Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie Cast, Director, Plot And More Details

If nautical nonsense be something you wish, then you're going to want to pay special attention to this one. Nickelodeon's cartoon juggernaut of a series "SpongeBob Squarepants" is gearing up for yet another feature-length movie following 2020's divisive "SpongeBob SquarePants: Sponge on the Run," but there's a bit of an extra twist this time around. As it turns out, the overly-optimistic yellow sponge won't be the main character for this new installment. Rather, his rootin'-tootin' squirrel friend, the longtime series mainstay Sandy Cheeks, will be taking center stage for "Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie."

It's still early days for news on this upcoming animated movie, but there's already a cavalcade of information to parse through, including its release timing, plot details, and list of notable cast members who will be making their franchise debut. Here's everything that fans need to know about "Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie."

Unfortunately, it will be quite a while longer until fans can watch "Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie" for themselves. No concrete release date has yet been set for the movie, but Netflix has confirmed that the flick will be releasing on its platform at some point in 2024.

That release window may sting a bit for those who have been following along with the movie since its existence was confirmed back in 2021. Reports from sites like What's on Netflix indicated that the movie was set for release in 2023, so it seems that the project has been delayed by a significant margin. Nonetheless, it appears production is proceeding smoothly, so fans should feel relatively confident about marking "Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie" down as one of the many 2024 movies to look forward to.

As to be expected based on its name, "Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie" is a spin-off of "SpongeBob SquarePants" and draws upon the show's characters and world. However, it's clear that Sandy is getting top-billing this time around, while SpongeBob himself is simply along for the ride.

Based on early plot details, the movie will see Sandy and SpongeBob racing to save their underwater home of Bikini Bottom after it's lifted out of its seafloor domain by a mysterious organization. Together, the pair will journey to Sandy's original land-dwelling home in Texas to seek out assistance from her eccentric family in hopes of restoring Bikini Bottom and rescuing their friends.

It's clear that "Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie" is keeping up with the previous "SpongeBob SquarePants" movies' trend of placing the show's characters against status-quo-altering threats. However, with Sandy's origin and family tree getting fully explored, as well as a strange organization that needs investigating, it's clear that the movie is introducing quite a few new concepts to the franchise.

Much of the cast for "Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie" has already been built out. Just as with previous "SpongeBob SquarePants" movies, most of the voice cast from the original series will be reprising their respective roles for this cinematic outing. Per Netflix's information on the movie, it will feature Carolyn Lawrence as Sandy, Tom Kenny as SpongeBob, Clancy Brown as Mr. Krabs, Bill Fagerbakke as Patrick, Mr. Lawrence as Plankton, and Rodger Bumpass as Squidward.

Additionally, the movie will feature some other major names lending their voice acting talents to certain characters. That list includes Wanda Sykes ("History of the World: Part II"), Johnny Knoxville ("Jackass"), Craig Robinson ("The Office"), Grey DeLisle ("Invincible"), Ilia Isorelýs Paulino ("The Sex Lives of College Girls"), and Matty Cardarople ("Stranger Things"). It's currently unknown which characters these actors will be playing.

Aside from its star-studded cast, "Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie" also features a notable name in the directorial chair. Netflix has confirmed that Liza Johnson is directing the movie. Johnson has directed numerous short films and several feature films over the past few decades, with her latest being 2016's "Elvis & Nixon."

In addition to her filmmaking experience, the bulk of Johnson's most notable credits come from her work in the TV space. In particular, the creative has directed episodes for some of the best shows on HBO and HBO Max, such as "Barry," "Silicon Valley," "The Last of Us," and "The Sex Lives of College Girls." She has also sat in the director's chair for episodes of "American Horror Story," "A Series of Unfortunate Events," "What We Do in the Shadows," "Dead to Me," and "Physical," among others.

Continuity isn't something that the "SpongeBob SquarePants" franchise particularly treasures, especially as evidenced by its canon-rewriting spin-offs like "Kamp Koral: SpongeBob's Under Years." As such, it's not really necessary to watch any specific entries in the franchise to understand "Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie" on a narrative level. Nonetheless, some viewers anticipating the movie may want to familiarize themselves with the source material — or just go for a laugh-filled trip down memory lane with their favorite cartoon.

There's plenty of ways to go about streaming "SpongeBob SquarePants" online. Subscribers to Paramount+ can watch the first 12 seasons of the series in their entirety (aside from the "Mid-Life Crustacean" episode) as part of a basic plan. Similarly, those with an Amazon Prime Video subscription can watch the first six seasons of the show for free, while subsequent seasons can be purchased digitally a la carte. Episodes of the show can also be purchased individually on major storefronts like Apple TV, Google Play, and Vudu.

As for previous "SpongeBob SquarePants" spin-offs and movies, all of them can also be streamed on Paramount+ or purchased on Amazon Prime Video and the other aforementioned services. That includes "Kamp Koral," "The Patrick Star Show," and the franchise's previous three feature-length movies.