I’m extremely sad to hear about the passing of Stephen Hillenburg. Spongebob was a huge inspiration to me. Stephen went to school for marine biology and got his masters at Calarts for Experimental Animation. He was a big reason I went to Calarts for the same program. I’ve heard stories about how he pitched Spongebob to Nickelodeon with a fish tank filled with clay models of his characters and Hawaiian music playing on a stereo. He went all out and this cartoon actually meant something to him. He was destined to make it and it was a lifetime of work leading up to it. I see so many show creators just throwing ideas at the wall to see what sticks. Spongebob was a real vision and masterpiece and that is why it was such a huge success. We could all learn a thing or two from Stephen Hillenburg. RIP dude. I drew this sponge for you.