SpongeBob SquarePants is marking its landmark 25th anniversary on-air this year, and to celebrate,
The Intertidal Zone, the educational "science adventure" comic written and illustrated by Stephen Hillenburg to educate his students on tide-pool animals, which would go on to serve as the inspiration for the late creator's beloved Nickelodeon animated series, has been made available to view in full on
The Internet Archive!
Hillenburg, a trained marine biologist, first dreamt up the series' "somewhat nerdy, squeaky clean oddball" protagonist whilst teaching marine biology at the Orange County Marine Institute (now Ocean Institute) in 1989.
As a marine science teacher and self-described "ocean freak," Hillenburg has said he first drew natural sponges for the series, but after sketching a square household sponge, "it looked so funny" that he knew his star had been born.
After a few years, Hillenburg realized that his true passion was for art, and enrolled in Cal Arts’ prestigious animation program.
After graduation, Hillenburg made a few experimental shorts before being hired as a director on Nickelodeon’s
Rocko’s Modern Life. When that series went off the air, some of his co-workers started pressing him to put a pitch together for his own show. Although the comic starred Rocky-the-Shrimp, it would be another one of the characters from
The Intertidal Zone, Bob the Sponge, who would be core to the series. He put a presentation together complete with a underwater terrarium with character models in it and it impressed Nickelodeon executives enough for them to fund a pilot in 1997.
They had two weeks to put it together, and Hillenburg and creative director Derek Drymon were panicked that it wouldn’t go over. But that first 11 minute clip was so solid that the Nick execs immediately watched it again and then decided to make SpongeBob SquarePants into an animated series.
He first named his "absorbent and yellow and porous" creation "SpongeBoy," but due to copyright issues with a mop company, he swapped a letter and settled on SpongeBob. He reportedly deemed it important to keep "sponge" in the moniker, out of fear that kids may mistake SpongeBob for a block of cheese.
He did, however, see some correlations between SpongeBob and a natural sponge. "I think the realest connection is that sponges are odd and we think of them as odd," Hillenburg added to the
Washington Post. "I think the connection to SpongeBob is that sponges are the most elastic, changing, plastic creatures... and I wanted him to be able to do things that were really magical."
Hillenburg continued: "He has these really creative moments when he can re-form himself. But most sponges in the ocean are sedentary: They attach themselves to a rock and sit and filter-feed the rest of their lives, and reproduce, and that's about it. Not that they are not interesting, but they are not that kinetic. They are not mobile. They don't cook Krabbie Patties!"
In the end, however, the cartoon's for-all-ages comedy interwoven with positive lessons is the bedrock of
SpongeBob SquarePants' enduring legacy. As Hillenburg, who drew upon personal experiences as a child for storylines, himself summed up: "First of all, we want the show to be really funny. But I think in the end the message is: Treat people the way you expect to be treated."
In addition to SpongeBob, The Intertidal Zone features first glimpses of characters whose designs would later be used on SpongeBob SquarePants, such as a sea cucumber that looks a lot like Kevin C. Cucumber.
Since its launch July 17, 1999, SpongeBob SquarePants has reigned as the most-watched animated series for 22 consecutive years, while generating a universe of beloved characters, pop culture catchphrases and memes, theatrical releases, consumer products, a Tony award-winning Broadway musical and a global fan base. Produced by Nickelodeon in Burbank, Calif., SpongeBob SquarePants is one of the most widely distributed properties in Paramount Global history, seen in more than 180 markets, translated in 30+ languages, and averaging more than 90 million total viewers every quarter.
