I think one thing that mustve hurt most is being a marine biologist who loves all these sea animals, and then you create this show that ends up creating so much plastic merch that ends up in the ocean
@@flumdinger "My biggest nightmare is that I'm going to be at the beach one day, and one of these dolls is going to wash up on the shore like garbage." - Stephen Hillenburg
I still find it so funny that ween, a band known for songs like HIV and Piss up a rope, made a song so perfect for spongebob like ocean man. Still one of my favorite songs by them too.
Its also insane that their song "dont laugh, i love you" inspired Eric Cartman's voice in South Park. They unintentionally made such a huge impact on cartoon history on TWO separate occasions that most people dont even know about. I love Ween so much.
The more I think about it, the more I realize that creators like Rob Renzetti, Jhonen Vasquez and C.H Greenblatt got off kinda lucky. Their shows were screwed over, but I think it's worse to be like SpongeBob or the Simpsons, going on forever despite being zombie franchises and becoming extremely divisive, losing a lot of respect from fans and what made them work to begin with. You can look back at shows like My Life as a Teenage Robot, Harvey Beaks, El Tigre, and Invader Zim fondly since they never grew stale.
Or any other creator that worked for Nickelodeon, considering they were held up to stupidly high standards just like Butch's show. However, much like what TeamFriendship just said, they might have gotten off easy, since it's arguably worse to be a franchise zombie, existing only to be cash cows for the corporations that own the IPs.
Genuinely couldn’t imagine the feeling creators have gotten when the thing they made eventually outgrows them, sometimes to the point lt evolves to a thing that was unfamiliar to the original vision they initially had for it.
If you host a D&D campaign but change the DM after a couple months or a year (like we do) but want to keep the campaign and just further explore it. When the next guy adds or rewrites your work, that's the feeling. It can be good or bad, but you have a weird feeling of not belonging to you anymore. I think that's a similar feeling to when kids leave their parents (from the parents POV).
Stephen Hillenburg's mindset reminds me of Calvin and Hobbs creator Bill Watterson. He had a very similar experience after Calvin and Hobbs got popular, saying he was yelling at executives about merchandising as much as he was drawing.
The difference being that Hillenburg wasn't crazy protective over his IP and actually gave people the okay to make a few merch/video games out of his show.
@@TheIrreverentUncleAl Yeah, Stephen Hillenburg may have not wanted a TV crossover, but was more than fine with SpongeBob doing crossovers in merchandise and video games. Especially when the crossover video games are not canon. I know they try to have some continuity with the Nicktoons Unite series, but most of the crossover games are the characters in silly scenarios and some don't even have a plot. Like with Nicktoons MLB, Nickelodeon Kart Racers 3: Slime Speedway, and Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2, you are not meant to question how the characters got there or what lead to this. It's just meant to silly fun with no explanation needed.
@@TheIrreverentUncleAl I think that Bill's overprotectiveness of his IP shows where his heart is in standing on the belief of comics as an art when it came to compromising on one specific piece of C&H educational material after a letter from a teacher reached him reading that she loved the comic and used it to educate her SPED students on vocabulary. There's a lot more meaning to decisions like that, with it not being as commercialized as stuff like Spongebob. Whereas you see toys and stuff everywhere for popular stuff, it kind of just blends into the background, and eventually you don't care about it. Think of Peanuts and how much you actually know about the source material as opposed to how many shows and merchandise you see spawned from it. Maybe you saw it on shelves and thought it was cute, or maybe you watched the specials and thought they were great, but you'd probably never think of reading the original comic to understand why *any* of that had to exist if you only knew of Peanuts as a kind of cultural tradition for people to engage with sometimes.
Spongebob's success led to nickelodeon ignoring and killing nicktoons that don't reach Spongebob's success. The shows like Avatar, TMNT, Fairly oddparents ended on own terms while other nicktoons gets cancelled due to nickelodeon maintaining their viewership and preventing their downgrade
whts odd is it was that most of those shows were also what funded them since the sponge made so much money. If I recall one nicktoons creator was talking about how the sponge is why many of these show were able to be made but its also the wall they all had to surmount in a sense. Its sort of ironic.
Steven Hillenberg once said that he doesn’t want the Krabby Patty to be made in real life since it would crush the idea of the Krabby Patty tasting like God’s light and everyone would just be thinking “Bro why are all these radioactive fish tweaking over a shitty ass burger?” And what did Nick do after his death? Make a shitty ass burger with shitty ass sauce…
to play devil's advocate, nick covered their ass heavily by reffering to the wendy's burger not as a krabby patty, but a burger based on the krabby party.
@@jaco8822 Further on that, Nick covered their ass further by making the promotion 100 different INTERPRETATIONS of the Krabby Patty with Wendy's just being one piece. You could argue that the promo wasn't well advertised, though it was mostly from outside sources hyping about Wendy's because they're the biggest name (and unlike the other 99 collabs) is across the country as opposed to just being set locales.
There's a quote from Emplemon that stuck out to me, that could be apply to Stephen: "What would you be willing to sacrifice if it meant you live forever? Since the dawn of civilization, mankind has sought the secret to immortality. We can only wonder if science or religion will ever help us achieve eternal life? But at the very least, art can get us pretty damn close."
30:23 really effective ending by not having the usual outro music play for this one, really lets you think about it and showed real respect for Stephen.
SpongeBob is a perfect example of when something that is just a simple idea made of passion explodes in a way nobody could have ever predicted. I can compare this show to something more recent like The Amazing Digital Circus, with a similar thing happening to the creator Gooseworx; Her creation is regarded by many to be THE face of indie animation, with just 3 episodes already having a Netflix deal and worldwide appeal overnight. I bet she does have stress from all these many eyes watching all of a sudden, an agonizing fear to not fuck up as now your show represents an entire TH-cam medium.
That's what I was thinking. She had one simple pilot made, and all of a sudden it reaches Hazbin Hotel's pilot view count in less than a week. Something that took almost 7 years to pull off, her one episode just skyrocketed immediately. After that, there was all sorts of "fan creations' based off of the pilot. Including some kid's party in Mexico that had people dancing on stage as the whole crew. And the thing is: She never intended this stuff to be made for kids. Yet, it was appealing to everybody. She even made a tweet on how she felt about it. It was meant to be just another indie animation under Glitch's belt, alongside Murder Drones and Meta Runner. It was never meant to reach this height. I wouldn't be surprised if she just wanted to crawl into a corner and hide until it all blew over. She was just expecting to be small fry, not a big bass. I know I'd probably freak out if my own creation was all of a sudden put on a pedestal in front of millions of eyes.
@Rosales3269 That's exactly what I mean! She now haves an insane amount of responsability. If that happend to me I would straight up not know what to do 🥲
Haven't watched the whole video yet (no duh) but Hillenburg went back and looked over the show and gave the writers some input just before his death, the fact he did such a thing shows how much he loved his characters and wanted to make sure they were still in goods hands for fans all over the world. We'll never get someone humble like him ever again in the creative landscape, may he rest in peace.
Tbf… we don’t know that for sure bc it’s all he said-she said, although I doubt anyone would be so bold as to lie about that, but there’s no proof that he actually said that.
@kaitlynp5823 It is confirmed by multiple sources that he did work on "Sponge on the run" But yes, it's hard to say whether he worked on a few episodes afterward, but that is what everyone was saying.
@@justsome500yearoldwithsmug2 Stephen Hillenburg was an executive producer on The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run. You're welcome! Remember, that movie was in production from 2015 to 2020 and Hillenburg was alive for at least half of that time. Heck, they started working on it before he even had ALS in March 2017.
This was such an excellent and refreshing take discussing the topic of one’s creation outliving their creator. For the past few months, I’ve have been reading, researching, and writing regarding to Walt Disney, his studio, and his legacy. The death of Walt Disney, in particular, brought an end and the beginning of a new era. Many people who worked with him would often pondered over “what would Walt do”. Throughout the 70s and 80s, the idea of how would Walt feel about the new state of The Walt Disney Company without him had always bounced back and forth between executives, animators, and even close friends. To me, I cannot imagine how it must feel to put someone on that extreme scale of a pedestal. It was this reason why Disney’s focused on the past is what eventually led up to the studio’s dark age up until the Renaissance.
I find Disney’s “Dark Age” more interesting than the Renaissance personally. Don’t get me wrong, the Renaissance films are excellent, but everything about them that can be said has been said thousands of times before.
@@goldenfiberwheat238the Sherman brothers, Disney’s Nine Old Men, X Attencio, Marty Sklar, Marc Davis and Disney’s WW2 shorts would all disagree with you.
Kind of feel like the selling of stuff was already happening though. Even in the early 2000s Nick typically waited about one or two years before starting to merchandise their shows (basically waiting until they were proven hits worthy of merch to begin with) and if SpongeBob merch hadn’t already been sold by the episode’s premiere in September 2001, it was certainly about to hit like a tsunami. Though even if it was meant to be a meta joke and not a prediction, I’d still argue that The Krusty Sponge or even The Patrick Show Cashes In are much stronger episodes for meta commentary on the matter
I watched Sponge Out Of Water for the first time a couple years ago, and one aspect that really stuck out to me was how the narrative almost depicts SpongeBob as this, like, "fabled legend" that everyone knows. With his whole life being chronicled in this magic book upon Bikini Atoll, a book that the antagonist takes and uses to tamper with the story for his own gain... I think in a way, the second SpongeBob movie is about Stephen Hillenburg confronting how SpongeBob became far bigger than himself, and how to make peace with that...
I think it goes without saying that Spongebob Squarepants had a huge impact on my childhood and that of others. However, it created a ridiculous standard that ended up screwing over so many cartoons that had the potential to be big hits.
@@liamphibia Very much so, and that's without mentioning how the execs can cancel these shows willy-nilly and then just sit on the rights, preventing creators from going elsewhere with the show.
I said this below another person's comment and I'm gonna say it again here: As soon as SpongeBob got successfull it marked the end of the golden era for nickelodeon and even tho we didn't know it back then nick was ready to throw everything they built over the years with their other shows and their creativity all out the window. And it's not the spongebobs fault it's Nick's fault they dug their own grave and became the shit stain that they are on modern entertainment and animation. Nicks treatment of all the good shows that were pitched to them back in the mid 2000s and how they ended up in the end will forever be infamous in the history of the animation/cartoon industry. They are cult classics and everyone loves them and talks about them to this day but it's very sad to think about how they could have been something more if they were given the right treatment they should have absolutely been pitched to literally any other network cough cough cartoon network. Basically SpongeBob both saved and killed nickelodeon and it's ironic that it just so happened to end up at nickelodeon (aka the first children's network) the network that kinda kicked this whole iconic cartoon mania thing off with Disney Channel and cartoon network following suit right after with their memorable and fantastic cartoons.
