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ANIMATED series SpongeBob SquarePants’ first spinoff film, Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie, releases on Netflix tomorrow.
Directed by Liza Johnson, the film stars the show’s regular voice cast, which includes Carolyn Lawrence and Tom Kenny as Sandy and SpongeBob, as well as a set of all-new characters.
The 3D animated movie with live-action segments focuses on the squirrel scientist’s journey as she ventures with SpongeBob to Texas, her home state, to save Bikini Bottom from being scooped off the ocean by an evil CEO.
“Saving Bikini Bottom is primarily about the squirrel scientist, Sandy Cheeks, and a journey that she takes when her community under the water has been taken away by a terrifying villain. She is standing on the edge of that community with SpongeBob, her friend, when all of her friends get taken away, and she goes on a journey to find them and bring them back to where they belong,” director Liza said.
Fans are expecting two more character-driven spin-offs of the beloved franchise, as Nickelodeon chief executive Brian Robbins revealed in 2022 that three films were in the works.
The American television series by the late marine science educator and animator Stephen Hillenburg officially premiered for the first time on Nickelodeon in 1999.
The show focuses on the title character’s adventures alongside his friends in the underwater city of Bikini Bottom. The ongoing cartoon received worldwide critical acclaim and is one of the longest-running American animated series, currently consisting of 14 seasons.
The first film based on the television series titled The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie released in 2004, and earned critical acclaim and grossed $141 million worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing animated movie of that year.
The adventure comedy was followed by two theatrical releases, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water (2015) and The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run (2020).
A fourth creation titled The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants is set for release in December next year.
