On November 26, SpongeBob SquarePants creator Stephen Hillenburg died at 57. He had been battling ASL for over a year.
There’s too much to be said about the impact Hillenburg has made on Nickelodeon, cartoons, and the millions of people who’ve watched SpongeBob since 1999. If I had the time, I would write about how much I love Chocolate with Nuts and how I still laugh out loud every time SpongeBob tells Patrick they should save his suggestion of getting naked for when they’re selling real estate. Or how seeing Squidward so triumphant and happy at the end of Band Geeks makes me smile and sob at the same time. If I could, I’d want to communicate how much joy SpongeBob brought me as a kid, and still to this day.
Instead, Nickelodeon has done it for me. A new video from the cable network’s YouTube channel highlights some of the sweetest and most heartfelt moments from the first three seasons of SpongeBob, when Hillenburg was creatively involved.
Set to “The F.U.N Song” and then “Best Day Ever,” the video is chock full of clips from some of the best episodes in the series.
It concludes with a bright message of gratitude:
Thank you Steve Hillenburg for making every day the best day ever.
Thank you so much.
