Paramount Animation has struggled mightily to find an identity over the last decade—their 10 feature films have largely disappointed at the box office, or gone straight to obscurity on Paramount+. They haven’t had a proper hit since The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water, and this summer’s Smurfs is one of the worst movies of the year.
Their hopes lie in Bikini Bottom’s most charming square to turn things around in the all-new The SpongeBob Movie: Search For SquarePants, in theaters Dec. 19.
While its success on television cannot be denied (16 seasons and multiple spin-offs), SpongeBob SquarePants has had mixed results in film adaptations.
No film about the world’s finest sponge and his starfish bestie has matched the goofy goober heights of 2004’s The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie. The last full theatrical release was 2014’s Sponge Out of Water, which grossed $325 million worldwide (2020’s The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run was derailed by COVID). The last two SpongeBob films went straight to Netflix, ranging from disastrous (Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie) to surprisingly good (Plankton: The Movie).
Paramount is going all out for the first SpongeBob movie in cinemas in over a decade. The Ice Spice(!?) song for the movie, “Big Guy,” has been going viral on TikTok (the mere mention of which will have you singing “SpongeBob, big guy, pants OK,” and for that I apologize). There’s also a Burger King collab, and the ads and posters for the film have run amok in every major city. It’s a good bet: Search for SquarePants is a thoroughly ridiculous, gleefully absurdist, and all-around blast at the movies. It’s Paramount Animation’s most enjoyable movie to date.
The premise is a simple one: SpongeBob (voiced, as always, by the tremendous Tom Kenny) is having a crisis of confidence. Our porous fry cook has finally grown tall enough to ride the rollercoaster of his dreams (hence the song “Big Guy”), but when the time comes, he chickens out. Disappointed in himself for backing down, he uncovers an unexpected path to bravery when he and his best friend/next-door neighbor Patrick (Bill Fagerbakke) inadvertently summon the Flying Dutchman (Mark Hamill).
Though terrified, SpongeBob asks to come aboard, excited to prove his bravery to the Dutchman, to Patrick, and most importantly, himself. It’s a perfect arrangement for the Dutchman, who needs “the world’s most innocent soul” to break his curse and turn him human again. This leads our absorbent and yellow—and extremely innocent—protagonist through a series of challenging (read: ridiculous) trials to prove, once and for all, that he’s a big guy.
(Despite “Big Guy,” which plays during the film and in the end credits, repeating “pants OK,” we never uncover why his pants are OK, or why they may not have been OK before).
That’s pretty much all there is to it. SpongeBob SquarePants isn’t exactly known for intricate storylines. Some of the best episodes come from a pair of ripped pants, catching jellyfish, getting on the wrong bus, or having bad breath. SpongeBob works because it can take those core ideas and give them a dash of irreverence, fill them with sight gags and one-liners, and deliver some of the most charming characters of our times (and Squidward).
That’s an ethos the movie takes to heart, though it has no interest in maintaining the show’s canon; SpongeBob has met the Dutchman countless times, though in this film it’s their first ever interaction. But sometimes SpongeBob is best when they throw out the rule book and revel in an endless barrage of silly jokes, bonkers facial expressions, and thoughtful Easter eggs (including a tribute to series creator Stephen Hillenburg).
Search for SquarePants focuses on a small handful of characters—series stalwarts like Mrs. Puff appear only in a single shot (though she gets a half-hearted shout-out in “Big Guy”). Sandy Cheeks and Plankton, fresh off their own movies, are reduced to cameos, and teen whale Pearl is nowhere to be found.
Joining SpongeBob and Patrick on their journey with the Dutchman and his right-hand gal, Barb (Regina Hall), is SpongeBob’s boss, Mr. Krabs (Clancy Brown), who is determined to stop SpongeBob from making a disastrous decision—and he’s brought the terminally-annoyed Squidward (Rodger Bumpass) and SpongeBob’s pet snail Gary (also Tom Kenny) along for the ride.
Jettisoning some fan favorites is a move that pays off, as it’s a welcome change to dive further into the relationship of SpongeBob and the boss he’s always longed to please. Plus, SpongeBob and Patrick are as terrific a comic duo as you can get, and their physical comedy is a highlight (including a surprising barrage of butt-based humor).
Admittedly, there are moments where the gonzo, go-for-broke energy of Search for SquarePants starts to feel exhausting, even to a grizzled SpongeBob veteran like myself.
There’s a reason episodes of SpongeBob SquarePants are 11 minutes long—it’s hard to maintain that momentum. Thankfully, that exhaustion never lasts long, as a laugh is always around the corner. I’m not entirely convinced these characters are meant for feature-length adventures, but Search for SquarePants is the most swayed I’ve been since the 2004 film.
It’s a film that understands Hillenburg’s (who passed away in 2018) legacy, choosing fun and laughter above all. When it’s firing on all cylinders, it’s hard to find a more ridiculous and joyful experience at a movie theater this year.
A welcome bonus: Before the movie, there’s a new short, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Chrome Alone 2 – Lost in New Jersey. It’s delightful and a bold middle finger to AI when we need it most (not literally, of course—it’s kid-friendly).