Lowkey i love the way u titled this “When you Create the Biggest Cartoon Ever” and not some crap like “How the Spongebob Franchise KILLED its Creator!!!1!1!😱😱👀” like i see some people do. puts respect on Stephen Hillenburg’s name. it’s nice :)
I love SpongeBob, my parents (especially my dad) actually showed me it when i was very little and wanted me to experience it like they did when they watched it when they were depressed before i was born. so despite being young i still grew up with it somewhat. Its strange to see all my friends say that they’re parents forbid them from watching it lol
i remember asking a mom why she forbade her son from watching, and her answer was that spongebob's voice annoyed her. i wonder if that's the prevailing reason?
@@whiteglovian My mom refused me to watch SpongeBob because I would sometimes imitate SpongeBob’s laugh and, although understandable, she found it really annoying.
@@thedrewster0408 this reminds me of how my mom apparently stopped every exposure of barney the dinosaur to me because she found it annoying and didnt want me to watch it all the time lol
I’m so happy to see a bigger TH-camr finally bring light to the whole Hillenburg situation. Normally it’s all “EUUUUGH HE DIDN’T WANT SPINOFFS!!!!” Thank you for actually doing the research.
I really love the idea that SpongeBob became so popular because his ambiguous age made it so everyone can relate to him to some degree. I remember hearing that him being in boating school was the creators work around for SpongeBob to being in school. I also think thats why the first SpongeBob movie work so well it made fun of the ambiguous age of SpongeBob by having confront the idea he is a kid whiteout ever acknowledging what his age is. The problem with the other SpongeBob movie is that they struggle to find a theme as personal to SpongeBob like age which makes it hard for him to have a unique arc.
Yeah as a kid I think I thought SpongeBob was a kid 😅 But that’s a good point I agree ☝️ I think that the movie was so good because the character arc for SpongeBob was something that was built up to over the course of the show. We know that SpongeBob has a childlike personality but also is an adult and that conflict is something that was always present in the show but now it’s pushed to the forefront with increased stakes 😊
It ended up being one of the funniest premises ever. I frankly find it even funnier as an adult than I did as a kid, considering he has a job and supports himself, yet is very childlike.
Hearing Stephen talk about that gumball machine has made me realize there's probably a lot of people like him who were overwhelmed and burnt out from the mainstream success of their creations, but were either scared or pressured to never express it. That feels a lot different with the age of the internet and indie animation, with the creatives behind popular media no longer having to filter their words for the sake of PR or the brand, letting them have a say on how THEY feel. In some cases it can be a very double edged sword, but I imagine for some it grants them some time to breathe (An example I can think of is Gooseworx after the humongous success of TADC)
Honestly, I have to wonder if this digital age will be a thing where folks will be able to truly be pure with their vision since there’s no middleman or executives to deal with in terms of trying to find your audience. Or if we get stories like George Lucas where it’s clear you NEED a neutral party to edit or just tell you “no.” Or “Oh dear god , HELL NO! Are you high?”
As a creative myself I think it made it more relatable and personal. I’m definitely introverted and never like going with the crowd, and seeing him at least try to stand up for his ideas is inspiring.
Though I'm glad that glitch ain't the type to restrict their creators Wich is real nice, I'm not saying that it's not overwhelmingly stressful, but at least I'm glad they give them that.
@@toon4thought Yeah, I remember a tweet of hers from Twitter where she showed a screenshot of the godawful and vile Digital Circus related content farm slop and said “Maybe you *shouldn’t* follow your dreams”. Poor girl doesn’t deserve to have her creation and legacy tarnished like this.
This was a really good video. Not just because it brings more context to the whole “hE neVeR wAntEd spin-OffS” situation, but it just has this more serious tone, which I really respect. Keep up the good work Mark.
Stephen Hillenburg is a once in a generation creator. There is nothing wrong with compromising with the people you are “collaborating” with to put your creation in front of an audience but it should NEVER come at the cost of YOUR vision of YOUR art. That’s when a series always starts to lose its soul. Audiences can feel the pandering like a 6th sense. Marks comparison of Stephen VS Butch, is spot on. 2 talented creators whose different morals/integrity make them VERY different creators, which is why they get very different amounts of respect. I love Butch's shows as well but they became a how many different demographics can we hit at one time shit show. RIP Stephen.
It sucks when so much love is put into something when it’s initially created, but since it was created to make a corporation to make lots of money, that all goes away and it gets milked dry :/
@@EggFighterXB- idk if thats the same thing necessarily, like sure theres alot of mario games released in 2024 but you can still feel the love and passion put into them espically mario Bros wonder even the movie had that too its why we went so long without hearing anything about it after its intial announcement
8:54 Not gonna lie, I always feel a little uncomfortable when someone brings that up. I get that Nick has made some bad decisions, but sometimes I feel like people are twisting Stephen’s words.
This video ending without your usual outro music made the ending hit really hard, it was so nice and kind of sad at the same time, it's like watching the episode "Mother Simpson" from the Simpsons if anyone remembers how the Simpsons outro music didn't play at all. Brutal but meaningful. Good job. :)
LS Mark used a picture from "Mother Simpson" in the thumbnail of the What Made The Simpsons Writing So Special video so even he knew it was meaningful.
It always really hurt seeing people try to claim he’d “hate” whatever tiny mundane thing the show does because there’s a good few behind-the-scenes stories with the crew regarding the years leading up to his death that literally prove the exact opposite, he really enjoyed what they were doing
It’s weird how I feel better knowing that Stephen Hillenburg’s always had misgivings about Nickelodeon’s treatment of SpongeBob. The positive thing is that, wherever he could, he’d find a compromise to make sure the franchise kept being fun for everyone. And you’re right that no matter how long it becomes since those original sketches and early episodes, there’s always gonna be a little bit of Stephen in SpongeBob, like how there’s always gonna be a bit of Walt in Mickey.
The saddest thing is that Hillenberg isn't here to see this... gigantic phenomenon still running today, 25 years in (despite the... spinoffs. Seriously, how did Camp Koral just become canon out of nowhere?) He always looked so humble about his creation. And honestly most either mess it up or don't seem humble about it. Hillenberg is a perfect example of how to do it all right.
Plus it is interesting how everytime he was working on the show, that it ended up improving in quality after he returned in 2015. With seasons 9b-11 being regarded as a Renaissance period by alot of people, especially since seasons 6-8 are generally regarded as the worst. And nowadays after his death, it seemed to sink in quality a little bit again.
So one time i asked Tom Kenney "Did you expect this show to be as big as it got?" And he said "let me put it this way.. when the second movie came out They said hope for 30 pray for 35 And it opened at 40 million It was a job that started for this goofy little show that did that So No"
I really love this approach on the two creators. I feel like I’m a mixture of Butch and Stephen. I literally told my mom today that if I see my children’s books become merch and movies, I would literally cry of happiness every day. Yet I still want to keep the integrity of my brand and have it continue to prioritize mental health. It’s so interesting because I don’t think either mindset is necessarily wrong.
Growing up watching Spongebob was one of my influences on becoming a cartoonist. This is crazy but the night before Hillenburg passed away, I saw him in a dream and I said thank you. The next day at work I was fooling around with some cardboard and put it around my waist and I said to my coworkers hey look I'm Spongebob and my boss said oh did you hear the creator passed away? I'm sitting there with this cardboard square pants dumbfounded and was just like... what? Insane cosmic kind of stuff.
That is crazy, as someone who grew up with SpongeBob, I can’t help but feel sad for Steve, he didn’t expect any of this success to happen. what’s even worse is that even though he’s a marine biologist, he unintentionally contributed to the oceans pollution. this all happened by accident.
I really like this video. Very few jokes, a consistent respectful tone, and doing actual research and looking into it for yourself instead of just hopping on a bandwagon. This video really was interesting, informative, and genuinely though provoking, and I’d love for you to make these types of videos in the future.
One thing that really hurts about Stephen's passing was the spin-off drama. At first, I subscribed to the idea that he would've never wanted this but once I actually looked at the context around what he said including the fact that it happened over a decade after spin-offs were said to be in the works, I quickly understood how flawed this sentiment was. People shouldn't parrot the old words of a dead man and throw them at anyone working on current projects. They don't know him. They don't know if he's changed is mind which he has been shown to do in the past. Nobody has the exact same mindset today as they had back in like 2007 so why are we pretending this is set in stone?
It always seems very fascinating to me by the fact that Stephen Hillenburg, a guy who was a marine biologist that made a few comics, doodles and drawings of the characters out of pure passion and love for both art and sea-life, but after he pitched this show to Nickelodeon he didn't expect this show to be as popular than before; even I wasn't expecting SpongeBob to be as popular than what it was before, but yet here we are. And that whole Gumball Machine story that Stephen has talked about, has captured the whole realization of being burnt out of the show, which that's how must of us have felt during the 2010s era. Still though, despite everything that has happened to SpongeBob, I'll always liked watching this show, and I appreciate and honor this entire legacy that Stephen Hillenburg has brought to SpongeBob, and like many others shows that I've watched in the past, SpongeBob has been a huge part of everybody's childhoods, including entire childhood. Yeah sure I may've some strong options on some of the episodes of SpongeBob in any era, but that doesn't change the fact that I still really enjoy watching SpongeBob SquarePants and all of the hard work and effort that the entire cast and crew have done.
(Oh and by the way, I absolutely agree with your take on this entire show as a whole. Definitely like seeing a positive light to this entire situation instead of anything that is doom and gloom)
Everyone who says Stephen’s legacy is being disrespected with all these spinoff shows is ironically being disrespectful themselves by trying so hard to put words in the mouth of a dead man.
Which is just like Stan Lee. After his passing, the MCU continues after Avengers Endgame where they show something ridiculous like She Hulk or The Marvels.
This feels kinda similar to Goosewrox when Digital Circus blew up the way that it did and just how big that got. Maybe not to Spongebob level but for a internet show it's pretty massive. To the point of content farms jumping on the success which really sucks I can't imagine of how that feels. It's something I thought about before many times. Something that you made with all the love and care put into it thrown into the spotlight for millions to see. It can be a lot for any artist to go through, especially if your not good with tons of attention and never had that experience before.
IMO spongebob is the most overated cartoon, early seasons and first movie are classics but nick has been milking it so hard with unncecesary spinoffs (that last movie were he smell the turd... wtf fetishes nick writters are into?)
Nickelodeon puts that show in a pedestal so much so that there wasnt another cartoon that can last for another season becoz of it. Justice for Glitch techs, My life as a teenage robot and Harvey Beaks
@noobmasterruben5167 "Nickelodeon puts that show in a pedestal so much" nick was always like that, before spongebob the channel wasn't capable of letting rugrats go before realizing nobody cared about it anymore
One thing to remember is to always try to look at the positives of something. Many people say that modern modern SpongeBob isn’t very good, but you just can’t deny the effort out into animation is simply stellar
As much as i hate modern spongebob, i know theres people who still enjoy it, so im glad its still going for their sake. No ones forcing me to watch the new episodes so it doesnt effect me.
