Editing Squidward Tentacles (section)

== 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''.<ref name="Ocean Institute">{{cite web|url=http://www.ocean-institute.org/|title=Welcome to the Ocean Institute|work=ocean-institute.org|access-date=December 24, 2013|archive-date=November 16, 2013|archive-url=https://archive.today/20131116022048/http://www.ocean-institute.org/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=HillenburgInt>{{cite video |people=[[Thomas F. Wilson|Wilson, Thomas F.]](Interviewer); Hillenburg, Stephen (Interviewee) |date=May 29, 2012 |title=Big Pop Fun #28: Stephen Hillenburg, Artist and Animator–Interview |url=http://ec.libsyn.com/p/d/9/8/d98c6fd6cc81f188/BPF28_Stephen_Hillenburg_artist_and_animator.mp3?d13a76d516d9dec20c3d276ce028ed5089ab1ce3dae902ea1d01c08031d1c85f7cb2&c_id=4560686 |format=mp3 |medium=Podcast |publisher=[[Nerdist Industries]] |access-date=December 21, 2013 |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/6M1QBJ1BZ?url=http://ec.libsyn.com/p/d/9/8/d98c6fd6cc81f188/BPF28_Stephen_Hillenburg_artist_and_animator.mp3?d13a76d516d9dec20c3d276ce028ed5089ab1ce3dae902ea1d01c08031d1c85f7cb2&c_id=4560686 |archive-date=December 21, 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="Hillenburg" /> In 1987, Hillenburg left the institute to pursue a career in animation.<ref name="Hillenburg">{{cite video | people=Hillenburg, Stephen|date=2003|title=The Origin of SpongeBob SquarePants. SpongeBob SquarePants: The Complete First Season| medium=DVD|publisher=Paramount Home Entertainment}}</ref><ref name="Banks, p. 9">{{Cite book|last=Banks|first=Steven|others= Gregg Schigiel (Illustrator)|title=SpongeBob Exposed! The Insider's Guide to SpongeBob SquarePants|publisher=Simon Spotlight/Nickelodeon|location=[[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New York]]|date=September 24, 2004|isbn=978-0-689-86870-2|page=9}}</ref>

[[File:Squidward Tentacles.jpg|right|thumb|270px|Early rough sketches of Squidward from creator Stephen Hillenburg's [[series bible]].]]
Several years after studying experimental animation at the [[California Institute of the Arts]],<ref name="Banks, p. 9"/> Hillenburg met [[Joe Murray (animator)|Joe Murray]], creator of ''[[Rocko's Modern Life]]'', at an animation festival. Murray offered Hillenburg a job as a director of the series.<ref name="Hillenburg" /><ref name="Murray">{{cite video | people=[[Joe Murray (animator)|Murray, Joe]]|date=2003|title=The Origin of SpongeBob SquarePants. SpongeBob SquarePants: The Complete First Season| medium=DVD|publisher=Paramount Home Entertainment}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Makin' Toons: Inside the Most Popular Animated TV Shows and Movies|publisher=Allworth Communications |last=Neuwirth |first=Allan |isbn=1-58115-269-8|year=2003 |url=https://archive.org/details/makintoonsinside0000neuw |page=50}}</ref><ref name="TrainorMurray">"[http://www.title14.com/rocko/contributors/murray.html Lisa (Kiczuk) Trainor interviews Joe Murray, creator of Rocko's Modern Life] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20150420193919/http://www.title14.com/rocko/contributors/murray.html |date=April 20, 2015 }}," ''The Rocko's Modern Life FAQ''</ref> [[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.<ref name=HillenburgInt/><ref name="Origin of SpongeBob SquarePants">{{cite AV media|last1=Hillenburg|first1=Stephen|last2=Murray|first2=Joe|last3=Drymon|first3=Derek|last4=Coleman|first4=Eric|last5=Hecht|first5=Albie|date=2003|title=The Origin of SpongeBob SquarePants. SpongeBob SquarePants: The Complete First Season| medium=DVD|publisher=Paramount Home Entertainment}}</ref><ref name="Banks, p. 20">{{Cite book|last=Banks|first=Steven|others= Gregg Schigiel (Illustrator)|title=SpongeBob Exposed! The Insider's Guide to SpongeBob SquarePants|publisher=Simon Spotlight/Nickelodeon|location=[[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New York]]|date=September 24, 2004|isbn=978-0-689-86870-2|page=10}}</ref> Shortly after production on ''Rocko's Modern Life'' ended in 1996,<ref name=Rocko>{{cite web|url=http://joemurraystudio.com/television/rockos-modern-life/|title=Rocko's Modern Life|publisher=JoeMurrayStudio.com|access-date=May 21, 2013|archive-date=June 15, 2013|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130615100743/http://joemurraystudio.com/television/rockos-modern-life/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Hillenburg began working on ''SpongeBob SquarePants''.<ref name="HillenburgInt" />

