The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants proves why this character’s effervescence makes him so special. Filled with hilarious gags, clever meta-humour, and a signature mix of irony and sincerity, it’s an adventure tale a great hero’s journey for SpongeBob.
Search for SquarePants marks the 6th SpongeBob ever released, and the 3rd to be distributed theatrically. The film is directed by Derek Drymon, who wrote the original SpongeBob movie in 2005, and has served as a writer on more than 200 episodes of the show. Veteran SpongeBob TV producers Marc Ceccarelli and Kaz are joined by Pam Brady (South Park) on story duties, with a screenplay written by Brady and Matt Lieberman (Free Guy, Scoob!).
The story follows SpongeBob who after being too scared to ride the tallest rollercoaster in Bikini Bottom, agrees to join the Flying Dutchman on a quest in the underworld to prove he’s brave enough to face any swashbuckling threat.
One of the challenges of taking a beloved TV show with multiple spinoffs and making a movie from it, is that the scale, quality and moral of the story must be strong enough to justify it being a big screen adventure rather than just another episode of the show. With Search for SquarePants, Drymon delivers exactly that. A huge adventure story with visual spectacle, large-scale action and comedic moments, and a heartfelt character arc with real growth for SpongeBob. The structure of the story is excellently formatted, beginning by introducing SpongeBob in the context of his hometown Bikini Bottom, his friends, and the Krusty Krab, before quickly whisking him away to the underworld where it raises the stakes to an adventure worthy of the big screen.
The first and second act are complete with large, animated action sequences, fast-paced montages that are thoroughly entertaining as SpongeBob goes through various challenges to prove he’s the ultimate swashbuckler, unaware that he;’ only doing this to cure the Dutchman’s curse. In addition, the side-quest that Squidward and Mr Krabs must go on to save SpongeBob is filled with surprising encounters with strange creatures, fun locations in Bikini Bottom and the underworld, and good character moments that allow Squidward and Mr Krabs to show off their unique personalities which fans have come to love them for.
The final act, as usual, takes SpongeBob into the surface world and introduces live-action elements to the film, with human actors, real-world sets on a sunny beachside theme park, and well-choregraphed action-set pieces that feel genuinely exciting, especially because he emotional stakes are directly tied to the arc that the film draws for SpongeBob’s character growth.
Importantly, the film achieves this because it nails each character’s essential elements. The two most prominent being SpongeBob and Mr Krabs. This is a SpongeBob movie of course, and his character arc is at the centre of the story. SpongeBob’s essential characteristics have always come down to his innate goodness, which often manifests as a sort of naivety that gets him into trouble, but sometimes turns into a hidden power which allows him to see the good in others and the possibilities to overcome any difficult situation. Search for SquarePants takes that essential characteristic and makes it the central motivation for its story.
As the Flying Dutchman and Mr Krabs both suggest, if SpongeBob really wants to prove he’s a Big Guy now, he has to leave behind his childish qualities and be more serious. That means dropping the bubble blowing and even leaving behind friends that can drag you down. This leads to some genuinely teary-eyed moments that get to the heart of what it means to grow up. As you can imagine, the effervescent sponge as usual proves the standard wrong and turns his innate goodness into his. Drymon understands that SpongeBob’s ability to fully embrace an optimistic viewpoint of the world is what allows him to break through challenges that others see as futile. This film effortlessly ties this character growth into to a huge-scale adventure story that lays down an arc for SpongeBob that is immensely satisfying while staying true to what makes him special.
To a great degree however, this is also a Mr Krabs movie. Much of the background of the narrative is formed through flashbacks to Krabs’ youth as a sailor and his involvements to The Flying Dutchman. For longtime fans of the franchise, the lore provided here about the Dutchman’s history, and his connections to Bikini Bottom involve multiple callbacks to classic episodes of the show that are pretty satisfying. Most importantly though, this allows Mr Krabs to play a key role in pushing forward SpongeBob’s character arc.
Mr Krabs has always filled a very specific role, in that he’s clearly SpongeBob’s most immediate authority figure, and often steps into the defacto father role when it comes to giving advice when SpongeBob’s silliness gets out of hand. However behind all the greed and cruel drive for his employees to work harder, is hidden a softer figure that actually cares deeply for SpongeBob and values his unique talents and personality. Anytime Krabs shows the softer side of himself which is full of empathy for SpongeBob, it’s a highlight of the TV show. This film gets to display that in full force, given that the main sub-plot of the movie is the side-quest that Mr Krabs and Squidward must go on to save SpongeBob from the Dutchman’s schemes. As such, it’s an excellent character arc for Mr Krabs as well, who gets his backstory fleshed out further, and proves his care and support for SpongeBob.
The comedy style is true to form for the classic SpongeBob brand. Drymon and his writing team clearly know how to apply the signature SpongeBob mix of crass silliness, clever satire, and unbridled joy. There are plenty of physical humour gags, as well as absurdist humour that devolves into the usual madness and silliness you’d expect from SpongeBob. There is also clever meta-humour, including some brilliantly refreshing moments that break the fourth wall and speak directly to fans of the franchise.
What’s especially endearing about the SpongeBob franchise’s style of humour is that it’s never trying to tell you that it’s being clever. Even when it makes jokes that are more suited to older audiences who can appreciate clever satire, such as the meta-humour about plot devices which arrives in the second act, these are always played with an utter straight face to be appreciated for their hilarity. There’s no need to finish them with a self-assuring nod that feels like it has to acknowledge its cleverness. It’s just plain funny, and it doesn’t hold back.
The humour is fast paced and matched by a talented voice cast. With joke after joke barrelling through, this is thanks to the variety of well-developed characters it has to offer with different personalities. In particular, the Flying Dutchman plays a key role as the annoyed mentor-villain who is exhausted at SpongeBob’s antics, while Squidward and Patrick enter their usual form of selfish snob and crass clown, but with all the nuance and surprise needed to have them play against type as well. All of this is of course elevated by the stellar veteran voice cast who have voiced these roles for 26 years on television, and across 6 films, multiple video games, and most recently a broadcast commentary of the Super Bowl. The exception being Mark Hamill joining the movie cast as the voice actor and live-action version of the Flying Dutchman, replacing Brian Doyle-Murray from the show.
Finally, the 3D animation style is gorgeous. Most of the animation was provided by Reel FX Animation studios, who provided most of the animation alongside Paramount Animation and Nickelodeon Studios. It’s vibrant, bold and feels perfect for the sort of big-scale adventure that takes place in the underworld filled with deep green and purple landscapes of imposing obstacles and creatures. It adopts very similar character designs to the recent Plankton and Sandy movies, but it feels sharper and notably bigger budget than the style of those movies. This is especially evident during the underworld adventure scenes, where backdrops are intricate with bright colours and exciting details.
In all, The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants is a brilliant addition to the SpongeBob franchise of films and a clear standout. It highlights the effervescent qualities that we all love about SpongeBob’s character by making them essential to both the emotional stakes and the comedy of the film. The large-scale action and stunning animation also provide good reason to see this adventure on the big screen! As a longtime SpongeBob fan, it was a real joy to go the cinema and enjoy a fun story hanging out with my favourite yellow sponge and all his friends in Bikini Bottom.
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