Sandy Cheeks is ready to take center stage.
One of the more memorable characters on “SpongeBob SquarePants,” a squirrel who lives in a dome underwater (and wears a scuba suit when she needs to), is about to star in her very own movie. And before “Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie” splashes down on Netflix on August 2, you can watch the brand-new trailer above.
The new movie follows Sandy (voiced by Carolyn Lawrence), SpongeBob (Tom Kenny) and Patrick (Bill Fagerbakke) as they attempt to save their beloved town after it’s been scooped out of the ocean by an evil corporation. As is the case with earlier movies, “Saving Bikini Bottom” uses 3D computer animation and liberally mixes animation with live-action photography. At a recent Netflix event, they previewed a scene from the film, which involved Sandy and her family (Johnny Knoxville, Craig Robinson and Grey DeLisle) involved in a high-speed car chase. All of the characters were animated and everything else was real photography. It played well.
“Saving Bikini Bottom” is the first in a planned series of animated features devoted to SpongeBob’s many sidekicks. Netflix recently announced “The Plankton Movie,” which is scheduled to debut next year and focuses on SpongeBob’s perpetual foe, Plankton (voiced by Mr. Lawrence, who also cowrote the upcoming movie). There are also still big screen SpongeBob outings on the way as well, as Paramount has announced “The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants,” which is scheduled to arrive in theaters on Dec. 19, 2025.
The original “SpongeBob SquarePants” series, which premiered on Nickelodeon back in 1999, is also still on the air. It’ll wrap its 14th (!) season at the end of July, with a total of more than 300 (!) episodes. There are also a pair of spin-offs currently airing: “Kamp Koral: SpongeBob’s Under Years” and “The Patrick Star Show.” Truly, the sun never sets on the SpongeBob empire.
“Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie” premieres Aug. 2 on Netflix.
