While there are animated films that elicit a variety of different emotions in the viewer, Paul Tibbitt’s, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water is not one of those films. Sponge Out of Water is an animated/live action comedy based on the Nickelodeon television series SpongeBob SquarePants, created by Stephen Hillenburg. This film functions as a sequel to the 2004 animated film The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie.
SpongeBob and friends do one thing and they do it very well: they make the audience laugh. The humor is very creative and surprisingly intelligent. While the movie is silly, it is not stupid, nor does it pander to the lowest common denominator. Children and adults alike will have to be alert to catch all of the quips thrown their way.
This film can be seen in either 2D or 3D formats. One half of the film takes place underwater (utilizing classic animation), while the other half takes place on land. The computer animation used for the land sequences is so good, it looks like some new form of claymation. In a time when many cartoon franchises have decided to solely use computer animation, it is refreshing to see hand-drawn segments.
The decision to shift from classic 2D animation to 3D animation in the middle of the film serves the story well. As SpongeBob and friends enter a foreign world, the viewers are confronted with something new. It is not only the characters in the film that are forced to adapt to a drastically different context, but the audience must shift gears just like they do. As SpongeBob and friends enter the real world, they simultaneously draw the audience into theirs.
As the hero of the story, SpongeBob embodies the humanist, can-do spirit of the film. He tells Plankton that everything is better if you are part of a team. But it would be unfair to attribute this belief solely to the humanist camp. Ecclesiastes 4:12 says, “Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” In Sponge Out of Water, those who think of nothing other than their own financial success are left buried in the end. The characters that work together and share their experiences get the longed-for happy ending. There are plenty of films that can leave an audience insulted or frustrated for panning out $15 to waste an hour and a half of their lives. But The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water offers up a valuable gift—sheer buckets of laughter.