SpongeBob SquarePants' very own Sandy Cheeks has announced Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford as the Nickelodeon Valuable Player (NVP) of Week 14 of NFL Slimetime season five!
Join Nate Burleson, Young Dylan, Dylan Schefter, Mia Burleson and Cameron Jordan to see NFL highlights, interviews, and game picks as you've never seen them before. Most of all, find out which player takes home the slimiest trophy in sports, the NVP. Catch NFL Slimetime on Nickelodeon, and Paramount+! Try Paramount+ for FREE at ParamountPlus.com.
UK FANS:Slimetime UK returns January 2026 on Nickelodeon UK & Ireland!
Avatar Legends - Hands-On Impressions With the Closed Alpha Playtest | IGN
IGN's resident fighting game expert and EVO Competitor Mitchell Saltzman went hands-on with the new 2D fighting game, Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game (working title), during the Closed Alpha Playtest.
He breaks down the mechanics, the look, the uniqueness of the characters, and what he's especially excited about for the full release.
Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game (working title) is an upcoming 2D anime action fighting game based on the hit Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra series, developed by Gameplay Group International in collaboration with Paramount.
Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game is launching in Summer 2026 for PlayStation 4 (PS4), PlayStation 5 (PS5), Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC (Steam), with a closed alpha running on Steam from December 5 through December 7.
Jeff Garcia, best known as the voice of Sheen Estevez in Nickelodeon's Jimmy Neutron franchise, sadly passed away on Wednesday, December 10. He was 50. His son Joseph revealed his father’s passing on Instagram.
Jeff Garcia | Michael S. Schwartz / Getty Images / Nickelodeon / Deadline
Family members told TMZ that Garcia died early Wednesday morning after being taken off life support at a Southern California hospital following several serious health complications during the past several months. The exact cause of death has not yet been determined.
Born on May 3, 1975, in Irvine, CA, Garcia began his career as a stand-up comedian in 1991, which he continued though the ’90s at Southern California comedy clubs including the Laugh Factory before moving into acting in 1995. His work spanned decades.
Garcia broke out as a voice actor with his portrayal of Sheen Estevez in Nickelodeon’s Jimmy Neutron franchise, first in 2001’s Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius theatrical movie and then TV spinoffs The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius and Planet Sheen. He also voiced the character in TV movie Jimmy Neutron: Attack of the Twonkies in 2005.
He also guest-starred on MTV’s animated series Clone High in 2002, voiced Tyler Nelson in The Maw franchise and Pip the mouse in Steve Oedekerk’s 2006 film Barnyard. He reprised his role as Pip in Back at the Barnyard series, which aired from 2007-11 on Nickelodeon.
Garcia appeared on Comedy Central Presents in 2006. He also voiced Tipa in the 2011 animated comedy film Rio and a spoonbill and an auditioning Spix’ s macaw named Peri in the sequel Rio 2. He was the voice of Rinaldo in George and Bill Miller’s Happy Feet and Happy Feet 2.
He also appeared in live-action television — in Caroline in the City in 1995 and Dangerous Minds in 1996. He went on to portray Freddy Lopez in Byron Allen’s live-action sitcom Mr. Box Office in 2012. In late October, just weeks before his death, he appeared as guest on Allen’s talk show Comics Unleashed.
Along with his son Joseph, Garcia is survived by his daughter, Savannah.
In his tribute on Instagram, Joseph Garcia wrote: “With a very heavy heart, I would like to inform everybody that my father, Jeff Garcia, has passed away. My father was a unique soul. He was unapologetically himself and I will always admire the love, compassion, and drive that he had. He taught me so much and gave me advice that I live by every single day. He was a Father, Son, Uncle, Cousin, Brother, but most of all, he was my best friend. I would call him every day. I would tell him about the plans I had in comedy and my life. He believed in me, in a way that nobody else did. The talent my father possessed was truly one of a kind. From voice acting to stand up comedy, he shined with his quick wit, brash humor, and charm. He has made such an impact on people’s lives internationally, whether you grew up watching Jimmy Neutron, or shared a laugh with him at one of his shows. He was my hero… I idolized him. He may be gone, but he will NEVER be forgotten. He lives on through our family and friends he loved so dearly, along with the legacy he has created. I know you’re in heaven smiling down and you’re in a better place now. No more pain. I’m going to make you proud pops. Fly high, Rocket Man. LLJG🕊️👼🏼”
You can view his tribute in full, which includes photos of the late actor, below:
Classic Rugrats Comic Strip for December 10, 2025 | Nickelodeon
Stream the classic Rugrats series on Paramount+! Try it FREE at ParamountPlus.com!
