and SpongeBob would be on an endless quest to get SpongeBob a driver's license". Thus, some early development artwork for the show depicted SpongeBob driving submarine-esque vehicles with ease. Mrs. Puff's development was sparked by Nickelodeon's request for SpongeBob to attend a school. Nickelodeon executives originally wanted to make SpongeBob a child since their most successful cartoons at the time focused on young, school-age characters. Hillenburg said that the network wanted SpongeBob to be like "Arnold [from Hey Arnold!] under the sea," but he told them, "No, that's not the show." As a compromise, Hillenburg decided to "put him in school - but it would be a [boat] driving school." This allowed him to keep writing SpongeBob as an adult while also using the school as a main plot element. Showrunner Vincent Waller suggested that if the network had creative control over the show, almost every episode would take place at Mrs. Puff's school, not at a variety of locations. The choice to make Mrs. Puff a pufferfish, who inflates into a ball when SpongeBob crashes, was made to evoke the appearance of car airbags. Because she was created late in production, her design incorporates elements of the earlier characters' appearances, such as the same type of skirt as Pearl and the same rounded teeth as Squidward. The episode "Doing Time" was one of the first to be written specifically from Mrs. Puff's point of view; another early example was season two's "No Free Rides." In his 2013 book The SpongeBob SquarePants Experience, animation historian Jerry Beck argued that the former was the episode that "elevated Mrs. Puff to star status". Voice Mrs. Puff is voiced by American actress Mary Jo Catlett, who is known for her live-action roles on television programs from the 1970s such as Diff'rent Strokes and M*A*S*H. As of 2017, voicing Mrs. Puff is Catlett's only regular television role. Catlett described herself as "basically retired" in 2013, since she is good friends with the other SpongeBob cast members, making the SpongeBob recording booth an easy environment that requires less preparation than in-person performances. The About Group's Nancy Basille noted in 2016 that Catlett's "rich, low tones as teacher Mrs. Puff recall other roles she has had," citing Diff'rent Strokes and M*A*S*H as programs where she used a similar voice. Reception The character has received positive reactions from critics and fans. Yahoo! News called Mrs. Puff "the