The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants. SpongeBob goes to the IP underworld.
by Trey Taylor
Image courtesy of Paramount
SpongeBob SquarePants, the TV show, might be the one piece of media I have quoted the most throughout my life. The show premiered towards the tail end of my Kindergarten year, and 26 years later I still pull random quotes from the show outta my brain. The amount of times I've unironically called someone a weenie or asked, “have you tried setting it to wumbo?”, as an adult are probably a little too high.
As I scanned the audience before a screening of The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants, the fourth and latest theatrical release in the SpongeBob IP Empire, it was heartwarming to see fans of all ages seated to enjoy a character that I'm genuinely shocked has had such a long life-span. SpongeBob has now come to outlive his creator, Stephen Hillenburg (who was a marine biologist on top of being an animator), who guarded our goofy goober sponge protagonist and all of his friends and citizens of Bikini Bottom as if they were his children. As the third act of Search for SquarePants started, I asked myself one question: “should SpongeBob have died with his creator?”
Image courtesy of Paramount
The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants starts off with SpongeBob waking up feeling like his day is going to be different, one truly special compared to everyone that has preceded it. This feeling of anticipation and elation comes from SpongeBob finally achieving the height of 36 clams tall, officially making him a Big Guy who can do Big Guy Things.
One of the Big Guy things SpongeBob is most excited to do is ride a comically dangerous rollercoaster. In typical SpongeBob fashion, he chickens out upon laying eyes on the coaster for the first time (after a pretty funny Ice Spice cameo). This leads SpongeBob to Mr. Krabs to help him out of going on the rollercoaster with his best friend Patrick Star (he’s a starfish for those who don't know/can't figure out a pun). After giving SpongeBob an out, Mr. Krabs proceeds to tell SpongeBob that he's not really a Big Guy, but just a Bubble Boy, and he'll only become a real Big Guy when he becomes a Swashbuckler.
After some shenanigans, SpongeBob unintentionally summons the Flying Dutchman, played by Mark Hamill, who tells SpongeBob he can help him become a Swashbuckler if he journeys to the Underworld via Davey Jones’s Locker with the Dutchman and his crew. The Dutchman has his own reasons for wanting SpongeBob on his crew, which are all too clear to Mr. Krabs. Mr. Krabs recruits SpongeBob’s pet seasnail Gary and SpongeBob’s apathetic neighbor and co-worker Squidward Tentacles to go on an adventure to save SpongeBob from the Flying Dutchman before it's too late.
Image courtesy of Paramount
After the inciting incident, Search for SquarePants quickly becomes a bit of a mixed bag of a movie. The pacing feels kinda wonky, as the story bounces back and forth between SpongeBob, Patrick, and the Dutchman and Mr. Krabs’s crew. Both storylines get a bit repetitive and dull, making this feel like it was genuinely a 30-45 minute TV special turned into a feature length film.
The animation also has its ups and downs. The movies haven't been animated in the style of the show since the first film, but this one's style confused me a bit. While this is the first SpongeBob movie I've seen in a theater since the second one, it's the second one to use this hybrid CG/claymation style. There are moments where the character movements feel reminiscent of the original show and even old rubber hose animations. I honestly wish the entire film was made with actual stop motion claymation or rubber hose animations as it would've suited the zany and somewhat juvenile tone of the movie.
The voice cast really does a lot of heavy lifting for the film, with Regina Hall as the Dutchman's second in command, Barb. Hall and Hamill have some great timing, especially in the scenes where their characters get to interact. Some gags were also stand-out, including one that takes a jab at Paramount and dumb executive choices in general. That particular gag felt poignant, as the run time of this movie made me question why it even existed outside of some execs wanting to milk their IP silos dry.
Image courtesy of Paramount.
While the message of being a good person over a tough guy is definitely one we need, especially for children, I still can't see how they could justify this being a full feature. Especially when you include the fact that the movie treats this as the Flying Dutchman's first time meeting SpongeBob, despite the fact that he's been a character on the show since as early as the second season.
I feel like this film is just another example of why Stephen Hillenburg didn't want any spin-offs or fast food meals based on a talking sea sponge shaped like a kitchen sponge. While I did have a decent time watching it, I don't see anyone enjoying it outside of diehard SpongeBob fans.
The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants will be released theaters December 19th via Paramount Pictures.