@@SammySesamethe main difference is that old SpongeBob uses those faces in less situations, so the impact is greater. Personally, new SpongeBob exhausts me visually, the same thing I experience watching helluva boss, for example. Maybe it's because I'm older too. I understand why someone would like new SpongeBob tho, just not for me
I'm so glad that this video was made. For SO MANY years, people kept trying to put words into a dead man's mouth just because it fit with their "New SpongeBob bad!!!" agenda. The hate on this show has been overdone so much. I genuinely cannot thank you enough for making this video exist, to finally put these rumors to rest. Rest in Peace, Stephen Hillenburg. The world will never be the same without you. But your creation will always be out there, bringing joy to millions of people around the world when they need it. ❤ 🕊
Nah I’ve seen some of the recent episodes, I’m talking newest and current season, and while not as bad as things in previous years, it’s still pretty mediocre. I know comedies subjective, but I feel like season 1-3 maybe even 4 SpongeBob was genuinely funny and I’ve audibly laughed at what could be considered golden age episodes. I don’t think it’s coincidental that the seasons I enjoyed more were also written by the original creator, I think really that substantiates how the older seasons were undoubtedly better.
19:30 As a Hobbyist Writer, Butch Hartman's point of 'always having different ideas in your back pocket' kind of rings for me I often have a lot of ideas and always want to find a way to work them into my projects one way or another, but often worry about bloating things. That kind of issue is why I workshop them with my friends and appreciate their input. One of my friends specifically, we work on some projects together and it often has us stuffed with ideas, and our attention divided between multiple projects. However, where Butch's advice reminds me of how often we keep working on so many different projects, the other side of that coin regarding Stephen Hillenberg just having one idea and wanting to bring it to life also applies to us. My friend had a project he tried to work on with his own circle, but it never took off like he wanted. He had pages of ideas, and sometimes asked for my 2 cents to help flesh out some things or at least add a little more variety. At some point, I asked him about it after it seemed like that project was abandoned and we kept talking, playing with some ideas as we normally do and eventually that Project found new life between us as something far bigger than it once was. It's become a project comprised of multiple projects that we develop a clearer picture of as we go, and something that's given my friend hope as he expects one day we might be satisfied enough with our multiple revisions and edits to one day share, maybe even as short novels to sell, with others who might appreciate our stories. Neither of us are professionals, and his vision might seem broader than mine (I've never been a Long Term kind of thinker), but if there's anything I can say as someone passionate about their projects It's that being able to share the experience of bringing your ideas to life with friends is just as rewarding as the finished project you worked so hard on. And also you are never satisfied, that too. Every time I go back to set the scene for myself or just proofread, I am always thinking to myself 'I could write that better' or 'What the heck was I trying to say here?' and just end up making edits to my dialogue to recontextualize narration, cut down on any 'wordiness', and try to make the image clearer... And I'm still never satisfied even then or when I reread that and do more recontextualizing. Art is pain, but a learning experience all the same
It's honestly inspiring how something that's made out of pure passion... well maybe not 100% pure passion it's animation, there's always just a little pain but! POINT IS It's amazing how a cartoon that Stephen wanted to make became such a hit simply for being what it is, it didn't try to appeal to anyone, it didn't pander to a certain demographic, it was what it was and that's what made it special. Which makes me wish more Media, not just cartoons, were like that, not everyone obviously goes out of their way to make something purely to sell it, but ya can't help but feel like most media, doesn't matter if it's new or old, always felt like it was trying to be "The Next big thing". That's why SpongeBob will always be the best..... in my opinion that is.
It wasn't just Stephen Hillenburg who stepped away from the writing crew after season 3 - the majority of the show's original writing staff had also left after season 3. I think that's important to acknowledge, because writing for a TV show is collaborative; Stephen Hillenburg's voice was undoubtedly the major creative force behind the show as its creator, but the show we got could only have existed in the form it did because of every writer who touched it. That said, the show continued with an almost entirely new team of writers from season 4 onward, with only a few carry-overs from the original team, and the result is that it essentially became an entirely different show overnight. And it seems like the new writers didn't understand the characters very well, because they flanderized them immediately, dumbing them down and reducing them to just their most basic characteristics. Low-brow, mean-spirited jokes and gross-out gags are what Spongebob is associated with now, and that's sad, because that's not what it was originally. It's like the show's soul got ripped out.
Most of the crew didn't leave because Stephen left, it was because there was nothing to do, I think if you look at the production development, there's a massive year long gap between when season 3s production ended and when season 4s started, during this time, Stephen and most of the crew were busy with the movie too so alot of the remaining ones left SpongeBob to work on other shows or even other companies
@@darealepic Right. That doesn't contradict anything I said; I never gave a reason for the original crew's departure. The fact that they left is what matters; it's why the show changed so drastically.
This might be one of my favorite videos on the platform. This video words everything so well in a very comprehensive breakdown. There's perspectives I've never seen before. It's got a lot of poignant moments, certainly aided by the music choice. I love these videos where he takes a step back from all the drama, and considers both sides. More people should do that, so much stuff gets overblown because people don't do their own research. I was thinking about something similar to this topic a couple days back. It was in regards to content creators, like LSMark. So many TH-cam channels are from people of all walks of life and personalities. They aren't any different than anyone else. But most viewers would (only naturally) be nervous to meet the people behind their favorite channels. I could've been in the same school as any TH-camr, could live in the same apartment complex, could be pulling up to the same drive through. Some thinking of you as on another level than everyone else, despite not looking it, not feeling it. That must be surreal.
@@isaiahh6694did you not watch the entire video? stephen has never said he didn't want spinoffs and changed his mind about pretty much everything people say nickelodeon is "disrespecting", there are plenty of people who have worked on the show for years who have still not gotten over stephen's passing
I never meet Hillingberg so I WILL NOT put words into his mouth in this comment and this will be MY OWN OPINION on it. Being the creator of a popular show while does sound nice can also be a curse as you might only be known for that or your show is do successful that the network executives milk it DRY snd cancel other shows that can't catch up
I remember my reaction to Stevens death, just sitting watching the news talk about him. The man who created my childhood gone to soon. RIP Steven hillenburg
Not like the scenario of another guy named Micheal Jordan. But this video focuses on the person alone instead of the person who is known for creating this
Why did that ending make me cry... I remember when my mom told me the news that Stephen passed. My school felt bleak... Everyone felt it. Even to this day, it still hurts Rest is Sweet, Sweet Peace. You changed us all..!❤
It's not exactly the same, but I heard something similar with George Lucas talking about why he sold star wars to Disney. He said something along the lines of what he wanted to make and what makes money started to become different things, which is fine, but he had a few hundred employees to think about as well, which was a big motivation for him to sell. The irony is Disney probably fired most of them, but it sucks when you can't just just make stuff for you and the people who enjoy it, and have to cater to mass appeal
Y'wanna know what's crazy? I live in the town where the Ocean Institute is located, where Stephen Hillenberg worked. I've lived here for at least 12 years now, but even before that I lived close enough to make frequent visits to the beach and the Institute itself for several school trips. Hell, even today,I pass by that Institute on one of my walks. And you wanna know how many times I saw Stephen Hillenberg promoted there? Never. For as much as I can remember, I've never seen a sign highlighting that "THE CREATOR OF SPONGEBOB WORKED HERE!!" or seeing his face plastered throughout the walls. No annual Spongebob celebrations taking credit for the creator's start, and not even a single sponge toy being sold in the gift shop. Almost all my life, I never knew that the creator of Spongebob Squarepants, my favorite show of all time as a kid, when I religiously watched the movie every Sunday morning, worked right down the road from my home. Just thought that'd be interesting to bring up :]
The problem is creative control, you either have it or not. That's why Sam & Max creator doesn't want Sam & Max to become too popular because then he would lose control.
Thank you, genuinely, you have done such a service for the SpongeBob community here and I hope that people sing your praises about this vid from now on whenever someone genuinely believes what Nick is doing is disrespecting Stephen's legacy.
I never really took in how much Spongebob becoming a phenomenon would mean. So many moving parts that could seem overwhelming to someone who just wanted to make a show. I feel like a lot of people dream of success (I sure as hell do) but don't really take in what happens once your thing not only gets off the ground but soars. Some people are ready for it, others aren't. A very simple conclusion but one I find fascinating.
Whoooooo. Never looked at it that way before and I'll never look at it the same way again. Believe it or not, pretty much the same thing happened with Pendleton Ward on Adventure Time, with him also citing his mental health detoriating from running such a popular show. And to this day, even with him contributing here and there to any newer installments, he seems perfectly content letting Adam Muto drive the franchise while he devotes most of his own focus to smaller, more lowkey projects (Adult Swim just released a pilot from him called Mystery Cuddlers). Really puts into perspective how sometimes the success of a piece of art can surpass the artist itself, even if we don't know it.
The roots of this show are so beautiful. The authentic sea shanties and surfer tunes are so incredible You notice a massive drop in... just vibes after the rights expired. The show lost a big part of it changing the music
20:45 this quote along with the next image is so haunting to think about. The man created such a legacy and just wanted to make it simple show to then have it all blow up and become an iconic piece of animation history. It really just sucks that there are so many people who have good intentions can be taken away from us too soon
Well,I would say that SpongeBob was a character,show,franchise and brand born to have the same destiny as Sonic,Shrek,Garfield and the Star Wars Franchise. A work with lows and highs,even if it doesn't have the same shine as in its golden age it is capable of bringing good episodes and works in these modern days(well I think with Garfield not so much...)too and that remains strong in many ways to this day.
Remember 24 Frames of Nick’s embarrassing rant at the end of his SpongeBob movies video? That moment sums up everything wrong with these so called fans.
@@andykishoreThat video was from nearly 2 years ago and Nick now agrees that it was disrespectful, he does not stand by what he said in that video anymore and we should just leave him out of this
@@phantomhourglass13 LS Mark fans can never stay out of user drama it would seam. It's only when I bring up completely unrelated users like Big Angry Phil and fugativeredeye that nobody seams to care.
this conversation is definitely a hard one to have. its understandable why people would use hillenburg's quotes and be concerned; it's not like its new that companies and corporations wouldn't care to step on the toes of the artists that work for them if it meant more money. its unfortunately common and i think that's why many people (including myself) get caught in this argument. but i also agree that, while i don't think anyone means it with malice, to specifically use a dead man's words as a weapon, its still not the best practice to just. keep bringing it up. i'm guilty of that myself and i agree that its more productive just to. enjoy the legacy he did leave. again, its all just hard, and i struggle to completely think that there isn't some form of corporate fuckery going on that may not even have to do with disrespecting the man entirely, but i really do think its a great point just to yk, remember that we shouldn't be using vague quotes from stephen hillenburg that may have changed over time to make an argument. spongebob has always been a big part of my life, and its the entire reason i'm going to school for animation in the first place. though i have my reservations about the newer, post season 4-5 era of the show, it will never stop me from loving the creation that stephen made and the love he had for it, even if there was burn out. that quote you added where he was saying that, his show wasn't to make a show for like kids, or for networks or whatever, but to make his friends in the studio laugh? i want that to be what i do in the future; i want to strive for that. i think a more productive conversation to have in regards to this is less "this ruined his image" and more of "wow, he made a great thing", or even "what can i do to keep this kind of energy he had going?" idk if this made any sense, but i wanted to comment just cuz this man has been a part of my life for so long, even if i never met him, yk?