Rugrats, provided to Creators Syndicate by Nickelodeon, based off the popular animated television series has been created for children and family's to laugh and enjoy together.
Follow these comics and their take on real episodes of the show and their own spin on hilarious adventures.
Nickelodeon is expanding its presence in Asia Pacific with the opening of two new Nickelodeon Play Centre destinations in Indonesia, following a licensing partnership between experiential leisure developer PLAY Culture and Tematik Makmur Abadi. The agreement enables the duo, in collaboration with Paramount, to develop and operate Nickelodeon Play Centres across the country.
Nickelodeon Play Center is designed as a family destination that combines active entertainment, character interaction, and creative retail access. This model focuses on strengthening a new standard for recreational destinations that combine physical play, imagination, and social interaction.
Positioned as next-generation family entertainment venues, the centres feature themed dining, retail, soft-play zones, climbing walls, role-play rooms, interactive games, arts and crafts spaces, and special meet-and-greet sessions with beloved Nickelodeon characters.
This initiative arose from the growing demand in the family entertainment industry for thematic content and experience-based activities. Its primary target audience is urban families seeking quality, safe play destinations with educational value. These two initial openings mark the entry of a new standard for family recreation facilities in urban areas in Indonesia.
The first location, Nickelodeon Playtime at Senayan Park, opened on 27 November 2025 as the flagship center. A second venue, Nickelodeon Playtime: PAW Patrol at Carstensz Mall in Gading Serpong, is scheduled to open ahead of the Christmas holidays.
The dual launch signals a fresh benchmark for family entertainment in Indonesia, said Tematik Makmur Abadi director Rey Wilfred, who expressed pride in bringing world-class immersive experiences to families nationwide.
Photo: Dok Istimewa
"As a licensing partner for Nickelodeon Playtime Play Centers in Indonesia, PT Tematik Makmur Abadi is proud to bring a world-class immersive entertainment experience to families across the country," said Wilfred.
“We also curate and provide a range of premium toys, collectibles, artworks, and creative merchandise sourced from official local and international producers,” he said, as quoted by government-owned radio RRI. “Our goal is not only to enrich the play experience within our centres, but also to support the retail and entertainment ecosystem, as well as brand activation initiatives in Indonesia.”
The launch of Nickelodeon Play Center in Indonesia is supported by the successful track record of the inaugural location in Shenzhen in 2020. This business model has proven effective in attracting repeat family visits through thematic play concepts.
This concept was developed to address the growing trend of experience-based entertainment in shopping centers. Transforming visitor needs are driving retail centers to differentiate themselves through family recreation facilities.
Linda Dong, president of Play Culture, said the region is witnessing significant growth in family entertainment spending and that shopping centres increasingly require experience-led offerings.
“After the success of our first Play Centre in Shenzhen in 2020, we are excited to work with Nickelodeon to bring this innovative concept to more families across the region,” she said. “The launch of Nickelodeon Playtime is an important part of our strategy to meet this demand and strengthen Play Culture’s position as an industry leader.”
The project is designed to expand the standard of children's recreational facilities in the Greater Jakarta area. The concept emphasizes a balance between entertainment and educational functions.
Cow Play Cow Moo Indonesia views the launch as both a commercial opportunity and a cultural milestone. “We are honored to be part of this historic collaboration with Paramount and Play Culture to bring Nickelodeon Playtime to Indonesia. [...] We are committed to delivering joyful and meaningful entertainment for families. These new centres will not only elevate Indonesia’s family entertainment landscape but also inspire children through creativity, play, and the Nickelodeon characters they love,” said president director Daniel Darwin.
The flagship destination at Senayan Park brings together major Nickelodeon properties with distinct thematic zones - SpongeBob SquarePants, PAW Patrol, DORA, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - alongside a Garfield-themed café. Each zone is designed to be an exploratory space that encourages physical activity and narrative experiences.
Meanwhile, the Gading Serpong location becomes Asia’s first PAW Patrol-themed location-based entertainment (LBE) project. Designed to transport visitors into the world of Adventure Bay, the centre recreates iconic locations and attractions from the hit series.
This expansion also strengthens Nickelodeon's position as an influential global intellectual property (IP) owner in Asia Pacific.
With two initial opening locations, the Nickelodeon Play Center expansion is expected to strengthen the variety of family play options. The presence of these entertainment centers add an alternative recreational destination in modern shopping centers, addressing the need for quality experiences.
This strategy emphasizes the new direction of the family entertainment industry in Indonesia by presenting more relevant and interactive play formats. The integration of popular characters offers added value to children's experiences through creativity and meaningful play.
