Squidward Quincy Tentacles () is a fictional character in Nickelodeon's animated television series SpongeBob SquarePants. Created and designed by marine biologist and animator Stephen Hillenburg, he is voiced by actor Rodger Bumpass. Squidward first appeared on television in the series' pilot episode "Help Wanted" on May 1, 1999.
Despite having "squid" in his name, Squidward is an anthropomorphic octopus. He lives in a moai themed house between SpongeBob SquarePants' and Patrick Star's houses on Conch Street in Bikini Bottom. His character is portrayed as short-tempered, impatient, arrogant, selfish, sassy, introverted, and he despises his two neighbors' constant disruptive antics. However, the pair are unfazed by Squidward's dislike towards them and see him as a friend regardless. Squidward is an underappreciated artist, and has many hobbies such as painting and playing the clarinet. He works as the Krusty Krab cashier, alongside SpongeBob.
The character's reception from fans has been positive. Squidward is a recurring character in all of the franchise's theatrical and streaming films starting with The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, and has appeared in many SpongeBob SquarePants publications, toys, and other merchandise.
Development Creation and design Stephen Hillenburg first became fascinated with the ocean and began developing his artistic abilities as a child. During college, he majored in marine biology and minored in art. After graduating in 1984, he joined the Ocean Institute, an ocean education organization, where he had the idea to create a comic book titled The Intertidal Zone, which led to the creation of SpongeBob SquarePants. In 1987, Hillenburg left the institute to pursue a career in animation.
Several years after studying experimental animation at the California Institute of the Arts, Hillenburg met Joe Murray, creator of Rocko's Modern Life, at an animation festival. Murray offered Hillenburg a job as a director of the series."Lisa (Kiczuk) Trainor interviews Joe Murray, creator of Rocko's Modern Life ," The Rocko's Modern Life FAQ Martin Olson, one of the writers for Rocko's Modern Life, read The Intertidal Zone and encouraged Hillenburg to create a television series with a similar concept. At that point, Hillenburg had not considered creating his own series, but soon realized that this was his chance. Shortly after production on Rocko's Modern Life ended in 1996, Hillenburg began working on SpongeBob SquarePants.
Hillenburg used some character designs from his comic book. He designed "SpongeBob's grumpy next door neighbor" as an octopus because he liked the species' large head, noting that Squidward "thinks he's an intellectual".Hillenburg, Stephen. (March 1, 2005). The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (The Case of the Sponge "Bob") (DVD). Paramount Home Entertainment/Nickelodeon. Instead of the usual eight limbs, Hillenburg explained that Squidward is normally drawn with six limbs as it was "just simpler" to animate him that way. Squidward is only shown with a full set of eight tentacles in two episodes: the live-action sequence in "Pressure" from season two, and briefly in "Sold!" from season nine. Hillenburg named the character Squidward after the squid, which is closely related to the octopus and has ten limbs, and the English name, Edward. In the words of Squidward's voice actor Rodger Bumpass, the name Octoward "just didn't work".Bumpass, Rodger. (March 1, 2005). The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (The Absorbing Tale Behind The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie) (DVD). Paramount Home Entertainment/Nickelodeon.
Of Squidward's design, show writer and storyboard artist Vincent Waller said in 2010: Squidward is hard to drawhe has a very odd-shaped head. Fortunately, his emotions are pretty even, but to get a whole lot of big emoting out of him is a challenge. His nose splits everything in half, so it's always like, 'OK, how am I going to work this and still make it read?'
Hillenburg thought of making jokes with Squidward ejecting ink but retired it because, according to him, "it always looks like he's pooping his pants". Despite this, inking jokes would appear in episodes like "Giant Squidward" and "Ink Lemonade". The sound of Squidward's footsteps, which evokes that of suction cups pulling on the ground, is produced by rubbing hot water bottles. The footsteps, and those of the rest of the main characters, are recorded by the show's foley crew, supervised by the show's sound designer Jeff Hutchins. Bumpass inspired the idea of having Squidward ride a recumbent bicycle; Bumpass owns one of these bicycles, which he rides around Burbank, California. Bumpass described it as his "little inside joke".
Voice
Squidward's voice is provided by actor Rodger Bumpass, who voices several other SpongeBob SquarePants characters, including Squidward's mother. While creating the show and writing its pilot episode in 1997, Hillenburg and the show's then-creative director Derek Drymon were also conducting voice auditions. Mr. Lawrence, who had worked with Hillenburg and Drymon on Rocko's Modern Life, was Hillenburg's first choice for the role. Hillenburg had invited Lawrence to audition for all the show's characters. Instead of Squidward, Hillenburg decided to give Lawrence the part of Plankton, the series' villain.
According to Bumpass, Squidward was "a very nasally, monotone kind of guy". He said the character became interesting to perform because of "his sarcasm, and then his frustration, and then his apoplexy, and so he became a wide spectrum of emotions". Tom Kenny, the voice of SpongeBob, describes Bumpass recording his lines in the studio, saying, "I love watching Rodger ... He's right next to me". According to Kenny, when Bumpass "goes apoplectic" as Squidward while recording, his head turns red, "and you're afraid he's going to have an embolism".
