That now famous jingle - as familiar to kids as mac n’ cheese – is just one reminder of how simple ideas can evolve into huge commercial successes when hard work, talent, and perseverance are applied.

But had you asked Stephen Hillenburg if he had set his sights on a career as an animator, the creator of Spongebob Squarepants likely would have told you he wanted to avoid pursuing art as a career – at least in the beginning.

Born in Fort Sill, Oklahoma, Hillenburg had humble enough origins. His dad was a draftsman and designer for aerospace companies. His mom was a teacher. When Hillenburg was still quite young, his family moved to California. It was there, living near miles and miles of beach, that Hillenburg’s young imagination fell in love with the ocean life “under the sea”.

When Hillenburg went to college, he studied marine resources and then taught for three years. Then, he enrolled in a master’s degree program (a master’s degree is the second degree you work on after you leave high school) in animation.

”Initially, I think I assumed that if I went to school for art I would never have any way of making a living, so I thought it might be smarter to keep art my passion and hobby and study something else,” he told Current Biography in April, 2003. “But by the time I got to the end of my undergrad (the first degree after high school) work, I realized I should be in art.”

Hillenburg received a master of fine arts degree and then went to work for Nickelodeon.

For several years, Hillenburg worked on Nickelodeon’s series, Rocko’s Modern Life. During the last few years of the show, he became the creative director. He also began thinking about creating his own show. “I wanted to do a show about a character that was an innocent,” he told the New York Times in July 2001.

Combining his love of the ocean, his education, and his experience in animation, Hillenburg created Spongebob Squarepants. Because of his science background, Hillenburg started out drawing natural sponges, but they just didn’t look right. He wanted something “funny, nerdy, squeaky-clean square.”
He ended up with what now looks more like a kitchen sponge. When he presented his idea to Nickelodeon, he brought an aquarium, sculpted figures, artwork, and a theme song. He played a ukulele and sang the theme song in the meeting.

Spongebob Squarepants has come a long way since that meeting and of course, so has his creator, Stephen Hillenburg. This fall, Spongebob and friends Patrick, Sandy Cheeks, and Squidward will make their debut in a movie. Pretty cool for a guy who wasn’t sure he could earn a living as an artist, huh?