| The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie | Gallery | Characters |
"And you know, I've been through a lot in the past six days, five minutes, twenty-seven-and-a-half seconds. And if I've learned anything during that time, It's that you are who you are."
― SpongeBob SquarePants
The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie is an American live-action/animated adventure comedy film (as the label on the can says!) based on the animated television series, SpongeBob SquarePants. The film was directed, co-written, and produced by series' creator Stephen Hillenburg, with live-action sequences handled by Mark Osborne.
The film features the original series' cast of Tom Kenny, Bill Fagerbakke, Clancy Brown, Rodger Bumpass, and Mr. Lawrence, with celebrity additions Alec Baldwin, David Hasselhoff, Scarlett Johansson, and Jeffrey Tambor portraying new characters. It is the first film in the SpongeBob SquarePants film series.
The film, an early launch title for the HBO Max streaming service through a pre-existing deal with HBO and Paramount, was made available on May 27, 2020, and left the service on August 31, 2020. Also, it got added back on HBO Max on April 1, 2024
Synopsis[]
SpongeBob SquarePants and his trusty friend, Patrick Star leave the town of Bikini Bottom in order to track down King Neptune's stolen crown.
Official 'HBO Max' Description[]
"Mr. Krabs stands accused of stealing King Neptune's crown! Can SpongeBob and his trusty sidekick Patrick get to the bottom of the mystery and clear the Krusty Krab owner's name? The laughs and excitement never stop in this fun-filled animated feature."
Plot[]
Warning! This section contains the summary about the entire film. If you haven't watched the film, click here to avoid spoilers.
A band of pirates discover a treasure chest full of movie tickets for "The SpongeBob Movie". The pirates cheer and celebrate by singing "the SpongeBob SquarePants theme song" as they head to a theater and see the motion picture.
After SpongeBob SquarePants gets a dream of himself imitating in an action film, he wakes up and cheerfully prepares for the opening ceremony for a second Krusty Krab, expecting his boss Mr. Krabs to promote him as the new restaurant manager. Instead, Mr. Krabs names Squidward Tentacles, SpongeBob's next-door neighbor and co-worker, as manager, thinking SpongeBob is too immature to handle the role. Meanwhile, Mr. Krabs' business rival, Plankton, complains to his computer wife Karen about his failures, being unable to steal the Krabby Patty secret formula. When Karen points out plan "Z", a scheme he has yet to attempt, Plankton decides to implement it.
That night, SpongeBob drowns his sorrows in ice cream with his best friend, Patrick Star, at the ice cream parlor. Elsewhere, Plankton steals King Neptune's crown, leaving false evidence to frame Mr. Krabs for the crime, and sends the crown to the distant land of Shell City. The next morning, Neptune barges into the Krusty Krab 2 and threatens Mr. Krabs for his alleged thievery. SpongeBob (who is under the influence of an ice-cream hangover) arrives and chastises Mr. Krabs, but seeing his boss' life at risk shocks SpongeBob back to his senses. He promises Neptune that he will retrieve the crown from Shell City. Neptune is convinced by his daughter Mindy to spare Mr. Krabs for the time being and freezes him instead, ordering SpongeBob to return with the crown in exactly six days. SpongeBob and Patrick leave for Shell City. Soon after, Plankton steals the Krabby Patty formula and uses it to produce and sell Krabby Patties at his restaurant, the Chum Bucket. He also gives away free Chum Bucket helmets to his customers, which are actually mind-controlling devices that Plankton activates to control Bikini Bottom's residents and take over the city. Squidward goes to the Chum Bucket to confront Plankton, but is captured and enslaved by the mesmerized customers.
After overcoming several setbacks on their journey, including outrunning a ravenous frogfish, SpongeBob and Patrick reach a dangerous, monster-filled trench. When they finally conclude that they cannot finish the mission due to their immaturity, they tearfully give up. Mindy arrives at the trench and tells SpongeBob and Patrick about Plankton's plan. She pretends to magically turn them into men by giving them seaweed mustaches. With their confidence boosted, they brave the trench. However, they are confronted by Dennis, a hitman hired by Plankton to eliminate them. Suddenly, Dennis is stepped on by a hard-hat diver that SpongeBob and Patrick believe to be a Cyclops. The Cyclops grabs SpongeBob and Patrick, and takes them to his beachside store.
