The Hero’s Journey begins with one squish.

SpongeBob and his Bikini Bottom friends set sail in their biggest, all-new, can’t miss cinematic event ever…The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants.

Desperate to be a big guy, SpongeBob sets out to prove his bravery to Mr. Krabs by following The Flying Dutchman – a mysterious swashbuckling ghost pirate – on a seafaring comedy-adventure that takes him to the deepest depths of the deep sea, where no Sponge has gone before.

Movie-making and animation technology keeps improving, and even the silliest subjects can benefit from it. Never mind that I’m a grown-ass adult and this still looks like fun. Maybe the reason is that while it’s brightly colored and has slapstick action for the kids, there’s still stuff in there for the adults. Not talking down to the younger audience might be the reason for the staggering success of the SpongeBob franchise.

The SpongeBob Movie: Search for Squarepants stars Tom Kenny in the title role, with Corolyn Lawrence as Sandy Cheeks, Mr. Lawrence as Plankton (that’s really his stage name, Mr. Lawrence), Mark Hamill as The Flying Dutchman, Lori Alan as Pearl, and Mary Jo Catlett as Mrs. Puff. Bill Faberbakke is back as Patrick Star, Roger Bumpass returns as Squidward, Clancy Brown reprises his role as Mr. Krabs, and Jill Talley lends her voice once more to Plankton’s computer wife Karen. The whole thing makes its theatrical splash on December 19, 2025.