Summary
- The new SpongeBob Netflix movie focuses on Sandy Cheeks, showcasing her unique strengths as a powerful female character finally in the spotlight!
- Fans can expect a wild adventure as Sandy and SpongeBob travel to Texas to save Bikini Bottom citizens from being turned into cuddly toys.
- With exciting new characters like Sandy’s family joining the mix, this Netflix-exclusive movie promises a heartwarming and hilarious experience for viewers.
Twenty-five years after SpongeBob SquarePants’ debut on Nickelodeon, its unique cast of characters continues to find themselves in new adventures, such as the upcoming Netflix movie centered around the character of Sandy Cheeks, Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie. The film, which is set to release on Netflix on August 2, features Carolyn Lawrence, Tom Kenny, and the rest of the traditional SpongeBob voice cast as its characters go on a unique journey that will blend the real world with the animated universe that has become an anchor for Nickelodeon for the last several decades.
In promotional material, Carolyn Lawrence explains why she feels now is the right time for Sandy Cheeks to have her own movie.
I’m glad that after 25 years, she’s getting her moment. I have two girls, and she’s been such a phenomenal character for girls and women, because she is an atypical animated character. She’s highly capable. She is athletic. She is ridiculously smart. She’s a lot of things that female animated characters traditionally haven’t necessarily been able to be. If you look at historic animation, like a Betty Boop, it was definitely a different time — and princess movies, which I adore, but also a different time. It’s nice now that she gets to have this moment. Long time coming.
Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie
After Bikini Bottom is taken out of the ocean on the order of an evil CEO, SpongeBob and Sandy travel to the latter’s home state of Texas. There, they meet up with Sandy’s family and must find a way to return their home to the sea.
- Release Date
- August 2, 2024
- Director
- Liza Johnson
- Cast
- Carolyn Lawrence , Tom Kenny , Mr. Lawrence , Mary Jo Catlett , Clancy Brown , Bill Fagerbakke , Rodger Bumpass
- Runtime
- 1h 22m
In this new film, Sandy Cheeks must preserve the loving citizens of Bikini Bottom who have been held captive in a Texas laboratory. The main antagonist is Sue Nahmee, played by Wanda Sykes. Nahmee is a commercial entrepreneur who intends to transform the residents of Bikini Bottom into Sea Pals, a mass-manufactured line of cuddly toys. The opportunity to go back to Texas will allow fans and viewers of the movie to get their first look at Sandy’s family, a unique cast of rootin’ tootin’ rodents with enough personality to potentially anchor their own spinoff.
Pa Cheeks (Craig Robinson), the patriarch of the southern squirrel family, will join the in-universe cast of characters to represent the Cheeks family. Randy Cheeks, played by Johnny Knoxville, is Sandy’s brother and is described as a mustachioed daredevil. Ma Cheeks, Granny Cheeks, Rowdy, and Rosie Cheeks will round out the clan. All four of those characters will be voiced by Grey DeLisle, who is no stranger to the world of Nickelodeon, having voiced Vicky, the babysitter on The Fairly OddParents for over a decade. Liza Johnson, the film’s director, shed some more light on the addition of these characters and the casting choices behind them:
It was really exciting to design these new characters with the animation team and then to cast them with these amazing actors. I was really happy that Craig Robinson could join us. I met him working on What We Do in the Shadows, and became aware of the breadth of his delight- fulness. He often would just turn everything into a musical number behind the scenes there. I thought he was a really perfect person to be as warm as Pa Cheeks is. I’ve had the pleasure of working with Johnny Knoxville on another film, and I think he’s one of the great physical comedy talents of our time. He really is very deep into the intelligence of the body and why the body can be ridiculous and why it can be funny. And I feel like the writers wrote the character of Randy to be a combination of Johnny himself and Evel Knievel, the object of Johnny’s fascination.
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The SpongeBob Universe Continues Expanding With New Movies Adding to an Already Impressive Franchise
SpongeBob SquarePants is seen as the Mickey Mouse of Nickelodeon. After almost 25 years, the series has become the longest-running Nicktoon since the orange-colored children’s brand launched its own line of cartoons in 1991. SpongeBob is no stranger to the big screen, either, having starred in three theatrical releases. These comprise of The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, released in 2004, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water, in 2015, and The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run, released in 2021. There is a planned theatrical release for 2025 with Search for SquarePants. For now, Sandy Cheeks is opening the door to Netflix-exclusive movies with a Plankton-centered film, creatively titled Plankton: The Movie, also due to release in 2025.
Several fans are already excited about the upcoming premiere of SpongeBob’s new Netflix outing.
So grab a Krabby Patty on August 2, and be sure to sit down with the family if you want to see the next SpongeBob story shared with the world. Fans can watch all of SpongeBob’s past adventures on Paramount Plus.