The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water
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 Ladies and gentlemen, the movie that saved SpongeBob SquarePants after its dark times.
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The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water is a 2015 American live-action/animated superhero comedy film directed by Paul Tibbitt in his directorial debut. It is the second film adaptation of the animated television series SpongeBob SquarePants and a sequel to The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie. Produced by Paramount Animation, Nickelodeon Movies and United Plankton Pictures, the film stars Antonio Banderas and features the show's regular voice cast who reprised their roles from the television series and the previous film. The movie follows a pirate named Burger Beard, who steals the secret Krabby Patty formula using a magical book that makes any text written upon it come true. SpongeBob and his friends must travel to the ocean's surface to confront Burger Beard and retrieve the formula. The film premiered on January 28, 2015, in Belgium and the Netherlands, and on January 30, 2015, in Iceland, Mexico, and Taiwan. It was released in the United States on February 6, 2015.
Plot
Life is dandy in Bikini Bottom for SpongeBob Squarepants (Tom Kenny) and his friends Patrick (Bill Fagerbakke), Squidward (Rodger Bumpass), Mr. Krabs (Clancy Brown) and Sandy (Carolyn Lawrence). However, when the top-secret recipe for Krabby Patties is stolen, SpongeBob finds that he must join forces with perpetual adversary Plankton (Mr. Lawrence) and come ashore to battle a fiendish pirate named Burger Beard (Antonio Banderas), who has his own plans for the delicious delicacies.
Production
Development
Following the release of The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie in 2004, producer Julia Pistor stated that a sequel film was unlikely despite its successful box office performance. In a 2009 interview with Digital Spy, former SpongeBob SquarePants writer and executive producer Paul Tibbitt was asked about the possibility of a sequel; he said, "I think that they are talking about doing that, but I haven't signed up for anything. We just feel like we've told so many stories, and SpongeBob exists so well in this short 11-minute form." He also stated that making another film was "a huge challenge". However, Tibbitt said a sequel is not impossible, saying "I wouldn't say no, but I don't know if there will be another one". In 2010, Nickelodeon was reportedly approaching the crews of the show to make another film adaptation. The network had long wanted to partner with Paramount Pictures to release another SpongeBob SquarePants film to help reinvigorate the series' declining ratings. Internal disagreement delayed collaborations.
On March 4, 2011, the Los Angeles Times reported Paramount had "another SpongeBob picture" in development. In July the same year, Paramount formed its new animation unit, Paramount Animation, in the wake of the commercial and critical success of the 2011 computer-animated film Rango and the departure of DreamWorks Animation upon completion of its distribution contract in 2012. Philippe Dauman, a former president and CEO of Paramount and Nickelodeon's parent company Viacom, officially announced on February 28, 2012, that a sequel film was in development and was due for an unspecified 2014 release, saying; "We will be releasing a SpongeBob movie at the end of 2014". Dauman said the new film "will serve to start off or be one of our films that starts off our new animation effort". Nickelodeon expected the film to do much better in foreign box offices than the 2004 feature considering the channel's increasingly global reach. Dauman said, "This will continue to propel SpongeBob internationally".
Production was announced on June 10, 2012, under the title The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie 2, which some trade publications began referring to as SpongeBob SquarePants 2. The film's executive producer is series creator Stephen Hillenburg, who left his role as the series' showrunner in 2004 following the release of The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie. He no longer wrote for or directly ran the show on a day-to-day basis, but reviewed episodes and delivered suggestions. In a 2012 interview with Thomas F. Wilson, however, Hillenburg said he was helping to write the film.
Casting
The main cast of the television series reprised their roles for The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water. In August 2013, casting directors from Marty Siu Casting began casting calls for the background extras for the live-action scenes. On September 21, 2013, it was reported that Spanish actor Antonio Banderas had been cast for a live-action role as Burger Beard the pirate.
Animation
The 2D hand-drawn animated sequences for The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water were done in South Korea by Rough Draft Studios Korea.[citation needed] As did its predecessor, the film combines traditional animation with live action, and also used computer-generated imagery (CGI), which was handled by Iloura VFX in Melbourne, Australia, to render the characters in 3D.
