Susan Granger’s review” SpongeBob Square Pants Movie” (Paramount Pictures)
Of the 57.8 million people every month who watch this top-ranked Saturday-morning cartoon with its low-tech, hand-drawn animation, some 13.1 million are teenagers and an amazing 20.4 million are adults, aged 18-49. Now there’s a big-screen feature, including a version of the theme song sung by Avil Lavigne and tracks from hip bands like Wilco and the Flaming Lips. SpongeBob is a big, yellow, optimistic kitchen sponge who lives in a pineapple in a place called Bikini Bottom, next door to a grumpy octopus named Squidward Tentacles, who dwells in a tiki doll. SpongeBob’s friends are Gary, his pet snail; Sandy Cheeks, a Texas surfer squirrel; and Patrick, a dimwitted pink starfish. SpongeBob works as a fry-cook at the Krusty Krab shack. In this deliciously absurd coming-of-age adventure, naive SpongeBob (voiced by Tom Kenny) and clueless Patrick (voiced by Bill Fagerbakke) go on a quest to retrieve King Neptune’s (voiced by Jeffrey Tambor) stolen crown. One of SpongeBob’s strongest supporters is Mindy the Mermaid (voiced by Scarlett Johansson) and the villain is Plankton, a scheming, power-hungry amoeba (voiced by Doug Lawrence). There’s a biker hit-man Dennis (voiced by Alec Baldwin) and – at the climax – there’s even David Hasselhoff (“Baywatch”) keeping SpongeBob afloat. By co-writers Derek Drymon, Tim Hill, Kent Osborne, Aaron Springer, Paul Tibbett and director/creator Stephen Hillenburg, the whimsical, lighthearted script oozes hip, irreverent wit and sophisticated satire. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie” is an irreverent, goofy, irresistible 9, delivering laughter along with a lesson about integrity and believing in who you are so you can accomplish whatever you desire.
