Stab Magazine | Revealed: SpongeBob SquarePants Creator Was A Surfer All Along

Now Playing... Stab Highway East Coast (USA) Presented By Monster Energy, Episode 4

461 Views

Revealed: SpongeBob SquarePants Creator Was A Surfer All Along

Friends ridiculed cartoon idea around a Baja campfire.

style // Dec 6, 2018
Words by Stab
Reading Time: 2 minutes

Stephen Hillenburg was a marine biology teacher and cartoonist who created Spongebob Squarepants, an animated series that made over $13 billion in merchandising alone for its network, Nickelodeon.

Stephen died last Monday, aged 57, from Lou Gehrig’s disease (also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), a god-forsaken neurodegenerative disease that atrophies the muscles and doesn’t stop until it’s done. A sad, remarkable tale for sure, but why do we care? Well, Stephen Hillenburg was a lifelong surfer. That’s where the connection to the ocean that spawned the fifth longest running animated TV show in history came from. And amazingly, this little known fact was only acknowledged in the media yesterday.

This revelation of sorts comes from the New Yorker, via an excerpt from a Surfer’s Journal piece that won’t be out until the new year. It’s baffling how onto it the New Yorker editorial team is (they don’t miss shit!) and the sheer volume and quality of what they produce across all mediums is second to none. My only guess as to how they got their hands on the excerpt from “The Million Dollar Sketchbook”, an essay by Biddle Duke that will appear in the feb/march issue of SJ, is that William Finnegan (Longtime New Yorker staff writer and author of Pulitzer-winning Barbarian Days) has contact at the Journal who thought the information was worthy of rushing out before the print deadline, although that remains unconfirmed.

Who lives in a pineapple under the sea…

Biddle Duke was a friend of Stephen Hillenburg’s, and the piece describes the fateful 1994 trip to Mexico when Hillenburg first revealed his idea for a cartoon sponge who lives in a tidepool to his friends. “His hours not surfing were spent sketching in a little pad he carried with him—shells, sea life, shipwrecks in the distance,” writes Biddle. “One night at our campsite, Steve produced a sketchbook of ideas for a cartoon he wanted to create. We passed it around, a collection of dozens of drawings of a square kitchen sponge in shorts and a funny hat, and a variety of other sea-creature caricatures. He explained that his cartoon would take place entirely in a single tidepool, a tiny undersea universe.” Biddle and friends weren’t sold, remarking that, “sponges are sedentary, they don’t have features…” Hillenburg wasn’t impressed. “Exactly, that’s the gag. A sponge,” he said. “He won’t just be a sponge. He’s going to be a common kitchen sponge.” 

The success of the sponge from Bikini Bottom would have been unfathomable to the group sitting ’round the campfire 24 years ago, but you’d hardly describe Hillenburg as having the last laugh. Stephen stopped surfing in 2017 due to the deterioration of his muscles and a “decline” in his lung function. Biddle recalls visiting Hillenburg in Malibu last July, and despite being upset by his friend’s ill health and inability to get in the water, pointing out the irony of everything that had been written about him in the media.

“I joked that all the press had missed the best part of the ‘SpongeBob’ story” he writes. “His connection to the ocean as a surfer and how he’d shared his earliest sketches with pals on a surf trip to Baja. ‘You’ll have to tell that story one day,’ he replied.'” And that’s the beautiful thing about the surfing fraternity. Just when you think it’s all litreage and carbon strips, some guy with a sketchbook comes along and reminds you of what’s possible.

Read the original excerpt here, and keep an eye out for the first Surfer’s Journal of next year (they do it rather well too).

Comments

Comments are a Stab Premium feature. Gotta join to talk shop.

Already a member? Sign In

Want to join? Sign Up

Advertisement

Most Recent

Short Kings (And Queens) Dominate In Abu Dhabi, While Localized Sandstorm Forces Contentious Re-Surf

Italo Ferreira and Caity Simmers emerge victorious in the UAE, will wear yellow into Portugal.

Feb 16, 2025

The Unlikely Origins of Rob Machado’s Shaping Career

How a stolen board and a wildcard snub may have sparked a revolution in alternative…

Feb 15, 2025

Rookies Rise As Former Winners Are Culled From The Conveyor Belt Of Effort

Day 2 Abu Dhabi recap.

Feb 15, 2025

Filipe Toledo Busts Fins On A WSL Photographer’s Camera Lens — Does Not Get The Shot

Thiago Diz narrowly escapes capital punishment in the UAE.

Feb 15, 2025

We Collaborated With The Winner Of “Best Wetsuits 2025”

Introducing the "432" — a Stab x FERAL Wetsuits lovechild.

Feb 14, 2025

Formal Request To CT Surfers: Stop Trying To Get Tubed

Dissecting pro surfing's first 192 waves in Abu Dhabi.

Feb 14, 2025

Stab Highway East Coast (USA) Presented By Monster Energy, Episode Four

Nude tubes, barehand fishing, biscuits, porn, Grave Digger, and one team's elimination.

Feb 14, 2025

First Class Lounge Lizard Ryan Miller Picks The Abu Dhabi Pro Winners

“Conditions: exactly six foot at one minute intervals”

Feb 13, 2025

The Surf Abu Dhabi Pro Preview

Contrary to popular opinion: oil and water do mix.

Feb 13, 2025

One Cold, Unforgettable Winter At Uncle Robbie’s

Reflecting on four months spent living with 1988 Pipe Master Robbie Page.

Feb 11, 2025

Channel 51: Pipe Pro Post-Show

Coco Ho, Dooma and Josiah Amico discuss the juiciest storylines from the opening CT.

Feb 11, 2025

Did the Australian Surf Industry Walk So The Cycling Industry Could… Run?

With former Globe head-of-design turned MAAP co-founder, Ollie Cousins.

Feb 10, 2025

Microdose: Lungi Slabb

Australia's most instinctive young barrel rider leaves some notes for the forthcoming CT. 

Feb 9, 2025

Lexus Pipe Pro: Tyler Wright Triumphs, Barron Mamiya + Leo Fioravanti Deadlock For Men’s Crown

Victory goes to the Hawaiian, thanks to having the highest single scoring ride.

Feb 9, 2025

Watch: Channel 51 — A Lexus Pipe Pro Finals Day AltCast 

Live on Red Bull TV, featuring Coco Ho, Damien Fahrenfort, Josiah Amico, Hughie Vaughan, and…

Feb 8, 2025

Pipeline Erupts, Perfect 10s Drop, Slater Feasts On The Blood Of The Youth

Jack Robinson, John John Florence both eliminated despite posting 10s*.

Feb 8, 2025

Stab Highway East Coast (USA) Presented By Monster Energy, Episode 3

Outer Banks secret sessions, Waffle House meltdowns, and the worst way to try an air…

Feb 7, 2025

“When I Stand Up, I Want To Kill – Fucking Redlining Like I Want To Ruin The Wave”

Triple Crown winner Finn McGill blends vintage Pancho Sullivan power with a Stab High-worthy air…

Feb 7, 2025
Advertisement