In a 2012 preview of upcoming Paramount films, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water was exhibited as a "3D feature film" with "CGI-like animation". Following the release of SpongeBob SquarePants 4-D: The Great Jelly Rescue (2013), a 3D short film that was released at the Nickelodeon Suites Resort Orlando, executives talked about continuing the use of 3D in the film.
The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water contains a stop-motion sequence that was animated by Screen Novelties; the company had previously produced a clay animation scene for the first SpongeBob SquarePants film, the mixed-media opening of the television episode "Truth or Square", and the entirety of the stop-motion special It's a SpongeBob Christmas!.
In March 2014, Paramount screened live-action footage from the film during the National Association of Theatre Owners' event CinemaCon. News websites report that the film would be CGI-animated; an Internet Movie Database staff member commented; "When Paramount announced there would be a new SpongeBob SquarePants movie, the assumption was that it would be animated (like all other incarnations of SpongeBob). The very brief footage from tonight's presentation suggested otherwise – it looked as though this was a CGI/live-action hybrid akin to Alvin and the Chipmunks, Yogi Bear, The Smurfs, etc." In an article published by ComingSoon.net, author Edward Douglas said the film's CGI footage looks "weird". Philippe Dauman said the CGI elements are intended to "refresh and give another boost" to the characters.
Filming
The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water includes live-action scenes that were directed by Mike Mitchell. Filming began on September 30, 2013, and finished on November 5 of the same year. Filming was done at multiple locations in Savannah and Tybee Island; both of which are in Georgia. On July 11, 2013, the Savannah Film Office announced the filming of live-action scenes in Savannah for 40 days. Will Hammargren, Savannah Film Office's location specialist, said the film was expected to contribute $8 million to the city's economy, including hotel bookings of at least 5,600 room nights.
On September 30, 2013, the start of production filming was interrupted by the dismissal of film services director Jay Self. According to a memorandum from Joe Shearouse, bureau chief of the leisure services department of Savannah, Self was fired for his "failure to properly plan and manage the arrangement for the movie". The memo accused Self of shortcomings surrounding the filming and also cited complaints from residents of Savannah. Another reported reason for Self's dismissal was a disagreement between Paramount and the Savannah Film Office about the process of negotiating compensation for local businesses with Paramount to cover losses of trade during filming.
To prepare the filming location in the downtown Savannah, the film crew painted storefronts along Broughton Street to resemble a coastal community called "Salty Shoals". Savannah College of Art and Design's Jen Library and Trustees Theater was converted into a maritime museum. In August 2013, Paramount approached SCAD to use the Jen Library for a scene. The studio's art department transformed the building; it remained open to students during filming. Self said, "The changes are temporary with all buildings scheduled to be restored to their original colors after filming is complete".
Filming in downtown Savannah began on October 9; parts of Broughton Street were closed until October 18. Antonio Banderas was filmed on a pirate ship with wheels for a car-chase scene. At one point, a film-crew member caused an accident that damaged a downtown building and a woman was taken to a hospital.
Filming in the city ended on October 18, when a raffle was also held; the prizes included a SpongeBob SquarePants-themed party, bicycles, a vacation, dinner at a local bistro, gift certificates, and a 60-inch (1.5 m) television. The production received mixed responses from businesses located in filming areas. Businesses were concerned about filming in October because that month is "a big month for merchants along Broughton [Street]" Some merchants suggested filming in February, July, or August instead.
Live-action filming resumed on October 21 on Tybee Island. The producers were permitted to film on the island after meetings held at the local City Hall; businesses and residents raised concerns about the possible effects of the filming and about sea turtle safety. Musician Slash, a member of the band Guns N' Roses, was seen on set at Tybee Pier, although he does not appear in the final film. The film crew later moved to Strand Avenue, where they filmed a chase scene with extras riding bicycles.