Thank god they didn’t give him the Jennifer Lee treatment where they put him in charge of the entire animation studio because he created the biggest project the studio ever had! One show is pressure inducing enough!
@@goldenfiberwheat238 She directed Frozen which became extremely successful. Disney hadn't seen their animated films reach that level of success since The Lion King. As a result, Jennifer Lee became the new CEO of Walt Disney Animation Studios after John Lasseter's departure from both Disney and Pixar in December 2018 until 2024.
Which is just like Stan Lee. After his passing, the MCU continues off after Avengers Endgame where they show something ridiculous like She Hulk with her booty twerking, Secret Invasion with AI intro and The Marvels getting flopped in the box office.
15:53 I absolutely would love for my projects to have 1/100th of the popularity of SpongeBob, but the whole same amount? Hell no. At the point where it becomes so massive, so much merchandise, so much attention, I can totally understand why Stephen Hillenburg was so stressed about it. When your project gets so popular it really seems like you start to lose total control over how your property is perceived; for example, Stephen Hillenburg clearly disliked the amount of merchandise, but it had to exist because Nickelodeon wanted that funding. That story about him being exhausted and leaning on a Gumball machine just to see SpongeBob’s face looking back at him sounds distressing.
Excellent video Mark, unfortunately my biggest takeaway is the fact that I never realized that Butch is a nickname and not Butch Hartman’s actual first name
I wonder if there's a possibility of a video in the future, a full break down comparing Butch Hartman to Stephen Hillenburg, because from what's in this video, that's actually incredibly fascinating.
6:00 Its funny because theres the season 5 episode the krusty sponge that actually made fun of Nickelodeons over branding and popularity of the series at the time.
Regardless of Stephen's legacy and how big SpongeBob became, I don't really think about that when I watch it. I can just sit down, have a good laugh, and be amazed at how good the show is (at its best). I must say though, I like seasons 4-5. Much like Animaniacs, this show was just made by people who wanted to write what they thought was funny.
I know many people are going to say “huh?” when I say this but I feel like SpongeBob is like the Millennial/Gen Z equivalent of the Looney Tunes franchise in terms of pop culture relevancy.
@ guy who made a vid on why the first SpongeBob movie is the only good one but at the end of the sponge on the run legacy he called it defiling Steven’s legacy and basically threw his own friends under the bus even tho Steven knew about camp coral
@@SnazzyGoober Nick did make a video recently in which he lamented that overly upset style of content he made, I'd imagine he'd take a more analytical approach in the future. But even then I can't blame anyone for thinking they defiled Stephen's legacy because no matter how many good intentioned artist there are... Nick still pushed some of this stuff for money's sake.
24 Frames of Nick deleted his SpongeBob Movie video and doesn't like people talking about something he said nearly 2 years ago. He agrees now that the video was kind of disrespectful. So we should just leave him out of this
I was born in the late 90's, making me the target audience for Spongebob when it first came out, and like millions of others, it had a massive impact on me which I hold to this day. After the first movie came out though, I started to notice the show had shifted in quality from the 4th season and was not the unique masterpiece it once was. Over the years, I tried a few times to give the later seasons a chance, but they were just so majorly disappointing to me, and this was before I'd even become aware of the fact that the shows creator had left the series. Now as a fully grown adult, I still frequently rewatch the first 3 seasons (and sometimes the first movie), partly for the nostalgia, but also because the show is just so brilliantly witty and charming. In my opinion, it contains some of the best jokes and storylines of any show I've seen, not just limited to kids shows. I basically refuse to watch any episode after the 3rd season now, not because of some moral stance I feel the need to uphold, but because it's just not the same show to me, and feels like any other crappy kids show. I hope one day when I have kids of my own, that I can share with them the first 3 seasons and let them experience the same joy the show brought me. RIP Stephen Hillenburg
Here's my take. When I see the new Spongebob stuff, I don't see an attempt to burn down Stephen Hillenburg's creation. What I see is a show/franchise that is lost with it's own identity due to being on for so long, but can still bring in some good content, even if this new direction feels very messy, because there are still people working on it that are passionate about Spongebob. The state of Spongebob can feel unfortunate at times, but I don't think it's evil.
I totally agree with everything said in this video, but I do want to point out that the end stages of ALS cause a near complete shutdown of the body, including speech, movement, and cognitive function, making communication impossible. I would hope the meetings where Stephen "agreed" to spinoffs was held early enough that it avoided the end stage of his disease, but given the timing we know of, there's a non-zero chance Stephen wasn't actually able to communicate with Nickelodeon. I don't want to assume an evil megacorporation took advantage of a vulnerable person for profit, but Viacom IS an evil megacorporation, so...
I hadn't had those Krabby Patty candies since I was in elementary school but my younger cousin loves them so we get him bags of the stuff and I, of course, had some. The candy is fine but it has so much plastic, moreso than the average gummy candy. Each burger is individually wrapped and held inside a tray so it stays in a recognizable shape. As a kid I didn't know anything about Hillenberg but now as an adult, I cringe a little when I see those candies, thinking of how Stephen must have felt.
I can still remember sitting down on the white carpet in the living room right in front of the TV to watch the very first episode primere. I'm glad I got to grow up with spongebob.
How would you react in Stephen Hillenburg's shoes 🤔
🤔
Im not sure?!
Very cool
Yes
@@CrustyCatPlayzok buddy
I think one thing that mustve hurt most is being a marine biologist who loves all these sea animals, and then you create this show that ends up creating so much plastic merch that ends up in the ocean
And spreading misinformation about sea pineapples, thats unforgivable 🤬
that is corporate greed for ya
@@flumdinger 20:43
@@flumdinger
"My biggest nightmare is that I'm going to be at the beach one day, and one of these dolls is going to wash up on the shore like garbage." - Stephen Hillenburg
@@flumdinger that quote is in the fucking thumbnail my guy
I still find it so funny that ween, a band known for songs like HIV and Piss up a rope, made a song so perfect for spongebob like ocean man. Still one of my favorite songs by them too.
Its also insane that their song "dont laugh, i love you" inspired Eric Cartman's voice in South Park. They unintentionally made such a huge impact on cartoon history on TWO separate occasions that most people dont even know about. I love Ween so much.
Also a song they made called fat fuck
@@isaiahromero9861South Park is how I know who Primus is (they did the theme song).
@@isaiahromero9861also Ween was in the movie of It's Pat.
It was also VERY close to the song waving my dick in the wind from the same album, only being broken up by Buckingham Green
The idea that Butch was salty about his fairies being second best to the sponge will never not be funny to me
The more I think about it, the more I realize that creators like Rob Renzetti, Jhonen Vasquez and C.H Greenblatt got off kinda lucky. Their shows were screwed over, but I think it's worse to be like SpongeBob or the Simpsons, going on forever despite being zombie franchises and becoming extremely divisive, losing a lot of respect from fans and what made them work to begin with. You can look back at shows like My Life as a Teenage Robot, Harvey Beaks, El Tigre, and Invader Zim fondly since they never grew stale.
Or any other creator that worked for Nickelodeon, considering they were held up to stupidly high standards just like Butch's show. However, much like what TeamFriendship just said, they might have gotten off easy, since it's arguably worse to be a franchise zombie, existing only to be cash cows for the corporations that own the IPs.
He's such an interesting fellow
@@TeamFriendship8600
I was sad when Ed Edd and Eddy ended, but looking at it from this perspective I am sort of glad it ended when it did.
@@MylingCyrus That's one to describe him. I'd personally call him a narcissistic person who has no real backbone to higher authorities than him.
Genuinely couldn’t imagine the feeling creators have gotten when the thing they made eventually outgrows them, sometimes to the point lt evolves to a thing that was unfamiliar to the original vision they initially had for it.
That’s a curse I wouldn’t put on anyone.
I wouldn't say outgrows, "mutilated" is more like it.
If you host a D&D campaign but change the DM after a couple months or a year (like we do) but want to keep the campaign and just further explore it. When the next guy adds or rewrites your work, that's the feeling.
It can be good or bad, but you have a weird feeling of not belonging to you anymore. I think that's a similar feeling to when kids leave their parents (from the parents POV).
@@_V.Va_ RWBY Being a good example of such Mutilation
I'm pretty sure thats just how parents feel
Stephen Hillenburg's mindset reminds me of Calvin and Hobbs creator Bill Watterson. He had a very similar experience after Calvin and Hobbs got popular, saying he was yelling at executives about merchandising as much as he was drawing.
The difference being that Hillenburg wasn't crazy protective over his IP and actually gave people the okay to make a few merch/video games out of his show.
@@TheIrreverentUncleAl Yeah, Stephen Hillenburg may have not wanted a TV crossover, but was more than fine with SpongeBob doing crossovers in merchandise and video games. Especially when the crossover video games are not canon. I know they try to have some continuity with the Nicktoons Unite series, but most of the crossover games are the characters in silly scenarios and some don't even have a plot. Like with Nicktoons MLB, Nickelodeon Kart Racers 3: Slime Speedway, and Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2, you are not meant to question how the characters got there or what lead to this. It's just meant to silly fun with no explanation needed.
I seriously want a Hobbes (the way Calvin views him) plushie! That's all I want concerning merch of Calvin And Hobbes. 😭
@@TheIrreverentUncleAl I think that Bill's overprotectiveness of his IP shows where his heart is in standing on the belief of comics as an art when it came to compromising on one specific piece of C&H educational material after a letter from a teacher reached him reading that she loved the comic and used it to educate her SPED students on vocabulary. There's a lot more meaning to decisions like that, with it not being as commercialized as stuff like Spongebob. Whereas you see toys and stuff everywhere for popular stuff, it kind of just blends into the background, and eventually you don't care about it. Think of Peanuts and how much you actually know about the source material as opposed to how many shows and merchandise you see spawned from it. Maybe you saw it on shelves and thought it was cute, or maybe you watched the specials and thought they were great, but you'd probably never think of reading the original comic to understand why *any* of that had to exist if you only knew of Peanuts as a kind of cultural tradition for people to engage with sometimes.
Spongebob's success led to nickelodeon ignoring and killing nicktoons that don't reach Spongebob's success. The shows like Avatar, TMNT, Fairly oddparents ended on own terms while other nicktoons gets cancelled due to nickelodeon maintaining their viewership and preventing their downgrade
Twice for TMNT
@gameyfirebro9645 exactly
whts odd is it was that most of those shows were also what funded them since the sponge made so much money. If I recall one nicktoons creator was talking about how the sponge is why many of these show were able to be made but its also the wall they all had to surmount in a sense. Its sort of ironic.
Fairly OddParents hardly ended on its own terms.
@@threedragonstalk2123 Hartman put a stop of it in 2018 due to his departure from nick
Steven Hillenberg once said that he doesn’t want the Krabby Patty to be made in real life since it would crush the idea of the Krabby Patty tasting like God’s light and everyone would just be thinking “Bro why are all these radioactive fish tweaking over a shitty ass burger?”
