There's a Sandy Cheeks Movie 🐿️ Coming Out This Year!
Well, this was another surprise. Apparently, Sandy Cheeks 🐿️ has got her own movie coming out this year. It's called Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie 🐿️, and it's coming out on Netflix. It's going to be a Netflix exclusive because apparently, after reading a few articles talking about this movie, Nickelodeon made a deal with Netflix to release all of their upcoming animated projects on their platform exclusively. This started back with the third SpongeBob 🧽 movie, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge On the Run 🧽, which was released on streaming, on Netflix in the United States 🇺🇸 because of the pandemic 🦠😷.
Nickelodeon cobbled this deal together with Netflix just to get that movie out there, and so now, Netflix has the exclusive rights to release all of Nickelodeon's animated film projects. At least, the ones that aren't Ninja Turtle 🥷🐢 related. This is likely why The Loud House Movie and the upcoming The Casagrandes Movie are both Netflix exclusives, despite the fact that they're perfectly good for theaters, and Paramount now has their own streaming service for Nickelodeon content. So, yeah, that's another bad thing you can blame the pandemic 🦠😷 on. I really hope that Nickelodeon renegotiates this deal, and recaptures the rights to release these films on Paramount+, in theaters, and on physical media if they so wish.
Because if a movie's released straight to Netflix and is a Netflix exclusive, then it's likely never going to be released in theaters or on physical media. If a Netflix movie ever gets a theatrical release, it's usually only for a limited time and it's usually only so that they can be qualified for awards like the Oscars. Why? Because Netflix doesn't care about the theatrical market nor does it care about the physical media market. Their only concern is the streaming market, the market they pretty much helped establish, or at least popularized.
Personally, I don't like the idea of Netflix denying theatrical and physical media releases to movies that fully deserve it, and I don't like the idea of them removing a movie or a show because it isn't popular enough for them. But, most importantly, I don't like the idea that they have the full distribution rights to all of Nickelodeon's animated film projects. I really hope that Nickelodeon wrestles back control over their properties and the distribution thereof from Netflix. Get some of your dignity back, whatever little you have left of it. I want the next Loud House movie (if there ever is another one) and the next SpongeBob 🧽 movie to be released in theaters, and to get their own Blu-Ray and 4K releases 💿.
Anyway, enough ranting about Netflix and the stupid deal that Nickelodeon made with them, let's talk about this Sandy 🐿️ movie. Now, this movie has already been in the works for a while, and people were already aware of its existence. It was officially announced back in 2021 and then the title was revealed in 2022. So, this was a project in development and the SpongeBob 🧽 community knew about it.
The reason why it's in the news now, besides the fact that it comes out this year, is that it was leaked online. I don't know it got leaked, but it got leaked, and people were posting online and posting links to it on social media. Those were all taken down, but enough people saw the movie before all that stuff was removed from the Internet. People are already hating on it, saying that it's a "new low" for SpongeBob 🧽 🙄. The only reason I learned about this movie's existence was because I saw a YouTube in the suggested video tab or whatever on a video I was watching.
Now, look, Sandy 🐿️ is my favorite character on SpongeBob 🧽. I like her more than SpongeBob 🧽 himself, I like her more than Patrick, I like her more than Squidward 🐙, I like her more than Mr. Krabs 🦀, I like her more than Plankton, etc., etc.. She's such a dynamic and versatile character, and an interesting mix of different archetypes. She's a cowgirl 🤠, but she's also a scientist 👩🔬, and she's also a karate fighter 🥋, and on top of that, she's a land squirrel 🐿️ who lives in a treedome 🌳 amongst the sea creatures, and has to wear a diving suit to walk and breathe underwater.
Those things all sound like they shouldn't work together, but the writers, storyboard artists, and animators found a way to make it work, and she is one of the best characters on the show in my opinion. And let me just say it's pretty rare to see a Texan character, a character with stereotypical Texan accent, who's presented as a cowboy or cowgirl 🤠 be portrayed as an intellectual, as a scientist and engineer 👩🔬🔧. It's rare to have a character who's both brawn and brain, and Sandy 🐿️ definitely is both brawn and brain.
I'm honestly surprised that she isn't a more popular character than she is. I believe she's one of the least popular characters of the main cast. Mrs. Puff 🐡 is more popular than her. The only character less popular than her is Pearl 🐋, who is a character that the fans love to hate. She's smart, she's not an idiot and she isn't childish like SpongeBob 🧽 and Patrick. She's mature without being a curmudgeon like Squidward 🐙 or a greedy businessperson like Mr. Krabs 🦀. And while she is a scientist and inventor 👩🔬, she isn't petty or evil like Plankton.