In the store, SpongeBob and Patrick find the crown but are dehydrated and die from the Cyclops' heat lamp. However, their tears short-circuit the lamp's power cord, and its smoke activates the sprinkler system, re-hydrating them and the other dried-up sea creatures intended to be sold as souvenirs. As the vengeful sea creatures attack and overwhelm the Cyclops, SpongeBob and Patrick take the crown and head for the beach, where David Hasselhoff appears and offers them a ride. He swims from the shore to Bikini Bottom, carrying them on his back. Dennis catches up to them, attempting to kill the duo, but is knocked back into the sea by a catamaran. When they arrive at Bikini Bottom, Hasselhoff launches SpongeBob and Patrick down to the Krusty Krab 2.
At the Krusty Krab 2, King Neptune arrives to execute Mr. Krabs, much to Plankton's enjoyment and Mindy's horror, but SpongeBob and Patrick return with the crown just before he can do so. The pair and Mindy confront Plankton, but he drops a king-sized mind-controlling bucket on Neptune, enslaving him and revealing that his plan was not just to steal the Krabby Patty formula but also to set Neptune up so he could take over the world. Before Plankton can direct Neptune to kill them, SpongeBob finally accepts his immaturity and performs a rock ballad called "Goofy Goober Rock". This destroys the mind-controlling helmets, freeing King Neptune, Squidward, and the rest of Bikini Bottom's residents from Plankton's control. Plankton is arrested for his crimes, while Neptune thaws out Mr. Krabs, who promotes SpongeBob to manager of the Krusty Krab 2 in gratitude.
Spoilers end here.
Cast[]
- Tom Kenny as SpongeBob SquarePants and Gary the Snail
- Bill Fagerbakke as Patrick Star
- Clancy Brown as Mr. Krabs
- Rodger Bumpass as Squidward Tentacles
- Mr. Lawrence as Plankton
- Alec Baldwin as Dennis
- Scarlett Johansson as Princess Mindy
- Jeffrey Tambor as King Neptune
- Jill Talley as Karen
- David Hasselhoff as himself
- Carolyn Lawrence as Sandy Cheeks
- Mary Jo Catlett as Mrs. Puff
- Lori Alan as Pearl Krabs
Production[]
The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie was long-planned; Nickelodeon and Paramount Pictures had approached series creator Stephen Hillenburg for a film based on the show, but he refused for more than a year. Hillenburg was concerned, after watching The Iron Giant and Toy Story with his son, about the challenge of SpongeBob and Patrick doing something more cinematically-consequential and inspiring without losing what he calls the SpongeBob "cadence". While on a break from season four post-production, "To do a 75-minute movie about SpongeBob wanting to make some jellyfish jelly would be a mistake, I think this had to be SpongeBob in a great adventure. That's where the comedy's coming from, having these two naïve characters, SpongeBob and Patrick, a doofus and an idiot, on this incredibly dangerous heroic odyssey with all the odds against them."
In 2002, Hillenburg and the show's staff stopped making episodes to work on the film after the show's third season. The film's plot originally had SpongeBob rescue Patrick from a fisherman in Florida; an obvious reference to the 2003 film, Finding Nemo, this was later said by Tom Kenny (the voice of SpongeBob) to be a "joke" plot to keep fans busy. Hillenburg wrote the film with five other writer-animators from the show (Paul Tibbitt, Derek Drymon, Aaron Springer, Kent Osborne, and Tim Hill) over a three-month period in a room of a former Glendale, California bank. Osborne said, "It was hugely fun although it did get kind of gamy in there." At the beginning of the series, Hillenburg screened a number of silent shorts (from Laurel and Hardy, Charlie Chaplin, and Buster Keaton) and work by two modern comic actors: Jerry Lewis and Pee-wee Herman, both obvious inspirations for SpongeBob. For the film, the writers created a mythical hero's quest: the search for a stolen crown, which brings SpongeBob and Patrick to the surface. Bill Fagerbakke (the voice of Patrick) said about the plot, "It's just nuts. I'm continually dazzled and delighted with what these guys came up with."
