Hillenburg was particularly interested in the sperm whale, the world's largest toothed predator. He also tended to a whale skeleton exhibit that kids could look at. There, he was a tour guide for whale watches. He worked as a teacher at the Ocean Institute in California for many years. Pearl was the second character that Stephen Hillenburg created for the series. He felt that the word "sponge" had to be kept in the name to prevent confusion over his species. He renamed the character Sponge Bob, taking inspiration from a previous character he created, called Bob the Sponge. Hillenburg wanted to name the character " SpongeBoy," but this name was already trademarked as a mop product. Hillenburg's first sketches of the character had natural blob shapes, but as he gave the character a nerdy personality, he decided that a "squeaky-clean square" like a kitchen sponge fit the concept. Natural sea sponges have amorphous, blob-like shapes, but they can be cut and shaped into rectangles for cleaning products. He thought about this and selected the sea sponge as "the most ridiculous" animal. In a July 1999 interview for Nickelodeon Magazine, he recalled asking himself "What would be the funniest, weirdest kind of animal to be the star?" When Stephen Hillenburg first created SpongeBob, he wanted to use the most obscure sea creature he could think of. Gary the Snail (voiced by Tom Kenny) is SpongeBob's loyal pet sea snail who meows and behaves like a cat. This satisfied Nickelodeon's requests for a teacher while keeping SpongeBob as an adult. He eventually came up with a compromise that he loved: SpongeBob would go to a boat-driving school, run by a pufferfish named Mrs. Stephen was ready to "walk out" on Nickelodeon he insisted that SpongeBob should be a childlike adult so that he could be universally relatable. They told Stephen that they would not produce the cartoon unless SpongeBob was a kid who went to school, with his teacher as a main character. Puff, was made at the request of Nickelodeon in 1997.
#HOW OLD IS SPONGEBOB SERIES#
Most of the other main characters were invented for his series bible, a book that he used to pitch the show to Nickelodeon.Ī new addition to the main cast, Mrs. Stephen was particularly interested in the sperm whale, which he chose for Pearl's species. He was inspired to create Pearl while supervising whale watches at the Ocean Institute. He created SpongeBob because he thought it was funny to use the sea sponge-a "weird" sea creature and one of his favorite animals-as the lead character. SpongeBob and Pearl were the first two characters that Stephen created for the show. Each episode features SpongeBob and at least one of the other main characters. SpongeBob also has a pet snail, Gary, who meows like a cat. The villains of the show are a copepod named Plankton and his waterproof computer, Karen, who want to run Mr. He often visits Sandy, a squirrel from the land who lives in an air-filled dome. SpongeBob attends a boat-driving school where he is taught by a pufferfish named Mrs. Krabs, who lives in an anchor with his whale daughter Pearl. He has two neighbors: a pink starfish named Patrick and an arrogant octopus named Squidward. The title character is a sea sponge named SpongeBob. Stephen Hillenburg's first sketch of the main characters. He was inspired to design a group of aquatic characters while working at the Ocean Institute in the 1980s. They were created by Stephen Hillenburg, who worked as a teacher of marine science before becoming an artist. At the end of the episode, SpongeBob and Patrick give their whirly brain propellers to the Angry Old Timer so that he can live his dream.SpongeBob SquarePants stars a cast of ten main characters. It is revealed that he only stole the whirly brains, because he was jealous and wanted to experience flight. He immediately apologizes to Sandy for his actions and breaks down in tears. She confronts the Angry Old Timer and returns the stolen brains to the residents of Bikini Bottom. SpongeBob and Patrick seek Sandy's help to retrieve them. When the Angry Old Timer sees SpongeBob and Patrick's whirly brains flying above his property, he steals them and places them in a barrel with many other citizens' brains. He wears green glasses, a light gray and navy blue colored watchman's uniform, and a pair of slippers. He is a light reddish-pink-colored fish with wrinkly arms and light red liver spots on his face. As well as that, he stole a few others but SpongeBob and Patrick broke the chest which released the brains. He appears in the episode " Whirly Brains," in which he steals SpongeBob and Patrick's whirly brains.