50 Fun Facts About The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie

Which TV star appears in live action as himself, carrying SpongeBob and Patrick home in The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie?

David Hasselhoff plays himself, and the crew built a 12-foot, 750-pound replica of him for the fight scene staged on his back.

In The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, the feared Shell City turns out to be what kind of seaside business?

A gift shop is all Shell City is, selling dried sea creatures as souvenirs, and SpongeBob and Patrick nearly join the stock under its heat lamp.

Which fast-food chain had its rooftop inflatable SpongeBobs stolen while promoting The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie?

Burger King put 9-foot inflatables on about 4,700 roofs, then offered a year's supply of Whoppers for information on the stolen ones.

Which song does SpongeBob perform at the climax of The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie to defeat Plankton?

Goofy Goober Rock is a parody of Twisted Sister's I Wanna Rock, and its blast of rock and roll frees Bikini Bottom from mind control.

Which chart-topping singer recorded a new version of the TV theme tune for The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie soundtrack?

Avril Lavigne's version is the first track on the soundtrack album, which Sire Records released ten days before the film reached US cinemas.

Stephen Hillenburg originally intended The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie to serve as what for the television show?

The series finale was the plan, since Hillenburg feared the show would jump the shark, but Nickelodeon kept its hit on air and he stepped down as showrunner.

Which actor recorded his lines as the villain Dennis over the phone for The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie?

Alec Baldwin phoned in the part from New York City, playing the heavy-booted Dennis whom Plankton sends after SpongeBob and Patrick.

What color carpet replaced the usual red at the Los Angeles premiere of The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie?

Yellow carpet greeted guests including Ray Romano, Larry King and Lisa Kudrow, who brought their children to the screening.

A joke plot for The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, rescuing Patrick from a fisherman, spoofed which animated film?

Finding Nemo was the target: when the film was announced, the show's staff joked that SpongeBob would save his friend from a fisherman in Florida.

Which actress, a fan of The Ren & Stimpy Show, voices King Neptune's daughter in The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie?

Scarlett Johansson plays the mermaid princess who spurs SpongeBob and Patrick on, a character Patrick promptly develops a crush on.

Whom does Mr. Krabs choose over SpongeBob to run the new Krusty Krab 2 in The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie?

Squidward gets the job because Mr. Krabs considers SpongeBob a kid, too young and immature to be put in charge.

After losing out on a promotion in The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, SpongeBob gets a hangover from bingeing on what?

Ice cream is his vice: he drowns his sorrows at a parlor with Patrick, and he is still woozy when King Neptune storms in the next morning.

What name does Plankton give his scheme to steal the Krabby Patty formula in The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie?

Plan Z has Plankton steal King Neptune's crown, ship it off to Shell City and frame Mr. Krabs for the theft.

How does King Neptune punish Mr. Krabs for the theft of his crown in The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie?

King Neptune freezes him until further notice, at first giving SpongeBob ten days to return the crown before Patrick argues it down to six.

What do SpongeBob and Patrick receive in The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie that convinces them they have become men?

Fake mustaches made of seaweed are stuck on by King Neptune's daughter, who claims her magic has turned the pair from kids into men.

In The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, what is the monstrous Cyclops that kidnaps sea creatures actually revealed to be?

A human diver is all the Cyclops really is; Aaron Hendry played him on screen while Neil Ross supplied the voice.

What does Plankton give away with Krabby Patties to brainwash Bikini Bottom in The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie?

Helmets handed out free turn customers into slaves who do Plankton's bidding, and he later drops one on King Neptune himself.

Which voice actor plays SpongeBob, Gary the Snail and the French narrator in The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie?

Tom Kenny also co-wrote one of the film's songs, though another singer, Jim Wise, supplies SpongeBob's voice on the big rock number.

Which actor voices King Neptune in The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, a role John O'Hurley plays on television?

Jeffrey Tambor's king is a different Neptune from the series version, with powers limited to what he can do through his trident.

What short-circuits the heat lamp drying out SpongeBob and Patrick in The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie?

Their tears, shed in pride at having reached Shell City, short the lamp and set off sprinklers that revive every dried sea creature around them.

What is the car stored beneath the Krusty Krab called in The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie?

The Patty Wagon is shaped like a Krabby Patty, and SpongeBob and Patrick lose it on the road to Shell City long before they arrive.

Which studio made The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie after Stephen Hillenburg repeatedly turned down its film offer?

Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon pursued Hillenburg for more than a year; he agreed in 2002, once a story idea suited a feature-length road trip.

Which film kept The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie from opening at number one at the US box office?

National Treasure took $11 million on opening day to SpongeBob's $9.6 million, and the cartoon finished its first weekend in second place.

Which motorsport series held a 300-mile race named after The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie?

NASCAR's Busch Series ran the SpongeBob SquarePants Movie 300 at Charlotte, where Jimmie Johnson's Chevrolet carried SpongeBob across its hood.

Which rock band rewrote its song You Better Run as You Better Swim for The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie?

