SpongeBob SquarePants is one of the world’s most popular cartoon series; the yellow guy is a modern day Mickey Mouse.  SpongeBob is so recognizable and popular, in fact, that you can slap his face on a digital picture frame and people buy MORE of them.  Pretty amazing, isn’t it?  What a lot of people don’t know, however, is that the Spongy One wasn’t an immediate smash.

When the first SpongeBob episodes premiered in 1999, ratings weren’t stellar.  Throughout the first season, the show struggled to find an audience.  Was there too much adult humor to appeal to kids?  Was it too stupid to appeal to adults?  No one was sure.  Series creator Stephen Hillenburg became convinced that SpongeBob would be cancelled after its first season, but kept plugging away, thrilled to have his own animated show.  It wasn’t until he spotted a little girl carrying a bootleg Spongebob bookbag while on vacation in Sumatra of all places that Hillenburg realized his show might be catching on.  

Despite tepid ratings, Nickelodeon chose to renew SpongeBob for a second season.  Soon, the show would skyrocket in popularity and cultural infamy, and before long, the Sponge’s face was plastered on every kind of product imaginable, digital or otherwise.  Even in real life, SpongeBob SquarePants is inspiring:  Even when things look bleak, don’t quit.  A startling triumph may be just around the corner!