The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water

Directed by series veteran Paul Tibbit, the film stars Antonio Banderas as the live-action character Burger Beard and features the show’s regular voice cast consisting of Tom Kenny, Clancy Brown, Rodger Bumpass, Bill Fagerbakke, Carolyn Lawrence, and Mr. Lawrence, with Matt Berry as a new character.

The plot follows a pirate named Burger Beard, who steals the secret Krabby Patty formula using a magical book that makes any text written upon it come true. SpongeBob and his friends must travel to the ocean’s surface to confront Burger Beard and retrieve the formula. It is the second theatrical film based on the series following first in 2004.

The film was written by Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger; they adapted it from a story conceived by Tibbit and SpongeBob creator Stephen Hillenburg. Like the first film, the final act places the animated characters in a live-action world. However, unlike the first film, the animated characters become animated in CGI in the live-action world.

These scenes were directed by Mike Mitchell and were filmed in Savannah and Tybee Island, Georgia. Filming began on September 30, 2013, and was completed in November that year. The film is dedicated to Ernest Borgnine, the voice of Mermaid Man, who died in 2012. Similarly, it features the final film role of Tim Conway, the voice of Barnacle Boy, before his death in 2019.

The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water was released in the United States on February 6, 2015, in 3D and RealD 3D and received mostly positive reviews from critics.

It was a box office success, earning over $325 million worldwide against its $60–74 million budget, making it the third-highest-grossing Nickelodeon film and the 6th highest-grossing animated film of 2015. A third film, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run, was released in 2020.

The book tells the story of SpongeBob SquarePants and his adventures in the underwater city of Bikini Bottom. SpongeBob works for Mr. Krabs at the Krusty Krab fast food restaurant, where he cooks Krabby Patties. SpongeBob has spent several years protecting the secret formula of the Krabby Patty from Plankton, the owner of the rival Chum Bucket.

One day, Plankton attacks the Krusty Krab in an attempt to steal the formula. After a battle involving giant foods and condiments, Plankton feigns surrender and uses a decoy of himself to gain access to Krabs’ vault. Plankton steals the formula, leaving a fake document in its place. SpongeBob catches Plankton and they fight over the formula, which abruptly disappears.

Without the secret formula, Krabby Patties cannot be made and the customers become ravenous. Although Mr. Krabs believes Plankton is responsible, SpongeBob knows Plankton is innocent; the two escape Krabs by flying away in a soap bubble. Bikini Bottom is subsequently reduced to a wasteland due to the absence of the Krabby Patties.

After a struggle between Burger Beard and some seagulls, a page of the book is discarded in the ocean and lands on Sandy Cheeks’ tree dome. SpongeBob proposes teaming up with Plankton to find the formula, and the two decide to travel back in time to the moment before the formula disappeared.

SpongeBob and Plankton assemble the machine and travel far into the future, where they meet Bubbles, a magical bottlenose dolphin who acts as an overseer of the galaxy, and inadvertently get him fired. After escaping a furious Bubbles, SpongeBob and Plankton retrieve the formula from the past, but upon returning to their time, they discover that it is the fake one previously left by Plankton.

A deranged Sandy suggests a sacrifice to appease the “sandwich gods” for Krabby Patties and SpongeBob volunteers. As the town attempts to do so, the latter alerts the crowd that he smells Krabby Patties, which Mr. Krabs also smells. The townsfolk follow the scent, which leads to the surface.

Bubbles returns, telling SpongeBob that he hated his job and is grateful that he was fired. He repays SpongeBob by granting him and his friends the ability to breathe on land in order to follow the smell.

The team lands on a beach and discovers that the smell leads to Burger Beard’s ship, which he has converted into a food truck. Burger Beard is revealed to have stolen the formula using the magical book. He then uses the book to banish the group to an island full of pelicans.

SpongeBob uses the page Sandy had to transform himself and the others into superheroes. They return and find Burger Beard, who drives away with the formula, and give chase. During the ensuing battle, the team destroys the book, but Burger Beard manages to overpower them.

Plankton appears as a muscle-bound hero and attacks Burger Beard. With SpongeBob’s help, the two reclaim the formula and send Burger Beard flying back to Bikini Atoll. The gang uses the final page’s magic to return to Bikini Bottom. With the Krabby Patties back, the city is returned to normal and Plankton resumes his role as business rival.