She can have fun with SpongeBob 🧽 and Patrick, and be their friend, but she has enough maturity to call them out on their childish or idiotic behavior when they go too far. She can get along with Squidward 🐙 and Mr. Krabs 🦀 without stooping down to their level, most of the time. In fact, she gets along with most of the other characters, including Plankton and Karen 🖥️, when they aren't trying to use her for one of Plankton's schemes to steal the Krabby Patty secret formula 🍔. Like, in the Season 7 episode, "Someone's in the Kitchen with Sandy 🐿️," where Plankton stole Sandy 🐿️'s fur while she was taking a shower 🚿 in her treehouse 🌳, and started wearing it like a suit, posing as her to try to steal the formula, and getting her in trouble as a result. That was one instance where Sandy 🐿️ didn't get along with Plankton, and was opposing him. She can be the straight woman ♀︎, but also be the crazy and funny one, especially when she goes too far with her extreme adrenaline junkie antics or her science experiments.
Some of the best episodes she's in, she's kind of the antagonist, like the amazing Season 2 episode, "Prehibernation Week," or the Season 11 episode, "Squirrel Jelly 🐿️🪼," which is sort of like a spiritual successor to "Prehibernation Week." Like, it explores a similar idea of Sandy 🐿️ being an adrenaline junkie, and going too far with her extreme athletic activities. It's pretty good too.
Or the other Season 11 episode, "Krabby Patty Creature Feature 🍔" where Mr. Krabs 🦀 hires Sandy 🐿️ to create a new menu item for the Krusty Krab, and she creates a patty 🍔 that glows orange and floats in mid-air, and causes anyone who eats it to mutate and turn into Krabby Patty zombies 🍔, like their bodies literally turn into Krabby Patties 🍔, and they start acting like zombies, and turn anyone else into Krabby Patty zombies 🍔 when they bite them or if the person bites them.
Like, if you eat a piece of the Krabby Patty zombies 🍔, you'll turn into one too. It's not a one-way street. I feel like that episode was inspired by the SpongeBob 🧽 horror fan web comic, The Bikini Bottom Horror a little bit. I really like the episode, it's a nice sci-fi horror episode with some body-horror elements, you know, the good stuff. I mean, Sandy 🐿️ wasn't really the antagonist of the episode, Mr. Krabs 🦀 was the antagonist. But, it still sort of counts, and it's example of an episode where one of Sandy 🐿️'s science experiments 🧪 goes awry and becomes the main source of conflict. It's the thing that causes the bad thing to happen.
Or the other classic Season 2 episode, "Survival of the Idiots," which also explores the idea of Sandy 🐿️ hibernating like a lot of mammals do. Only it centers around SpongeBob 🧽 and Patrick being trapped inside her treedome 🌳, which is simulating winter ❄️ for her yearly hibernation, and then being at mercy of both the elements, the snowy conditions 🌨️ inside the treedome 🌳, but also a large, tired, and grumpy Sandy 🐿️, who will tear anyone limb from limb if she doesn't get her hibernation sleep 😴, and if she's convinced that you're the evil cowboy outlaws 🤠, Dirty Dan and Pinhead Larry, from her dream 💭.
Or even the Season 1 episode, "Texas," which revealed her Texan roots, and explored more of the culture shock between her and the denizens of Bikini Bottom, or at least, SpongeBob 🧽 and Patrick, and her feeling home sick, which convinces SpongeBob 🧽 and Patrick that she wants to go back to Texas, and they need to make her feel more at home by making everything more like Texas. But then, they piss off Sandy 🐿️ by insulting Texas as a way to get her to chase them so that they can lure her to the Krusty Krab for her surprise Texas party 🎉, and end up running for their lives for real, as Sandy 🐿️ tries to wrangle them up, and kill them as she doesn't know that this all a setup and it's all for a party celebrating the unique culture and character of Texas. There's a few others, but I'll stop there so that this isn't too long.
But, I do also like the "Chimps Ahoy!" episode from Season 4, where Sandy 🐿️ was a protagonist, and we see her bosses, her benefactors, the chimps (as in chimpanzees), and we learn why she came down to live in Bikini Bottom in the first place. It was all in the name of science 🧪. That's one of my favorite Sandy 🐿️ episodes. The other Season 4 episode, "Karate Island" is another classic, it was a like Game of Death parody with Sandy 🐿️ wearing a Bruce Lee type yellow jumpsuit, and climbing up a tower to save SpongeBob 🧽, fighting a bunch of bad guys on each level of the tower. It even featured Pat Morita, the guy who played Mr. Miyagi in the original Karate Kid movie, as a guest star voicing the villain of the episode, Master Udon, which was one of his final roles if not his final one before his death in 2005.
I even like the other Season 4 episode, "SquidBob TentaclePants 🧽🐙," where Sandy 🐿️ accidentally fuses SpongeBob 🧽 and Squidward 🐙's bodies together in her teleportation machine, and she spends a good chunk of the episode trying to build another device to separate them on a molecular level. I know not everyone likes that episode, and it's not really a Sandy episode 🐿️, it's more of a SpongeBob 🧽 and Squidward 🐙 episode, but Sandy 🐿️ plays a huge role in it. The reason why SpongeBob 🧽 and Squidward 🐙 get fused together is because of Sandy 🐿️'s invention.
