by Samuel Nichols, Contributing Writer
As the old saying goes: death, taxes, and SpongeBob. The character, the show, the memes. There is no end in sight. SpongeBob has transcended time and the up-and-down industry of television. What has made it last? The appeal to children. And The Sandy Cheeks movie is no exception to this rule.
When a devious water park steals the iconic Bikini Bottom right off the ocean floor, it’s up to Sandy Cheeks (Carolyn Lawrence) and SpongeBob SquarePants (Tom Kenny) to save them. These two will brave a scorching Texas desert, reunite with Sandy’s family, and battle an evil Wanda Sykes to save their aquatic friends. Along the way, Sandy might learn a thing or two about the different kinds of family as well.
I have a bone to pick with this movie’s visual style. SpongeBob (the show, that is) definitely started out on a shoestring budget and animated every episode with a look that felt homey. Something about the idea that maybe your little brother or sister could have drawn it made it endearing. As the show continued, it got cleaner and felt a little more polished, but it still bore a resemblance to its past self. Heck, even the first movie maintained it, even though it was far more three-dimensional than the show was at that point.
The Sandy Cheeks Movie has gone a completely different direction on the screen. From start to finish, it is 3D computer animated, and it gives the characters an unfamiliar look. Is it objectively bad? No. There’s a lot of detail the animators worked hard to create, like individual hairs on Sandy and her family. They had to integrate these characters with the live action amusement park employees. That was done seamlessly. Heck, there are even a few of the iconic zoom-in’s to a character that reveal a significant amount of creepy details.
You know who won’t pick up on those details though? KIDS!! You know, who this movie was made for. Certainly it wasn’t made with 27-year-old fans at the forefront of its mind. That’s reflective in the humor, too. The jokes are slapstick and ridiculous like a child would like. It’s not for me anymore, and that’s alright.
Apart from the visual style, this movie is easy enough to enjoy and laugh along with. SpongeBob and Sandy make plenty of jokes. The OG cast is still around and sounding like themselves. It is honestly something to be thankful for — as they’ve aged, stars like Kenny don’t feel as if the show was beneath them. Keeping them around is what allows a franchise like this to be transcendent through decades, because they are what’s familiar about it. While I may not turn on a new episode of SpongeBob anytime soon, I’m glad to know it’s still there to be enjoyed by kids.
Rating: Liked It
Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie is currently streaming on Netflix
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