The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie

The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie is a 2004 American animated adventure comedy film based on the television series SpongeBob SquarePants. It was co-written, co-produced, and directed by series creator Stephen Hillenburg^[3] and features the series' regular voice cast consisting of Tom Kenny, Bill Fagerbakke, Clancy Brown, Rodger Bumpass, Mr. Lawrence, Jill Talley, Carolyn Lawrence, and Mary Jo Catlett. Guest stars Alec Baldwin, Scarlett Johansson, and Jeffrey Tambor voice new characters, and David Hasselhoff appears in live-action as himself. In the film, Plankton enacts a plan to discredit his business nemesis Mr. Krabs, steal the Krabby Patty secret formula and take over the world by stealing King Neptune's crown and framing Mr. Krabs for the crime. SpongeBob and Patrick team up to retrieve the crown from Shell City to save Mr. Krabs from Neptune's wrath and save Bikini Bottom from Plankton's rule.

Hillenburg accepted an offer for a film adaptation of SpongeBob SquarePants from Paramount Pictures in 2002, after turning it down multiple times the previous year. He assembled a team from the show's writing staff, including himself, Derek Drymon, Tim Hill, Kent Osborne, Aaron Springer, and Paul Tibbitt, and structured the film as a mythical hero's journey that would bring SpongeBob and Patrick to the surface. Originally intended to be the series finale of the show, the film marked the last time Hillenburg was showrunner before Tibbitt took his place for over a decade.

The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie premiered in Los Angeles on November 14, 2004, and was released in the United States on November 19. It received generally positive reviews and grossed $141 million worldwide on a $30 million budget. It is the first in a series of SpongeBob films, including The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water (2015) and The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run (2020). A fourth film, The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants, is scheduled to be released on December 19, 2025.

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