TIMELINE: Celebrating 20 years of 'Spongebob Squarepants'

The Nicktoon starring the iconic yellow sponge debuted May 1, 1999 with the episode “Help Wanted” which aired after the 1999 Kids Choice Awards. The show quickly went on to surpass “Rugrats” as the number one rated show on the network in the years to follow and has dominated ratings as the top-rated animated children’s show ever since.

Before “Spongebob Squarepants” creator Stephen Hillenburg pitched his idea of anthropomorphic sea creatures to the executives at Nickelodeon, he was a marine biology teacher at the Ocean Institute in Dana Point, Calif. Hillenburg would return to school to study experimental animation at the California Institute of the Arts and receive a master’s degree in animation in 1992.

During Hillenburg’s time teaching marine biology, he drew an educational comic strip titled “The Intertidal Zone” which featured a character named Bob the Sponge. The comic strip would later get adapted into the show known today.

“Spongebob Squarepants” is a storyboard driven show, which means the story is drawn out in comic book-style panels by artists before a script is written. This allows the animators to have the art direct the story of the show and the panels act as a blueprint for the writers to develop scripts.

When “Spongebob” debuted in 1999, the first season of the show was produced using traditional ink and paint cel animation. Cel animation is a traditional technique which a character hand painted on a transparent sheet laid over a background drawing. 

“The first season of Spongebob was done the old-fashioned way on cels,” said Paul Tibbitt, executive producer of “Spongebob Squarepants” to Digital Spy in 2011, “Every cel had to be part-painted, left to dry, paint some other colours.” 

Beginning in season two the show transitioned to using digital ink and paint leaving cel animation behind. 

Two “Spongebob” feature-length films have been released by Nickelodeon Movies and Paramount Pictures. The “Spongebob Squarepants Movie” released in 2004 to critical acclaim grossed $140 million worldwide. The 2015 sequel “The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water” utilized traditional 2D animation along with 3D and stop motion. The sequel out-grossed the original and is the second-highest grossing film based on an animated series; “The Simpsons Movie” is number one.

“SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical” premiered on Broadway in late 2017 to critical acclaim. The musical was nominated for 12 Tony awards and ran until September 2018. The musical’s soundtrack spans many genres from classic rock, country, R&B and pop with original music contributed by John Legend, Aerosmith, Cyndi Lauper, Lady Antebellum and the late David Bowie among many others.

The impact of “Spongebob Squarepants” on pop culture can’t be discussed without mentioning Internet memes. Spongebob memes have practically become a genre on their own with how numerous and popular they’ve become on social media. For every feeling tweeted, there’s likely a Spongebob gif to go with it.

The series has been nominated for 17 Annie Awards garnering six wins including Best Animated Television Production for Children and Best Voice Acting in a Television Production for Tom Kenny, the voice of Spongebob. The series has also received 18 Emmy Award nominations and four wins including a special honor presented to Stephen Hillenburg at the 2018 Daytime Emmy Awards for his contribution and impact in the animation field.

''Our characters act silly, even totally ridiculous at times,” Hillenburg told the New York Times in 2001. “Most of our jokes don't come out of pop cultural references.''  

The lack of pop culture references is unique when compared to other Nicktoons of the same era such as “Hey Arnold” or “Rugrats.” The show is not rooted in a specific time period, which keeps the series fresh and timeless for years to come.

“SpongeBob SquarePants” is currently seen in 208 countries and translated into more than 55 languages. The slapstick comedy and silly animation style is easily understood across cultures.

“Everybody recognizes the childlike character,” Tom Kenny, voice of Spongebob, told the Washington Post in 2009. “It's universally understood, it's physical comedy and you can understand.”

In 2017, Hillenburg announced to Variety that he had been diagnosed with ALS, a disease that weakens muscles and impacts the spinal cord. Hillenburg passed away at the age of 57 in November 2017. Hillenburg leaves behind a legacy of laughter, joy and an awareness of the importance of marine life.

“People have to get together and realize how important our oceans are,” Hillenburg told the Washington Post, “Hopefully, if you watch SpongeBob, you'll want to take care of our oceans.”

Nickelodeon is commemorating 20 years of “Spongebob Squarepants” with a year-long “Best Year Ever” celebration tribute. The celebration begins on Friday, July 12 with the premiere of “SpongeBob’s Big Birthday Blowout,” a live-action and animated special airing on the network. The television special will lead up to a third theatrical release by Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies. “The SpongeBob Movie: It’s a Wonderful Sponge” which will be arriving in theaters in summer 2020.