Kelly Coskun, vice president of Play Culture, said: “From design to execution to training our on-ground operation and entertainment team, it was truly a fun journey and this project really have truly paid off in the most successful way, we have been full house every day since opening.”
Play Culture added: “In partnership with PT Tematik Makmur Abadi, our exclusive developer and operator of Nickelodeon Playtime Play Centers in Indonesia, we are dedicated to enriching family experiences while supporting a thriving ecosystem of retailers, entertainment venues and brand activations nationwide.
“This launch represents a major milestone in expanding Nickelodeon’s presence across Asia Pacific and highlights Indonesia’s growing role as a hub for world-class family entertainment.”
"Just last week, we officially opened Nickelodeon Playtime at Senayan Park, Jakarta—our first flagship location in Southeast Asia. This immersive family entertainment center features five iconic worlds inspired by beloved Nickelodeon favorites: SpongeBob SquarePants, PAW Patrol, DORA, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and a Garfield-themed café. Each zone is designed to deliver a high-quality, interactive play experience for families in Jakarta.
Next, we’re gearing up for Nickelodeon Playtime: PAW Patrol at Carstensz Mall, Gading Serpong—the first-ever PAW Patrol-themed location-based entertainment project in Asia. Guests can explore the world of Adventure Bay through imaginative play, active challenges, and hands-on learning.
In partnership with PT Tematik Makmur Abadi, our exclusive developer and operator of Nickelodeon Playtime Play Centers in Indonesia, we are dedicated to enriching family experiences while supporting a thriving ecosystem of retailers, entertainment venues, and brand activations nationwide. This launch represents a major milestone in expanding Nickelodeon’s presence across Asia Pacific and highlights Indonesia’s growing role as a hub for world-class family entertainment."
The Nickelodeon Playtime (SPARK) play center is the first Nickelodeon-themed play center to open in Southeast Asia. Designed for children aged 3 to 9 and their families, this vibrant attraction brings beloved cartoon characters to life through immersive and beautifully crafted settings inspired by PAW Patrol, SpongeBob SquarePants, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Garfield, and Dora the Explorer.
Visitors can interact with their favorite characters and step into the world of Nickelodeon through a dynamic mix of physical play, digital interactives, and custom-built props. Nickelodeon Playtime offers a unique combination of active fun, digital engagement, and imaginative exploration, creating a magical environment where families can share joyful and lasting memories.
Stream a mountain of entertainment with Paramount+! Try it FREE at ParamountPlus.com!
Catch The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants, exclusively in theaters from Friday, December 19!
About The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants:
SpongeBob and his Bikini Bottom friends set sail in their biggest, all-new, can’t miss cinematic event ever…The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants. Desperate to be a big guy, SpongeBob sets out to prove his bravery to Mr. Krabs by following The Flying Dutchman – a mysterious swashbuckling ghost pirate – on a seafaring comedy-adventure that takes him to the deepest depths of the deep sea, where no Sponge has gone before.
The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants | Official Trailer (2025) | Paramount Pictures
The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants features the voices of Tom Kenny, Clancy Brown, Rodger Bumpass, Bill Fagerbakke, Carolyn Lawrence, and Mr. Lawrence, all respective roles from Nickelodeon's beloved animated series, along with guest stars George Lopez, Isis “Ice Spice” Gaston, Arturo Castro, Sherry Cola with Regina Hall, and Mark Hamill.
The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants is directed by Derek Drymon and executive produced by Marc Ceccarelli, Vincent Waller, Pete Chiappetta, Anthony Tittanegro, and Andrew Lary. It is produced by Lisa Stewart, p.g.a., Pam Brady, Aaron Dem. Based on the Series “SpongeBob SquarePants” Created by Stephen Hillenburg. The story is by Marc Ceccarelli & Kaz and Pam Brady. The screenplay is by Pam Brady and Matt Lieberman.
The movie will be accompanied by the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem short Chrome Alone 2: Lost in New Jersey. From producers Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, James Weaver, Jeff Rowe, and Ramsay McBean and directed by Kent Seki, the film reunites audiences with the Turtle brothers from the 2023 feature Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem for a festive adventure. When a mysterious toy company seeks to profit off the turtles’ new hero status, the brothers follow the clues to New Jersey and make a shocking discovery in this all new original short.
CALLING ALL GOOFY GOOBERS! (ROCK!) Are ya ready for a deep dive into the world of SpongeBob SquarePants? The SpongeBob YouTube channel is THE PLACE for all fan-favorite SpongeBob moments! Subscribe now at https://www.youtube.com/SpongeBobOfficial!