When the film was completed, Hillenburg wanted to end the series "so it wouldn't jump the shark". However, Nickelodeon desired more episodes; Hillenburg stated: "Well, there was concern when we did the movie [in 2004 that the show had peaked. There were concerns among executives at Nickelodeon." As a result, Hillenburg resigned as the series' showrunner, appointing writer, director, and storyboard artist Paul Tibbitt to succeed him. Tibbitt was one of Hillenburg's favorite crew members: "totally trusted him." Tibbitt would remain showrunner until he was succeeded in 2015 by the show's creative director Vincent Waller and staff writer Marc Ceccarelli. He has also acted as an executive producer since 2008. Hillenburg no longer wrote or ran the show on a day-to-day basis, but reviewed each episode and submitted suggestions: "I figure when I'm pretty old I can still paint I don't know about running shows." Tom Kenny, Bill Fagerbakke, and the crew confirmed that they had completed four episodes for broadcast on Nickelodeon in early 2005, and planned to finish a total of about 20 for the fourth season. In 2015, Hillenburg returned to the show following the completion of the second movie as an executive producer, having greater creative input and attending crew meetings until his death on November 26, 2018.
In September 2003, Jules Engel, Hillenburg's mentor when he studied experimental animation at the California Institute of the Arts, died. Hillenburg dedicated the film to him: "He truly was the most influential artistic person in my life. I consider him my 'Art Dad.
Reception[]
Box Office[]
The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie earned $9,559,752 on its opening day in the United States, second behind Disney's National Treasure (which earned $11 million). It grossed a combined total of $32,018,216 during its opening weekend, on 4,300 screens at 3,212 theaters, averaging $9,968 per venue (or $7,446 per screen, again second to National Treasure). The film dropped an unexpected 44 percent over the Thanksgiving weekend, and 57 percent the weekend after that. The opening weekend earned 37.48 percent of the film's final gross. It closed on March 24, 2005, failing to out-gross holiday animated competitors The Incredibles (from Disney-Pixar, grossing $261,441,092) and The Polar Express (from Warner Bros., grossing $183,373,735). It was still profitable for distributor Paramount Pictures and producer Nickelodeon Movies, earning $85,417,988 in the United States and $140,161,792 worldwide on a budget of $30 million. The film was the 29th-highest-grossing 2004 film domestically and is the sixth-highest-grossing animated TV adaptation of all time.
Trivia[]
- The movie was originally supposed to be the series finale but the series was renewed after it became a box office success. However, it was never the chronological finale of the series.
- Chronologically in the real world, the film was released in between the episodes "Pranks-a-Lot" and "Fear of a Krabby Patty," thus between the conclusion of season 3 and the start of season 4.
- There are two online games based on this movie called Bubble Bustin' Game and The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie 3D Game.
- There are five books based on this film called The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie Cine-Manga book, Are We There Yet?, The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie book, Ice-Cream Dreams, and Bubble Blowers, Beware!
- There is also a video game based on this film.
- There are five books based on this film called The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie Cine-Manga book, Are We There Yet?, The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie book, Ice-Cream Dreams, and Bubble Blowers, Beware!
- The song "Best Day Ever" heard during the end credits and in the movie's soundtrack would later be used in the episode of the same name, but shorter.
- This is the first appearance of Karen as a mobile device.
- This movie is a movie inside a movie because the Pirates are watching the SpongeBob movie in an actual theater.
- This movie reveals that by an unspecified period of time, SpongeBob learns how to drive a stick-shift vehicle ever since he is not good at driving at Mrs. Puff's Boating School.
Names in Other Languages[]
| Language | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Arab | فيلم سبونج بوب سكوير بانتس | The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie |
| Spanish (Both European and Latin American spanish) | Bob Esponja: La Película | SpongeBob: The Movie |
| French | Bob l'éponge, le film | Bob the Sponge, The Film |
| Portugueese | Bob Esponja - O Filme | SpongeBob - The Film |
| Russian | Губка Боб Квадратные Штаны | SpongeBob SquarePants |
| Chineese | 海綿寶寶電影版 | SpongeBob SquarePants: Movie Version |