Several of the show's crew praise Bumpass for his performance and similitude to the character. Kenny called Bumpass "brilliant" and said, "[he] is sort of like Squidward". Staff writer Kent Osborne said, "I remember thinking about how much Rodger talks and acts like Squidward. That's why it's such a good voice—he's so connected to it". However, Bumpass said, "I'm not him and he's not me, but what I'm required to do for him and what I am enabled to do for him is what makes it like me. It fits my particular talents and skills very well. So in that respect, yeah, he is me, but I am not the cranky, sarcastic, underachieving kind of guy that he is. He's easy to fall in, I will say that."
Squidward's voice has been compared to that of Jack Benny. Kenny said, "To me, there's something just so funny about that Jack-Benny-loyal-to-nobody character that Rodger Bumpass does such a great job of playing [...] Squidward".Kenny, Tom. (March 1, 2005). The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (The Absorbing Tale Behind The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie) (DVD). Paramount Home Entertainment/Nickelodeon. Arthur Brown, author of Everything I Need to Know, I Learned from Cartoons!, said that Squidward "sounds a lot like Jack Benny". Bumpass repudiated the relationship, saying "Jack Benny, no. Although he does have this observational sarcasm he occasionally brought out."
Appearances Role in SpongeBob SquarePants
Squidward is depicted as a grumpy and bitter turquoise octopus. He lives in the underwater city of Bikini Bottom in a moai situated between SpongeBob SquarePants' pineapple house and Patrick Star's rock. Squidward is annoyed by his neighbors for their perpetual laughter and boisterous behavior, though SpongeBob and Patrick are oblivious to being a nuisance to Squidward.
Squidward lives in a constant state of self-pity and misery; he is unhappy with his humdrum lifestyle and yearns for celebrity status, wealth, hair, and a glamorous and distinguished career as a musician or painter with a passion for art and playing the clarinet, although he has no actual talent for either. However, he is left to endure the lowly status as a fast-food cashier at the Krusty Krab restaurant. Squidward resents his job and is irritated by his greedy employer Mr. Krabs and by having his own resented neighbor SpongeBob as a colleague.
Other media Alongside the television series, Squidward appears in the February 2011 issues of SpongeBob Comics. He also appears in various SpongeBob SquarePants video games, and in various theme parks and theme park parades including Sea World and Universal's Superstar Parade. He also appears in Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 (2023). In 2004, Squidward appeared in the first feature-length film adaptation of the show, The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, which was released on November 19, 2004, and was financially successful, grossing over worldwide. He also appears in the film's sequels, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water which was released in theaters on February 6, 2015, and The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run which was released in the United States on Paramount+ streaming service on March 4, 2021, and in other territories on Netflix earlier on November 5, 2020. In 2019, he made a cameo appearance in the Super Bowl LIII halftime show during an animation that introduced rapper Travis Scott. Squidward has also been included in various SpongeBob SquarePants-related merchandise, including board games, phone case, sneakers and vans, books, plush toys, and trading cards.
The episode "The Sponge Who Could Fly" was adapted in 2009 as a stage musical at the Liverpool Empire Theatre, and later in South Africa. Actor Charles Brunton originated the role of Squidward, later recalling that he loved the character, and the "fun [of] trying to re-create a well established cartoon character into a live performance on stage." Brunton prepared for the role by buying nine DVDs of the series, acting out Squidward's part in each episode, in his bedroom. He said, "it took ages to perfect the voice and the way he used his arms". Brunton's performance and the musical were well received by most critics. A critic from The Public Reviews wrote, "Charles Brunton as Squidward really stole the show for us, his character was nailed to perfection, from his comic acting, voice and mannerisms this was a faultless performance". In his review for The Northern Echo, Viv Hardwick said, "Charles Brunton makes a convincing Squidward". The role was played by Chris van Rensburg in South Africa.
2016 stage musical
A stage musical based on the show premiered in June 2016 at the Oriental Theatre in Chicago. Squidward is portrayed using two extra legs to replicate Squidward's four-legged design. Characterization-wise, Squidward is still portrayed as grumpy like in the series while being humanized as much as possible. Notable additions to Squidward's character include him having a dead mother, whom he talks to several times during the musical.
In the musical, Bikini Bottom is threatened by a volcano that will erupt in two days, so the townspeople decide to hold a concert to raise money so they can evacuate. While he wants to perform on the concert himself, Squidward is instead assigned to manage the event while rock band the Electric Skates is asked to play. When the band arrives, Squidward wants to be their opening act, but he is rejected because he fails to get one of the items that the Electric Skates requests. The band calls Squidward a loser, causing him to snap, and he drives the band away. Squidward then insists that he is not a loser and performs a tap-dance number backed by a chorus line until he realizes it is just his imagination ("I'm Not a Loser"). Because the concert and the evacuation plan fail, the town falls into chaos until SpongeBob, Patrick, and Sandy arrive and tell them that they have used a device that should stop the eruption. After the volcano does not erupt at the supposed time, Squidward is allowed to perform in a concert to celebrate the town's survival.
Original portrayal