The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie
Stream
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There's trouble brewing in Bikini Bottom. Someone has stolen King Neptune's crown, and it looks like Mr. Krab, SpongeBob's boss, is the culprit. Though he's just been passed over for the promotion of his dreams, SpongeBob stands by his boss, and along with his best pal Patrick, sets out on a treacherous mission to Shell City to reclaim the crown and save Mr. Krab's life.
What critics thought
The film lands as a genuinely enjoyable extension of the TV show, with enough anarchic humor and sweetness to win over adults alongside kids — but critics were divided on whether it justified the leap to the big screen, with several noting it plays better as an elongated episode than as a cinematic event. The elephant in the room was the 2004 animated competition: reviewers kept measuring it against Pixar's output and finding it cheerful but modest.
“An unstoppable good-mood generator, the resolutely 2-D [The] SpongeBob SquarePants Movie has more yuks than Shark Tale (2004) and enough soul to swallow The Polar Express whole.”
Ed Park·The Village Voice
“Being so good is what led to making the movie, and it's also the reason that many small-screen episodes are better than this big-screen venture.”
Tom Maurstad·The Dallas Morning News
“harmlessly off-the-cuff—but facing far more pedigreed multiplex competition—SpongeBob barely rates as OK when compared with The Incredibles.”
Mike Clark·USA Today
“takes on rather too much water during its extended feature-length submersion.”
Todd McCarthy·Variety
Genres
Adventure, Animation, Comedy
Cast & Crew
Stephen HillenburgDirector
Tom KennySpongeBob / Narrator / Gary / Various (voice)
Clancy BrownMr. Krabs (voice)
Rodger BumpassSquidward / Fish #4 (voice)
Bill FagerbakkePatrick Star / Fish #2 / Chum Customer / Local Fish (voice)
Mr. LawrencePlankton / Fish #7 / Attendant #2 (voice)
Jill TalleyKaren / Old Lady (voice)
Carolyn LawrenceSandy (voice)
Mary Jo CatlettMrs. Puff (voice)
Jeffrey TamborKing Neptune (voice)
Scarlett JohanssonMindy (voice)
Alec BaldwinDennis (voice)
David HasselhoffDavid Hasselhoff
Tim HillWriter
Derek DrymonWriter
Kent OsborneWriter
Paul TibbittWriter
Jerzy ZielińskiCinematographyThe SpongeBob SquarePants Movie
There's trouble brewing in Bikini Bottom. Someone has stolen King Neptune's crown, and it looks like Mr. Krab, SpongeBob's boss, is the culprit. Though he's just been passed over for the promotion of his dreams, SpongeBob stands by his boss, and along with his best pal Patrick, sets out on a treacherous mission to Shell City to reclaim the crown and save Mr. Krab's life.
What critics thought
The film lands as a genuinely enjoyable extension of the TV show, with enough anarchic humor and sweetness to win over adults alongside kids — but critics were divided on whether it justified the leap to the big screen, with several noting it plays better as an elongated episode than as a cinematic event. The elephant in the room was the 2004 animated competition: reviewers kept measuring it against Pixar's output and finding it cheerful but modest.
“An unstoppable good-mood generator, the resolutely 2-D [The] SpongeBob SquarePants Movie has more yuks than Shark Tale (2004) and enough soul to swallow The Polar Express whole.”
Ed Park·The Village Voice
“Being so good is what led to making the movie, and it's also the reason that many small-screen episodes are better than this big-screen venture.”
Tom Maurstad·The Dallas Morning News
“harmlessly off-the-cuff—but facing far more pedigreed multiplex competition—SpongeBob barely rates as OK when compared with The Incredibles.”
Mike Clark·USA Today
“takes on rather too much water during its extended feature-length submersion.”
Todd McCarthy·Variety
Genres
Adventure, Animation, Comedy
Cast & Crew
Stephen HillenburgDirectorTom KennySpongeBob / Narrator / Gary / Various (voice)Clancy BrownMr. Krabs (voice)Rodger BumpassSquidward / Fish #4 (voice)Bill FagerbakkePatrick Star / Fish #2 / Chum Customer / Local Fish (voice)Mr. LawrencePlankton / Fish #7 / Attendant #2 (voice)Jill TalleyKaren / Old Lady (voice)Carolyn LawrenceSandy (voice)Mary Jo CatlettMrs. Puff (voice)Jeffrey TamborKing Neptune (voice)Scarlett JohanssonMindy (voice)Alec BaldwinDennis (voice)David HasselhoffDavid HasselhoffTim HillWriterDerek DrymonWriterKent OsborneWriterPaul TibbittWriterJerzy ZielińskiCinematographyStream
Rent & Buy