over the years most notably
being the look of SpongeBob slightly being tweaked here and there it still is able to maintain that
special charm for someone even if the newer stuff isn't for you or the older stuff doesn't pique
your interest over the animation and stories of the newer stuff SpongeBob at this point is
eternal it's proven that the show can stand the test of time beyond that having its own different
success with other animation Ventures like the movies the Patrick Star spin-off show and the
Camp Coral spin-off show there's a SpongeBob for everyone an era of SpongeBob for everyone and I
think that's kind of beautiful the series has continued to merchandise the franchise as well
as still pumping out strong into the gaming industry with a recent remake of Battle for
Bikini Bottom and now the upcoming Cosmic Shake video game the level of Animation quality found
in newer episodes of SpongeBob is seriously on another level while comparing back to Classic
era SpongeBob there's a distinct difference in tone the show has because of it while things
are still silly fun and often light-hearted the newer stuff really hit full gear on playing into
internet memes and Creepypasta some animation that I can't explain how this is a thing I'm
looking at in a cartoon right now and the slight evolution of characters personalities while the
spin-off shows May flanderize that last aspect a bit the main course SpongeBob traits for the
most part are able to stay truer to what they've always been and just sometimes Patrick's a jerk
for no reason which seems to stick out the most he was more of the not so smart but loyal friend
to SpongeBob but in more recent years has had these moments of either just straight up being
a bad friend to SpongeBob or being mean for the sake of being mean SpongeBob is generational but
putting on any episode from any time really brings you back to warm fuzzy feelings that Nostalgia
of the first time watching the show the first time seeing the tv specials the movies and of
course the video games that's another aspect of my love for SpongeBob that I hope to touch upon
soon over on my gaming channel Jordan Fringe gaming I have been and always will be a fan of
SpongeBob SquarePants Stephen hillenberg truly created something I don't think he even imagined
becoming so beloved and ingrained into society in the cultural Zeitgeist reaching Heights way
larger than the network that owns it you were a beacon of inspiration for many generations you
were a kind person who wanted to share your love of the sea and what's in it you open
the possibilities of people caring more about marine biology and pursuing that career path
equally as much for animation I have friends now that are in the animation industry that
currently work on newer SpongeBob episodes and what brought them to this point was their love
for the show you created when they were younger all over the world people care about SpongeBob
and that's all thanks to you taking the chance to share your love of the sea in a way that
both kids and adults can attach themselves to thank you for everything Mr hillenberg
well that's another Fringe miss it was the most Fringe miss fringement someone
who celebrates Christmas could ask for thanks Scott I I really appreciate you
stopping by of course always a pleasure so was this like a like a yearly Tradition
now well I see you again next year yeah yeah sure will Bud really no