Early SpongeBob voice recording from 1996

Early test for the voices of SpongeBob and squidward from 1996. SpongeBob is played by Tom Kenny and squidward is voiced by Stephen Hillenburg.
This audio is from the SpongeBob season 1 dvd
Originally uploaded by ‪@MikesTOONTOWN‬ on x

[@NoshuHyena]

Squidward sounds like Goku but constipated.

[@jazzycat2990]

Lmfaooo

[@mightymadness5355]

LOL!! SPONGEBOB!!! WHAT DOES THE SCOUTER SAY ABOUT HIS POWER LEVEL? IT'S OVER 9000!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@aFerrn]

Nah he sounds more like constipated perfect cell

[@mightymadness5355]

@@aFerrn EVEN BETTER!!!! IMMA FIRIN MAH LAZOR!!!! BLAAAAHHHHH!!!!

[@SniffHeinkel]

He totally does.

[@Ruffles_The_Rivulet]

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

[@3three3three3three]

you have technicians here, making noise

[@alizardhotel]

no one is a musician

[@BBWahoo]

I swear the voice of Mayor Dewey from Steven Universe was inspired by that guy

[@SnowpawShaw]

So.... Squidward? That's just Squidward...

[@Slferon]

yea lol also rain world :D

[@jacksondesorcy1851]

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

[@timesnewlogan2032]

I dunno; they replaced Henson voicing Kermit the Frog.

[@InvyTheGamer]

@@timesnewlogan2032 Well, the Kermit voice isn't that hard to replicate.

[@basedkhajiit]

Replacing Stephen still is impossible.

[@d3rpyedits]

Sean Shammel

[@strateupgamr7]

​@@InvyTheGamer Why are there so many Cartoon characters Whose voice actors not the original?

[@ThorHanson2005]

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

[@Wobuffet3]

well yeah, show creators usually do voice direction

[@kojoattah3987]

And the moment he left us you could see it as clear as day, SpongeBob babies bs

[@xRavai]

i mean he created the show thats not really that surprising lol

[@silverdashhd644]

He's the creator of Spongebob after all

[@Im.Smaher]

He literally made the show

[@BurgertubeFounder]

I like Spongebob's voice in this version

[@mdihero]

Season 1 sponge is my favorite version of the character, which this seems like an even lower more confident variant

[@theraiden1018]

Fr. The new voice is grating but Tom Kenny says he can’t do the old voice anymore

[@QuackZack]

@@theraiden1018 Aging and straining those muscles. Have you listened to today's Marge or Lois compared to their debuts? Night and day

[@randomjunkohyeah1]

I never even considered that “old-timey radio announcer” could’ve been an influence on the voice, but here it’s undeniable.

[@lilcotorro]

​​@@theraiden1018if i remember, the voice felt the squeakiest after the first movie (seasons 4-8) but it started to deepen again after 9, but it wasnt super noticeable till maybe 12 when it started become deeper than even seasons 1-3. I don't find spongebob's voice in seasons 12 and beyond all that grating but its definitely off putting sometimes.

[@mitchross4002]

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

[@octaviusroosevelt7355]

Honestly kind of wish they did that.

[@maanman3573]

the crab trap makes more sense though especially when you consider how many bikini bottom buildings are just pieces of seafloor junk. an anchor, a bucket, a rock, a statue, shipwrecks, etc

[@marthastewart1125]

One of the first episodes, the one where he rips his pants, has a few of these shacks if I remember correctly. Very nostalgic for some reason

[@flyinyoku3543]

​@@maanman3573apparently most of the houses in bikini bottom are car mufflers. when i heard that, it made so much more sense why they have those tall narrow metal houses

[@DonnaChamberson]

I just want to kiss it and touch it.

