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The first season of the American animated television series ''SpongeBob SquarePants'', created by former marine biologist and animator Stephen Hillenburg, aired from May 1, 1999 to April 8, 2000, and consisted of 20 episodes. The series chronicles the exploits and adventures of the title character and his various friends in the fictional underwater city of Bikini Bottom. The shows features the voices of Tom Kenny as SpongeBob SquarePants, Bill Fagerbakke as Patrick Star, Rodger Bumpass as Squidward Tentacles, Clancy Brown as Mr. Krabs, Carolyn Lawrence as Sandy Cheeks, and Mr. Lawrence as Plankton. Among the first guest stars in the show were Ernest Borgnine and Tim Conway voicing the superhero characters of Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy, respectively. Hillenburg initially conceived the show in 1984 and began to work on it shortly after the cancellation of ''Rocko's Modern Life'' in 1996.〔〔Banks 2004, p. 10〕 To voice the character of SpongeBob, Hillenburg approached Tom Kenny, who had worked with him on ''Rocko's Modern Life''.〔 The show was originally to be called ''SpongeBoy Ahoy!'', but the name ''SpongeBoy'' was already in use for a mop product.〔Banks 2004, p. 31〕 Upon finding it out, Hillenburg decided to use the name "SpongeBob". He chose "SquarePants" as a family name as it referred to the character's square shape and it had a "nice ring to it".〔Neuwirth 2003, p. 51〕 Several compilation DVDs that contained episodes from the season were released. The ''SpongeBob SquarePants: The Complete 1st Season'' DVD was released in Region 1 on October 28, 2003, Region 2 on November 7, 2005, and Region 4 on November 30, 2006. The pilot episode, "Help Wanted", was not included on the DVD due to copyright issues with the song "Living in the Sunlight" by Tiny Tim, which appears in the episode, but was later released as a bonus feature on various series DVDs, including that of the third season. The season received positive reviews from media critics upon release. ==Development== Creator Stephen Hillenburg initially conceived ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' in 1984, while he was teaching and studying marine biology at what is now the Orange County Ocean Institute.〔Banks 2004, pp. 8–9〕 During this period, Hillenburg became fascinated with animation, and wrote a comic book entitled ''The Intertidal Zone'' starring various anthropomorphic forms of sea life, many of which would evolve into ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' characters,〔Banks 2004, p. 9〕 including "Bob the Sponge", who was the co-host of the comic and resembled an actual sea sponge, as opposed to SpongeBob who resembles a kitchen sponge.〔 In 1987, Hillenburg left the institute to pursue his dream of becoming an animator,〔 and began to envision the possible concept of a project involving anthropomorphic sea life, drawing several rough sketches.〔 In 1992, Hillenburg began to attend the California Institute of the Arts to study animation, having been accepted into the institute by Jules Engel, who was impressed with Hillenburg's previous work.〔 While attending animation school, Hillenburg received a job on the children's television series ''Mother Goose and Grimm'', and worked on the series from 1991 to 1993. When attending the California Institute of the Arts, he made his thesis film entitled ''Wormholes'',〔 which was funded by the Princess Grace Foundation and was later displayed at various animation festivals.〔 In 1995, Joe Murray, creator of ''Rocko's Modern Life'', met Hillenburg at an animation festival, and offered him a job as a director of the series.〔〔Neuwirth 2003, p. 50〕〔"(Lisa (Kiczuk) Trainor interviews Joe Murray, creator of Rocko's Modern Life )," ''The Rocko's Modern Life FAQ''〕 ''Rocko's Modern Life'' ended in 1996.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Rocko's Modern Life )〕 Shortly following this, Hillenburg began working on ''SpongeBob SquarePants'', teaming up with several Nickelodeon veterans and ''Rocko'' crew members,〔 including creative director Derek Drymon, writers and directors Sherm Cohen and Dan Povenmire, writer Tim Hill, actor and writer Martin Olson, animation director Alan Smart, and story editor Merriwether Williams.〔 To voice the character of SpongeBob, Hillenburg approached Tom Kenny, who had worked with him on ''Rocko's Modern Life''.〔 Originally the character was to be named ''SpongeBoy'' and the show would be called ''SpongeBoy Ahoy!''.〔〔 However, the Nickelodeon legal department discovered that the name ''SpongeBoy'' was already in use for a mop product.〔〔 This was discovered after voice acting for the original seven-minute pilot was recorded in 1997.〔 Upon finding this out, Hillenburg decided that the character's given name still had to contain "Sponge" so viewers would not mistake the character for a "Cheese Man". Hillenburg decided to use the name "SpongeBob". He chose "SquarePants" as a family name as it referred to the character's square shape and it had a "nice ring to it".〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「SpongeBob SquarePants (season 1)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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