I loved the SpongeBob Movie, first one to be precise. I saw it when it was new, I was around eight at the time, I played the console and GBA games, it was a great flick. But, you heard so bad is good, is The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie destined to be a prime example of so good it's bad? I'm gonna go over the fundamentals of this film, or at least those I can find, and we'll see what happens.
So Good It's Bad
Perhaps I should explain since the concept could be better defined. We all know what so bad it's good is, obviously. When it comes to so good it's bad, it centers on a good movie that gets a lot of attention and praise. The bad comes when it gets way too much attention, so much so that it transcends beyond being a good movie, and gradually those who rarely if ever saw the film would base their views on public perception alone and not understand what made the movie so good to begin with.
Ocean Man became a meme, case closed on transcendence. What's the joke? That it plays at the end of a movie? Hilarious. I know nobody's gonna explain. Not to mention there're people who complain about the film's Rotten Tomatoes score. I mean, critic scores don't mean shit, does it make any difference how highly SpongeBob scores?
Transcendence is also dangerous because with praise comes detractors, those who have their nose closer to the asphalt and would claim that The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, while good, isn't great, and for one, that can be lost on a lot of people, and for another, the bigger they are the harder they fall. For instance, I loved Teen Titans growing up, but that show is riddled with problems. If more people are made aware of a show or movie's flaws then there'll be a growing minority turned majority that would declare it to suck years later.
And if you want an example of that, take a look at Sonic Adventure 2. The game was praised to high heavens and for a time a lot of people bashed on it, calling it terrible. Had it not been a SpongeBob related film, we would've seen backlash sooner.
What Actually is the SpongeBob Movie?
The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, in a few statements, came out at the right place at the right time. It was released in the mid-2000s when most of the internet was still young and hype was gradually built upon in previous years. It served as the last chapter in what is considered the golden age of the series. It was directed by Stephen Hillenburg, a man who is shrouded in irony. He claimed he never wanted SpongeBob to be a success, and he has to put up with an onslaught of devoted fans who cram words into his mouth every day.
If you take away the elements above, what does this movie have that others do not? What makes this movie transcend beyond others. Honestly, at most it feels like the typical cartoon movie roadtrip. You may say the mystique and scope of the film outdid others, but when it comes to SpongeBob, anything is possible and the mystique kinda wears off when you realize the show did similar things before. Going into reality, they did that in Pressure, meeting a live action person, how can one forget Tom Kenny's shower scene?
Point is, everything that happens in the SpongeBob Movie feels like it is entirely possible. It was already a surrealistic show and okay, there's a difference between something being expected and expecting something to happen, but it's not impossible for something like that to happen.
Films like Beavis and Butthead Do America and the first two Rugrats movies handle this a bit better because they've gone beyond what's considered normal for them, while also adding to the show's more emotional moments. The SpongeBob Movie had a grand adventure that seemed possible, while Rugrats not only had a change in their environments, but the prospect of babies attempting to make it through such environments with constant odds against them really adds to the impact.
On Beavis and Butthead, they rarely ever left Highland so the prospect of a road trip film is made more palatable. Yes the situations seem like they would happen in the previous episodes but the scope is amped up to a much higher degree.
Okay it sounds like I'm just waxing praise over movies I like more than the SpongeBob movie, but once more, an impact a movie adaptation has depends solely on what the series was like before, and once more it feels like what happens in the SpongeBob movie is not out of the realm of possibility for previous episodes. He has tangled with Neptune before, among other things.
And even without the SpongeBob spit and polish, you're left with a typical cartoon movie road trip type film, a cliche people would mock in general, but make exceptions to.
Then of course there's the overall message, which wasn't so much compelling was it was just hitting the right notes for people, like a more friendly form of gaslighting to make you think it's more than it actually is. It's not bad, don't get me wrong, but it's not transcendence material. What is Nickelodeon? A kids network. What is SpongeBob Movie trying to teach? That it's fun to be a kid and even a kid can brave the biggest challenges. At worst it feels like a reaffirmation of Nickelodeon's mission statement, one a lot agree with.