Same kind of goes for the Season 5 episode, "A Flea in Her Dome," where Sandy 🐿️ come back from a trip from Texas, and accidentally brings a flea back home with her, and ends up giving SpongeBob 🧽 and Patrick fleas too, and it just escalates from there, with the fleas multiplying in such huge numbers that they form a flea-nado 🌪️ to terrorize SpongeBob 🧽, Patrick, and Sandy 🐿️. I know not everyone likes that episode, in fact, a lot less people like that episode than "SquidBob," but I enjoy it. It kind of has a creature feature vibe to it. Sure, the SpongeBob 🧽 and Patrick half of the episode, the part where they're trying to set up a welcome home party 🎉 🎂 for Sandy 🐿️, is annoying, but the second half when Sandy 🐿️ actually returns, and they have to deal with the fleas is pretty good. Honestly, Sandy 🐿️ makes a lot of episodes better just with her presence alone. Okay, now I'm done for real this time.
So, I'm not opposed to the idea of them making a movie about her, with her as the main protagonist, and I'm not going to automatically dismiss it like some people have. I'm willing to give this movie a chance. If it's good, then great 👍, I'm satisfied. If it's bad, then tough break, and I'll just move on. I just hope that this movie finally opens the door for a Sandy spin-off series 🐿️.
I've said this before many times, and I'll say it again here, Sandy 🐿️ should have gotten a spin-off series centered on her, instead of Patrick getting one. Sandy 🐿️ can actually lead her own show, she can be an effective protagonist and not be annoying or overstay her welcome. Patrick can't. Patrick is good in a supporting role. Patrick is good in small doses. But, not as the main protagonist, the main star (no pun intended) of his own show. It doesn't work, it doesn't work at all. The Patrick Star Show was a mistake, and everyone except Nickelodeon seems to know it. But, I would love a spin-off show of Sandy 🐿️.
If there has to be SpongeBob 🧽 spin-off material, then I'd rather her get the spin-off treatment instead of the dumb pink starfish. Especially if it's a prequel show showing what Sandy 🐿️ was doing before she met SpongeBob 🧽 or moved down into the ocean to live in Bikini Bottom. It could be more of an action/adventure series, sort of akin to DuckTales or Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers. It would be truly something different rather than just being SpongeBob 🧽-lite which is what The Patrick Star Show is.
I should also mention that the movie, Saving Bikini Bottom is going to be a live action/CGI hybrid movie. It's going to be much closer in style to the second SpongeBob 🧽 movie, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water 🧽💦. It will not be fully CG animated like Sponge On the Run 🧽 was. Which fine I guess, I don't really have that much of a problem with it. I don't have as much of a problem with it as some people do. I would have preferred a fully animated movie, and a 2D animated movie at that.
But, you take what you can get, and if this is going to be first and perhaps only Sandy centric material 🐿️ in the franchise, then I guess we'll just have to take it and give a try. The worst thing it can be is bad, and if it is bad, then I'll just write a negative review, and then move on. I won't dwell on it or anything. But, if it's good, then I'll give a positive review, and I'll return to it at my convenience, whenever I'm in the mood to watch it.
BTW, to make this all the more confusing, there's another SpongeBob 🧽 movie that's coming out next year, in 2025. It's going to be called The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants 🧽, and it's going to be written and directed by Derek Drymon, a long-term writer on the show. He also worked on CatDog, and might've also worked on Rocko's Modern Life, but I'm not so sure on that one, but I know for sure that he worked on CatDog. But, now, he's going to write and direct a SpongeBob 🧽 movie. It's a pretty intriguing choice, and I hope Drymon pulls through, and delivers a product that's more satisfying for more people than Sponge On the Run 🧽 was.
I'm not sure if that film will be a Netflix exclusive. I looked on the Wikipedia page, and they made no indication that will be a Netflix exclusive or a straight-to-streaming release of any kind. So, I'm going to assume that it will get a full theatrical release, and it will get a full physical media release just like Sponge On the Run 🧽 did. I also don't know if it'll be CGI or if it'll be 2D animated. I really hope that it's 2D animated. Far too many of these SpongeBob 🧽 projects have been CG 3D animated or have CGI elements. It would be nice to have one that's 2D animated besides just the main show and The Patrick Star Show. But, I have a feeling, I have sneaking suspicion that's not what they're going to do. It's probably going to be CG animated just like Sponge On the Run 🧽 since that's the style they seem to want to go with for these movies, rather than the classic 2D animation of the main show or of The Patrick Star Show or of the first movie. But, it would be nice if it were 2D animated, just saying.
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