Sad news for SpongeBob Fans

Stephen Hillenburg, creator of the long-running hit Nickelodeon series “SpongeBob SquarePants,” has revealed that he has been diagnosed with the neurodegenerative disease ALS.

The 55-year-old animator shared a statement with Variety announcing the diagnosis and his intent to continue working on the series, which has been on the air since 1999.

“I wanted people to hear directly from me that I have been diagnosed with ALS.,” the statement reads. “Anyone who knows me knows that I will continue to work on ‘SpongeBob SquarePants’ and my other passions for as long as I am able. My family and I are grateful for the outpouring of love and support. We ask that our sincere request for privacy be honored during this time.”

A source close to Hillenburg said he received the diagnosis recently and is in the early stages of the disease. ALS, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, is a rare terminal illness that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord.

Hillenburg is a former marine biology teacher who channeled his love of the ocean into animation. “SpongeBob” began as a Saturday morning cartoon in 1999, before transitioning to primetime, where it became a multibillion-dollar franchise popular among kids and adult viewers as well.

Hillenburg also directed 2004’s “The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie.” He left the series for a decade before returning in 2014 as an executive producer. Last March, Nickelodeon renewed “SpongeBob” for a 10th and 11th season, which will keep the series on the air for well over 200 episodes.

This sucks to hear about Hillenburg. Before SpongeBob, since Variety forgot to mention it, but he worked on Rocko's Modern Life, which had fellow SpongeBob crew members Derek Drymon, Nick Jennings, Tim Hill, Mark O'Hare, Alan Smart, Tom Yasumi, and more. It also had Tom Kenny. Without that show, we wouldn't have SpongeBob nor Phineas and Ferb and Milo Murphy's Law (from Dan Povenmire and Jeff Swampy Marsh, who worked on Rocko as well). I hope he can live the whole show's run, but I wonder what the future of SpongeBob will hold. Paul Tibbitt was a decent replacement for him and I feel like people took granted on him. Vincent Waller and Marc Ceccarelli had been good replacements for Tibbitt and they're doing the show more freely in animation and expressions. I know most people thought the show went downhill without him, but at least be grateful he made your childhood and that he's been back since the new era had started. (Vince said that he attends the writing room and probably the recording sessions.)

Also everyone on Twitter had been so supportive of him that someone created the hashtag #GetWellHillenburg and it had caught on most people. Let's make it trending.