Early SpongeBob voice recording from 1996 

Squidward in this sounds like the type of guy to say that nobody there is an artist because nobody can play the guitar

This is how you know Stephen was a genius because he already knew what kind of legendary voice Squidward would have

If Stephen still voiced Squidward, replacing him would be impossible! 😭

Squidward sounds like Goku but constipated.

The beachy shack vibe is pretty cool that could've worked well

I like Spongebob's voice in this version

You can tell Stephen KNEW how he wanted Squidward to sound while also confidently knowing that he is not capable of doing the voice he wanted.

Spongebob actually sounding his age for once. Remember, Spongebob is canonically in his late 20’s

I’m glad they made quidmore more quiet and smug in his voice, and aging him up more was definitely the way to go!

Squidward sounds so dramatic

Stephen Hillenberg had the vision to know what type of voice he wanted for squidward, but Rodger Bumpass is absolutely iconic for the sheer stamina and work ethic he's always put into voice acting imho.

Tom Kenny's voice for Spongebob is perfect since the beginning

i honestly like this sorta early version of squidward. he sounds more like some nervous teenager on his first day of the job

Spongebob sounds like he's trying to sell me a used car.

Squidward sounds like he’s bout to BUSS 😩

Lol Is that Stephen Hillenburg standing in for Squidward?

Squidward is giving off huge Bert from sesame street vibes.

I really like this version of the Krusty Krabs' interior design. Makes the show look more like a 90s cartoon.

i kinda like how spunchbop sounds more like tom kenny in this, makes him sound more like a person than a mascot

I like how the Cash register says, “choking ?dial 911!”

I love this early drawing, I prefer the way the Hats looks here

Look, I’ve been standing on my tentacles since 8 this morning and I DONT have the strength to listen to this

I like how SpongeBob sounds even more like a loyal employee that lives for work

"I've been standing around on my testicles" 💀

I will never forgive Nick for raising the pitch of spongebob’s voice.

I’m amazed how early they got it!

I like how we can’t see Squidwards legs, yet we still imagine him without pants.

The proto Krusty Krab in the concept art fits with the Hawaiian aesthetic than the current one, which feels like the type of restaurant that serves cocktails and pina-coladas instead of burgers.

"Hundreds of creatures swim through these doors every day in our undersea community!" "*HoOoOoH*"

after getting used to Squidward's voice for pretty much my entire life, I can only imagine what kind of theme SpongeBob would have conveyed if Stephen Hillenburg did the voice like this. overall, it sounds like a much different tone than SpongeBob had even during season one. I wonder what other art and recordings Nickelodeon has in their vault.

Squidward sounds as if Tony Hawk voiced him

Fascinating! I dont know what else to say but that this is so interesting to see how SpongeBob began!!

Never knew squidward was secretly voiced by goku pinching his nose

It’d be nice if Spongebob had aired earlier in the decade so that way we could have a few seasons of it voiced like this and animated in this art style.

Squidward sounds like the captain of the intergalactic house of pancakes demanding a door to open

I could see this picture as the art style for if SpongeBob originated as a comic series (Yes I am aware of The Intertidal Zone)

This feels like a classic era Muppet sketch

Reasonably priced food? My guess this was before Mr Krabs was given his one key trait

Squidward's random sounds got me laughing.

Concept art anything is always so remarkably beautiful!

I like the origin behind Spongebob's voice - an angry little man auditioning to be an elf in a Christmas commercial

Squidward sounds like he drank a couple of canned juice and spongebob sounds like the actor from SpongeBob musical or either Tom Kenny was doing something during recording

Fun fact: Stephen Hillenburg did squids voice

This is so nostalgic and I don’t know why

The Krusty Krab was a bamboo shack? It honestly suits the Hawaiian atmosphere

Sounds like they were originally going to make Squidward the typical teenage fast food cashier. I don’t know if that was their actual intention… but that’s what it sounds like.

Squidward sounds like the type of guy to say, "Scorcese said that Marvel movies aren't movies, so they aren't."

stephen hillenburg voice acting squidward sounds like benson from regular show ngl

It's so interesting to hear the voice Stephen Hillenburg originally envisioned for Squidward. You can kind of hear a "Muppet straight-man" vibe in this approach, which now that I think of it is visible in Squidward's character design as well.

