Timeline-YATAD/The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie

***The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie*** is a 2004 American animated adventure comedy film based on the Yonatan Ashad Channel and Nickelodeon animated television series SpongeBob SquarePants. The film was co-written, directed, and produced by series creator Stephen Hillenburg, and features the series' regular cast of Tom Kenny, Bill Fagerbakke, Clancy Brown, Rodger Bumpass, Doug Lawrence, Jill Talley, Carolyn Lawrence, and Mary Jo Catlett, while also starring Scarlett Johansson, Jeffrey Tambor, Alec Baldwin and David Hasselhoff. It was distributed by Yonatan Ashad Productions and Paramount Pictures and produced by United Plankton Pictures, Yonatan Ashad Channel Movies, Nickelodeon Movies, Yonatan Ashad Animation Studios, Games Animation Inc., and Rough Draft Korea as the animation studio.

## Premise

Plankton devises a plan to finally steal the Krabby Patty secret formula and take over the world by going underwater, stealing King Neptune's crown and framing Mr. Krabs for the crime. SpongeBob and Patrick team up to retrieve the crown from Shell City to save Mr. Krabs from Neptune's wrath and the whole world from Plankton's rule.

## Plot

The movie opens up by showing a group of pirates getting tickets to watch *The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie* from a treasure chest. The pirates then sing the "SpongeBob SquarePants Theme Song" as they set sail on the bounty and enter a movie theater and raid the snack bar. They then sit down to watch the movie.

The movie then shifts to an emergency at the Krusty Krab, complete with police helicopters, large crowds, and news reporters. Suddenly, SpongeBob SquarePants, "the manager," arrives in a sports car. Mr. Krabs says that it started with a simple order, a Krabby Patty with cheese. But when the customer took a bite, no cheese was present on the burger. SpongeBob enters the Krusty Krab and meets a fish named Phil. SpongeBob then opens his suitcase, takes out a pair of tweezers, and dramatically puts cheese on the Krabby Patty. The day is saved and the crowd starts cheering for SpongeBob. Their cheers soon degenerate to the sound of SpongeBob's alarm clock, and he wakes up, revealing the opening scene to be a dream.

SpongeBob is extremely excited, as today is the grand opening of the "Krusty Krab 2," and he is confident he will be chosen as the new manager and prepares himself for the day. He scrubs Squidward's back and wants to thank him until he says "Get Out!" in a booming voice and angrily kicks him out. He lands next to Patrick Star's rock and it lifts up, and Patrick congratulates SpongeBob, saying that to celebrate, they are going to go to Goofy Goober's Ice Cream Party Boat tonight. SpongeBob and Patrick sing the "Goofy Goober Song," and afterwards, SpongeBob goes off to the Krusty Krab.

Plankton spies on them from the Chum Bucket, and sees that Mr. Krabs is being interviewed by Perch Perkins, while he never even had one customer. Plankton complains to his computer wife, Karen, about his jealousy towards Mr. Krabs. He tells her that he has tried every plan in his cabinet from "A to Y." Karen reminds him of Z, the letter after Y, which Plankton has not looked for yet. Plankton then finds "Plan Z" in the back of the drawer. He thinks it is his best plan yet. As he walks outside, he announces his revenge, only to be stepped on by SpongeBob, who pulls Plankton off his shoe and asks him if he is going to the grand opening ceremony. Plankton replies that he is instead planning on ruling the world.

Meanwhile, Mr. Krabs is preparing the grand opening ceremony of the Krusty Krab 2, which is an exact replica of the original Krusty Krab and is located directly next door to it. SpongeBob rushes up to the stage to accept his promotion and highly anticipates that he will win the promotion, but Mr. Krabs announces that Squidward is the new manager instead, much to SpongeBob's shock. Mr. Krabs tells a heartbroken SpongeBob that he is too young to handle the task, or else he would be called a 'kid-ager' , and SpongeBob sulks away in depression. Patrick appears in the air while naked with a banner and crashes into the stage thinking SpongeBob won.

Later, Plankton flies towards King Neptune's castle, as part of "Plan Z." Inside, King Neptune is attempting to punish his subject,who is the royal crown polisher for touching his crown, but his more intelligent daughter, Princess Mindy, stops him and tries to tell him to show a little love and compassion to his subjects instead of making them suffer these harsh punishments. The hot-tempered and tyrannical king tries to explain to his daughter by showing her the crown and its importance. During his speech, Plankton arrives on the scene and steals his crown. Neptune, who is "bald," is horrified to discover that his crown is missing. As he screams in horror upon his royal crown being stolen, Plankton flies off to Shell City, having stolen the crown thanks to Plan Z.

