The voice cast of SpongeBob SquarePants in 1999, and the animated comedy went on to become one of Nickelodeon’s most beloved series. Enamored with undersea life since childhood, he served as a marine biology educator before pivoting to animation. Before creating SpongeBob SquarePants, the cartoonist also worked as a writer on Rocko’s Modern Life and Rugrats. Hillenburg ed away from complications due to ALS, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, in 2018.
Three years after Hillenburg’s death, of the SpongeBob cast and Nickelodeon executives ed the animator’s family to unveil a SpongeBob SquarePants Memorial bench, The Mercury News reports. The bench—painted in a cheery, eye-popping yellow at the behest of Hillenburg’s wife, Karen—sits outside his alma mater, Savanna High School in Anaheim, CA. It was while a student at Savanna that Hillenburg developed his twin interests of marine life and art. A plaque accompanying the bench reads:
“The world’s most lovable goofball and his pals Patrick, Squidward and Sandy are the brainchild of alumnus Stephen Hillenburg, who as a member of the class of 1979, began to refine his inventive and visionary talents at Savanna.”
The actors Tom Kenny (SpongeBob) Clancy Brown (Mr. Krabs), Bill Faberbakke, (Patrick Starr), Roger Bum (Squidward), and Doug Lawrence (Plankton) all ed the remembrance in Anaheim. Kenny, who’s been voicing SpongeBob since 1999, commented on SpongeBob SquarePants’ multi-generational impact. “The great thing about SpongeBob and being allowed to portray him is that it all came from a brain of the guy who went to this very high school, and he changed all of our lives and it’s so cool being part of something that is so multi-generational,” Kenny said. The voice actor added, “SpongeBob has been around for 20-something years. These guys obviously are younger than that by a good handful of years. SpongeBob has stayed cool. It’s not something that people leave behind them. They take it to high school. They bring it to college.”
Source: The Mercury News