Stephen Hillenburg
Birthday:
21 August 1961, Fort Sill, Oklahoma, USA
Birth Name:
Stephen McDannell Hillenburg
Height:
168 cm
Stephen Hillenburg was born on August 21, 1961 in Fort Sill, Oklahoma, USA as Stephen McDannell Hillenburg. He is a writer and producer, known for The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (2004), SpongeBob SquarePants (1999) and The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water (2015). He is married to Karen Hillenburg. They have one child.
"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 elb...Show more »
"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. Show less «
We want the show to be really funny. But I think in the end the message is: Treat people the way you expect to be treated. And another conne...Show more »
We want the show to be really funny. But I think in the end the message is: Treat people the way you expect to be treated. And another connection to any sort of message is that a lot of the stories come out of the personal experience I and the other writers had as kids--the harsh lessons in life which are usually very funny in retrospect, like maybe what happens when you learn your first curse word and you don't know what it means. [Washington Post, Oct. 15, 2001] Show less «
Our characters act silly, even totally ridiculous at times, and most of our jokes don't come out of pop cultural references. It seems like w...Show more »
Our characters act silly, even totally ridiculous at times, and most of our jokes don't come out of pop cultural references. It seems like we're aiming at a child audience, everyone can laugh at the basic human traits that are funny. It's playful, the humor is playful, the world is playful. Show less «
[when asked why the octopus has six tentacles instead of eight:] "Technically I just thought he'd be a little too cumbersome as a character ...Show more »
[when asked why the octopus has six tentacles instead of eight:] "Technically I just thought he'd be a little too cumbersome as a character to have too many legs visible. Maybe that's why he's so angry!" Show less «
I think the connection to SpongeBob is that sponges are the most elastic, changing, plastic creatures . . . and I wanted him to be able to d...Show more »
I think the connection to SpongeBob is that sponges are the most elastic, changing, plastic creatures . . . and I wanted him to be able to do things that were really magical. So [SpongeBob] has these really creative moments when he can re-form himself. But most sponges in the ocean are sedentary: They attach themselves to a rock and sit and filter-feed the rest of their lives, and reproduce, and that's about it. Not that they are not interesting, but they are not . . . mobile. They don't cook Krabbie Patties! [Washington Post, Oct. 15, 2001] Show less «
When you set out to do a show about a sponge, you don't expect the kind of appeal that he's had. [Detroit News, August 8, 2002]
When you set out to do a show about a sponge, you don't expect the kind of appeal that he's had. [Detroit News, August 8, 2002]
At first I drew a few natural sponges -- amorphous shapes, blobs -- which was the correct thing to do biologically as a marine science teach...Show more »
At first I drew a few natural sponges -- amorphous shapes, blobs -- which was the correct thing to do biologically as a marine science teacher. Then I drew a square sponge and it looked so funny. I think as far as cartoon language goes he was easier to recognize. He seemed to fit the character type I was looking for. [Washington Post, Oct. 15, 2001] Show less «
Even the villainous Plankton, he's still flawed and you still root for him in a way, and the style of humor is simple and it's about human b...Show more »
Even the villainous Plankton, he's still flawed and you still root for him in a way, and the style of humor is simple and it's about human behavior, and everybody can identify with that. Show less «
Working as a marine science educator, I had the chance to see how enamored kids are with undersea life, especially tide pool creatures. By c...Show more »
Working as a marine science educator, I had the chance to see how enamored kids are with undersea life, especially tide pool creatures. By combining this knowledge with my love for animation, I came up with SpongeBob SquarePants. Show less «
Stephen Hillenburg's Photos
Parrot
Potty the Parrot
Potty, Director, Himself, Miner, Painter, Party Extra, Potty the Parrot