Meanwhile, SpongeBob is at Goofy Goober's Ice Cream Party Boat brooding over his loss. Patrick arrives, thinking SpongeBob is the manager. He is then told the truth about SpongeBob about being too young, and SpongeBob starts to leave after that, but then Patrick orders a Triple Gooberberry Sunrise, and SpongeBob comes back in interest, lightening up the mood a bit. They begin to eat dozens of sundaes, burying the waiter in ice cream, continuously demanding the waiter's attention. The two soon become "drunk" from all the ice cream and pass out in the restaurant overnight, experiencing hangover-like symptoms the following morning.

Meanwhile on March 8, Neptune arrives at the Krusty Krab after receiving evidence planted by Plankton of Mr. Krabs stealing his crown, which is a note. Neptune threatens Krabs by telling him to relinquish the crown to him at once by unleashing his magic trident at him, planning to execute the crustacean. Krabs, however, denies stealing the crown, but then a message plays on the phone of a man thanking Mr. Krabs for giving him the crown and saying that he sold it to Shell City (this call is actually from Plankton). Upon hearing his crown is in the forbidden Shell City, despite Mr. Krabs' attempts to destroy the phone, an even more enraged Neptune vows to burn Mr. Krabs right then and there. Krabs again begs for his innocence, saying the citizens will defend him, so Neptune asks if anyone has anything to say to defend Mr. Krabs. A "drunken" SpongeBob arrives and bad-mouths his boss for not promoting him to manager by saying that he was a 'great boss' but is now a 'great big jerk', attempting to proclaim a level of maturity suited for the position.

After SpongeBob's rant finishes, Neptune burns Mr. Krabs by shooting fire at him, causing him to bounce and run around the restaurant on fire, before plunging into a barrel filled with water. Upon realizing the severity of the situation, SpongeBob returns to his normal self and stops the vengeful merman from burning Krabs by telling him it is rather harsh to kill someone over a crown. Neptune tells SpongeBob that his crown is a symbol of his authority and shows him his bald spot, which is extremely shiny to the point where it horrifies everyone upon seeing it, before Neptune puts the bag back on his head. SpongeBob tells Neptune to let him go to Shell City and get the crown back. Neptune laughs at this offer, telling SpongeBob no one has dared to go to Shell City before and came back alive and doubting SpongeBob would be the first, dismissing him as too young, Thus, Neptune proceeds to fry Mr. Krabs, but SpongeBob gets in the way and defends his boss so as to prevent the execution. Neptune then decides to fry them both instead, but Mindy arrives and convinces her father to give SpongeBob a chance to prove Mr. Krabs' innocence.

Neptune orders SpongeBob to be back with his crown in ten days, but out of nowhere, Patrick argues with Neptune of how many days SpongeBob can make it back with his crown, until SpongeBob and Mr. Krabs made him stop talking, and so Neptune orders SpongeBob to be back in six days with his crown. SpongeBob and Patrick agree to travel to the dreaded Shell City and return with the crown by then,while Neptune decides to spare Mr. Krabs by freezing him for the time being until the crown is returned and threatens to kill him if SpongeBob does not return. Mindy, whom Patrick develops a crush on, gives SpongeBob and Patrick a magical bag of winds to return home with and warns the pair about the trip.

With six days to retrieve the crown, SpongeBob and Patrick take the "Patty Wagon," a car shaped like a Krabby Patty. They soon reach a gas station located on The County Line, where the hillbilly owners laugh at them, finding the duo and their vehicle stupid. They tell SpongeBob and Patrick that they would not last for ten seconds over the county line. When SpongeBob and Patrick cross the line, a thug immediately steals their car. SpongeBob and Patrick then realize that they lasted for twelve seconds, and begin laughing at the hillbillies, who are dumbfounded by their idiocy, as they continue on foot.

Meanwhile, Plankton, with Mr. Krabs incapacitated, successfully obtains the Krabby Patty secret formula and begins serving Krabby Patties at the Chum Bucket. Plankton starts selling Krabby Patties at the Chum Bucket, along with free bucket helmets. He has also learned from Karen that SpongeBob and Patrick are trying to get the crown back and hires a professional mercenary named Dennis to ensure that they do not reach Shell City and get killed on their journey. The next day, Squidward sees that everyone is wearing bucket helmets.

Later, they find their car parked at the Thug Tug, a bar for tough, muscular fish. A song is playing inside. SpongeBob has Patrick distract the thugs so he can get the key. Unfortunately, Patrick just announces that he has to use the bathroom, making SpongeBob unsuccessful. SpongeBob heads for the bathroom and criticizes Patrick for this, as the latter realizes his mistake. SpongeBob then washes his hands, and when he uses the soap dispenser, it produces bubbles. SpongeBob and Patrick begin having a "bubble party," but one bubble floats over to the leader of the Thug Tug, who reminds the other bar patrons of the policy that all "Bubble Blowing Babies" will be severely beaten. The leader goes on a "Bubble Blowing Baby Hunt" by turning on the Goofy Goober theme song, where the first person to start singing is determined to be the culprit. SpongeBob and Patrick struggle not to start singing, then the owner notices their strain and starts singing it to SpongeBob and Patrick in a mocking tone to intimidate them. Just as they are about to sing, they are saved when two Siamese twins burst out in song. The other thugs begin beating them, allowing SpongeBob and Patrick to retrieve the key amid the confusion and depart.

