First Look At “Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie”

First Look At “Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie”

July 11th, 2024

Lauren Ashton

When all of Bikini Bottom is suddenly scooped out of the sea, Sandy Cheeks and her best friend SpongeBob SquarePants embark on a mission to Texas to save the town and its inhabitants from a terrible scheme. Sue Nahmee (played by Wanda Sykes) is leading this villainous plot and wants those living in Bikini Bottom turned into “Sea Pals”: a line of manufactured toys. The only ones who can save the day are Sandy and SpongeBob. With Liza Johnson as the director, “Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie” will be the first installment of two films coming to Netflix from the SpongeBob SquarePants franchise.

“”Saving Bikini Bottom’ is primarily about the squirrel scientist, Sandy Cheeks, and a journey that she takes when her community under the water has been taken away by a terrifying villain. She is standing on the edge of that community with SpongeBob, her friend, when all of her friends get taken away, and she goes on a journey to find them and bring them back where they belong. It’s a movie about that adventure, but it’s also a movie about what it means to grow up and find a new family with a community of interest —in her case, underwater science is her interest— and what it means to navigate that new family with the family that raised you,” stated director Liza Johnson.

“I first read the movie during COVID. It was the funniest thing I had read. A lot of people experienced the lockdown as kind of a dark time; I know I did. But this script was so joyful and so funny that it really made me want to do the film. And also, it did have this really strong thread of character for Sandy, which a lot of people can relate to. For her to really grow up and live her life, she had to move into a
different world and live in a way that was different from the family she grew up in. It’s not easy for her to go home again, but it becomes really welcome when she gets to have a foot in both worlds,” she continued.

Voice actor Carolyn Lawrence (playing Sandy Cheeks) reflected on the significance of the character. “I’m glad that after 25 years, she’s getting her moment. I have two girls, and she’s been such a phenomenal character for girls and women because she is an atypical
animated character. She’s highly capable. She is athletic. She is ridiculously smart. She’s a lot of things that female animated characters traditionally haven’t necessarily been able to be. If you look at historic animation, like a Betty Boop, it was definitely a different time — and princess movies, which I adore, but also a different time. It’s nice now that she gets to have this moment. Long time coming.”

Read more about the upcoming film at www.netflix.com/SavingBikiniBottom

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Lauren Ashton

Lauren Ashton is a Los Angeles-based writer. She has also taught stop-motion animation and film history since 2020, and holds a BFA in Acting from The California Institute of the Arts. Lauren has previously worked with Walt Disney Imagineering, and since graduating from CalArts, she has worked at Spellbound Inc. (a YouTube Production Company), Gnomon School of Animation, and written plays and sketch comedy for various theaters.