Stephen Hillenburg

When I pitched the show, I made this special seashell. You could pick it up and hear me singing, 'Spongeboy, Spongeboy!' I…

— Stephen Hillenburg

I eventually thought of SpongeBob, but he needed a last name - SquarePants came to mind.

— Stephen Hillenburg

I was just looking at a packet that had SpongeBob thong underwear, so it goes farther than I would imagine.

— Stephen Hillenburg

Laurel and Hardy are among my strongest influences, and I think they're perfect examples of two naive, kid-like characters that are still…

— Stephen Hillenburg

Anyone who knows me knows that I will continue to work on 'SpongeBob SquarePants' and my other passions for as long as…

— Stephen Hillenburg

On TV, it is more efficient to use voice-over people because it is really hard to get celebrity voices to recur in…

— Stephen Hillenburg

In the show, the whole point of the fast food - the fact that SpongeBob loves being part of the fast-food chain…

— Stephen Hillenburg

I studied marine biology, even taught marine science before I got into animation, so I had an interest in that field and…

— Stephen Hillenburg

When you set out to do a show about a sponge, you can't anticipate this kind of craze. We just try to…

— Stephen Hillenburg

Everybody's got some fascination with undersea life, don't you think?

— Stephen Hillenburg

The characters are likable. Even the villainous Plankton - he's still flawed, and you still root for him, in a way, and…

— Stephen Hillenburg

I knew I wanted to create a character who was nerdy and kind of square, so when I drew a square sponge,…

— Stephen Hillenburg

I thought, well, what about a show that stars undersea creatures, and some of the ones you rarely see animated. So, from…

— Stephen Hillenburg

Most sponges in the ocean are sedentary: They attach themselves to a rock and sit and filter-feed the rest of their lives…

— Stephen Hillenburg

I was always interested in the ocean and also in art. I had to figure out how to put the two together,…

— Stephen Hillenburg

Generally, we try not to write down to kids. We really just try to write a visual, character-driven cartoon that has a…

— Stephen Hillenburg

I think the source of SpongeBob's humour is classic, and that's always appealing.

— Stephen Hillenburg

A sponge is a funny animal to center a show on. At first, I drew a few natural sponges - amorphous shapes,…

— Stephen Hillenburg

In the spring of 1996, I was working for Nickelodeon on a show called 'Rocko's Modern Life,' and I was interested at…

— Stephen Hillenburg

One night, I was really beat; we worked really late and went to get food at some takeout place. And I leaned…

— Stephen Hillenburg

I just kind of figured that the marine biology would be a career, and the art would be something I did for…

— Stephen Hillenburg

I wanted to create a small town underwater where the characters were more like us than like fish. They have fire. They…

— Stephen Hillenburg

For some reason, not many women go into cartooning.

— Stephen Hillenburg

I am an ocean lover and fish watcher and had studied marine biology and even taught marine sciences before I got into…

— Stephen Hillenburg

I've always been interested in art and making things, but I chose not to go to art school because I thought I…

— Stephen Hillenburg