[@anthonygavin1425]

Squidward sounds like he’s bout to BUSS 😩

[@lordofnuttz101]

Eww

[@anthonygavin1425]

@@lordofnuttz101 bro your name is literally lord of nuttz

[@aFerrn]

Ahahahahahah

[@urblack7954]

Shut up ​@@lordofnuttz101

[@urblack7954]

LOL SO HOT 🔥

[@vio_70]

Squidward sounds so dramatic

[@bleachigo990]

He sounds like Benson

[@SharkIey]

Looks like ​@@bleachigo990

[@jules91037]

he looks like benson ngl

[@thumtak_]

He feels like Benson honestly

[@testicuslargus6477]

Who the heck is Benson?

[@CombatKoke]

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

[@MrSlinkySea]

Yeah Quidmore is my favorite character!!

[@MyNameIsNidos]

Yeah I'm glad they made Quinnard more quiet and smug in his voice too

[@Karmy.]

Squishword

[@xkatakuri7777]

Skinward

[@Duendo-uy8ik]

Ah hell naw quidnard bout to sheet himself

[@maxkull2899]

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.

[@angelasmith7830]

He was so good lol

[@youreadthisinyourmindright2604]

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

[@TheHuskyK9]

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

[@314rft]

And then ironically Squidward sounds WAY too young.

[@papajohn5279]

And Tom Kenny is canonically 61. You kind of lose the ability to make a younger sounding voice as you officially age into an "old person".

[@samis2real]

he was 13

[@E3257.StudiosEverythingAwesome]

What makes you think the characters haven't aged...?

[@NeonBeeCat]

SpongeBob in this sounds 26 and Squidward sounds 17

[@sweetpea644]

Lol Is that Stephen Hillenburg standing in for Squidward?

[@goopyhead]

Sounds like it lmao

[@ItchyBurritoMiniAltThingy]

Yeah

[@TheNameIsNobody]

Check the description

[@robblequoffle8456]

He sounds like Steve carrell

[@PearGoesIn]

@@robblequoffle8456 Steve

[@main7168]

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

[@Alterious-2-ws6pu]

My favorite show of all time Spunchbop Circularpants !

[@TheMineproKid]

​@@Alterious-2-ws6puwhat about Squashbob squarepansh, intro kid #1's favorite sea fish?

[@justdarkjazz4020]

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

[@lukepurser3432]

Squidward is giving off huge Bert from sesame street vibes.

[@csomOnline]

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

[@No-Clipper.21rd]

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

[@ChrisRedfieldsbloodline]

*tortellini

[@morphiamusic9433]

*tentacles cuz hes an octopus

[@jacobturner3059]

@@morphiamusic9433have you ever heard of a joke before?

[@ItchyBurritoMiniAltThingy]

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

[@GalekC]

the colors? character silhouettes?

[@ItchyBurritoMiniAltThingy]

@@GalekC What?

[@user-ts1td4jn5c]

oompa loompa

[@thewiseoldfox]

Women fear me Fish fear me

[@ItchyBurritoMiniAltThingy]

@@thewiseoldfox Your mom fears me B))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

[@bionabot]

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

[@BahuschBahusch]

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

[@realMoistNugget]

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

[@christianityistrue777]

Depending on you to serve our nutritious, delicious reasonably priced food, in a clean family- HOOH! friendly environment!- LOOK! IVE BEEN STANDING AROUND ON MY TENTACLES SINCE 8 O CLOCK THIS MORNING, AND I DONT HAVE THE STRENGTH TO LISTEN TO THIS!!!

[@christianityistrue777]

Who depends on you you may ask? Well let’s just start with the A’s! NO! Aaron anchovy, NO! Alby albacore, NO!

[@ricksradreviews]

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

[@unknownastroid_2240]

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

[@0b13F4st3]

I've seen that concept art a few times before, and yet I didn't even notice that little joke until now. Thank you for pointing it out. 👍

[@unknownastroid_2240]

@@0b13F4st3 lmao your welcome 🤣it was funny asf to me

[@tyjuarez]

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.

[@sarahmellow9023]

Fr

[@E3257.StudiosEverythingAwesome]

STAMINA. That's the word.

[@captainsolatare1056]

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

[@fatboi3990]

Squidward sounds as if Tony Hawk voiced him

[@smellthel]

I’m amazed how early they got it!

