While attending animation school, Hillenburg received a job on the children's television series Mother Goose and Grimm, and worked on the series from 1991 to 1993. In 1992, Hillenburg began to attend the California Institute of the Arts to study animation, having been accepted into the institute by Jules Engel, who was impressed with Hillenburg's previous work. In 1987, Hillenburg left the institute to pursue his dream of becoming an animator. Hillenburg tried to get the comic professionally published, but none of the companies he sent it to were interested. The comic starred various anthropomorphic sea lifeforms, many of which would evolve into SpongeBob SquarePants characters. He created a precursor to SpongeBob SquarePants: a comic book titled The Intertidal Zone used by the institute to teach visiting students about the animal life of tide pools.

While Hillenburg was there, his love of the ocean began to influence his artistry. See also: History of SpongeBob SquarePants and Help Wanted (SpongeBob SquarePants) Stephen Hillenburg became an animator during his period of study at the California Institute of the Arts.Ĭreator Stephen Hillenburg initially conceived SpongeBob SquarePants in 1984, while he was teaching and studying marine biology at what is now the Orange County Ocean Institute. The season received positive reviews from media critics upon release. The pilot episode, ' Help Wanted', was not included on the DVD due to copyright issues with the song ' Livin' in the Sunlight, Lovin' in the Moonlight' by Tiny Tim, which appears in the episode, but was later released as a bonus feature on various series DVDs, including that of the third season. The SpongeBob SquarePants: The Complete 1st Season DVD was released in Region 1 on October 28, 2003, Region 2 on November 7, 2005, and Region 4 on November 30, 2006. Several compilation DVDs that contained episodes from the season were released. He chose 'SquarePants' as a family name as it referred to the character's square shape and it had a 'nice ring to it'. Upon finding it out, Hillenburg decided to use the name 'SpongeBob'. The show was originally to be called SpongeBoy Ahoy!, but the name SpongeBoy was already in use for an art pencil product.

To voice the character of SpongeBob, Hillenburg approached Tom Kenny, who had worked with him on Rocko's Modern Life. Hillenburg initially conceived the show in 1994 and began to work on it shortly after the cancellation of Rocko's Modern Life in 1996. Among the first guest stars to appear on the show were Ernest Borgnine and Tim Conway voicing the superhero characters of Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy, respectively. Lawrence, Jill Talley, Carolyn Lawrence, Mary Jo Catlett, and Lori Alan. The show features the voices of Tom Kenny, Bill Fagerbakke, Rodger Bumpass, Clancy Brown, Mr. The series chronicles the exploits and adventures of the title character and his various friends in the fictional underwater city of Bikini Bottom. The first season of the American animated television series SpongeBob SquarePants, created by former marine biologist and animator Stephen Hillenburg, aired on Nickelodeon from May 1, 1999, to March 3, 2001, and consists of 20 half-hour episodes.

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