Top 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsMost Popular Video GamesMost Popular Music VideosMost Popular Podcasts
    Release CalendarBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV NewsIndia TV Spotlight
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsBest Picture WinnersBest Picture WinnersSundance Film FestivalIndependent Spirit AwardsBlack History MonthSXSWSTARmeter AwardsAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • All
  • Titles
  • TV Episodes
  • Celebs
  • Companies
  • Keywords
  • Advanced Search
Watchlist
Sign In
Sign In
New Customer? Create account
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
  • Biography
  • Awards
  • Trivia
IMDbPro

Stephen Hillenburg(1961-2018)

  • Writer
  • Producer
  • Animation Department
IMDbProStarmeter
See rank
Stephen Hillenburg
Stephen McDannell Hillenburg is the creator of SpongeBob SquarePants (1999), Nickelodeon's highest-rated cartoons for children and a staple of American television. He was born on August 21, 1961 in Fort Sill, a United States Army post in Lawton, Oklahoma, to Nancy (Dufour) Hillenburg and Kelly Neugent Hillenburg Jr.

Raised in Anaheim, California, he became fascinated with marine biology as a child and later developed an interest in art. He started his professional career in 1984 teaching marine biology at the Orange County Marine Institute. He wrote 'The Intertidal Zone', a comic book about tide-pool animals which he used to educate his students.

In 1989, two years after leaving teaching, Hillenburg enrolled at the California Institute of the Arts to pursue a career in animation. He was later offered a job on the Nickelodeon animated television series Rocko's Modern Life (1993), after his success with short films The Green Beret (1992) and Wormholes (1992), which he created while studying animation.

In 1994, Hillenburg began developing The Intertidal Zone characters and concepts for what would become SpongeBob SquarePants. The show premiered in 1999 and has aired since then. He also directed The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (2004), which he originally intended to be the series finale. However, Nickelodeon wanted to produce more episodes, so Hillenburg resigned as the showrunner. He went back to making short films, with Hollywood Blvd, USA (2014).

In 2015, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water (2015) was released; the sequel to the 2004 film, it marked Hillenburg's return to the franchise, after he co-wrote the story and acted as an executive producer on the project.

Aside from two Emmy Awards and six Annie Awards for SpongeBob SquarePants, Hillenburg also received an accolade from Heal the Bay for his efforts on elevating marine life awareness, as well as the Television Animation Award from the National Cartoonists Society. Despite all this, he was involved in public controversies, including one that centered on speculation over the SpongeBob character's intended sexual orientation.

Hillenburg was diagnosed in 2017 with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. He stated that he would continue to work on his show for as long as possible. He died at age 57 on November 26, 2018 in San Marino, California, a year and a half after his diagnosis.
BornAugust 21, 1961
DiedNovember 26, 2018(57)
BornAugust 21, 1961
DiedNovember 26, 2018(57)
IMDbProStarmeter
See rank
  • Nominated for 10 Primetime Emmys

Photos

Stephen Hillenburg in The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (2004)

Known for

Clancy Brown, Mary Jo Catlett, Bill Fagerbakke, Tom Kenny, Mr. Lawrence, and Jill Talley in SpongeBob SquarePants (1999)
SpongeBob SquarePants
8.2
TV Series
  • Writer
Alec Baldwin, Clancy Brown, Jeffrey Tambor, Tom Wilson, Dee Bradley Baker, Rodger Bumpass, Bill Fagerbakke, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Kenny, Carolyn Lawrence, and Mr. Lawrence in The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (2004)
The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie
7.1
  • Writer
  • 2004
Carlos Alazraqui in Rocko's Modern Life (1993)
Rocko's Modern Life
7.9
TV Series
  • Writer(creator)
Kristen Stewart in Underwater (2020)
Underwater
5.8
  • Soundtrack("SpongeBob SquarePants Theme")
  • 2020

Credits

Edit
IMDbPro

Writer

  • Clancy Brown, Mary Jo Catlett, Bill Fagerbakke, Tom Kenny, Mr. Lawrence, and Jill Talley in SpongeBob SquarePants (1999)
    SpongeBob SquarePants
    • ...
  • SpongeBob SquarePants Presents the Tidal Zone (2023)
    SpongeBob SquarePants Presents the Tidal Zone
    • (creator)
  • Nickelodeon Kart Racers 3: Slime Speedway (2022)
    Nickelodeon Kart Racers 3: Slime Speedway
  • Kamp Koral: SpongeBob's Under Years (2021)
    Kamp Koral: SpongeBob's Under Years
    • (creator)
  • Noah Gallant, Sab Nino, Ariana Diaz Caneja, Alexander L. Dyson, Otis Schalin, and Tiff in The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie Rehydrated (2022)
    The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie Rehydrated
  • The Patrick Star Show (2021)
    The Patrick Star Show
  • Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl (2021)
    Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl
  • The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run (2020)
    The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run
  • SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom - Rehydrated (2020)
    SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom - Rehydrated
  • The SpongeBob Musical: Live on Stage! (2019)
    The SpongeBob Musical: Live on Stage!
  • SpongeBob Band Geeks Reanimated Collab (2019)
    SpongeBob Band Geeks Reanimated Collab
  • SpongeBob Reanimated Collab (2019)
    SpongeBob Reanimated Collab
  • SpongeBob SquarePants: Sea Side Story (2017)
    SpongeBob SquarePants: Sea Side Story
  • Lego Spongebob
  • Treloi Enwmenoi Pote Nikimenoi!! (2013)
    Funny Show Presents