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; he said octopuses "have such a large bulbous head, and Squidward thinks he's an intellectual, so of course he's gonna have a large bulbous head."<ref name="Case">Hillenburg, Stephen. (March 1, 2005). ''The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie'' (''The Case of the Sponge "Bob"'') (DVD). Paramount Home Entertainment/Nickelodeon.</ref> Hillenburg explained that Squidward is normally drawn with six limbs because "it was really just simpler for animation to draw him with six legs instead of eight".<ref name="Case"/> 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".<ref name="AbsorbingTales1">Bumpass, Rodger. (March 1, 2005). ''The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie'' (''The Absorbing Tale Behind The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie'') (DVD). Paramount Home Entertainment/Nickelodeon.</ref>

Of Squidward's design, show writer and storyboard artist [[Vincent Waller]] said in 2010: <blockquote>Squidward is hard to draw{{mdash}}he 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?'<ref name=WallerHA>{{cite news | author = Waller, Vincent | title = The Oral History of ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' | work = [[Hogan's Alley (magazine)|Hogan's Alley]] #17 | year = 2010 | access-date = September 21, 2012 | url = http://cartoonician.com/the-oral-history-of-spongebob-squarepants/ | publisher = Bull Moose Publishing Corporation | archive-date = August 31, 2015 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150831044034/http://cartoonician.com/the-oral-history-of-spongebob-squarepants/ | url-status = live }}</ref></blockquote>

Hillenburg thought of making jokes with Squidward ejecting [[Cephalopod ink|ink]] but retired it because, according to him, "it always looks like he's pooping his pants".<ref name="Case"/> Despite this, inking jokes would appear in the episodes "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 bottle]]s. The footsteps, and those of the rest of the main characters, are recorded by the show's [[Foley (filmmaking)|foley]] crew. Sound designer Jeff Hutchins said that footstep sounds "[help] tell which character it is and what surface they're stepping on".<ref name=HutchinsHA>{{cite news | author = Hutchins, Jeff | title = The Oral History of ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' | work = [[Hogan's Alley (magazine)|Hogan's Alley]] #17 | year = 2010 | access-date = September 21, 2012 | url = http://cartoonician.com/the-oral-history-of-spongebob-squarepants/ | publisher = Bull Moose Publishing Corporation | archive-date = August 31, 2015 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150831044034/http://cartoonician.com/the-oral-history-of-spongebob-squarepants/ | url-status = live }}</ref> Bumpass inspired the idea of having Squidward ride a [[recumbent bicycle]]; Bumpass owns one of these bicycles, which he rides around [[Burbank, California]].<ref name=KennyHA/> Bumpass described it as his "little inside joke".<ref name="AbsorbingTales1"/>