Squidsward sounding like more like Benson

Tom Kenny narrating is basically Billy West as Stimpy.

he sounds like he would have been a really sweaty teenager

The early design of the krusty krab interior was much more better than the original one

Squidward sounds like hes edging bruh

This Squidward sounds more neurotic than the snarkier version we got.

This art and voices definitely would've worked for a Rocko's Modern Life art style SpongeBob show in the mid-90s.

I remember hearing this on one of the early SpongeBob DVDs! I was so fascinated by the fact Stephen Hillenburg was voicing Squidward.

The muffle makes it sound like I should be reporting this to a domestic abuse hotline

Somebody get Valskibum here-

Alternate universe episode would be so cool.

Not even kidding, I had a dream last night that this audio was in a real episode promo. It was promoting the first episode of SpongeBoy (it was very similar to “Help Wanted” except it was called “SpongeBoy’s New Job”) and I watched it. It was like I was watching a version of “Help Wanted” from an alternate universe. Here are a few things I remember from it that were different: Mr Krabs said “Laser Fitted Spatula With Port And Starboard Attachments And A Hyper Drive” instead of “Hydrodynamic” and “Turbo drive”. Patrick said “Good Job SpongeBoy and Good Morning Krusty Crew!!!” “What can I get you Patrick” One thing that stuck out to me was that it actually showed why SpongeBob made too many patties when Patrick wanted one in the episode. “One Dozen Krabby Patties please!” “What was that buddy? One hundred! Got it!!!” “WAIT SPONGEBOY DONT” “MR. KRABS! I THINK WE SHOULD RETHINK HIRING YOUR EMPLOYEE!!!” It was so cool!

I can only imagine how priceless that illustration is

I love that this 24s video had a 15s ad placed on it. Fuck you, RU-vid.

Squidward’s voice reminds me a lot of Bert’s!

This is a nice little test voice acting and I like how SpongeBob started out nerdy but then started becoming more demented now it's in the washable since he just became completely demented but yeah I really wished I'll just stop SpongeBob because the original are never going to beat what's new even new people who want to start watching SpongeBob for the first time would enjoy the first season a lot better than the 20th season

It has been 28 years ago. Since tom kenny and Stephan hillaburg voiced the First time.

SpongeBob actually sounds his age for once, while Squidward sounds like an angsty teen version of himself lol

Classical voice acting from the late nineties

That early version of the Krusty Krab looks like Spongebob and Squidward were forced to work on a cheaper establishment because the original was destroyed and Mr. Krabs can't (or doesn't want to) pay to build it back

Oh that art piece is great! You can tell its has some of the same style for the extremely detailed closeups

The Krusty Krab interior strangely looks better than what we already got.

Squidward sounds kinda cool tho

No one: 1996 Squidward: oOoOh 💀 0:09

Fun fact: The drawing featured in this video is exactly how they set up the Trusty Slab in the live action episode.

Pre-alpha prototype X

id like to see alternative backgrounds designs like this one! its so cool!

spongebob sounds like inspector gadget (specifically the one with mike matei)

Those were the golden days

Wow... back when squidward hadn't been fully deflated!

little did they know, they are making the most popular cartoon of all time

Jeez SpongeBob sounds so much more intelligent

inside squidwards mind

This was filmed the year I was born 😂

squidward soundin like ian from curious george 😂

I love how it looks exactly like the trusty slab.

First there were (various) Minecraft alternate timeline mods. Then bfbAlt. I think it would be cool if this version was turned into it’s own timeline as it’s own series

Squidward sounds like a veggie tales character

Squidward sounds like early Chris Chan tbh

"AAHH" "AHHH" "ÆHH!!--"

Squidward sounds like Goku if he caught a cold 💀

squidward's yelling sounds like he's dying bro ngl

squidward with random oney plays screams seems like a good idea

“Who depends on you? You may ask, well, let’s just start with the A’s!” “No!” “Aaron Anchovy!” “Ah!” “Albby Albacore!” “AH!-“

Cool

Glad to see squidward embodies minimum wage since day one

Stephen is quite talented He also played potty in spongebob

Tom Kenny just started voicing SpongeBob, Squidward doesn't even have his voice actor yet (Stephen Hillenburg's too funny as him though), but they already have so much chemistry and I already love them by default.

This older drawing of the krusty crab somehow looks better than the one we’re all used to

Me sawing this VHS:

"Undersea community" "HO"