Deleted scenes
The Blu-ray release includes animatics of deleted scenes from the film, including a scene in which Mrs. Puff reappears in an apocalypse outfit (in the final film, she only appears in her normal attire). In the segment, Mrs. Puff wears a skull mask as she pursues SpongeBob and Plankton in a boatmobile chase. The "Squeeze Me" song plays on Plankton's radio until the boat crashes. Mrs. Puff catches up with the two runaways, takes off her mask, and tells SpongeBob he will pay the "ultimate penalty" for his reckless driving. She sifts through a variety of torture devices in a bag, then pulls out a red pen and gives SpongeBob a failing grade.
A fully animated musical sequence, "Thank Gosh It's Monday", was also cut from the film. A shortened version was used as an advertisement for the movie and uploaded to Paramount Pictures' YouTube channel. The extended cut is exclusive to the Blu-ray release, and the song used in the scene was released as the fifth track on the movie's soundtrack album.
Why It Didn't Blow Out Of The Water (In A Good Sense)
- Like the first film, it stays completely faithful to the TV series.
- Great mix of CGI and 2D animation.
- The CGI animation is very spectacular and smooth and fits the world of SpongeBob quite well.
- The 2D animation is outstanding and a considerable upgrade from the show, especially since SpongeBob's animation at the time lacked energy and was rather dull compared to Seasons 1-5. On the side note, it really interesting that the 2D animation have been returned for four years earlier after the box office disappointment of Winnie the Pooh. This is actually the best 2D animation the show ever had.
- Great soundtrack by John Debney.
- Burgerbeard is an impressive villain, thanks to Antonio Banderas, who voices Puss in Boots in the Shrek franchise.
- The seagulls are decently entertaining characters.
- Catchy songs, such as "Squeeze Me" by N.E.R.D.
- The plot was well executed, despite the movie being made in both traditional animation, live-action and CGI.
- Thanks to Stereo D, it converts hand-drawn animation, from 2D to eye-popping stereoscopic 3D. Even the 2D animation was filmed in 3D.
- Great use of slapstick and meta humor.
- Several popular characters are given more substantial roles than the first movie, most notably Sandy Cheeks, who had only three scenes and two lines in the first film, now is a major protagonist alongside SpongeBob, Patrick, Squidward, and Mr. Krabs. The latter two, while their roles were fairly substantial in the first film, are likewise elevated to being major protagonists.
- The superhero designs of SpongeBob, Sandy, Patrick, Plankton, Squidward and Mr. Krabs are fantastic!
- This movie might have brought SpongeBob back to its former glory after its dark age from Seasons 6-9a.
- The protagonists are at their absolute best in this sequel:
- SpongeBob and Patrick, once again, for going on another adventure and saving their town and the Krabby Patty formula from Burgerbeard, along with their friends.
- Likewise, Sandy, Squidward and even Mr. Krabs have the same reasons above, helping out the duo, and Mr. Krabs has his old persona from Seasons 1-5.
- Plankton is at his most greatest as a protagonist, as he puts aside his differences with his enemies to help them save his home as well.
- In the beginning of the exclusive song, "Thank Gosh It's Monday", a few references to the classic era of SpongeBob are made, in which is quite impressive.
- Seagulls played by actors American, Australian or British seem actually really good.
- The guest actors deserved a lot of credit when they took part in this movie, especially Billy West (the voice of both Ren (Seasons 3-5) and Stimpy from The Ren and Stimpy Show, Woody Woodpecker in The New Woody Woodpecker Show and Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd in some Looney Tunes movies), Nolan North and Kevin Michael Richardson.
- SpongeBob's voice is so good that it represents his voice in the first three seasons of the show, and to a lesser extend, seasons 8-present, and he sounds much better than in the first movie.
- After the release of this film, the second half of Season 9 for SpongeBob SquarePants has been very well received and is a major step up from the show's dark age.
- The cinematography is flawlessly great.
- Overall, it was the good way to introduce the brand new animation company for major studios: Paramount Animation, although most of their later films aren't as good as this.
Bad Qualities
- False advertising: The trailers and posters show the CGI-live action portion of the movie, implying that the movie is at least mostly in CGI rather than 2D animation. The CGI-live action portion isn't until the third act of the movie outside of the seagulls, despite being heavily used in advertising.
- Misleading Title: Despite the name, they do not spend as much time out of water.
- The climax feels like a rehash of "Pressure", but with CGI characters rather than puppets.
