When the world gets to be too much, there’s a place I go to rest and refresh. It’s a little hideaway safe from the ugliness that constantly knocks on the door of my life, entering through the television, radio, and internet. It’s a little place where the sand and the sea meet to form an oasis of innocence and silliness.
Sadly, its patriarch has passed away November 26, 2018, at the age of 57. Stephen Hillenburg, founder of Bikini Bottom which is home to Spongebob Squarepants, died of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or simply ALS. Currently ALS is terminal. It affects the neurons that control the brain and spinal cord. I say “currently” because I am hopeful that we will find a way to beat it.
Hillenburg didn’t set out to be an animator. He began his professional career teaching marine biology. As such, he began to create teaching tools involving characters that would evolve into the inhabitants of Bikini Bottom as we know them today. He became interested in animation and went back to school to get a degree in Experimental Animation, graduating with his Master of Fine Arts degree in 1992.
He worked on Nickelodeon’s “Rocko’s Modern Life” for a few years, all the while refining his concept of an undersea town where the aquatic inhabitants lived life much like we humans. He pitched “Spongeboy” to Nickelodeon. The network gave it the green light after changing the name to “Spongebob Squarepants”.
When Spongebob debuted in May 1999, my children were five and seven, so we watched a good bit of Nickelodeon. I must admit that when I saw the previews, I was skeptical. I grew up watching Bugs Bunny and the rest of the Warner crazies. That was my standard when it came to cartoons. Anything else was just a wannabe. This new animation was different. Let’s be honest, we adults don’t always do different very well. Thankfully, children do. Their curiosity about the world and the unknown in general allows them to see things to which we become blind when we grow up. Admittedly, this wild wonderment can be risky behavior at times, but isn’t that why they have parents to guide them?
This time the parent, that’s me, decided to be led by his children when they wanted to find out who lives in a pineapple under the sea. After the first 30 seconds, I was hooked. In fact, we all were. We still are. My children are both in their mid-twenties and we still quote lines from the show to each other. Same goes for my co-worker and good friend Sandy. He and I riff on the Sponge weekly. I would wager that there are nearly as many adults who are fans of Spongebob as children who are.
The show is pure silly and that’s a good thing. I’m looking for silly in my life. I don’t have to search for serious. It finds me. Just like with my buddy Bugs Bunny, it’s a two-tiered silly. There are jokes for the young kids as well as the older ones (aka parents). Every time there’s some sort of accident, some fish is always yelling, “My leg! Oh, my leg.” Or the time that Spongebob and Patrick were on the undersea prairie sitting around a camp fire.
Patrick: Spongebob, how can there be fire if we live under water?
The fire suddenly goes out.
Spongebob: Thanks, Patrick.
Patrick: Sorry.
I believe we could all use a little silly in our lives. It seems that we have this idea that being an adult means always being serious. We must be “grown up.” I’m not saying be childish, rather childlike, in our approach to the world. Yes, there are serious, scary and dangerous things that we face as individuals and as a society, but let’s not forget that just because we’re older it doesn’t mean we can’t have a little childlike fun. Humor doesn’t have to be jaded to be good, it just has to be funny and often the simpler the better.
The appeal of Spongebob is more than silly. Spongebob is an innocent chock full of optimism. He believes that someday he will actually earn his boating license, even though the rest of us know he won’t. He’s the fiercest of friends. He’s always trying to do things to cheer up his sourpuss neighbor and co-worker, Squidward. When he and Patrick have a spat, he always reconciles. He loves his job and works to be the best fry cook the world has ever known. He has what he wants and, most importantly, wants what he has.
I sometimes wish I could be more like Spongebob. I would likely worry less, sleep better, and be easier to be around.
There’s something else the life of Hilleneburg teaches us. It’s that the road we travel doesn’t always take us to the destination we intend. He started with an interest in marine biology. He began teaching and discovered another aspect of his talent. He could have ignored it and continued teaching, but instead took another road.
If you get a chance, take time to watch a little Spongebob. Bask in the silly with a trip to Bikini Bottom. Remember Stephen Hillenburg and, if you feel so moved, donate to help fight ALS using the link below.
My wife doesn’t share the same fandom that I do. She says I’m all the silly she’ll ever need. That’s a good thing…right?
Get in touch with me at:
Email: [email protected]
On Twitter: @BillMaine