And what did Nick do after his death? Make a shitty ass burger with shitty ass sauce…
to play devil's advocate, nick covered their ass heavily by reffering to the wendy's burger not as a krabby patty, but a burger based on the krabby party.
@@jaco8822 Further on that, Nick covered their ass further by making the promotion 100 different INTERPRETATIONS of the Krabby Patty with Wendy's just being one piece. You could argue that the promo wasn't well advertised, though it was mostly from outside sources hyping about Wendy's because they're the biggest name (and unlike the other 99 collabs) is across the country as opposed to just being set locales.
@@SususususManone piece
This saying of is sounds like the opposite of Jim Davis when it came to lasagna(although such a thing already existed).
I heard those Wendy's Krabby Patties were made available in the UK recently so now there's spreading it to other countries.
There's a quote from Emplemon that stuck out to me, that could be apply to Stephen:
"What would you be willing to sacrifice if it meant you live forever? Since the dawn of civilization, mankind has sought the secret to immortality. We can only wonder if science or religion will ever help us achieve eternal life? But at the very least, art can get us pretty damn close."
"It's not about winning, it's about fun."
Which video is this quote from?
@@snaifhassnan6348 The Wizard of Oz and the Dark Side of Hollywood
The Oz one @@snaifhassnan6348
@@snaifhassnan6348The collectibles one maybe? Can't remember off the top of my head
30:23 really effective ending by not having the usual outro music play for this one, really lets you think about it and showed real respect for Stephen.
SpongeBob is a perfect example of when something that is just a simple idea made of passion explodes in a way nobody could have ever predicted. I can compare this show to something more recent like The Amazing Digital Circus, with a similar thing happening to the creator Gooseworx; Her creation is regarded by many to be THE face of indie animation, with just 3 episodes already having a Netflix deal and worldwide appeal overnight. I bet she does have stress from all these many eyes watching all of a sudden, an agonizing fear to not fuck up as now your show represents an entire TH-cam medium.
That's what I was thinking. She had one simple pilot made, and all of a sudden it reaches Hazbin Hotel's pilot view count in less than a week. Something that took almost 7 years to pull off, her one episode just skyrocketed immediately. After that, there was all sorts of "fan creations' based off of the pilot. Including some kid's party in Mexico that had people dancing on stage as the whole crew.
And the thing is: She never intended this stuff to be made for kids. Yet, it was appealing to everybody. She even made a tweet on how she felt about it. It was meant to be just another indie animation under Glitch's belt, alongside Murder Drones and Meta Runner. It was never meant to reach this height. I wouldn't be surprised if she just wanted to crawl into a corner and hide until it all blew over. She was just expecting to be small fry, not a big bass.
I know I'd probably freak out if my own creation was all of a sudden put on a pedestal in front of millions of eyes.
@Rosales3269 That's exactly what I mean! She now haves an insane amount of responsability. If that happend to me I would straight up not know what to do 🥲
This may also be why the show will only ever have one season. She probably can't handle the stress of it all, poor girl.
@@rcmero well, all of Glitch's shows only get one season, from what I heard.
Well with TADC that's actually been confirmed I think, unlike with, say, Murder Drones.
Haven't watched the whole video yet (no duh) but Hillenburg went back and looked over the show and gave the writers some input just before his death, the fact he did such a thing shows how much he loved his characters and wanted to make sure they were still in goods hands for fans all over the world.
We'll never get someone humble like him ever again in the creative landscape, may he rest in peace.
Tbf… we don’t know that for sure bc it’s all he said-she said, although I doubt anyone would be so bold as to lie about that, but there’s no proof that he actually said that.
@kaitlynp5823 It is confirmed by multiple sources that he did work on "Sponge on the run"
But yes, it's hard to say whether he worked on a few episodes afterward, but that is what everyone was saying.
@@justsome500yearoldwithsmug2 Stephen Hillenburg was an executive producer on The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run. You're welcome! Remember, that movie was in production from 2015 to 2020 and Hillenburg was alive for at least half of that time. Heck, they started working on it before he even had ALS in March 2017.
I mean… we might
This was such an excellent and refreshing take discussing the topic of one’s creation outliving their creator. For the past few months, I’ve have been reading, researching, and writing regarding to Walt Disney, his studio, and his legacy. The death of Walt Disney, in particular, brought an end and the beginning of a new era. Many people who worked with him would often pondered over “what would Walt do”. Throughout the 70s and 80s, the idea of how would Walt feel about the new state of The Walt Disney Company without him had always bounced back and forth between executives, animators, and even close friends. To me, I cannot imagine how it must feel to put someone on that extreme scale of a pedestal. It was this reason why Disney’s focused on the past is what eventually led up to the studio’s dark age up until the Renaissance.
I find Disney’s “Dark Age” more interesting than the Renaissance personally. Don’t get me wrong, the Renaissance films are excellent, but everything about them that can be said has been said thousands of times before.
@@liammcnicholas918 Robin Hood is the most goated "dark age" disney film imo
Given how anti semetic Walt was, I don’t think he’d like the current state of the company lol
@@goldenfiberwheat238the Sherman brothers, Disney’s Nine Old Men, X Attencio, Marty Sklar, Marc Davis and Disney’s WW2 shorts would all disagree with you.
to be fair i think he should have discussed the fact that stephen did know about camp koral, but not the patrick star show.
11:15 SpongeBob predicted this would happen in S2E19.
"It feels like somebody...WANTS TO SELL ME SOMETHING!"
Nick and viacom behind the rock:
"...I told you he was onto us."
That's such a good joke.
Kind of feel like the selling of stuff was already happening though. Even in the early 2000s Nick typically waited about one or two years before starting to merchandise their shows (basically waiting until they were proven hits worthy of merch to begin with) and if SpongeBob merch hadn’t already been sold by the episode’s premiere in September 2001, it was certainly about to hit like a tsunami. Though even if it was meant to be a meta joke and not a prediction, I’d still argue that The Krusty Sponge or even The Patrick Show Cashes In are much stronger episodes for meta commentary on the matter
I watched Sponge Out Of Water for the first time a couple years ago, and one aspect that really stuck out to me was how the narrative almost depicts SpongeBob as this, like, "fabled legend" that everyone knows. With his whole life being chronicled in this magic book upon Bikini Atoll, a book that the antagonist takes and uses to tamper with the story for his own gain... I think in a way, the second SpongeBob movie is about Stephen Hillenburg confronting how SpongeBob became far bigger than himself, and how to make peace with that...
I really like that take. 👍
I think it goes without saying that Spongebob Squarepants had a huge impact on my childhood and that of others. However, it created a ridiculous standard that ended up screwing over so many cartoons that had the potential to be big hits.
It's kinda sad.
@@liamphibia Very much so, and that's without mentioning how the execs can cancel these shows willy-nilly and then just sit on the rights, preventing creators from going elsewhere with the show.
@adriansandlin556 "It's MY IP to sit on and do nothing with!"
- The CEO, Smiling Friends Season 2 Episode 1
@@james656-k8e Absolutely.
I said this below another person's comment and I'm gonna say it again here:
As soon as SpongeBob got successfull it marked the end of the golden era for nickelodeon and even tho we didn't know it back then nick was ready to throw everything they built over the years with their other shows and their creativity all out the window. And it's not the spongebobs fault it's Nick's fault they dug their own grave and became the shit stain that they are on modern entertainment and animation. Nicks treatment of all the good shows that were pitched to them back in the mid 2000s and how they ended up in the end will forever be infamous in the history of the animation/cartoon industry. They are cult classics and everyone loves them and talks about them to this day but it's very sad to think about how they could have been something more if they were given the right treatment they should have absolutely been pitched to literally any other network cough cough cartoon network. Basically SpongeBob both saved and killed nickelodeon and it's ironic that it just so happened to end up at nickelodeon (aka the first children's network) the network that kinda kicked this whole iconic cartoon mania thing off with Disney Channel and cartoon network following suit right after with their memorable and fantastic cartoons.
Lowkey i love the way u titled this “When you Create the Biggest Cartoon Ever” and not some crap like “How the Spongebob Franchise KILLED its Creator!!!1!1!😱😱👀” like i see some people do. puts respect on Stephen Hillenburg’s name. it’s nice :)
I mean that would have also just been a complete lie
A clickbait channel would've worded it like "He actually HATED SPONGEBOB!?"
I love SpongeBob, my parents (especially my dad) actually showed me it when i was very little and wanted me to experience it like they did when they watched it when they were depressed before i was born. so despite being young i still grew up with it somewhat. Its strange to see all my friends say that they’re parents forbid them from watching it lol
i remember asking a mom why she forbade her son from watching, and her answer was that spongebob's voice annoyed her. i wonder if that's the prevailing reason?
@@whiteglovian My mom refused me to watch SpongeBob because I would sometimes imitate SpongeBob’s laugh and, although understandable, she found it really annoying.
@@thedrewster0408 this reminds me of how my mom apparently stopped every exposure of barney the dinosaur to me because she found it annoying and didnt want me to watch it all the time lol
SpongeBob is one of the last successful shows that a family could sit down to watch, if you think about it.
If anything Dora is more annoying. That’s why I was never allowed to watch it 😆
I’m so happy to see a bigger TH-camr finally bring light to the whole Hillenburg situation. Normally it’s all “EUUUUGH HE DIDN’T WANT SPINOFFS!!!!” Thank you for actually doing the research.
Alpha Jay Show also talked about the Stephen Hillenburg knew thing at least twice, even though I haven't watched his channel in forever.
LS Mark being the savior of this fandom. Massive respect.
@@james656-k8e Yeah, and he was wrong.
ikr I'm so tired of people regurgitating that one piece of misinformation, which is so incredibly disrespectful to his legacy
But... he didn't? I just watched the whole video, and him not wanting spinoffs was included, what're you on about?
I really love the idea that SpongeBob became so popular because his ambiguous age made it so everyone can relate to him to some degree.
I remember hearing that him being in boating school was the creators work around for SpongeBob to being in school.
I also think thats why the first SpongeBob movie work so well it made fun of the ambiguous age of SpongeBob by having confront the idea he is a kid whiteout ever acknowledging what his age is.
The problem with the other SpongeBob movie is that they struggle to find a theme as personal to SpongeBob like age which makes it hard for him to have a unique arc.
Yeah as a kid I think I thought SpongeBob was a kid 😅 But that’s a good point I agree ☝️ I think that the movie was so good because the character arc for SpongeBob was something that was built up to over the course of the show. We know that SpongeBob has a childlike personality but also is an adult and that conflict is something that was always present in the show but now it’s pushed to the forefront with increased stakes 😊
Even "SpongeBob's Big Birthday Blowout" won't give us an exact age for SpongeBob, although they teased it at the end.
I dunno, I've always put him around the age of 20.
Sponge out of water is still good on its own. It doesn’t need a theme to resonate with the general viewer.
