Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie

Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie
Promotional release poster
Directed by	Liza Johnson
Screenplay by	Tom Stern Kaz
Story by	Kaz
Based on	SpongeBob SquarePants by Stephen Hillenburg
Produced by	Robert Engleman
Starring	Carolyn Lawrence Tom Kenny Clancy Brown Bill Fagerbakke Mr. Lawrence Rodger Bumpass Ilia Isorelýs Paulino Matty Cardarople Wanda Sykes
Cinematography	Greg Gardiner
Edited by	Billy Weber Matthew Feinman
Music by	Moniker
Production company	Nickelodeon Movies
Distributed by	Netflix
Release date	August 2, 2024 (2024-08-02)
Running time	82 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie is a 2024 American adventure comedy film based on the animated television series SpongeBob SquarePants, created by Stephen Hillenburg. It was directed by Liza Johnson and written by Tom Stern and Kaz, based on a story by Kaz. Combining CGI animation with live-action, the film stars the series' regular voice cast and introduces new characters performed by Johnny Knoxville, Craig Robinson, Grey DeLisle, Ilia Isorelýs Paulino, Matty Cardarople, and Wanda Sykes. The plot follows Sandy and SpongeBob as they venture to Sandy's home state of Texas to save Bikini Bottom from an evil CEO. It is the first in a series of SpongeBob character spin-off films.

The film was first conceived during a pitching session for ideas for The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run (2020). In March 2020, ViacomCBS announced that it would be producing SpongeBob spin-off films for streaming television. In May 2021, a spin-off film starring Sandy was announced, with Johnson, Kaz, and Stern attached, and Moniker composing the original score.

Prior to its release, the film was leaked on January 21, 2024, as a video upload on X. Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie was officially released on Netflix on August 2, 2024. The film debuted with 12.8 million views during its premiere weekend, making it Netflix's most-watched title of the week, and received mixed reviews from critics.

Plot

B.O.O.T.S. (Bureau Of Official Texas Science) Laboratory in Galveston, Texas, where Sandy Cheeks works, scoops Bikini Bottom and its inhabitants out of the ocean. Confused about their possible motives, Sandy and SpongeBob SquarePants go to the surface to return Bikini Bottom to the ocean floor, but are blown off course by a tornado after hitching a ride on an airplane to reach B.O.O.T.S.

At B.O.O.T.S., Mr. Krabs goes outside to see what is going on and is surprised to see a human woman; Phoebe, one of Sandy's closest colleagues at B.O.O.T.S. along with Kyle. After discovering that Sandy and SpongeBob were not captured, Sue Nahmee, the new head of B.O.O.T.S., demands that they capture them as soon as possible.

During a fight with a gang of rattlesnakes, one of them bites Sandy and she calls upon her family, who work as a traveling circus act, for help, and they agree to bring them to B.O.O.T.S. At B.O.O.T.S., Sue explains her plan to genetically modify the people of Bikini Bottom to breathe air and then clone them to sell as toy pets, experimenting on Mr. Krabs, Squidward, and Patrick to test how well children will enjoy playing with them.

While Sandy's brother, Randy, shows SpongeBob how to do the Cheeks family whistle, the family gets into a car chase with the police because Randy used their van to illegally smuggle nuts. While they fend them off with the tornado, this does not work; as a last resort, SpongeBob and Sandy are launched out of a cannon to B.O.O.T.S. At the water park, Cuda, Sue Nahmee's pet pug, pursues them into the sewers, which leads to B.O.O.T.S. Sandy learns of Sue's plans and tries to attack her, but Sue puts her in a cage with a hamster wheel while SpongeBob is put on a roller coaster ride leading to the cloning chamber. Sue, who is revealed to be a cyborg masquerading as a human, explains that she was motivated by the desire to cuddle with fish, which she could not do because fish die when out of water. She also reveals that she used Sandy's life in Bikini Bottom to spy on its inhabitants, causing everyone to feel betrayed. SpongeBob arrives in the cloning chamber and is popped and turned into thousands of tiny versions of himself.

One of the tiny SpongeBobs motivates Sandy, telling her not to give up on saving Bikini Bottom. Sandy escapes from the cage and confronts Sue, who is defeated after she is decapitated and her head is fed to her pet fish. Mr. Krabs discovers that fusing the tiny SpongeBobs together will return SpongeBob to normal, and he, Squidward, and Patrick work together to bring him back. However, the stand holding the glass orb containing Bikini Bottom collapses and the orb cracks, causing water to leak out. Sandy tries to call her family for help using the whistle, but is unable to because she lost a tooth while fighting Sue. Having learned the whistle himself, SpongeBob calls upon them to help rig a mechanism to launch Bikini Bottom back into the ocean. With Bikini Bottom back in place, everyone celebrates by having the Cheeks family circus perform at the Krusty Krab.

Cast

Main article: List of SpongeBob SquarePants characters

• Carolyn Lawrence as Sandy Cheeks and others
• Tom Kenny as SpongeBob SquarePants, Gary the Snail and others
• Mr. Lawrence as Plankton, Larry the Lobster and others
• Mary Jo Catlett as Mrs. Puff
• Clancy Brown as Mr. Krabs and others
• Bill Fagerbakke as Patrick Star and others
• Rodger Bumpass as Squidward Tentacles and others
• Dee Bradley Baker as Video Voice and others
• Christopher Hagen, Rio Alexander and Ryan Begay as Cowboys
• Ilia Isorelýs Paulino as Phoebe
• Matty Cardarople as Kyle
• Wanda Sykes as Sue Nahmee
  • Jamaria Davis as Young Sue Nahmee
• Jill Talley as Karen and various
• Craig Robinson as Pa Cheeks
• Grey DeLisle as Ma Cheeks, Granny Cheeks, Rowdy Cheeks, and Rosie Cheeks
• Johnny Knoxville as Randy Cheeks
• Kari Wahlgren as SeaPals Kid
• Miles Hall as Boy
• Jersey Johnston as Girl