The next day, Squidward sees that everyone is wearing bucket helmets. As he goes to confront him, Squidward figures out that Plankton was the one who stole King Neptune's crown to get the Krabby Patty formula. He decides to report him to King Neptune, but before he leaves the Chum Bucket, Plankton presses a button on Karen's base. The button activates a mind-control device, revealing that the bucket helmets are actually mind-controlling helmets. Squidward tries to escape, but the enslaved citizens corner and capture him, taking down the last opposition to Plankton in Bikini Bottom as he transforms the city into "Planktopolis."

SpongeBob and Patrick are traveling through a field of skulls, laughing over their victory at the Thug Tug. They see an ice cream stand, but when SpongeBob goes to order, the old woman running the stand is revealed as the tongue of a monstrous frogfish using the ice cream stand as bait. The Frogfish chases the scared fleeing duo, eventually driving off a cliff and getting out of the car just in time. The frogfish is lured off the edge and subsequently eaten by an even larger beast, which is a gigantic sea serpent that appears from the trench.

Unable to pass through a monster-filled trench, SpongeBob decides to give up and accepts the fact that he and Patrick are just too young. However, Mindy arrives and shows them what has happened to Bikini Bottom while they were gone. SpongeBob watches in shock as he lists off his friends who have been enslaved: Squidward, Sandy, Mrs. Puff, and even Gary. Meanwhile, Dennis is on his motorcycle going towards Shell City to make sure SpongeBob and Patrick don't make it.

Mindy gives the two fake mustaches in the form of seaweed, convincing them that they are now men. SpongeBob and Patrick pass through the trench without fear while singing "Now That We're Men," but meet up with Dennis on the other side. He rips off their fake mustaches and explains to them that they are not really men, and prepares to kill them by crushing them under his spiky boot. However, before he can do so, a even bigger boot crushes Dennis, belonging to a monstrous scuba diver known as the "Cyclops," who abducts SpongeBob and Patrick to the surface.

SpongeBob and Patrick wake up in a goldfish bowl filled with fresh water and sedimentary pebbles. They see the Cyclops making "knick-knacks" from "dead" sea creatures, much to their horror, and are soon taken out of the bowl and put on a table under a heat lamp, and start to dry up. Soon, SpongeBob laments that they have failed and that Bikini Bottom will remain under Plankton's mind control, Mr. Krabs will be executed, and they too will die. Patrick points out a sign reading "Shell City: Marine Gifts and Sundries." SpongeBob realizes that they are in Shell City, which is, in fact, a gift shop. They see the crown, and SpongeBob then realizes that they did at least make it to Shell City. They both shed a tear of joy and begin singing the Goofy Goober song, just as they shrivel up: their faces become smaller, Patrick's body shape gets round bevel edges, and SpongeBob's arms and legs roll up into his sleeves. Meanwhile, the two tears they shed merge into a single heart-shaped tear. As they sing the last verse of the song, their faces vanish from their bodies as they become the real-life equivalents of their species, indicating that they have both died. Back in the movie theater, all the pirates mourn the loss of SpongeBob and Patrick, but a talking parrot points out that the movie is not over yet, and they continue watching it.

The tear of the Goofy Goobers slides down a wire into the power outlet, causing it to short-circuit and let out smoke, which rises up and activates the fire suppression sprinkler system, causing all the sea creatures to reanimate and the table with the lamp to cool off. As the water drips from the system, SpongeBob and Patrick first get saturated colors, and then they become animated again upon revival, which makes the whole audience in the theater cheer. As the movie continues with the sea creatures beating up the Cyclops in retaliation for killing them, SpongeBob and Patrick grab the crown and carry it out to the beach. There, SpongeBob reads the manual of the magical bag of winds, and accidentally releases it, leaving them stranded on the beach. However, David Hasselhoff arrives and carries them across the ocean on his back.

On the way back home, SpongeBob and Patrick see the big boot belonging to the same diver that kidnapped them and who squished Dennis, rise up the sea, and a furious Dennis emerges from below it, intent on finishing the job Plankton gave him, and goes after Patrick and SpongeBob with his dagger in hand. SpongeBob begs Patrick to run, but he refuse and tries to stop the cowboy, but only gets slapped all the way to the left foot. SpongeBob runs after him and he's losing his balance on the right leg. When Dennis was going to cream him, the yellow sponge makes a long jump to the other side. Dennis came to the left leg offscreen and corners SpongeBob, who attempts to reason with Dennis by bribing him with five Goober dollars; Dennis is uninterested, so SpongeBob proceeds to more offers - including a bubble-blower that sends a stream of bubbles into Dennis' eyes, blinding and irritating him and making him even more furious. He tosses SpongeBob away in pain and Patrick managed to save him. However, just as he is about to stomp on them with his boot, he ends up being knocked into the ocean by a floating sailboat. Patrick awkwardly bid farewell to his defeat.