It ended up being one of the funniest premises ever. I frankly find it even funnier as an adult than I did as a kid, considering he has a job and supports himself, yet is very childlike.
Hearing Stephen talk about that gumball machine has made me realize there's probably a lot of people like him who were overwhelmed and burnt out from the mainstream success of their creations, but were either scared or pressured to never express it.
That feels a lot different with the age of the internet and indie animation, with the creatives behind popular media no longer having to filter their words for the sake of PR or the brand, letting them have a say on how THEY feel. In some cases it can be a very double edged sword, but I imagine for some it grants them some time to breathe (An example I can think of is Gooseworx after the humongous success of TADC)
Honestly, I have to wonder if this digital age will be a thing where folks will be able to truly be pure with their vision since there’s no middleman or executives to deal with in terms of trying to find your audience.
Or if we get stories like George Lucas where it’s clear you NEED a neutral party to edit or just tell you “no.” Or “Oh dear god , HELL NO! Are you high?”
Kaaatie/A3DGHOST with FPE....
I'm glad this video exists. Im glad that you actually talked about how Stephen as person than just "a creator of a very popular nickelodeon cartoon."
As a creative myself I think it made it more relatable and personal. I’m definitely introverted and never like going with the crowd, and seeing him at least try to stand up for his ideas is inspiring.
I feel like Gooseworx might be currently experiencing the very same thing Stephen Hillenburg did regarding The Amazing Digital Circus.
Goose has rather openly stated as such from like a week after the pilot dropped.
Though I'm glad that glitch ain't the type to restrict their creators Wich is real nice, I'm not saying that it's not overwhelmingly stressful, but at least I'm glad they give them that.
Yeah, but instead of a multibillion dollar corporation, she's with a studio that respects artists
@@Vileplume87 True, I’m in no way denying that.
@@toon4thought Yeah, I remember a tweet of hers from Twitter where she showed a screenshot of the godawful and vile Digital Circus related content farm slop and said “Maybe you *shouldn’t* follow your dreams”. Poor girl doesn’t deserve to have her creation and legacy tarnished like this.
This was a really good video. Not just because it brings more context to the whole “hE neVeR wAntEd spin-OffS” situation, but it just has this more serious tone, which I really respect. Keep up the good work Mark.
Stephen Hillenburg is a once in a generation creator. There is nothing wrong with compromising with the people you are “collaborating” with to put your creation in front of an audience but it should NEVER come at the cost of YOUR vision of YOUR art. That’s when a series always starts to lose its soul. Audiences can feel the pandering like a 6th sense. Marks comparison of Stephen VS Butch, is spot on. 2 talented creators whose different morals/integrity make them VERY different creators, which is why they get very different amounts of respect. I love Butch's shows as well but they became a how many different demographics can we hit at one time shit show. RIP Stephen.
Very well said, but, whose Dan? Lol
@@andreasmeelie1889 lol for some reason my brain switched out Dan Harmon, for Butch Hartman when I was typing.
It sucks when so much love is put into something when it’s initially created, but since it was created to make a corporation to make lots of money, that all goes away and it gets milked dry :/
cough cough sonic
HOLY FOLY IT’S THE FEELER OF THE SUNSHINE!
@@Change51 You mean Mario.
There were 5 games in 2024 alone
It also reminds me of the Backyardigans reboot which was greenlit after the creator's passing. Nickelodeon truly is scummy
@@EggFighterXB- idk if thats the same thing necessarily, like sure theres alot of mario games released in 2024 but you can still feel the love and passion put into them espically mario Bros wonder even the movie had that too its why we went so long without hearing anything about it after its intial announcement
8:54 Not gonna lie, I always feel a little uncomfortable when someone brings that up. I get that Nick has made some bad decisions, but sometimes I feel like people are twisting Stephen’s words.
Facts. It feels very scummy trying to take old quotes from a decade ago and putting them in the mouth of a dead man.
It’s like people saying “it’s what Walt would’ve wanted”. How could they tell?
This video ending without your usual outro music made the ending hit really hard, it was so nice and kind of sad at the same time, it's like watching the episode "Mother Simpson" from the Simpsons if anyone remembers how the Simpsons outro music didn't play at all. Brutal but meaningful.
Good job. :)
LS Mark used a picture from "Mother Simpson" in the thumbnail of the What Made The Simpsons Writing So Special video so even he knew it was meaningful.
Didn’t that also have Poochie in the sky?
Rest In Peace, Hillenburg.
It always really hurt seeing people try to claim he’d “hate” whatever tiny mundane thing the show does because there’s a good few behind-the-scenes stories with the crew regarding the years leading up to his death that literally prove the exact opposite, he really enjoyed what they were doing
Really good breakdown of the whole thing, instead of just posting that one Mr Krabs gravestone image like everyone seems to do.
SpongeBob is like Shrek, where it changed animation either for the better or worse
My favorite part of shrek breaking onto the scene was them saying “fuck all this Disney singing soundtrack shit, here’s fucking smashmouth”
@@stevensilver2880shit, in Shrek Forever After they just broke out Beastie Boys in the first Pied Piper scene as a nice fuck you to Disney.
0:17 Don't say it don't think it, don't say it don't think it, don't say it don't think it
mongus
My brain is fried
Sus...??
i dont get it
It’s weird how I feel better knowing that Stephen Hillenburg’s always had misgivings about Nickelodeon’s treatment of SpongeBob. The positive thing is that, wherever he could, he’d find a compromise to make sure the franchise kept being fun for everyone. And you’re right that no matter how long it becomes since those original sketches and early episodes, there’s always gonna be a little bit of Stephen in SpongeBob, like how there’s always gonna be a bit of Walt in Mickey.
Disney stole Mickey from his co-creator Ub Iwerks
The saddest thing is that Hillenberg isn't here to see this... gigantic phenomenon still running today, 25 years in (despite the... spinoffs. Seriously, how did Camp Koral just become canon out of nowhere?) He always looked so humble about his creation. And honestly most either mess it up or don't seem humble about it. Hillenberg is a perfect example of how to do it all right.
Also, SpongeBob is a super big thing in the meme world. Seriously, it’s insane.
Plus it is interesting how everytime he was working on the show, that it ended up improving in quality after he returned in 2015. With seasons 9b-11 being regarded as a Renaissance period by alot of people, especially since seasons 6-8 are generally regarded as the worst. And nowadays after his death, it seemed to sink in quality a little bit again.
So one time i asked Tom Kenney
"Did you expect this show to be as big as it got?"
And he said "let me put it this way.. when the second movie came out
They said hope for 30 pray for 35
And it opened at 40 million
It was a job that started for this goofy little show that did that
So
No"
Was this at a convention?
@daelen.cclark yep! Dallas fan expo 2015
I really love this approach on the two creators. I feel like I’m a mixture of Butch and Stephen. I literally told my mom today that if I see my children’s books become merch and movies, I would literally cry of happiness every day. Yet I still want to keep the integrity of my brand and have it continue to prioritize mental health. It’s so interesting because I don’t think either mindset is necessarily wrong.
Integrity will fly out the window once you’re buying your mom a PHAT house! Your new tune? BRING ON THE RICHES! 😂 jk I’m just joshing ya! 😂
Holy shit core memory unlocked, i actually took a field trip to the marine institute in like the 4th grade.
Growing up watching Spongebob was one of my influences on becoming a cartoonist. This is crazy but the night before Hillenburg passed away, I saw him in a dream and I said thank you. The next day at work I was fooling around with some cardboard and put it around my waist and I said to my coworkers hey look I'm Spongebob and my boss said oh did you hear the creator passed away? I'm sitting there with this cardboard square pants dumbfounded and was just like... what? Insane cosmic kind of stuff.
That is crazy, as someone who grew up with SpongeBob, I can’t help but feel sad for Steve, he didn’t expect any of this success to happen. what’s even worse is that even though he’s a marine biologist, he unintentionally contributed to the oceans pollution. this all happened by accident.
Stephen was also a Marine Biologist, imagine how he felt if he saw SpongeBob branded plastic items polluting the coasts
It's full circle when they have SpongeBob plastered on water bottles.
Yes that’s what the video says
@@rambo280863 I wrote this comment before I watched the video
@ oh, lil awkward then
@@rambo280863 I just wasn’t sure if Mark was going to cover it
I really like this video. Very few jokes, a consistent respectful tone, and doing actual research and looking into it for yourself instead of just hopping on a bandwagon. This video really was interesting, informative, and genuinely though provoking, and I’d love for you to make these types of videos in the future.
I think this is your best video yet tbh. Would love if you talked about how Joe Murray feels about his shows.
What does Joe Murray feel about Camp Lazlo?
One thing that really hurts about Stephen's passing was the spin-off drama. At first, I subscribed to the idea that he would've never wanted this but once I actually looked at the context around what he said including the fact that it happened over a decade after spin-offs were said to be in the works, I quickly understood how flawed this sentiment was. People shouldn't parrot the old words of a dead man and throw them at anyone working on current projects. They don't know him. They don't know if he's changed is mind which he has been shown to do in the past. Nobody has the exact same mindset today as they had back in like 2007 so why are we pretending this is set in stone?
It always seems very fascinating to me by the fact that Stephen Hillenburg, a guy who was a marine biologist that made a few comics, doodles and drawings of the characters out of pure passion and love for both art and sea-life, but after he pitched this show to Nickelodeon he didn't expect this show to be as popular than before; even I wasn't expecting SpongeBob to be as popular than what it was before, but yet here we are.
And that whole Gumball Machine story that Stephen has talked about, has captured the whole realization of being burnt out of the show, which that's how must of us have felt during the 2010s era.
Still though, despite everything that has happened to SpongeBob, I'll always liked watching this show, and I appreciate and honor this entire legacy that Stephen Hillenburg has brought to SpongeBob, and like many others shows that I've watched in the past, SpongeBob has been a huge part of everybody's childhoods, including entire childhood.
Yeah sure I may've some strong options on some of the episodes of SpongeBob in any era, but that doesn't change the fact that I still really enjoy watching SpongeBob SquarePants and all of the hard work and effort that the entire cast and crew have done.
(Oh and by the way, I absolutely agree with your take on this entire show as a whole. Definitely like seeing a positive light to this entire situation instead of anything that is doom and gloom)
Everyone who says Stephen’s legacy is being disrespected with all these spinoff shows is ironically being disrespectful themselves by trying so hard to put words in the mouth of a dead man.
True but Steve did say he didn't want a spinoff where every character is younger, and you know what they did? They made Kamp koral
Which is just like Stan Lee. After his passing, the MCU continues after Avengers Endgame where they show something ridiculous like She Hulk or The Marvels.
@quinnmackay-smith9352 yeah but they made avengers endgame as a tribute to Stan Lee alongside captain marvel
@@_unfairness_2187this was a rumor that was mainstream iirc
@@_unfairness_2187 Stephen was literally an executive producer on Kamp Koral before his death
I cant even go on a website without seeing at least 10 or 12 spongbob memes
This feels kinda similar to Goosewrox when Digital Circus blew up the way that it did and just how big that got. Maybe not to Spongebob level but for a internet show it's pretty massive.