A message doesn't have to be compelling if everyone happens to agree with it, and because a lot of people that saw it were kids, okay 90% along with the big adult following people like to bring up a lot, it left a much bigger impact clearly still felt to this day. It hit the right notes, and while it's not a bad message, there's a fine line between a genuine message, and one that is by design.
Then there's the film's humor. Humor is the saving grace of any film that takes an overdone premise near verbatim. Yes, the SpongeBob movie is hilarious, I'd never deny it that, but when you take into account when it was released, during the show's golden age, I'm like no shit it's hilarious, it was back when Stephen was still heavily involved, they were able to give it all, or they had to for the sake of getting more asses in theaters.
Comparing the movie to the show's jokes... how different are they in principle? Once more we have jokes and gags that could be seen in the show itself had the idea come to them. Of course people would object to nitpicking jokes, but I'd like to point out how one works in theory, but makes little sense. You know that joke where Patrick pulls out the magical bag of winds toward the end, and we see this big thing in his pants? It seems like a very simple joke in prospect, though some would point out that it was a callback to a similar gag in Squidville, but, they somehow do and don't do it, and people are forced to figure the rest out. Just saying.
There's also the big moment, that is the big emotional moment, and I'm gonna surely be hanged for it but... I didn't feel anything. I'm sorry, but i feel that fake-out death at Shell City was either hollow or not executed very well. Maybe it was the fact that main characters never die in these things, maybe it's because those feeling emotions are those pirates watching it, maybe it's the fact that it only happens for a minute or so and then all is well, I dunno, it just didn't feel right. Rugrats Movie again. They did a similar thing with Spike toward the end, but the way they did it had more impact in my opinion, him giving his life to protect the babies, and they hang on it just long enough to make you believe they went that far. Hell, Rugrats in Paris, the entire thing dealt with Chuckie wanting a mother in his life, a big element to his character from even the show.
I'm not saying The SpongeBob Movie scene was bad, it just wasn't as great as other emotional moments in Nickelodeon movies, but that's my opinion.
As another little thing, let's go over the animation a bit. It looks fine, but compared to others it feels a little more.. budget, compared to other movies. For perspective, The Rugrats Movie and Rugrats in Paris came out years before The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, and it looks like more money went into the animation. Referring back to Beavis and Butthead Do America, the show already had some pretty basic animation, so even if any changes from the series to the film seem limited it's not as bad because it still technically went beyond what's normal for the show's animation.
Here, it feels like a slightly higher TV budget. For perspective, the animation is just slightly above that on the Hey Arnold Movie, and that was initially intended for television. I guess the reason they went with that kind of animation was so that it would mesh better with the live-action scenery in most of the scenes, to mixed results. The 2D animation looks fairly stiff, and given that SpongeBob supplanted their previous cash cow in Rugrats you'd think more effort would be put into it.
You may say the animation is forgivable because of the scope and use of live-action, I'd say they were a little too far ahead on it. Makes you think they decided to go the 3D route in the second film when the characters entered reality, or, went out of the water. I'm not saying the SpongeBob Movie was cheap, it just kinda looked that way and didn't age entirely well on that front.
Now, people are allowed to turn a blind eye on poor animation and familiar tropes if the humor and story is strong enough to justify it, I mean just look at what happened with Hoodwinked. And of course good animation doesn't always mean the rest of the movie is good, Toy Story 4 beckons, don't get it twisted.
Way I see it, this movie is great for SpongeBob fans, but otherwise okay for people outside of it. You can watch it plenty of times but it's not necessarily one that would hold up under heavy scrutiny, and it wouldn't have to come to that if this movie hasn't been held up on such a high pedestal. High standards are a two way street, if you make something out to be better than it actually is, keen eyes will catch on, and you're gonna have to put up with those contrarian commentators, represent.