[@poweroffriendship2.0]

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.

[@Ihateitherelmao]

Never knew squidward was secretly voiced by goku pinching his nose

[@d-manthecaptain1382]

This feels like a classic era Muppet sketch

[@TheIrkenEmpire420]

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)

[@ElfHostage]

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

[@lennypayne4241]

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.

[@OctoMaple]

Squidsward sounding like more like Benson

[@rippetoe38]

Squidward's random sounds got me laughing.

[@ColdFuse96]

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

[@Whatisthis438]

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

[@ryaquaza3offical]

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

[@krychur4956]

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.

[@Jervis-JehanYvesLaurent]

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

[@raingirlcat2245]

No one: 1996 Squidward: oOoOh 💀 0:09

[@MikeTheFox24]

Somebody get Valskibum here-

[@killerkid2642]

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

[@nonplayablecharecter]

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

[@pancakes8816]

Squidward sounds like hes edging bruh

[@theraiden1018]

Fun fact: Stephen Hillenburg did squids voice

[@Geforce2187]

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

[@SquilliamFancysonIII-nx6kk]

"AAHH" "AHHH" "ÆHH!!--"

[@matheusmariani3108]

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

[@myironlung33321]

Tom Kenny narrating is basically Billy West as Stimpy.

[@AlphaHotel66]

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

[@Linkonpark100]

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

[@scottishmacncheese]

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

[@WiredY06]

Alternate universe episode would be so cool.

[@buccaneercat]

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.

[@Spongenadoaltaccount]

This is so nostalgic and I don’t know why

[@michaeldootdoot]

he sounds like he would have been a really sweaty teenager

[@Какой-то_лего_чел]

Cool

[@mecojean4119]

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

[@MaddieD935]

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

[@kosmalaanimations2864]

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

[@pavelyankouski4913]

Pre-alpha prototype X

[@ursidae97]

Classical voice acting from the late nineties

[@Memerath]

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

[@kalkazar1371]

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.

[@musics4me]

Concept art anything is always so remarkably beautiful!

[@tammid8423]

Squidward sounds kinda cool tho

[@charliemacsart]

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

[@onesyphorus]

squidward soundin like ian from curious george 😂

[@Diego826_guy2]

Me sawing this VHS:

[@islandgirl909]

This was filmed the year I was born 😂

[@Melancholy_Analog]

Hello fellow ‘96er, I was looking for this comment it’s like the algorithm knew!

[@domorichie9998]

inside squidwards mind

[@Icebergeification]

Those were the golden days

[@Theover4000]

Wow!

[@Quionol]

Squidward sounds like early Chris Chan tbh

[@synthwave-arcade]

FOUUULLL

[@someguy1894]

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

[@Miguel-gn3kp]

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

[@kylewayne1]

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

[@ItsCosmoTewulf]

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

[@MollyMacawTheBestPilotYouSaw]

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!

[@bcbdjane]

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

[@noahboat580]

I can only imagine how priceless that illustration is

[@mack-n-cheez]

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

[@insaneinthemembrane383]

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

[@callsignvalkyrie]

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

[@AceW.Kermitcat]

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

[@thesupershinymegagengar2034]

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

[@benmontey3438]

Squidward sounds like a veggie tales character

[@le9038]

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

[@yettydev]

Squidward sounds like Goku if he caught a cold 💀

[@mathmachine4266]

I love how it looks exactly like the trusty slab.

[@elly12334]

Jeez SpongeBob sounds so much more intelligent

[@thebaseandtriflingcreature174]

red squidwart

[@alexsilva28]

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

[@nickbecerra9580]

Squidward kinda sounds like Benson and I like that for some reason

[@retro583]

Squidward is edging

[@powerpuffboy901]

FUN FACT: Aaron Anchovy possibly refers to writer and storyboardist Aaron Springer, and Albie Albacore possibly refers to Albie Hecht, The guy who got the show the OK to Nickelodeon.

[@shrub8644]

Squidward sounds like Benson

[@Bananz2011]

they predicted 911