Producer

  • SpongeBob SquarePants Presents the Tidal Zone (2023)
    SpongeBob SquarePants Presents the Tidal Zone
    • (segments The Switch Glitch, Welcome to Binary Bottom, You're Going to Pay...Phone)
  • Clancy Brown, Mary Jo Catlett, Bill Fagerbakke, Tom Kenny, Mr. Lawrence, and Jill Talley in SpongeBob SquarePants (1999)
    SpongeBob SquarePants
  • Kamp Koral: SpongeBob's Under Years (2021)
    Kamp Koral: SpongeBob's Under Years
  • The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run (2020)
    The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run
  • Kylo Ren Attacks Bikini Bottom
  • The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water (2015)
    The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water
  • Hollywood Blvd, USA
  • SpongeBob SquarePants: Spongicus (2009)
    SpongeBob SquarePants: Spongicus
  • Carlos Alazraqui in Camp Lazlo! (2005)
    Camp Lazlo!
  • Alec Baldwin, Clancy Brown, Jeffrey Tambor, Tom Wilson, Dee Bradley Baker, Rodger Bumpass, Bill Fagerbakke, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Kenny, Carolyn Lawrence, and Mr. Lawrence in The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (2004)
    The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie
  • Spongebob Squarepants: Lost at Sea (2003)
    Spongebob Squarepants: Lost at Sea
  • SpongeBob SquarePants: Sponge Buddies (2002)
    SpongeBob SquarePants: Sponge Buddies
  • Mary Jo Catlett in SpongeBob SquarePants: Nautical Nonsense (2002)
    SpongeBob SquarePants: Nautical Nonsense
  • Don Michael Paul in Oggy and the Cockroaches (1997)
    Oggy and the Cockroaches
  • Carlos Alazraqui in Rocko's Modern Life (1993)
    Rocko's Modern Life

Animation Department

  • Clancy Brown, Mary Jo Catlett, Bill Fagerbakke, Tom Kenny, Mr. Lawrence, and Jill Talley in SpongeBob SquarePants (1999)
    SpongeBob SquarePants
  • Kamp Koral: SpongeBob's Under Years (2021)
    Kamp Koral: SpongeBob's Under Years
  • Welcome to Bikini Bottom, Mexiguin! (2020)
    Welcome to Bikini Bottom, Mexiguin!
  • SpongeBob SquarePants: Spongicus (2009)
    SpongeBob SquarePants: Spongicus
  • Wormholes
  • The Green Beret
  • Jodi Benson in The Little Mermaid (1989)
    The Little Mermaid
    • (uncredited)
  • Frank Sinatra, Christopher Lloyd, Kathleen Turner, Joanna Cassidy, Bob Hoskins, Jim Cummings, and Charles Fleischer in Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
    Who Framed Roger Rabbit
    • (uncredited)

Personal details

Edit
    • August 21, 1961
    • Fort Sill, Oklahoma, USA
    • November 26, 2018
    • San Marino, California, USA(ALS - Lou Gehrig's disease)
    • Karen Hillenburg1998 - November 26, 2018 (his death, 1 child)
  • Publicity listings
    • 3 Articles
    • 1 Magazine Cover Photo

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    As a child he loved the films of Jacques Cousteau, so Stephen Hillenburg earned a degree in natural-resource planning and interpretation, with an emphasis in marine resources from Humboldt State University (Arcata, Calif.) in 1984. For three years he taught marine biology at the Orange County Marine Institute (now known as the Orange County Ocean Institute), in Dana Point, California. He had always enjoyed drawing and painting, so he pursued a master's-degree program in experimental animation at the California Institute of the Arts, in Valencia. All these experiences came together to create SpongeBob SquarePants.
  • Quotes
    "There is something kind of unique about [SpongeBob]. It seems to be a refreshing breath from the pre-irony era. There's no sense of the elbow-in-rib, tongue-in-cheek aesthetic that so permeates the rest of American culture -- including kids' shows like the Rugrats. I think what's subversive about it is it's so incredibly naive -- deliberately. Because there's nothing in it that's trying to be hip or cool or anything else, hipness can be grafted onto it." -- Robert Thompson, professor at the Center for the Study of Popular Television at Syracuse University, in the New York Times, July 21, 2002.
    • Creator of Spongebob Squarepants

Related news

Contribute to this page

Suggest an edit or add missing content
  • Learn more about contributing
Edit page

More to explore

Recently viewed

Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
Get the IMDb App
  • Get the IMDb App
  • Help
  • Site Index
  • IMDbPro
  • Box Office Mojo
  • IMDb Developer
  • Press Room
  • Advertising
  • Jobs
  • Conditions of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Your Ads Privacy Choices
IMDb, an Amazon company

© 1990-2023 by IMDb.com, Inc.