11月26日，《海綿寶寶》卡通原創者史蒂芬·海倫伯格因患“漸凍人癥”去世，享年57歲。《海綿寶寶》自1999年開播至今，一直深受孩子們的喜愛。 ?海倫伯格通過積極樂觀、善良美好的海綿寶寶治愈了不少人的內心，而在患病僅一年多之后，他卻永遠離開了我們。

SpongeBob SquarePants creator Stephen Hillenburg has died at the age of 57.

《海綿寶寶》創造者史蒂芬·海倫伯格去世，終年57歲。

The news was confirmed by Nickelodeon, which has broadcast the hugely popular cartoon series since 1999.

尼可羅頓兒童頻道宣布了這一消息。自1999年起，這部非常受歡迎的動畫系列片就在該頻道播出。

In a statement, the company said Hillenburg's cause of death was motor neurone disease (also known as ALS) - a condition he revealed he had been diagnosed with in March last year.

尼可羅頓兒童頻道在聲明中說，海倫伯格因“漸凍人癥”去世（運動神經元病的一種，也稱為肌萎縮側索硬化癥）。此前，海倫伯格稱自己在去年3月份被確診患病。

He told Variety at the time that he intended to work on his show "for as long as I am able."

他當時告訴《綜藝》雜志說，“只要還有能力就會一直”進行創作。

As well as creating the character, Hillenburg also directed 2004's The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie.

除了創造出海綿寶寶這一動畫角色外，海倫伯格還執導了2004年上映的電影《海綿寶寶歷險記》。

尼可羅頓兒童頻道在官方推特發文稱：

"We are sad to share the news of the passing of Stephen Hillenburg, the creator of SpongeBob SquarePants," Nickelodeon tweeted from its official account.

“我們很悲傷地宣布，《海綿寶寶》創造者史蒂芬·海倫伯格去世了。”

"Today, we are observing a moment of silence to honour his life and work."

“今日，讓我們為他的一生和工作默哀。”

"[Hillenburg] was a beloved friend and long-time creative partner to everyone at Nickelodeon, and our hearts go out to his entire family," the company said in a statement on Tuesday.

該頻道在27日發布的聲明中說：“他是大家喜愛的好朋友，也是所有尼可羅頓兒童頻道成員長久以來的創意伙伴，謹此對于他的家屬表達誠摯慰問。”

The company's statement added: "Steve imbued 'SpongeBob SquarePants' with a unique sense of humour and innocence that has brought joy to generations of kids and families everywhere.

聲明中還說：“海倫伯格賦予了海綿寶寶獨特的幽默感和天真無邪，給全球各地幾代兒童和他們的家庭帶來了歡樂。”

Following the news of Hillenburg's death, SpongeBob fans began posting tributes on social media, thanking him for his creation, which "enriched lives" and "stirred up laughter for years to come".

得知海倫伯格去世的消息，海綿寶寶的粉絲們在社交媒體發貼悼念，并感謝他的創作，稱他的創作“豐富了自己的人生”，還能“讓今后很多年都充滿歡樂”。

小時候媽媽不讓我看《海綿寶寶》，所以我比她提早一個小時起床，看這部我最愛的動畫片。希望他去世時知道，自己的創作影響了幾百萬人。

安息吧，史蒂芬·海倫伯格，在過去的幾十年，你給全球幾百萬人帶來了歡笑。

曾出演2004年《海綿寶寶歷險記》的演員大衛·哈塞爾霍夫也在推特上發文悼念了這位創作者。

“哇，史蒂夫創造了一個多么獨特和神奇的角色啊！我很高興也很榮幸能在《海綿寶寶》電影中和這位先生一起開懷大笑，（史蒂夫的離去）真的是巨大的損失！直到今日，都會有看過這部電影的大人和孩子們叫住我、稱贊我。”

《海綿寶寶》卡通角色從主角“海綿寶寶”(SpongeBob)到配角“章魚哥”(Squidward Tentacles)、“派大星”(Patrick Star)、“蟹老板”(Mr. Krabs)等，更成為美國流行文化的一部份。

根據統計，《海綿寶寶》卡通的周邊商品，為尼可羅頓兒童頻道創造了超過120億美元（約合834億元人民幣）的收入。

The SpongeBob SquarePants series has seen more than 200 episodes broadcast and has spawned two successful animated films.

《海綿寶寶》動畫系列片已經播出了200多集，還曾兩度被搬上銀幕制作成動畫電影，而且都大獲成功。

The cartoon has also been made into a Broadway musical - with original songs by David Bowie, John Legend and Cyndi Lauper - which won a Tony Award earlier this year.

《海綿寶寶》還被改編為音樂劇登上百老匯舞臺，其原創音樂由大衛·鮑威、約翰·傳奇和辛迪·勞帕協同創作，并在今年早些時候獲得托尼獎。

The series airs in more than 200 countries and been translated into more than 50 languages. It has earned numerous awards during its run, including four Emmy Awards.

《海綿寶寶》動畫系列片已在超過200個國家播出，并被翻譯成50多種語言，獲獎無數，包括四座艾美獎。

史蒂芬·海倫伯格這一生非常精彩，自己身為研究所的海洋生物學老師，卻跨界去做動畫片，最后因為對海洋的興趣和熱忱創作出了海綿寶寶。

據他生前介紹，海綿寶寶是他受托制作海洋知識的兒童畫冊受到啟發，決心向兒童推廣海洋學而創作出的形象。

除此之外，作者還以海綿寶寶的名字捐贈了自己獲獎的獎金成立基金，用來鼓勵為動畫奮斗的年輕人。

史蒂芬·海倫伯格創作的海綿寶寶不僅給全球的兒童，也給無數成年人帶來了歡樂，下面一起來回顧一下《海綿寶寶》的經典臺詞：

I'm ready, I'm ready, I'm ready.

我準備好了，我準備好了，我準備好了…… ——海綿寶寶

You'll never get what you want if you'll always let people step all over you.

如果你總是讓人從你身上踩過去，你永遠都不會得到你想要的東西。——痞老板

Knowledge cannot replace friendship, I'd rather be an idiot than lose you.

知識不能替代友誼，比起失去你，我寧愿做個白癡。 ——派大星

Sometimes we have to go deep inside ourselves to solve our problems.

有時我們必須深入自己的內心，才能解決遇到的問題。——派大星

You even think about take a penny from me, a penny!

你別想從我這里拿走一分錢，一分錢！——蟹老板

Oh, octopus brother, you are smoking Jesus, you look like a cooked vegetable.

哦，章魚哥，你在冒煙耶，你看起來就像是一棵煮熟的青菜。——海綿寶寶

Another long, long time ago, there have been ugly penguins! He's ugly, ugly, he's the ugly all dead!

在很久很久以前，有一只丑陋的企鵝！它長得很丑，丑得把所有人都丑死了！——派大星

We don't need  television. Not as long as we have our imagination.

只要我們有想象力，我們就不需要電視機。

來源：BBC、CNN、中新網、環球網

翻譯&編輯：yaning