Nostalgia and Timing
The movie is gonna be 20 years old in 2024. Those who saw it growing up would become part of the internet soon after. It's certainly a nostalgic movie, and I can attest it was nostalgic to me. But nostalgia is a double edged sword, it can affect your judgement on just about anything. For perspective, you wanna know what movies made me nostalgic? The live action Cat in the Hat movie, Joe’s Apartment, the first two Rugrats Movies, the Hey Arnold Movie, the 2003 Haunted Mansion movie, The Master of Disguise, Hulk, Spawn, Kangaroo Jack, the first live action Scooby-Doo movie, Final Destination 3, Little Nicky and Catwoman, movies I grew up watching or was exposed to constantly through trailers or posters, and people hate the shit out of them.
See what I mean? Nostalgia can help, and it can hurt too, especially when it's used in the wrong places. For instance, let's refer to Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. When you take a deeper look at the film, you'd realize it is fundamentally flawed, and the only things that truly carry it are quite honestly minimal. This seems like the kind of film that would be riffed on by Mystery Science Theater 3000 with how low tech and weird it is.
But you may be saying, well it's a great success, it's in the Library of Congress and Roger Ebert likes it. I mean he likes Speed 2 so your argument's invalid on that front. But to be serious, the reason Willy Wonka became so beloved was because of constant exposure. It was used by television networks to fill air time, allowing more people to see it. I mean if you want to know more, check out this video by Media Mementos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pw2vRbewluA
For a little perspective, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory was made as a commercial for Wonka brand candy with none of the soul from the book with which it was based off of, much like how the SpongeBob SquarePants movie was made to capitalize on the success of the show, like other Nickelodeon properties, it just happened to also allow for some passion to be put into it.
My point is that a movie's reputation can be cemented through nostalgia, and thus the greater implications behind a movie's reason for being can gradually be lost. Since this movie came out in 2004 before social media truly took off, along with SpongeBob's constant exposure at that time even to now, it had time to set in for everybody, and it just got bigger, and bigger, and bigger, and nothing helped to moderate it. It wasn’t something overlooked at first, it was beloved from the start and that kept going.
I swear if someone says this movie is underrated-
A movie can get better with age, and the SpongeBob movie stagnates in this regard. The smarter the movie, the more likely you can pick up on undertones you never found before. Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle for instance, as a kid I just saw it as a funny stoner flick, but years later I realize it not only subverts tropes but has commentary in regard to racism. I bring that movie up as both it and the SpongeBob movie came out the same year.
A truly great movie has something that encourages people to come back to it time and time again, whether you pick up on hidden subtext or it had a grand impact. I feel that while the SpongeBob SquarePants movie had some impact, it's not nearly as strong as people make it out to be. You get what you paid for the first time, and you'll get it again the next few times. Had this not come out the time it did, would it have made the same kind of impact? I mean look at what happened with the later two films- er, the second. Nobody seems to like it as much. Now, if this SpongeBob movie came out in more recent years, in a time when people preached the word of Hillenburg, would they be able to accept a King Neptune that looks different? The sudden introduction of his daughter if Clash of Triton came before it? There being a Krusty Krab 2? The use of celebrities?
It all comes crumbling down when it comes to tropes and cliches that people like to make fun of. People mock the road trip element of most animated adaptations, people complain about celebrity incorporations (just look at Sponge on the Run), and since this is SpongeBob you have people who lose their shit over minor continuity errors. It seems like a recipe for disaster if you ask me.
Final Thoughts
I don't hate the SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, but I also don't think it's as great as everything claims it to be. It had the unfortunate curse of being a SpongeBob-related thing to come out during the Hillenburg age, and thus it was around longer to really set in for people. If you take away the nostalgia and old SpongeBob appeal, what've you got? A generic road trip film that people considered cliche, incredibly stiff animation that falls below even older Nickelodeon films, humor and a scope that doesn't even go beyond what the show was already known for, and a fairly generic moral that feels like it doesn't exist from a geniune standpoint, what's the most obvious moral we can come up with that would appeal to our kid audience?
It's another case study on how the higher up a film or show is held, the more likely cracks in its foundation begin to show, and the naysayers begin to rise. The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie is too big for its own good, and even the nostalgia I had for it has worn out. Frankly the only thing that made me nostalgic was the closing credits, and shock of all shocks Ocean Man has become played out for me ever since it became a meme.
But those are my thoughts, what's yours?
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