To the point of content farms jumping on the success which really sucks I can't imagine of how that feels. It's something I thought about before many times. Something that you made with all the love and care put into it thrown into the spotlight for millions to see.
It can be a lot for any artist to go through, especially if your not good with tons of attention and never had that experience before.
"When You Create the Biggest Cartoon Ever"
Don't you just hate it when that happens?
IMO spongebob is the most overated cartoon, early seasons and first movie are classics but nick has been milking it so hard with unncecesary spinoffs (that last movie were he smell the turd... wtf fetishes nick writters are into?)
Nickelodeon puts that show in a pedestal so much so that there wasnt another cartoon that can last for another season becoz of it. Justice for Glitch techs, My life as a teenage robot and Harvey Beaks
Oh I hate it when that happens!
@noobmasterruben5167 "Nickelodeon puts that show in a pedestal so much" nick was always like that, before spongebob the channel wasn't capable of letting rugrats go before realizing nobody cared about it anymore
God it's just the most annoying thing when it happens
0:17 among us timestamp
Two things that give me ptsd
1 among us memew
2 Gamers vs furries war
@@jamiedonnelly5436gamers vs. Furries war?
Among us
In real life
Sus
Sus
Bbungus
so true thank you for this
One thing to remember is to always try to look at the positives of something. Many people say that modern modern SpongeBob isn’t very good, but you just can’t deny the effort out into animation is simply stellar
Yeah but most people are turned off by the off-model facial designs they made.
People don't realize that SpongeBob has been having off-model "wacky faces" since the pre-movie era. It's not a new concept.
As much as i hate modern spongebob, i know theres people who still enjoy it, so im glad its still going for their sake. No ones forcing me to watch the new episodes so it doesnt effect me.
@@SammySesamethe main difference is that old SpongeBob uses those faces in less situations, so the impact is greater. Personally, new SpongeBob exhausts me visually, the same thing I experience watching helluva boss, for example. Maybe it's because I'm older too. I understand why someone would like new SpongeBob tho, just not for me
Modern Spongebob for me Is the weird nostalgia Spongebob
Seasons 1-3 of Spongebob are some of the funniest television ever made.
If there was ever a National Film Registry for television programs, those seasons of SpongeBob deserve to be included into the registry.
God tier.
Then that makes seasons 6-8 the worst SpongeBob has ever been.
idk i think season 4 is decent (although iirc the best episodes of it are leftovers from season 3)
The first half of season 4 has some good episodes, while the second half is garbage
Artistic talent is both a blessing and a curse. This video gives into full detail on this aspect.
I'm so glad that this video was made. For SO MANY years, people kept trying to put words into a dead man's mouth just because it fit with their "New SpongeBob bad!!!" agenda. The hate on this show has been overdone so much.
I genuinely cannot thank you enough for making this video exist, to finally put these rumors to rest.
Rest in Peace, Stephen Hillenburg. The world will never be the same without you. But your creation will always be out there, bringing joy to millions of people around the world when they need it. ❤ 🕊
Okay if the show is starting to go back to how it was, I might have to check it out again
Amen to that! ❤️✍️
Nah I’ve seen some of the recent episodes, I’m talking newest and current season, and while not as bad as things in previous years, it’s still pretty mediocre. I know comedies subjective, but I feel like season 1-3 maybe even 4 SpongeBob was genuinely funny and I’ve audibly laughed at what could be considered golden age episodes. I don’t think it’s coincidental that the seasons I enjoyed more were also written by the original creator, I think really that substantiates how the older seasons were undoubtedly better.
Did the wacky faces stop a while ago? Genuine question, since I haven’t been keeping up with the new Spongebob episodes.
@@skelemama No, modern Spongebob is still the same as it was years ago, it's just as exaggerated.
19:30
As a Hobbyist Writer, Butch Hartman's point of 'always having different ideas in your back pocket' kind of rings for me
I often have a lot of ideas and always want to find a way to work them into my projects one way or another, but often worry about bloating things. That kind of issue is why I workshop them with my friends and appreciate their input. One of my friends specifically, we work on some projects together and it often has us stuffed with ideas, and our attention divided between multiple projects.
However, where Butch's advice reminds me of how often we keep working on so many different projects, the other side of that coin regarding Stephen Hillenberg just having one idea and wanting to bring it to life also applies to us. My friend had a project he tried to work on with his own circle, but it never took off like he wanted. He had pages of ideas, and sometimes asked for my 2 cents to help flesh out some things or at least add a little more variety. At some point, I asked him about it after it seemed like that project was abandoned and we kept talking, playing with some ideas as we normally do and eventually that Project found new life between us as something far bigger than it once was.
It's become a project comprised of multiple projects that we develop a clearer picture of as we go, and something that's given my friend hope as he expects one day we might be satisfied enough with our multiple revisions and edits to one day share, maybe even as short novels to sell, with others who might appreciate our stories.
Neither of us are professionals, and his vision might seem broader than mine (I've never been a Long Term kind of thinker), but if there's anything I can say as someone passionate about their projects
It's that being able to share the experience of bringing your ideas to life with friends is just as rewarding as the finished project you worked so hard on.
And also you are never satisfied, that too. Every time I go back to set the scene for myself or just proofread, I am always thinking to myself 'I could write that better' or 'What the heck was I trying to say here?' and just end up making edits to my dialogue to recontextualize narration, cut down on any 'wordiness', and try to make the image clearer... And I'm still never satisfied even then or when I reread that and do more recontextualizing.
Art is pain, but a learning experience all the same
It's honestly inspiring how something that's made out of pure passion... well maybe not 100% pure passion it's animation, there's always just a little pain but! POINT IS
It's amazing how a cartoon that Stephen wanted to make became such a hit simply for being what it is, it didn't try to appeal to anyone, it didn't pander to a certain demographic, it was what it was and that's what made it special.
Which makes me wish more Media, not just cartoons, were like that, not everyone obviously goes out of their way to make something purely to sell it, but ya can't help but feel like most media, doesn't matter if it's new or old, always felt like it was trying to be "The Next big thing".
That's why SpongeBob will always be the best..... in my opinion that is.
It wasn't just Stephen Hillenburg who stepped away from the writing crew after season 3 - the majority of the show's original writing staff had also left after season 3. I think that's important to acknowledge, because writing for a TV show is collaborative; Stephen Hillenburg's voice was undoubtedly the major creative force behind the show as its creator, but the show we got could only have existed in the form it did because of every writer who touched it. That said, the show continued with an almost entirely new team of writers from season 4 onward, with only a few carry-overs from the original team, and the result is that it essentially became an entirely different show overnight. And it seems like the new writers didn't understand the characters very well, because they flanderized them immediately, dumbing them down and reducing them to just their most basic characteristics. Low-brow, mean-spirited jokes and gross-out gags are what Spongebob is associated with now, and that's sad, because that's not what it was originally. It's like the show's soul got ripped out.
Most of the crew didn't leave because Stephen left, it was because there was nothing to do, I think if you look at the production development, there's a massive year long gap between when season 3s production ended and when season 4s started, during this time, Stephen and most of the crew were busy with the movie too so alot of the remaining ones left SpongeBob to work on other shows or even other companies
@@darealepic Right. That doesn't contradict anything I said; I never gave a reason for the original crew's departure. The fact that they left is what matters; it's why the show changed so drastically.
@AuraLeafstorm yeah, my bad for misunderstanding lol but yea i agree with your statement
This might be one of my favorite videos on the platform.
This video words everything so well in a very comprehensive breakdown. There's perspectives I've never seen before. It's got a lot of poignant moments, certainly aided by the music choice.
I love these videos where he takes a step back from all the drama, and considers both sides.
More people should do that, so much stuff gets overblown because people don't do their own research.
I was thinking about something similar to this topic a couple days back. It was in regards to content creators, like LSMark.
So many TH-cam channels are from people of all walks of life and personalities. They aren't any different than anyone else.
But most viewers would (only naturally) be nervous to meet the people behind their favorite channels.
I could've been in the same school as any TH-camr, could live in the same apartment complex, could be pulling up to the same drive through.
Some thinking of you as on another level than everyone else, despite not looking it, not feeling it. That must be surreal.
8:09 That tweet right there, is why I think people were always so quick to accuse Nickelodeon of disrespecting Stephen's wishes.
It almost makes me feel like people ignore the tweet just to defend the multi million dollar company🤷♂️
@@isaiahh6694did you not watch the entire video? stephen has never said he didn't want spinoffs and changed his mind about pretty much everything people say nickelodeon is "disrespecting", there are plenty of people who have worked on the show for years who have still not gotten over stephen's passing
I never meet Hillingberg so I WILL NOT put words into his mouth in this comment and this will be MY OWN OPINION on it.
Being the creator of a popular show while does sound nice can also be a curse as you might only be known for that or your show is do successful that the network executives milk it DRY snd cancel other shows that can't catch up
Yeah. I know it would be taxing on me if I was in that role.
I'm surprise the SpongeBob series has never made a joke about SpongeBob's parents looking like cookies.
Probably because they look more like actual sea sponges than their son.
12:45 that might be the first time I ever heard Stephen Helenberg’s true voice
I remember my reaction to Stevens death, just sitting watching the news talk about him. The man who created my childhood gone to soon. RIP Steven hillenburg
Its amazing to see someone talk about Stephen Hillenburg, the person not Stephen Hillenburg, the creator of spongebob.
You mean there’s more than one Stephen Hillenburg?!
Not like the scenario of another guy named Micheal Jordan. But this video focuses on the person alone instead of the person who is known for creating this
@@shonenfanboy1943 So the video’s not even focused on the creator of SpongeBob, it’s just some guy with the same name?
The fact that Butch was so salty about SpongeBob being more popular than his creations will never not be satisfying.
Why did that ending make me cry...
I remember when my mom told me the news that Stephen passed. My school felt bleak... Everyone felt it. Even to this day, it still hurts
Rest is Sweet, Sweet Peace.
You changed us all..!❤
It's not exactly the same, but I heard something similar with George Lucas talking about why he sold star wars to Disney. He said something along the lines of what he wanted to make and what makes money started to become different things, which is fine, but he had a few hundred employees to think about as well, which was a big motivation for him to sell. The irony is Disney probably fired most of them, but it sucks when you can't just just make stuff for you and the people who enjoy it, and have to cater to mass appeal
Y'wanna know what's crazy? I live in the town where the Ocean Institute is located, where Stephen Hillenberg worked. I've lived here for at least 12 years now, but even before that I lived close enough to make frequent visits to the beach and the Institute itself for several school trips. Hell, even today,I pass by that Institute on one of my walks. And you wanna know how many times I saw Stephen Hillenberg promoted there? Never. For as much as I can remember, I've never seen a sign highlighting that "THE CREATOR OF SPONGEBOB WORKED HERE!!" or seeing his face plastered throughout the walls. No annual Spongebob celebrations taking credit for the creator's start, and not even a single sponge toy being sold in the gift shop. Almost all my life, I never knew that the creator of Spongebob Squarepants, my favorite show of all time as a kid, when I religiously watched the movie every Sunday morning, worked right down the road from my home.