As the duo arrives over Bikini Bottom on March 14, King Neptune is about to execute Mr. Krabs, but is being "stalled" by Mindy, driving him crazy; he angrily locks his daughter out of the restaurant by frightening her outside with his anger and putting a giant lock on the door. Meanwhile, Hasselhoff opens his pectoral muscles, prepares countdown, and shoots the duo down into Bikini Bottom at a fast speed, where they crash through the roof of the Krusty Krab 2, the crown deflecting the fiery blast from Neptune's magic trident that nearly kills Mr. Krabs, and gets launched up the surface, burning Hasselhoff. Neptune is happily reunited with his crown and Mindy congratulates SpongeBob and Patrick for their heroism, but unfortunately, that does not stop Plankton, as he dumps a king-sized Chum Bucket helmet on Neptune, also putting him under his control.

As Plankton's slaves surround the heroes, SpongeBob realizes that Plankton did not care whether Krabs should be fried or not; he just wanted the power of the seas under his control, having used the theft of the crown to lure Neptune into the trap, thus SpongeBob thinks that Plankton cheated. He states to SpongeBob that he, actually, is an evil genius, and SpongeBob is just too young. When he discovers that Plankton is right, SpongeBob makes a speech about being oneself and how he did things others doubted him on in his journey. He then transforms into a wizard and breaks out into a bizarre rock version of the Goofy Goober theme song. Seeing his moves, Plankton yells for his slaves to seize SpongeBob, but the latter uses his electric guitar's laser beams to destroy all the brain-control buckets. Plankton yells at Karen to do something, but she is too lured by the rock-and-roll to listen.

Irritated, Plankton tries to command King Neptune to stop SpongeBob, but the latter quickly destroys Neptune's helmet before he can finish speaking. Out of options, Plankton tries to escape, but is trampled before he can do so. After being stepped on by the fish, he gets arrested for the crimes of stealing King Neptune's crown, scapegoating Mr. Krabs for the crown theft, and also for brainwashing the Bikini Bottom citizens, and the cops put him in a small cage and take him away as he yells of vengeance. Neptune reaches an understanding not only with Mr. Krabs, but also with his daughter Mindy by finally winning her respect by becoming a better ruler thanks to her love and compassion for the sea creatures, and he thanks SpongeBob and Patrick for their heroism. He then turns to leave, but Mindy reminds him of Mr. Krabs. He then turns Mr. Krabs back to normal and apologizes to him for falsely accusing him of the crown theft, and Mr. Krabs also apologizes to SpongeBob for ever doubting him, rewarding him by appointing him manager after all.

As everyone cheers for him, SpongeBob attempts to deliver a heartfelt speech of realization; he just does not know how to put it into words. Squidward has him covered and suggests to SpongeBob that he has learned that he does not really want to be the manager of the Krusty Krab 2, but SpongeBob eagerly takes the position after his speech, denying the moral and saying that he was just going to inform Squidward that his fly was down. As he swipes the manager name tag from Squidward's hands, SpongeBob ends the movie by jumping in midair in a cheerful state exclaiming that this is the best day of his life.

Images shown throughout the end credits show the sole two differences between the job of manager and fry-cook: There is a giant hat with the word "manager" imprinted on it and an extra cent in SpongeBob's paycheck. Nonetheless, SpongeBob takes on the role of manager of the Krusty Krab 2 with great pride.

In a post-credits scene, the usher tells the pirates to leave the theater so she can clean up the mess they made while the movie draws to a close.

## Cast

* Tom Kenny as SpongeBob SquarePants and Gary the Snail
* Bill Fagerbakke as Patrick Star
* Clancy Brown as Mr. Krabs
* Rodger Bumpass as Squidward Tentacles
* Mr. Lawrence as Plankton
* Alec Baldwin as Dennis
* Scarlett Johansson as Princess Mindy
* Jeffrey Tambor as King Neptune
* Jill Talley as Karen
* Neil Ross as Cyclops
* David Hasselhoff as himself
* Carolyn Lawrence as Sandy Cheeks
* Mary Jo Catlett as Mrs. Puff
* Lori Alan as Pearl Krabs

Other characters from the television series also appear in the film. Carlos Alazraqui, director Stephen Hillenburg, and Neil Ross voice King Neptune's squire, a parrot, and the Cyclops, respectively. In a post-credits scene, Mageina Tovah portrays a theater usher.