Paramount’s biggest animated franchise just made history
The SpongeBob Movie: The Search for SquarePants just did something that took everybody off-guard. It’s a big opening weekend at the Movies with Avatar: Fire and Ash squaring off with everybody’s favorite yellow sponge. But, The SpongeBob Movie: The Search for SquarePants has managed to exceed some expectations already. Over on Rotten Tomatoes, the latest adventure with Nickelodeon’s signature cartoon mascot is sitting at a 85% fresh on the Tomatometer. That’s good enough for the highest mark in the franchise’s history. And, a good omen with the big weekend set to begin.
Nickelodeon has been able to depend on the charming little dude with the square pants for decades now. Not too long ago the cable network made the choice to renew Spongebob Squarepants for multiple seasons. Tom Kenny’s signature character is the centerpiece of the channel’s beloved NFL coverage as well. So, the appetite for SpongeBob really hasn’t subsided at all since the series got rolling.
Now, The SpongeBob Movie: The Search for SquarePants is poised to have a big outing with the film being the biggest family attraction in town a week before Christmas. It’s a nice, stable feeling to look up at the marquee and see SpongeBob as an option. Time will tell what happens, but it seems like the fan-favorite character is ready for a fun time. All of the families are looking for something to entertain both the young and the young at heart.
The SpongeBob Movie: The Search for SquarePants crushes on Rotten Tomatoes
A big reason why people might be gravitating toward Spongebob slaves adventure is the wild world we live in. Nostalgia’s never been bigger, and it doesn’t get much better for a lot of millennials than remembering tuning into Nickelodeon years ago. Entertainment Weekly caught up with Tom Kenny to talk about how powerful comedy can be when times get rough!
“It’s just crazy, weird, unbalanced times. Nobody knows what’s happening. Everybody’s got their head down, everybody’s scared,” Kenny says. “… It’s gonna be a rough Christmas for people.”
“It really is like comfort food,” the star added. “Those people that grew up on the show, they need comfort right now. They tell me they do. Adulting is hard and overrated, but you gotta do it. You know, ‘Join or die!’ The world is tough, and you’re just inundated with sad, negative, cruel things all the time, every day, hourly.”
“So, I guess, whether it’s 11 minutes or 86 minutes, if you can dip into SpongeBob for a little bit — and it’s silly and he’s this weirdo that lets his freak flag fly, but people still like him — there’s something very empowering about that for people,” he joked about the character he’s helped put on the map. “Comedy’s always done well during tough times, like economic depressions and just tough times in general. SpongeBob really doesn’t exist for any other reason than to be funny.”
The SpongeBob Movie: The Search for SquarePants is in theaters right now.
(Photo Credit: Paramount Pictures/Nickelodeon)
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