Just thought that'd be interesting to bring up :]
I think that goes to show just how introverted he was.
The problem is creative control, you either have it or not. That's why Sam & Max creator doesn't want Sam & Max to become too popular because then he would lose control.
Thank you, genuinely, you have done such a service for the SpongeBob community here and I hope that people sing your praises about this vid from now on whenever someone genuinely believes what Nick is doing is disrespecting Stephen's legacy.
I never really took in how much Spongebob becoming a phenomenon would mean. So many moving parts that could seem overwhelming to someone who just wanted to make a show. I feel like a lot of people dream of success (I sure as hell do) but don't really take in what happens once your thing not only gets off the ground but soars. Some people are ready for it, others aren't. A very simple conclusion but one I find fascinating.
Always hate when people cherry pick certain quotes to make it look like he hated the ideas they was doing
20:00 unironically the coolest line I’ve ever heard
*I still wonder to the world...how come SpongeBob hasn't had his star on the walk of fame yet ?🤔*
You have to buy it. So they'd have to want to
Because he's a cartoon and a few select circles in Hollywood refuse to take those seriously.
They ought to make the star pink like Patrick, since he is also a star.
Stephen Hillenburg, the idea vs. Stephen Hillenburg, the man
Whoooooo. Never looked at it that way before and I'll never look at it the same way again.
Believe it or not, pretty much the same thing happened with Pendleton Ward on Adventure Time, with him also citing his mental health detoriating from running such a popular show. And to this day, even with him contributing here and there to any newer installments, he seems perfectly content letting Adam Muto drive the franchise while he devotes most of his own focus to smaller, more lowkey projects (Adult Swim just released a pilot from him called Mystery Cuddlers).
Really puts into perspective how sometimes the success of a piece of art can surpass the artist itself, even if we don't know it.
The roots of this show are so beautiful. The authentic sea shanties and surfer tunes are so incredible
You notice a massive drop in... just vibes after the rights expired. The show lost a big part of it changing the music
20:45 this quote along with the next image is so haunting to think about. The man created such a legacy and just wanted to make it simple show to then have it all blow up and become an iconic piece of animation history. It really just sucks that there are so many people who have good intentions can be taken away from us too soon
Well,I would say that SpongeBob was a character,show,franchise and brand born to have the same destiny as Sonic,Shrek,Garfield and the Star Wars Franchise.
A work with lows and highs,even if it doesn't have the same shine as in its golden age it is capable of bringing good episodes and works in these modern days(well I think with Garfield not so much...)too and that remains strong in many ways to this day.
This is definitely the kind of video that the internet and fans...especially SpongeBob fans really needed !👏
Remember 24 Frames of Nick’s embarrassing rant at the end of his SpongeBob movies video? That moment sums up everything wrong with these so called fans.
What about PieGuyRulz and his video about Kamp Koral's announcement?
th-cam.com/video/d4tvtiDi_lQ/w-d-xo.htmlsi=-Vzy4jwEE0H8hcNl
He even deleted that video
Trying to hide his shame again I see.
@@andykishoreThat video was from nearly 2 years ago and Nick now agrees that it was disrespectful, he does not stand by what he said in that video anymore and we should just leave him out of this
@@phantomhourglass13 LS Mark fans can never stay out of user drama it would seam. It's only when I bring up completely unrelated users like Big Angry Phil and fugativeredeye that nobody seams to care.
this conversation is definitely a hard one to have. its understandable why people would use hillenburg's quotes and be concerned; it's not like its new that companies and corporations wouldn't care to step on the toes of the artists that work for them if it meant more money. its unfortunately common and i think that's why many people (including myself) get caught in this argument. but i also agree that, while i don't think anyone means it with malice, to specifically use a dead man's words as a weapon, its still not the best practice to just. keep bringing it up. i'm guilty of that myself and i agree that its more productive just to. enjoy the legacy he did leave.
again, its all just hard, and i struggle to completely think that there isn't some form of corporate fuckery going on that may not even have to do with disrespecting the man entirely, but i really do think its a great point just to yk, remember that we shouldn't be using vague quotes from stephen hillenburg that may have changed over time to make an argument.
spongebob has always been a big part of my life, and its the entire reason i'm going to school for animation in the first place. though i have my reservations about the newer, post season 4-5 era of the show, it will never stop me from loving the creation that stephen made and the love he had for it, even if there was burn out. that quote you added where he was saying that, his show wasn't to make a show for like kids, or for networks or whatever, but to make his friends in the studio laugh? i want that to be what i do in the future; i want to strive for that. i think a more productive conversation to have in regards to this is less "this ruined his image" and more of "wow, he made a great thing", or even "what can i do to keep this kind of energy he had going?"
idk if this made any sense, but i wanted to comment just cuz this man has been a part of my life for so long, even if i never met him, yk?
Thank god they didn’t give him the Jennifer Lee treatment where they put him in charge of the entire animation studio because he created the biggest project the studio ever had! One show is pressure inducing enough!
Who
@@goldenfiberwheat238The former CEO of Walt Disney Animation Studios until recently Jared Bush took over.
@ what did she make that was so big?
@@goldenfiberwheat238 She directed Frozen which became extremely successful. Disney hadn't seen their animated films reach that level of success since The Lion King. As a result, Jennifer Lee became the new CEO of Walt Disney Animation Studios after John Lasseter's departure from both Disney and Pixar in December 2018 until 2024.
@ oh
Which is just like Stan Lee. After his passing, the MCU continues off after Avengers Endgame where they show something ridiculous like She Hulk with her booty twerking, Secret Invasion with AI intro and The Marvels getting flopped in the box office.
That is so damn true.
True but you have to admit Guardians of the galaxy 3 is amazing
Jack Kirby is the real king of comics
Stan Lee is just marketing
And they still use his twitter account to advertise
15:53 I absolutely would love for my projects to have 1/100th of the popularity of SpongeBob, but the whole same amount? Hell no. At the point where it becomes so massive, so much merchandise, so much attention, I can totally understand why Stephen Hillenburg was so stressed about it. When your project gets so popular it really seems like you start to lose total control over how your property is perceived; for example, Stephen Hillenburg clearly disliked the amount of merchandise, but it had to exist because Nickelodeon wanted that funding. That story about him being exhausted and leaning on a Gumball machine just to see SpongeBob’s face looking back at him sounds distressing.
Excellent video Mark, unfortunately my biggest takeaway is the fact that I never realized that Butch is a nickname and not Butch Hartman’s actual first name
Dw I didn’t know that either lol 😆
same lol
I know right? That feeling is insane.
I wonder if there's a possibility of a video in the future, a full break down comparing Butch Hartman to Stephen Hillenburg, because from what's in this video, that's actually incredibly fascinating.
6:00 Its funny because theres the season 5 episode the krusty sponge that actually made fun of Nickelodeons over branding and popularity of the series at the time.
Regardless of Stephen's legacy and how big SpongeBob became, I don't really think about that when I watch it. I can just sit down, have a good laugh, and be amazed at how good the show is (at its best). I must say though, I like seasons 4-5. Much like Animaniacs, this show was just made by people who wanted to write what they thought was funny.
10:26 EMPLEMON MENTIONED ‼️
DOWNWARDS SPIRAL
DOWNWARDS SPIRAL
DOWNWARDS SPIRAL
God $13 billion?!?!
For peeling my eyelids back on my favorite cartoon Thanks!
I know many people are going to say “huh?” when I say this but I feel like SpongeBob is like the Millennial/Gen Z equivalent of the Looney Tunes franchise in terms of pop culture relevancy.
Fun fact. I work for the company that installed the SpongeBobs on the roof of those Burger Kings for the movie promotion.
I love that the “[Blank] Babies” joke is so pervasive/true to life that it’s used in the animation industry
24 Frames of Nick should be taking notes!
Huh? Who’s that?
@ guy who made a vid on why the first SpongeBob movie is the only good one but at the end of the sponge on the run legacy he called it defiling Steven’s legacy and basically threw his own friends under the bus even tho Steven knew about camp coral
@@SnazzyGoober
Nick did make a video recently in which he lamented that overly upset style of content he made, I'd imagine he'd take a more analytical approach in the future.
But even then I can't blame anyone for thinking they defiled Stephen's legacy because no matter how many good intentioned artist there are... Nick still pushed some of this stuff for money's sake.
24 Frames of Nick deleted his SpongeBob Movie video and doesn't like people talking about something he said nearly 2 years ago. He agrees now that the video was kind of disrespectful. So we should just leave him out of this
I was born in the late 90's, making me the target audience for Spongebob when it first came out, and like millions of others, it had a massive impact on me which I hold to this day. After the first movie came out though, I started to notice the show had shifted in quality from the 4th season and was not the unique masterpiece it once was. Over the years, I tried a few times to give the later seasons a chance, but they were just so majorly disappointing to me, and this was before I'd even become aware of the fact that the shows creator had left the series. Now as a fully grown adult, I still frequently rewatch the first 3 seasons (and sometimes the first movie), partly for the nostalgia, but also because the show is just so brilliantly witty and charming. In my opinion, it contains some of the best jokes and storylines of any show I've seen, not just limited to kids shows. I basically refuse to watch any episode after the 3rd season now, not because of some moral stance I feel the need to uphold, but because it's just not the same show to me, and feels like any other crappy kids show. I hope one day when I have kids of my own, that I can share with them the first 3 seasons and let them experience the same joy the show brought me.
RIP Stephen Hillenburg
Here's my take. When I see the new Spongebob stuff, I don't see an attempt to burn down Stephen Hillenburg's creation. What I see is a show/franchise that is lost with it's own identity due to being on for so long, but can still bring in some good content, even if this new direction feels very messy, because there are still people working on it that are passionate about Spongebob. The state of Spongebob can feel unfortunate at times, but I don't think it's evil.
I totally agree with everything said in this video, but I do want to point out that the end stages of ALS cause a near complete shutdown of the body, including speech, movement, and cognitive function, making communication impossible. I would hope the meetings where Stephen "agreed" to spinoffs was held early enough that it avoided the end stage of his disease, but given the timing we know of, there's a non-zero chance Stephen wasn't actually able to communicate with Nickelodeon.
I don't want to assume an evil megacorporation took advantage of a vulnerable person for profit, but Viacom IS an evil megacorporation, so...
I hadn't had those Krabby Patty candies since I was in elementary school but my younger cousin loves them so we get him bags of the stuff and I, of course, had some. The candy is fine but it has so much plastic, moreso than the average gummy candy. Each burger is individually wrapped and held inside a tray so it stays in a recognizable shape. As a kid I didn't know anything about Hillenberg but now as an adult, I cringe a little when I see those candies, thinking of how Stephen must have felt.
I can still remember sitting down on the white carpet in the living room right in front of the TV to watch the very first episode primere. I'm glad I got to grow up with spongebob.