The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie

Hip to be square: SpongeBob SquarePants retains the show's broad appeal

By Mike Prevatt

The only thing the feature-length debut of Nickelodeon's beloved "SpongeBob SquarePants" has in common with other animated films of the past 10 years is the overused lesson that, no matter how different or odd you are, it's perfectly okay to be yourself. And that seems to be the mission statement for not only SpongeBob and his sea-dwelling, peanut gallery co-stars, but the franchise itself.

During its highly successful 1999-2003 TV run, "SpongeBob" was comfortable reveling in its eccentricity and subversive humor (think "Pee Wee's Playhouse" meets "Ren & Stimpy") despite its target audience being the 2-11 age group. As a result, adult fans came out of the woodwork. Luckily, The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie retains the broad appeal of its show by balancing butt jokes for the kids and witty one-liners geared toward adults.

SpongeBob--a happy-go-lucky yellow sponge not without his drama queen moments--works as a cook at the Krusty Krab burger joint, but expects to be promoted to manager when his boss, Mr. Krabs, opens a second franchise (next door, of course). When he's overlooked, he goes on an ice cream sundae bender with his thick starfish pal Patrick, which somehow leads to them being assigned the thankless task of fetching King Neptune's crown (stolen by Krusty Krab competitor Plankton). They must find it before Neptune kills Mr. Krabs and Plankton zombifies the entire Bikini Bottom community.

Interspersed through the traditionally animated flick are live action segments, including one with a David Hasselhoff cameo, which only adds to the film's often random wackiness. Such scenes are often more silly than humorous, but part of the cartoon's appeal is its camp factor. Remarkably, the writers don't pander very much to either children or adults; the hilarity is such that you have to laugh even if you don't understand the context. And thus, SpongeBob is too clever to be a promotional vehicle. It has far too much respect for its audience.--Mike Prevatt