He assembled a team from the show's writing staff, including himself, Derek Drymon, Tim Hill, Kent Osborne, Aaron Springer, and Paul Tibbitt, and structured the film as a mythical hero's journey that would bring SpongeBob and Patrick to the surface.

He subsequently takes over Bikini Bottom and renames it "Planktopolis", hiring a hitman named Dennis to prevent SpongeBob from returning with the crown.

Mindy appears and gives them encouragement by applying fake mustaches made of seaweed, making them believe she magically transformed them from "kids" into men.

SpongeBob and Patrick wake up in a fish bowl before being placed under a heat lamp by the Cyclops, and discover that they are in "Shell City": a gift shop where dried sea creatures are sold as souvenirs.

While the rest of the sea creatures attack the Cyclops, the pair take the crown and head to the beach, where David Hasselhoff appears and offers them a ride home.

Other supporting voice actors include Carlos Alazraqui, Dee Bradley Baker, Sirena Irwin, Thomas F. Wilson, and Joshua Seth.

The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie was long-planned;[4] Nickelodeon and Paramount Pictures had approached series creator Stephen Hillenburg for a film based on the show, but he refused for more than a year.

[6] Hillenburg directed and produced the film, and also co-wrote it with five other writer-animators from the show (Paul Tibbitt, Derek Drymon, Aaron Springer, Kent Osborne, and Tim Hill) over a three-month period in a room of a former Glendale, California bank.

"[5] At the beginning of the series, Hillenburg screened a number of silent shorts (from Laurel and Hardy, Charlie Chaplin, and Buster Keaton) and work by two modern comic actors: Jerry Lewis and Pee-wee Herman, both obvious inspirations for SpongeBob.

[19][20] In 2015, Hillenburg returned to the show following the completion of the second film as an executive producer, having greater creative input and attending crew meetings until his death on November 26, 2018.

'"[23][24] The film stars the series' main cast members: Tom Kenny as SpongeBob SquarePants, Gary the Snail, and the French Narrator, Bill Fagerbakke as Patrick Star, Rodger Bumpass as Squidward Tentacles, Clancy Brown as Mr. Krabs, Mr. Lawrence as Plankton, Jill Talley as Karen, Carolyn Lawrence as Sandy Cheeks, Mary Jo Catlett as Mrs.

In addition to the series' cast, it was reported on March 23, 2004, that Scarlett Johansson, Jeffrey Tambor, and Alec Baldwin would voice new characters Princess Mindy, King Neptune, and Dennis, respectively, and David Hasselhoff would appear as himself.

"[6] The clay animation scenes were shot by Mark Caballero, Seamus Walsh, and Chris Finnegan at Screen Novelties in Los Angeles.

[55][56] They shot the song's music video, directed by band member Wayne Coyne and filmmaker Bradley Beesley, in Austin, Texas.

[66] Julia Pistor, the film's co-producer, said that although Nickelodeon (which owns the SpongeBob trademark) wanted to sell character-themed backpacks, lunch boxes, and wristwatches it respected Hillenburg's integrity and gave him control of merchandising.

[80][81][82] On October 15, 2004, the film was the first to sponsor a NASCAR race: the 300-mile (480 km), Busch Series SpongeBob SquarePants Movie 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in North Carolina.

"[110] Metacritic (which uses a weighted average) assigned The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie a score of 66 out of 100 based on 32 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

[112] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three stars out of four, calling it "the Good Burger of animation plopping us down inside a fast-food war being fought by sponges, starfish, crabs, tiny plankton and mighty King Neptune.

An unstoppable good-mood generator, the resolutely 2-D [The] SpongeBob SquarePants Movie has more yuks than Shark Tale (2004) and enough soul to swallow The Polar Express whole.

"[114] Michael Rechtshaffen of The Hollywood Reporter gave the film a positive review, calling it "an animated adventure that's funnier than Shark Tale and more charming than The Polar Express.

"[118] Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly gave it a B-minus grade: "The best moments in his [SpongeBob SquarePants] first movie outing are those that feel most TV-like, just another day in the eternally optimistic undersea society created with such contagious silliness by Stephen Hillenburg.

"[120] Carla Meyer of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote that "The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie retains the 2-D charm of the hugely popular Nickelodeon cartoon but adds a few tricks a little 3-D here, a little David Hasselhoff there.

"[122] Tom Maurstad of The Dallas Morning News also gave the film a B-minus grade: "Being so good is what led to making the movie, and it's also the reason that many small-screen episodes are better than this big-screen venture.

Jennifer Frey of The Washington Post wrote, "Getting to see the hairs on Hasselhoff's back (and thighs, and calves) magnified exponentially is perhaps a bit creepy.

"[124] Cinema Blend founder Joshua Tyler called Hasselhoff's role "the best movie cameo I've seen since Fred Savage stuck a joint in his crotch and played a clarinet to charm the resulting smoke like a snake.

"[125] There's plenty to treasure in The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, but for all the spit-and-polish animation and the rollicking soundtrack (which includes an original song by the Flaming Lips, as well as Ween's gorgeous "Ocean Man," from their Mollusk album), this isn't the yellow one's most thrilling hour—or 80 minutes."

"[126] Mike Clark of USA Today called it "harmlessly off-the-cuff — but facing far more pedigreed multiplex competition — SpongeBob barely rates as OK when compared with The Incredibles.

In honor of Stephen Hillenburg, a non-profit reanimated collaboration project, titled The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie Rehydrated, was released online on May 1, 2022.

[151] A second movie, which was announced in February 2012, was directed by Paul Tibbitt, written by Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger, and executive-produced by Stephen Hillenburg, who co-wrote the story with Tibbit.

[153] The film involves SpongeBob, Patrick, Squidward, Mr. Krabs, Plankton and Sandy taking back the Krabby Patty secret formula from a pirate that stole it, resulting in them making it to land.