Are you ready, kids? Because I have a SpongeBob SquarePants opinion that you're probably not going to like.
Ok, maybe you will, perhaps you won't, but I have to talk about it. For the last few years, we've seen a steep influx of SpongeBob SquarePants movies. Either they're released on streaming or they come out in theaters, but most of the time, they are pretty successful. Heck, one has even come out this year as part of the 2025 Netflix schedule—Plankton: The Movie.
To my generation, you'd think this is the end of the world when you speak to them. There are so many avid SpongeBob fans who believe that these movies are ruining Stephen Hillenburg's name (the creator of the original show) and everything else that made the series great. But I have something to say – the movies are actually still fun, and I think we all need to take a deep breath and look at the big picture here.
Let Me Start By Saying I Grew Up On SpongeBob, So I'm Passionate About It
It's easy to tell you that I grew up watching SpongeBob SquarePants because I'm Gen Z. The show pretty much defined our childhood. I can tell you the best SpongeBob SquarePants episodes or I could go on and on about the best SpongeBob specials. Either way, I'm a massive fan of this show.
I always have been, really. SpongeBob was one of the few shows that my brother (who is five years older than me) and I watched all the time as children, and one of the few things we bonded over before we grew up. Today, we still talk in SpongeBob quotes, and our parents still don't understand half of what we say—because it's our thing. So this show means a lot to me.
Truthfully, the movies do as well. The first one means the most – as it came out back in theaters and it was the best thing ever for little old me. I'll even watch it now when I'm feeling down. So, I really do love this series – which is why I wanted to talk about how the new movies aren't that bad.
I Was A Bit Hesitant On The New Movies, But They Are, At The Very Least, Creative
Look, say what you want about the SpongeBob spinoffs that have come out. I'm personally more iffy on those just because it's that kind of stuff the original creator didn't want. But as for the films? I genuinely enjoy them.
Of course, I was hesitant at first – we all would be. When something changes its animation style or its delivery of jokes, it can be daunting at first – scary, even. This is what we're used to as children, and seeing a franchise transform itself so powerfully, aside from the voice actors, is considered a shock to the system. But I gave some of the movies a chance, and they're actually really creative and a lot of fun.
I went into many of these with an open mind—the SpongeBob mainline film series with Sponge Out of Water, Sponge on the Run and all that, as well as the Netflix spinoff films. I knew they weren't going to be exactly like the show I grew up on, but that was okay.
And even if you're not a big fan of the jokes, the movies are creative. The animation style is fun once you get used to it, and some really well-done sequences are quite unique that make you snicker and scratch your head because you wonder, "How on earth did someone come up with this?"
But that's always been the beauty of the series – the show is just crazy in many ways, and the animation in these films capitalizes on that, just in a different way.
Some Of The Jokes Don't Land As Well, But Humor Has Changed A Lot - And So Have Kids
Look, the jokes are not the same, and the humor in SpongeBob will never be the same. But did you know that this series has run for 25 years? So much so that it is now officially the longest-running children's animated series ever, past Arthur?
Yeah, humor has changed a lot.
I'm not just saying the acceptance of humor – as we've already gone over Nickelodeon removing older episodes of SpongeBob due to that. I'm talking about just the kind of jokes we find funny now, or maybe we think they're not funny, but a different generation finds them funny. Some of the jokes don't land for us, but hey, we're adults now, and these films are made for kids, and they laugh – and that's all that really matters at the end of the day.
I'm sure that as children, we found jokes in the original episodes of the show absolutely hysterical, but our parents just didn't understand at the time. The same wheel has revolved around, and now we're the adults not quite getting it—and that's okay. Because these movies aren't for us.
And Even Then, There Are Still Things Adults Will Enjoy Too
Even so, there are still moments in these films that adults can enjoy because many of them take a deeper dive into characters that we all know and love and don't just focus on the sponge of it all.
Take Plankton: The Movie, for example. Does the film go against certain things that have been in SpongeBob lore for years? Of course it does. With a show that runs for 25 years, it's hard to keep track of it all.
But you want to know what's fun about it for adults? The fact that we know the characters.
You cheer for Plankton and Karen, the two main characters of this film, because we know about their relationship after so long. It's so much fun watching Karen finally become an evil genius and seeing Plankton realize how much he cares about her. It's like coming home to old friends.
No, this film won't win any Oscars, but man, as a SpongeBob fan, I really enjoyed it. I think other SpongeBob fans will, too.
Just Because The Movies Aren't Like The Ones You Remember Doesn't Mean That Other People Don't Find Joy In Them
This is my biggest issue. While I do think that the new SpongeBob films are fun, it always bothers me whenever someone dumps on them simply for their animation, joke style, etc. Do you not have better ways to spend your time than tweeting angry replies on a social media platform?
Just because you don't enjoy it doesn't mean there aren't millions of others out there who do. There's a reason these movies and episodes keep getting made—because people watch them. They enjoy them. While I'm not the target demographic anymore, and I don't plan to watch the new episodes or shows that often, I can at least understand why now.
I'm saying that next time, you can give the movies a chance instead of just blindly hating them from afar. This show essentially crafted our childhood. We literally know about Nosferatu from this series; people my age, full-grown adults, still watch the earlier episodes. Who are we to take that joy from a new generation of fans with the latest style of animation?
Let people love what they love. And then you can watch what you watch. But don't hate the films just because it's something you're uncomfortable with – that's just ignorance. Hop on the 'I'm Ready' train for a new generation.