Motörhead adapted a track from their 1992 album March ör Die, joining a soundtrack Stephen Hillenburg filled with music he personally liked.

Which band's song Ocean Man plays during the end credits of The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie?

Ween's album The Mollusk was a direct influence on the series, and Hillenburg had earlier asked the band for the song Loop de Loop.

Which closing-credits song in The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie was co-written by SpongeBob's voice actor and Andy Paley?

The Best Day Ever was written for a planned SpongeBob album; Hillenburg heard it when the soundtrack needed two more tracks and took it.

Which sequel to The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie stars Antonio Banderas as its live-action villain?

Sponge Out of Water arrived in 2015, from a story Hillenburg co-wrote, and again sent its animated heroes into a live-action world for the final act.

Who sings the SpongeBob SquarePants theme song in the live-action opening of The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie?

Pirates sing it in a 30-second live-action opening, and the soundtrack album even credits that version of the theme to The Pirates.

The sailing ship in the live-action opening of The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie was built for which earlier film?

Mutiny on the Bounty needed a seaworthy replica, launched in 1960; Marlon Brando objected to plans to burn it afterwards, so it survived to play this part.

In which country did Rough Draft Studios animate The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, as it does the television series?

South Korea is where the animators worked semi-digitally, compositing pencil-drawn poses into layouts in Photoshop.

The animation of The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie began with the writers' ideas being drawn on what?

Post-it notes held the first ideas because the writers worked from rough outlines rather than scripts, which kept the humor visual.

Which writer and storyboard artist succeeded Stephen Hillenburg as showrunner after The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie?

Paul Tibbitt was among Hillenburg's most trusted crew members; he ran the show until 2015 and directed the second film.

At which London studio did Gregor Narholz record the orchestral score for The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie?

Abbey Road Studios hosted the sessions, with Narholz conducting the London Metropolitan Orchestra after the show's music editor recommended him.

The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie earned Stephen Hillenburg a directing nomination at which annual ceremony?

The Annie Awards, animation's own honors, also nominated composer Gregor Narholz for the film's music.

Which publisher released the video game of The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, developed by Heavy Iron Studios?

THQ released the game a few weeks before the film opened, built on the same engine as the earlier Battle for Bikini Bottom.

Which character meets SpongeBob and Patrick on the surface in a deleted scene from The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie?

Sandy Cheeks was to appear on dry land fleeing black-suited exterminators; the surface squirrel idea was reused in the second film.

What is the name of King Neptune's mermaid daughter, who helps SpongeBob and Patrick in The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie?

Mindy was created for the film: she is never mentioned in the TV series, though she appears in the special SpongeBob's Big Birthday Blowout.

In The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, what is King Neptune's domed crown designed to cover up?

A bald spot sits under the domed crown, one of several ways the film's Neptune differs from the series version with his long auburn hair.

What is the profession of Dennis, whom Plankton hires to stop SpongeBob and Patrick in The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie?

Hitman Dennis tracks the heroes all the way to the surface, where he is finally knocked into the sea in the middle of a fight.

Which actor voices Mr. Krabs, the boss King Neptune accuses of theft, in The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie?

Clancy Brown returned with the rest of the show's regular voice cast, and most of them reprised their roles for the tie-in video game.

Trailers for The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie used clips from U-571, The Hunt for Red October and which submarine film?

Das Boot, the 1981 German war film, lent footage alongside two Hollywood thrillers; the movie's own live-action scenes were shot in Santa Monica.

A fan-made remake of The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie by over 300 artists carried which one-word subtitle?

Rehydrated was made in honor of Stephen Hillenburg; it was pulled from YouTube during its premiere on copyright grounds and restored the next day.

The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie is dedicated to Jules Engel, Stephen Hillenburg's mentor at which art school?

CalArts is where Engel founded the experimental animation program and admitted Hillenburg; he died in 2003, while the film was in production.

Where does Mr. Krabs open his second restaurant, the Krusty Krab 2, in The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie?

Next to the original is where it stands, right beside the first Krusty Krab, and the question of who will run it sets the plot in motion.

Which filmmaker directed the live-action scenes shot in Santa Monica for The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie?

Mark Osborne, a brother of co-writer Kent Osborne, handled all the film's live-action sequences and later directed Kung Fu Panda.

Which actor voices Patrick Star, SpongeBob's partner on the quest, in The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie?

Bill Fagerbakke said of the story that he was continually dazzled and delighted by what the film's writers came up with.

Which band recorded SpongeBob & Patrick Confront the Psychic Wall of Energy for The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie?

The Flaming Lips played the song on Late Night with Conan O'Brien the night before release, with their singer encased in a giant bubble.

Stephen Hillenburg weighed making The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie after watching Toy Story and which animated film?

The Iron Giant and Toy Story, watched with his son, left Hillenburg worried about making SpongeBob cinematic without losing the show's cadence.

Who urged the live-action guest star of The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie to accept his cameo as himself?

His daughters, Taylor-Ann and Hayley, were big fans of the show, and he agreed to the cameo before he had even seen the script.