- While the CGI used for the characters while they are in the live action portions of the film was good (and probably more practical for the actions they are seen performing), it still looks out of place in a largely 2D animated film, and lacks the charm of the 2D animated characters in the live action segments of the previous film.
- The mean-spirited moments where Plankton blames SpongeBob for grabbing the wrong secret formula bottle and went as far as calling him the "worst teammate ever" when it was Plankton’s fault for creating the decoy formula in the first place and never acknowledged this. And this happened again later when Patrick also blamed SpongeBob for dragging them into the surface, even though it was all out of his control. However, Patrick is simply just dumb.
- There is a gross scene where Plankton gets covered in wet crusty lint from Patrick's belly button.
- Despite being a kids movie, the characters (besides SpongeBob, Plankton, Karen & Squidward) went insane when the krabby patty went missing and caused violence (which is not common for a kids movie).
- Major plothole: If writing anything in the book could make anything come true, Burger Beard could’ve just written in the book that he was the richest food truck owner in the world, instead of using the book to steal the formula.
Reception
Box office
The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water grossed $162.9 million in North America and $162.1 million in other territories; a total worldwide gross of $325.1 million against a budget of $74 million. It has outgrossed the first SpongeBob movie, which made $140.2 million worldwide, and is the second-highest-grossing film based on an animated television show, behind The Simpsons Movie ($527.1 million). Deadline Hollywood calculated the net profit of the film to be $99.8 million.
North America
The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water was originally expected to gross around $35 million in its opening weekend; however, it exceeded expectations on its opening day. On its opening weekend the film grossed $55.4 million, played in 3,641 theaters, with a $15,206 per-theater average, and finished in first place at the box office, exceeding American Sniper, which grossed $23.3 million, marking the first time in four weeks a film other than American Sniper was the top-grossing film. In its second weekend, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water earned $31.4 million, marking a 43.2% decline and dropping to number three, overtaken by Fifty Shades of Grey and Kingsman: The Secret Service. On its third weekend, the film stayed at number three, grossing $16.5 million. On its fourth weekend, the film was number three again, with $10.8 million.
Other territories
In five markets, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water was released for the three-day weekend of January 30, 2015 – a week ahead of North America release – and earned a gross of $8 million, $6.7 million of which came from a strong debut in Mexico.[95] For its second weekend of February 6, 2015, the film earned a gross of $16.2 million, playing in theaters in 25 markets. The film opened at number one in Brazil and Spain, grossing $4.6 million and $1.9 million, respectively. It also remained at number one in Mexico, earning $2.4 million.[96] In the UK, the film was released on March 27, 2015, in time for the Easter school holidays and opened at number three behind Cinderella and Home.
Critical Response
The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water received mostly positive reception upon its release. On Rotten Tomatoes, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water scored an approval rating of 81% based on 103 reviews, with an average rating of 6/10, while audience score was 54%. The site's critical consensus reads; "The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water won't win over many viewers who aren't fans of the show, but for the converted, it's another colorful burst of manic fun.". On Metacritic, the film received a score of 62 out of 100, based on 27 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". According to CinemaScore, audiences gave the film a grade of "B" on an A+-to-F scale.
Andrew Barker of Variety praised the film for "never even feigning a lick of seriousness"; he felt the film is too long and the CGI sequences are inferior to the traditionally animated ones. Barker said the film would prove "popular among the franchise's key grade-schooler and head-shop-owner demographics". Michael Rechtshaffen of The Hollywood Reporter said the film's two animation styles failed "to create a cohesive whole in spite of all the inspired non sequiturs ... the live action/CG stuff never satisfyingly jibes with the traditional nautical nonsense down below", and that although the film was inferior to the first one, it would likely be a box office success. Barbara VanDenburgh of The Arizona Republic gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of five, saying, "The plot is straightforward, predictable and slight, no more intricate a plot than a 15-minute TV episode would have. It's the freewheeling madness of its execution that makes the movie such a trip – as in acid trip."