=== Voice ===
[[File:Jack Benny - 1964.jpg|thumb|180px|Squidward's voice has been compared to that of American comic actor [[Jack Benny]].]]
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 [[Help Wanted (SpongeBob SquarePants)|its pilot episode]] in 1997, Hillenburg and the show's then-creative director [[Derek Drymon]] were also conducting voice auditions.<ref name=DrymonHA>{{cite news | author = Drymon, Derek | title = The Oral History of ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' | work = [[Hogan's Alley (magazine)|Hogan's Alley]] #17 | year = 2010 | access-date = September 21, 2012 | url = http://cartoonician.com/the-oral-history-of-spongebob-squarepants/ | publisher = Bull Moose Publishing Corporation | archive-date = August 31, 2015 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150831044034/http://cartoonician.com/the-oral-history-of-spongebob-squarepants/ | url-status = live }}</ref> [[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.<ref name=MrLawrenceInt>{{cite video |people=[[Thomas F. Wilson|Wilson, Thomas F.]] (Interviewer); Lawrence, Doug (Interviewee) |date=April 2012 |title=Big Pop Fun #22: Mr. Lawrence |url=http://hwcdn.libsyn.com/p/8/0/b/80ba5601f7d09e93/BPF22_Mr._Lawrence.mp3?c_id=4442198&expiration=1396087344&hwt=77616525493ac25efba1ba04f5cd6efc |format=mp3 |medium=Podcast |publisher=[[Nerdist Industries]] |access-date=December 21, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191227221747/http://hwcdn.libsyn.com/p/8/0/b/80ba5601f7d09e93/BPF22_Mr._Lawrence.mp3?c_id=4442198&expiration=1396087344&hwt=77616525493ac25efba1ba04f5cd6efc |archive-date=December 27, 2019 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Instead of Squidward, Hillenburg decided to give Lawrence the part of [[Plankton (character)|Plankton]], the series' villain.<ref name=DrymonHA/>

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".<ref name=Bumpass>{{cite web|last=Reardon|first=Samantha|title=Rodger Bumpass is Squidward Tentacles|url=http://georgiastatesignal.com/rodger-bumpass-is-squidward-tentacles/|work=[[The Signal (college newspaper)|The Signal]]|access-date=March 28, 2014|date=September 8, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140328111302/http://georgiastatesignal.com/rodger-bumpass-is-squidward-tentacles/|archive-date=March 28, 2014}}</ref> [[Tom Kenny]], the voice of SpongeBob, describes Bumpass recording his lines in the studio, saying, "I love watching Rodger&nbsp;...&nbsp;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".<ref name=KennyHA>{{cite news | author = Kenny, Tom | title = The Oral History of ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' | work = [[Hogan's Alley (magazine)|Hogan's Alley]] #17 | year = 2010 | access-date = September 21, 2012 | url = http://cartoonician.com/the-oral-history-of-spongebob-squarepants/ | publisher = Bull Moose Publishing Corporation | archive-date = August 31, 2015 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150831044034/http://cartoonician.com/the-oral-history-of-spongebob-squarepants/ | url-status = live }}</ref>

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".<ref name=KennyHA/> 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".<ref name=OsborneHA>{{cite news | author = Osborne, Kent | title = The Oral History of ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' | work = [[Hogan's Alley (magazine)|Hogan's Alley]] #17 | year = 2010 | access-date = September 21, 2012 | url = http://cartoonician.com/the-oral-history-of-spongebob-squarepants/ | publisher = Bull Moose Publishing Corporation | archive-date = August 31, 2015 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150831044034/http://cartoonician.com/the-oral-history-of-spongebob-squarepants/ | url-status = live }}</ref> 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."<ref name=Bumpass/>

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".<ref name="AbsorbingTales2">Kenny, Tom. (March 1, 2005). ''The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie'' (''The Absorbing Tale Behind The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie'') (DVD). Paramount Home Entertainment/Nickelodeon.</ref> Arthur Brown, author of ''Everything I Need to Know, I Learned from Cartoons!'', said that Squidward "sounds a lot like Jack Benny".<ref name="learned">{{cite book|last=Brown|first=Arthur|title=Everything I Need to Know, I Learned from Cartoons!|publisher=Arthur Brown|year=2008|page=85|isbn=978-1-4357-3248-3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X-oi8LiETHIC&q=SpongeBob&pg=PA85|access-date=November 21, 2020|archive-date=September 4, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230904141007/https://books.google.com/books?id=X-oi8LiETHIC&q=SpongeBob&pg=PA85|url-status=live}}</ref> Bumpass repudiated the relationship, saying "Jack Benny, no. Although he does have this observational sarcasm he occasionally brought out."<ref name=Bumpass/>