Production

Conception and development

Executive producer Marc Ceccarelli pitched Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie during a session of pitching ideas for The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run (2020). The idea got passed on, but a few years later, when the team wanted to do a Sandy Cheeks-centric story, he brought it back up and it was put into development. Director Liza Johnson was a newcomer to the world of animation. She was hired to direct the film because of her work on a season 2 episode of What We Do in the Shadows, "The Curse", which had Ceccarelli's favorite joke in the series. Carolyn Lawrence, the voice actor of Sandy, had heard whispers at work of a Sandy-related project in the works and described herself as being in shock when she received a phone call confirming it. Lawrence praised Johnson's vision for the film and immediately loved the script.

In March 2020, it was reported that ViacomCBS would be producing two spin-off films based on the series SpongeBob SquarePants for Netflix. In May 2021, a spin-off film with Sandy as its lead character was announced to be in development from Nickelodeon for streaming television, to be directed by Johnson from a script written by Kaz and Tom J. Stern and described as a hybrid feature that will put the animated title character into a live-action setting. In August 2021, it was revealed that plans to film Saving Bikini Bottom in Los Alamos were scrapped due to rewrites of the script.

In February 2022, during an investor call, Nickelodeon CEO Brian Robbins said that three SpongeBob character-driven spin-off films were in the works and that they would release exclusively on streamer Paramount+, with the first one premiering in 2023. However, in April 2023, it was reported that Saving Bikini Bottom would instead debut on Netflix in 2024. That same month, in addition to a first-look reveal, it was revealed that Wanda Sykes, Johnny Knoxville, Craig Robinson, Grey DeLisle, Ilia Isorelýs Paulino, and Matty Cardarople were part of the cast. Series regulars Carolyn Lawrence, Tom Kenny, Clancy Brown, Bill Fagerbakke, Mr. Lawrence, and Rodger Bumpass were also confirmed to reprise their roles.

Filming, visual effects and animation

Greg Gardiner served as the film's cinematographer for its live-action scenes. Animation was provided by Pipeline Studios and Sinking Ship Entertainment in Ontario, Canada. Spin VFX in Ontario and ReDefine Animation in Montreal, Quebec, completed the live-action VFX parts of the film. Johnson started work early on to storyboard the entire film and together with animation supervisor, Piero Piluso, create an integrated look for the mix of live-action and animation. As a newcomer to animation, Johnson felt the process was a learning experience for both parties. The combination of the new animation style, story requirements, and technical and budget limitations were factors in deciding how scenes would look to make certain "that everything that people love and care about each character is still present, even though we're doing it in new conditions".

Music

Moniker composed its original score. The film's soundtrack album was released by Lakeshore Records on August 2, 2024, the same day as the film. It features the Sandy Cheeks Theme based on the SpongeBob Squarepants theme, and performed by Tami Neilson. Additional original songs were written by Neilson, Linda Perry, Kaz, Jacques Brautbar, and Chantal Claret.

Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

No.	Title	Artist(s)	Length
1.	"Sandy Cheeks Theme"	Tami Neilson	1:41
2.	"My Name Is Sandy Cheeks"	Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie cast	2:06
3.	"The Amazing Flying Cheeks"	Linda Perry & Rhodes Gilbert-Perry	0:35
4.	"She Makes Waves"	Chantal Claret	3:11
5.	"This Squirrel’s Done Good"	Cast	1:41
6.	"Squidward Breathes"	Cast	1:50
7.	"Focus Group"	Moniker	1:05
8.	"Digger Claw Attack"	Moniker	2:35
9.	"Blast Off"	Moniker	1:31
10.	"Memories"	Moniker	2:38
11.	"Rattlesnakes"	Moniker	2:34

Release

Prior to its release, the entire film was leaked on January 21, 2024, as a video upload on X. Saving Bikini Bottom was released officially on Netflix on August 2, 2024.

Reception

Viewership

Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie debuted with 12.8 million views over its premiere weekend, making it Netflix's most-watched title and most-watched film of that week and outpacing contemporaries on the streamer like Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie and Trolls Band Together (both 2023). In the following week ending on August 11, the film garnered 13.4 million views, an increase from its debut, making it the number one overall title and the top film on the English-language film chart.

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 56% of 16 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4.9/10. Catherine Bray of The Guardian gave the film a three out of five star rating. They commended its entertainment value and appeal to younger audiences and concluded, "For general viewers, it may not pack as much of an emotional punch, but like SpongeBob himself, it’s thoroughly absorbing." Tessa Smith of Mama’s Geeky praised the film for its humor, animation, and story and said, "Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie delivers the same type of jokes that SpongeBob SquarePants fans are used to, but it also tells a heartwarming story and allows viewers to finally meet Sandy and see where she comes from." Adam Graham of The Detroit News gave the film a C grade. They felt it retained the series' irreverent humour but in a way that did not connect and criticized it for being overly busy, undercooked, and "feeling like a knockoff rather than a spinoff". Barry Levitt of The Daily Beast largely disliked the film, citing its sidelining of main characters, underdeveloped new characters, lackluster animation and script. He said, "Sandy has always been a delightful if underappreciated part of Bikini Bottom, but the movie fails to give her the spotlight she rightfully deserves. Its initial promise is washed out by cheap jokes, an uninspired plot, and off-putting animation".

External links

• Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie on Netflix
• Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie at Rotten Tomatoes
• Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie at IMDb