SpongeBob joins the Flying Dutchman to prove himself as Big Guy in Derek Drymon’s vibrant and funny The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants
What’s weird about looking at this particular property is that I’ve rarely seen the SpongeBob SquarePants TV show. I’ve caught episodes here and there and see so much from Tumblr or other social media. Pop culture fills me in. However, my largest amount of viewing minutes has been spent on various movies, starting with 2004’s The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie; the four SpongeBob-based features (including this one), and the side-quels featuring Plankton and Sandy the Squirrel. I may not be steeped in SpongeBob lore or have delved deeply into the show and any changes to the formula over the decades, but one thing I can say: I have highly enjoyed the feature film outings. They’ve been fast-paced, funny, and rather clever reinventions of SpongeBob, changing things up the nautical nonsense (if it be somethin’ ya wish) for larger or different audiences. The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants is no different. It’s a very jaunty, wonderfully designed, and just plain hilarious animated entry.
For this particular adventure, directed by Derek Drymon; written by Matt Lieberman (original series crater and show runner Stephen Hillenberg passed away in 2018,) the resident of the pineapple under the sea tries to prove himself to be Big Guy and brave, following a story by Mr. Crab of his own youth being a Big Guy, and joins the Flying Dutchman’s ghost crew. SpongeBob and Patrick follow the notorious pirate’s wants, solving a series of tasks in a gorgeous and intricately designed Underworld, while Mr. Crabs and Squidward chase, knowing the Flying Dutchman is up to no good (thus the title).
SpongeBob has joined the crew of the Flying Dutchman before, back in 2011, in the second season (of sixteen over twenty-six years! Wow!). But nothing wrong with revisiting. It’s a long-running cartoon. How many stories can there be? Plus, with the shifting continuities of this sort of show, they can do whatever they need. It doesn’t matter, as long as it works for this particular iteration of the story, and it is.
Search for Squrrepants runs like an extended, super-sized episode, for better or worse. It doesn’t have the Big Story, all in danger of some of the previous films, but that’s okay. It’s a smaller film than the other SpongeBob Theatrical Outings. I liked keeping it tighter, even if it’s slightly stretched to reach feature length. It seems like the sort that could have been a special on Nickelodeon and decided to take it to theaters because “why not?”. That’s not to say it’s lazy. No, sirree. All the care and fun translate to create a very fun and funny adventure. The joy of watching SpongeBob is tapping into your inner 12-year-old. SpongeBob and Patrick are perennially the fun sort of 12. Filled with energy and the right level of stupidity; innocent and continually excitable and interested in the world. When watching SpongeBob, movie or TV (or Broadway!), we return to that, and the writers do so as well, capturing that outlook without descending into easy jokes or laziness. Don’t be a Squidward, go on the adventure and love it!
By leaving Bikini Bottom, focusing on the four above, it’s a focused pull, leaving the likes of Sandy Cheeks and the rest behind. Some jokes and sequences go on too long or don’t really matter in the long run – like the first ten minutes of a Simpsons episode. It’s just set up for the big plot, but they work for the big pushes. I’m not coming into this for the full emotional journey, but to laugh and dig into the adventure. And the adventure is appropriately zany and over the top. The raucous energy of all the jokes comes fast and loose. It’s all there, no matter your choice of humor. Visual, slapstick, puns, extended sequences, gross-ups. With so many years, and being what it is, I’m sure so many of the jokes are reused from the show, perhaps often. But I don’t care. I still laughed. Often and hard. Thus, they did their jobs.
I appreciate how on board everyone still is at this point, twenty-six years into the franchise. It sounds like Tom Kenny is still having a blast voicing the titular sponge. I still love genre icon Clancy Brown voicing Mr. Crabs, and he gets an on-screen appearance in the opening. Strange as it seems, it will likely be a thing, with a voiceover and a wrap-up, but not so much. Best of all: Mark Hamill, in a big year for him after Life of Chuck and The Long Walk, voices the Flying Dutchman (he was Brian Doyle-Murray on the show). Oh man, do I love hearing him ham it up. It’s almost the Joker voice, but not quite. Like the rest, he revels in the over-the-top Big Cartoon nature of the project.
For the feature adventure, as it did before starting the above-the-sea portions of 2015’s Sponge Out of Water, the animation shifts from 2-D hand-drawn to 3-D models. And I nearly dropped my lucky brick, it’s so astounding. The models are detailed and crisp with such insane design. They have the look of a scanned 3-D physical model, but not quite stop motion, just the design. Gorgeous. As the Flying Dutchman and his henchfish are ghosts, they have a see-through aspect that gives some great moments. The overall physical designs are a visual treat. Especially as the group heads into the Underworld. Monsters and creatures galore.
The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie: Search for SquarePants is a rowdy treat, hilarious across the board, with a vibrant and catchy visual palette. The jokes land, the adventure is fun, and Mark Hamill is wonderful to hear. Even at just 75ish minutes before credits, it is a little stretched in story, but the extended bits gain enough laughs it doesn’t matter. For fans of SpongeBob, young or old, show devotee or movie only (like me) should answer “R ye ready, kids?” with a confident YES!
BONUS REVIEW:
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Chrome Alone 2- Lost in New Jersey. (presented before SpongeBob’s theatrical showings)
As I noted in my review of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Trilogy box set, the recent Mutant Mayhem is my favorite outing for the heroes in a half shell. It has since had a TV show, which I haven’t seen, and now this short before SpongeBob (before the theatrical sequel in 2027). As much as I liked the feature, this seven-minute short (despite the title, it is not a sequel, just a joke for the pun) reminds me of just how much I loved Mutant Mayhem, tempting me to skip SpongeBob to go home and watch that again.
The Kent Seki-directed short, written by Andrew Joustra, has everything that shows why that movie worked. While the show uses a different art style, this short returns to the method of Mutant Mayhem, the Spider-verse-like mixture of CG and drawn, with a lively look and flow. I love the art direction here. Especially in the action movement, kinetic but not overwhelming or annoying, moving with a flow and beat. The group has amazing chemistry, jumping off one another with a long-form bond’s ease. And the story is fun and has something to say, rather directly.
The quartet is off on the hunt to find a present for their dad, Splinter. They find some AI slop ripping off their images and head off to New Jersey to find out what’s happening. I won’t tell much, but I will say the message: AI sucks, even if voiced by Zach Woods. And how it conveys that is direct and hilarious, using the “method” in fun ways.
An incredible short, fitting perfectly in the TMNT cycle.