Elizabeth Weitzman of the New York Daily News gave The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water four stars out of five, saying; "The spirit of the series remains true: cheerfully random jokes, blink-and-you'll-miss-them references and, above all, a silly, stubbornly sentimental streak that only the crabbiest cynic could dismiss". Colin Covert of the Star Tribune gave the film three stars out of five, saying it "weaves a silly – and often funny – spell. It's a scrappy little B-movie that zips along rather entertainingly." Jen Chaney of The Washington Post gave the film two stars out of four, saying; "There's something about this project that, despite checking all of the requisite plot and sensibility boxes, doesn't convey as an organic work of SpongeBob-ishness".
Nicolas Rapold of The New York Times gave the film a positive review, saying; "While less fluid and fresh than its 2004 predecessor, the new film displays enough nutty writing and sheer brio to confirm the stamina of its enduring and skillfully voiced characters". Gwen Ihnat of The A.V. Club gave the film a B+, saying; "The visual effects and fast and furious quips combine for that rarest of releases: one that both parents and kids can enjoy (just like the show), leaving viewers of any age hoping that the next SpongeBob movie isn't an entire decade off". Alonso Duralde of The Wrap wrote, "The jokes are consistently hilarious, with enough variety to tickle the funny bones of old salts and young fishies alike".
Claudia Puig of USA Today gave the film two stars out of four, saying; "The live-action elements – mostly in the person of Antonio Banderas as cranky pirate Burger Beard, who spends most of his time addressing a flock of seagulls – don't mesh seamlessly with the animated sequences. It almost feels like two movies awkwardly melded together." John Semley of The Globe and Mail gave The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water two-and-a-half stars out of four, saying it "mostly nails what has always made the character, and his brightly coloured underwater world, so endearing: the abundant innocence, the welcome lack of cynicism and the out-and-out stupidity". Christy Lemire of RogerEbert.com gave the film two-and-a-half stars out of four, saying it "remains true to the surrealism of its animated television roots. But it also tries to force a live-action element which isn't as comfortable a fit as a certain pair of symmetrical trousers."
Awards
Despite releasing in 2015, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water was nominated for the 2015 Kids' Choice Awards for Favorite Animated Movie (the KCAs normally nominate movies from the previous year). Ironically, it lost to Big Hero 6.
Videos
Trivia
- In the deleted scene, SpongeBob and Plankton are being chased by an apocalyptic mob and Plankton questions why they aren't losing everyone and suddenly realizes that the signal light for the vehicle were on. The scene ends up being unused. However, the delete footage elements from this film would later be used for The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part. You can watch the video here (at 3:17 in the video).
- Although Paramount Animation produced the film, the logo is not shown, as it the normal logo instead.
- In March 2014, Paramount screened live-action footage from the film during the National Association of Theatre Owners' event CinemaCon. News websites report that the film would be CGI-animated; an Internet Movie Database staff member commented; "When Paramount announced there would be a new SpongeBob SquarePants movie, the assumption was that it would be animated (like all other incarnations of SpongeBob). The very brief footage from tonight's presentation suggested otherwise – it looked as though this was a CGI/live-action hybrid akin to Alvin and the Chipmunks, Yogi Bear, The Smurfs, etc." In an article published by ComingSoon.net, author Edward Douglas said the film's CGI footage looks "weird". Philippe Dauman said the CGI elements are intended to "refresh and give another boost" to the characters.
- Nolan North and Kevin Michael Richardson, who voiced seagulls, also voiced Blaze and Crusher from another Nickelodeon project, mh:besttvshows:Blaze and the Monster Machines.
- This is currently the last film to use the traditional 2D animation, as the the next film uses 3D animation from now on.
- Until The Loud House Movie in 2021, this is the last Nickelodeon film to have traditional 2D animation.
- A video game featuring a plot set directly after that of The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water, published by Activision, and titled SpongeBob HeroPants was released on February 3, 2015 in North America and on March 26, 2015 in Europe for the Nintendo 3DS, PlayStation Vita (cross-compatible with PlayStation TV), and Xbox 360. The game on all three platforms received mostly negative reviews, many point-out the uninspired gameplay, dull graphics, poor level design, glitches, lack of polish and that it barely follows the plot of the film.
External Links
The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water at the Internet Movie Database
The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water on Rotten Tomatoes