The Inimitable Creativity of Stephen Hillenburg
The animator behind <em>SpongeBob SquarePants</em>, who died this week at the age of 57, invented a cult oddity that also managed to become a global brand.
Every generation has its universal cult classic—a TV show beloved by millions that somehow feels unique, a widely watched phenomenon that’s so singular and strange that you feel as though only you could’ve discovered and fallen in love with it. For so many children of the 21st century, that show was , a Nickelodeon cartoon about an anthropomorphized yellow sponge who lives in a sunken pineapple, toils away at a minimum-wage fast-food job, and has silly adventures with his undersea pals. was the creation of the marine biologist and animator Stephen Hillenburg, who; today, 19 years after his
