It's a Comedy Sea World in Hawaii (The Spongebob Squarepants Movie (DVD))

Member Name: marandina

Product:	The Spongebob Squarepants Movie (DVD)
Date:	25/02/05 (293 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Funny, Endearing

Disadvantages: May not appeal to the more serious

Nickelodeon have had some big hits over the years; Jimmy Neutron, Rugrats and The Wild Thornberrys to name but a few. The latest and potentially biggest from the US TV stable is SpongeBob SquarePants. I was lucky enough to attend the screening in this country (it hit the big screen in November 2004 in the States) along with my 9-year-old son who happens to be a SpongeBob aficionado.
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Director: Stephen Hillenburg
Cert: U
Run Time: 90 mins

Main cast: (voice unless stated otherwise)
Tom Kenny - SpongeBob SquarePants
Clancy Brown - Mr. Eugene H. Krabs
Rodger Bumpass - Squidward Tentacles
Bill Fagerbakke - Patrick Starfish
Carolyn Lawrence - Sandy Cheeks
Mr. Lawrence - Sheldon J. Plankton
Mary Jo Catlett - Mrs. Puff
Jill Talley - Karen the Computer/Old Lady
Alec Baldwin - Dennis
Scarlett Johansson - Mindy
Jeffrey Tambor - King Neptune
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SpongeBob SquarePants in set in the undersea world of Bikini Bottom reef. Our hero, SpongeBob himself is a sponge that wears a variety of pants (well whaddya know?). A yellow boy-like character with buck teeth, SpongeBob is a long standing employee at the Krusty Krab that sells Krabby patties to its underwater customers. When the Krusty Krab 2 diner gets built next door to the Krusty Krab (utterly bizarre and wacky that a successful franchise would choose to expand by building another unit next door!), SpongeBob counts on being announced as the new manager at its opening ceremony only to find that his long-standing friend and rival, Squidward Tentacles has got the job. In a fit of pique, he disappears to drown his sorrows with his friend Patrick the rather dense starfish, whilst the sinister Plankton hatches a plot to finally steal the secret formula for Mr Krab’s Krabby Patties and establish his own restaurant – The Chum Bucket – as the hottest joint in town.

SpongeBob returns to Bikini Bottom to find that Mr Krab has been framed by Plankton and that King Neptune blames his boss for the theft of his crown. Vowing to help Mr Krabs clear his name and recover the crown, SpongeBob and Patrick embark on a surreal road trip in their Patty Wagon, a giant motorised cheeseburer complete with lettuce, tomato and oozing mayonaise, to right the wrongs perpetrated by their arch-enemy, the evil Plankton (well 1% evil, 99% hot air according to one of the episodes on TV).

The SpongeBob movie is a revival in TV cartoon effects that appeals to people of all ages. Created by Stephen Hillenburg, there is a distinct adult undertone to the humour in the series that translates directly into the movie. In essence, the movie is a straight-forward extension of the established TV series with one or two changes thrown in. With a degree in marine biology, Stephen Hillenburg says he always wanted to create a cartoon set in a nautical world. The look he adopted is influenced by Hawaiian design with SpongeBob’s house being a pineapple whilst the accompanying musical score could have come straight out of a beach hut in Hawaii. There is also a distinct feeling of America 1950’s kitsch that must take many older American viewers back to the halcyon days of 1950’s US sitcoms where whole families would gather around the television to watch their favourite comedy show.

The main characters from the TV series are all here including the cynical Squidward, the mentally slow but faithful Patrick starfish, the cranky, money grabbing Mr Krabs the crab, the evil disingenuous Plankton the plankton and, of course, SpongeBob himself. New characters are introduced in the shape of King Neptune’s daughter Mindy along with an homage to Dennis Hopper as the pursuer of SpongeBob and Patrick on his Hell’s Angels motorbike.

Perfectionists may point out that some cartoons and state-of-the-art animation are superior to the SpongeBob look and feel and they are right. This movie combines more established and possibly old-fashioned looking graphics together with ordinary TV quality real-life shots that give the movie that surreal aspect. However, there is also a degree of charm in the simplicity of the delivery of the SpongeBob franchise that has built up an army of devoted fans over the last couple of years. One minor criticism I would add on a personal note is the lack of air time given to the Squidward character in the movie. His mild cynicism and general frustration with the SpongeBob character never fails to make me laugh but he only gets a minor part in this particular story (quote from Squidward during the movie “Too bad SpongeBob isn't here to enjoy SpongeBob not being here.”). Maybe he’ll be more prominent in the inevitable sequel.

SpongeBob’s voice is inspired and always makes me smile. Tom Kenny is the voice behind the character and when asked as to how the final result came about he replies that his brief was to come up with a sound that wasn’t a child or an adult but more a non-age defined quality that would appeal equally across the age spectrum. Also, he needed to adopt a laugh like a dolphin which comes out as a high-pitched pneumatic sound that has a catchy, addictive sound too it.

Notwithstanding the technical aspects of the movie, SpongeBob is quite simply a whole lot of fun. As well as the cheeky homage to Dennis Hopper, the Bay Watch mogul himself – David Hasslehoff – gets a scene where SpongeBob and Patrick get to ride on his back, having gone to the surface for the first time ever. It’s that mix of innocent, childish humour with subtle adult references that makes both the movie and the series such a hit. Take the opening sequence, for example, as pirates recover a treasure chest and celebrate the discovery of tickets for the SpongeBob movie in the chest itself. The real-life pirates feature again later on in the movie and it’s that bizarre mix of animation and real-life that gives the franchise an off-centre, unusual effect that endears the idea to me and so many others.

With a funny script comes a high profile musical score featuring Avril Lavigne and songs from American bands Wilco and The Flaming Lips amongst others.

Long standing plots are perpetuated during the movie such as Plankton’s desperation to steal the Krabby Patty formula and take over the world like a deranged villain from so many James Bond movies of years gone by. That continuity contributes to the final result giving that familiarity that kids will want from a movie adaptation of the TV phenomenon.

SpongeBob has that universal appeal akin to The Simpsons and other mildly subversive cartoons so if that’s your bag then you’ll love this. Of course, you may get dragged along (ahem) to the movie by a pesky, pestering child like wot I did in which case you’ll either endure 90 minutes of innocent fun or an hour and a half of water torture. Whatever you do, if you haven’t already then check out the established TV series as episodes are usually less than 15 minutes long and you’ll soon know whether this is for you.

The SpongeBob marketing frenzy is in full swing just now with purchases in my house only this week of the inaugural SpongeBob SquarePants comic as well as the acquisition of the complete set of Pez dispensers based on the SpongeBob, Patrick and Squidward characters. If you do join the ever increasing SpongeBob fan base then be prepared to reach into your pocket for the easy to obtain merchandise that reinforces the brand.

The SpongeBob SquarePants movie rocks! Go see it…

Thanks for reading

Marandina

The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie is on general release across the UK

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