Stephen Hillenburg

I was the original SpongeBob artist.

So I designed what those characters look like for Steve Hillenburg.

So I have this real kind of character background.

And one of my clients was MGM Studios, where I was doing Pink Panther.

In later discussion, the account explained that paranormal touches had been chosen with 7chan's /x/ audience in mind.

The account also acknowledged trying to align the fictional timeline with Stephen Hillenburg's changing relationship to SpongeBob after the first film and getting details wrong.

That admission matters because it shows how real production history can be part of fiction.

A writer can use a real studio, a real program, a real creator, a real episode title, and a real point in a show's history.

Ladies and gentlemen, Kevin K joins us today.

So Steve Hillenburg, who created SpongeBob SquarePants, he was originally a storyboard artist in our studio, in our animation studio.

So year two, it becomes a big hit.

Becomes a big hit.

And there are some other episodes like that that are very eerie, but in a special way.

Because, you know, actually, now that I'm saying that out loud and thinking about it, there were many later episodes of SpongeBob from, I don't know, let's say season five, season six, season seven, long after Steven Hillenburg had left the show and the quality had noticeably, depending on how you want to look at it, either the quality dipped or the vibe of the show really changed.

There were many episodes that I remember watching when they were coming out that were actually genuinely disturbing.

Like, they had actual horrifying moments in them.

And of course, you know, they made sure, the writer of this at the very least, made sure to slip in that detail about the tape having been edited 24 seconds before it was watched by the staff.

Although it's kind of just slipped in there.

Another thing that I realize now is entirely missing from this version of the story, which I don't recall having noticed before, or at least, you know, anytime recently I haven't thought about it, is that Steven Hillenburg is not mentioned being contacted at all.

He is entirely absent from this story, actually, completely.

And so, how do we do another show that could sell merch? How, how do we sustain this? I don't think they believed, and I think SpongeBob has proven that if you just let it go and give them creative control...

You know, obviously Stephen Hillenburg has passed away, but Vincent is still there.

Vincent was with SpongeCo in, in Ren & Stimpy, and Tom Kenny still is very ger- uh, germane and also very instrumental in the voice of Stephen Hillenburg in the episodes that we see now.

Same with Doug Lawrence.

You know, that family is still there.

It's a good, I mean, yeah.

Steven Hillenburg, always a huge fan of.

And you know what he's doing? That soundtrack still fucking slaps.

It really

Yeah

... keep that going just to add to the pile of people who were able to make it without necessarily having to do it the, quote-unquote, "correct way." 'Cause even people like Stephen Hillenburg, you know, like his, uh, yeah, he got his start in marine biology, if I remember correctly, and that-

Oh, wow

... couldn't be further, [laughs] uh, from the traditional animation, um, like, life paths that a lot of people assume even now.