14
County Ocean Institute) in Dana Point, California. Hillenburg re-
calls:
As a kid, I was interested in art and painting and I was fasci-
nated with marine biology. When I was about 15-years old I
started scuba diving.The switch clicked and I decided I wanted
to be a marine biologist, but I also liked being an artist. So I
graduated from Humboldt State and my hope was to work in
a national park on the coast. I eventually ended up working
at the Orange County Marine Institute—which is now called
the Ocean Institute. It was a great experience. I was a teacher
there for three years.
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During his time at the institute, Hillenburg prepared exhibits and
educated kids about marine science.The experience showed himfirst-
hand how much children loved learning about the ocean and its crea-
tures. “Working as a marine science educator, I had the chance to see
how enamored kids are with undersea life, especially tide pool crea-
tures. By combining this knowledge with my
love for animation, I came up with Sponge-
Bob SquarePants.”
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One of Hillenburg’s other jobs at the
Marine Institute was dressing up and work-
ing as a “sailor” on the institute’s tall ship,
the
Pilgrim
. He dressed in costume as an
1830s seaman and taught children sailing
work songs known as sea shanties. Hillen-
burg would have fun asking the kids, “Are ye
ready, kids? I can’t hear ye!” He would later use these phrases as part
of the
SpongeBob SquarePants
theme song.
Making a Comic Book
While Hillenburg worked at the Ocean Institute, one of the education-
al directors noticed that he was talented at drawing.The coworker sug-
gested that Hillenburg use his artistic talent to create a comic that could
be used by the institute. Hillenburg agreed and wrote and illustrated a
“As a kid, I was
interested in art
and painting and I
was fascinated with
marine biology.”
10
—
SpongeBob SquarePants
creator
Stephen Hillenburg.