Avatar: The Last Airbender fans get an official release date for the next entry in the beloved franchise.
Image via Dark Horse Books
Dark Horse Comics has announced the release date for the long-awaited second volume of Avatar: The Last Airbender Chibis. Fans and young readers can look forward to picking up their copies of Avatar: The Last Airbender Chibis Volume 2 — Sokka's Boomerang Class on Tuesday, July 21, 2026.
New Official Avatar: The Last Airbender Release Puts the Spotlight on Non-Bender Sokka
Written by acclaimed children's author Kelly Leigh Miller and illustrated by Ruka Ito with lettering by Comicraft, Avatar: The Last Airbender Chibis Volume 2 — Sokka's Boomerang Class offers readers another lighthearted adventure set in the world of their favorite animated series. Like the previous volume, Sokka's Boomerang Class is also made in collaboration with original series writer Tim Hedrick.
The official solicit synopsis for Avatar: The Last Airbender Chibis Volume 2 — Sokka's Boomerang Class from Dark Horse Comics reads, "Sokka gets teased sometimes for being the only non-bender on Team Avatar. But he has his own special talent: throwing a boomerang! With some prodding, Aang, Katara, Toph, and Zuko join Sokka for a day of 'Boomerang School' that's full of surprises!"
The first volume of Avatar: The Last Airbender Chibis was written by Miller and Hedrick, with art by Diana Sim and Christianne Gillendardo-Goureau, giving young readers the chance to dive into the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender for themselves. After a series of delays that pushed its release back nearly two years, Avatar: The Last Airbender Chibis Volume 1 — Aang's Unfreezing Day proved to be a major hit with its target audience, not to mention longtime fans looking for a way to get their kids into their favorite franchise.
Image via Dark Horse Books
Apart from new titles made for young readers, fans of the Avatar: The Last Airbender franchise have two major releases to look forward to in the coming years. The first of these will arrive in theaters on Friday, October 9, 2026, in the form of The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender. The upcoming animated feature film will pick up with the original series' core cast of characters in their young adult years for a whole new adventure with Team Aang.
To top things off, fans are already eagerly anticipating the release of a brand-new series in 2027 titled Avatar: Seven Havens. Set decades after the events of The Legend of Korra, the upcoming Seven Havens series will follow Korra's successor as the Avatar, a young Earthbender named Pavi. Unlike those who came before her, being the Avatar is anything but a boon for Pavi, who is made the target of human and supernatural enemies alike after discovering her place in the world.
The official logline for Avatar: Seven Havens reads, "A young Earthbender discovers she’s the new Avatar after Korra – but in this dangerous era, that title marks her as humanity’s destroyer, not its savior. Hunted by both human and spirit enemies, she and her long-lost twin must uncover their mysterious origins and save the Seven Havens before civilization’s last strongholds collapse."
Avatar: The Last Airbender Chibis Volume 2 — Sokka's Boomerang Class goes on sale July 21, 2026, from Dark Horse Comics. The title is available to pre-order today, including on Amazon.com.
Avatar: The Last Airbender Chibis Volume 2--Sokka's Boomerang Class HC
Avatar adventures for little fans—new comics for young readers!
Mastering the boomerang is no easy task!
Sokka gets teased sometimes for being the only non-bender on Team Avatar. But he has his own special talent: throwing a boomerang! With some prodding, Aang, Katara, Toph, and Zuko join Sokka for a day of “Boomerang School” that’s full of surprises!
Celebrated children’s author Kelly Leigh Miller (I am a Wolf; I Love My Fangs) teams with artist Ruka Ito to bring young Avatar fans and their families the second Avatar: The Last Airbender chibi comic! Made in collaboration with Nickelodeon and Avatar: The Last Airbender animated series writer Tim Hedrick.
The sea runs deep, and so does SpongeBob SquarePants. How else can you explain the beloved Nickelodeon animation franchise’s continued success more than 25 years after its debut?
The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants [Paramount Animation/Nickelodeon Movies]
The most recent iteration of the square yellow dude’s story is The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants, the fourth theatrical SpongeBob feature, which arrives Friday, December 19 in theaters. This time, SpongeBob is trying to be a big man, and to prove it to Mr. Krabs, he follows the Flying Dutchman to the deepest part of the sea: the Underworld! Search for SquarePants is based on the TV series created by the late Stephen Hillenburg. Franchise veteran Derek Drymon directs from a screenplay by Pam Brady and Matt Lieberman, and a story by Marc Ceccarelli, Kaz and Brady.
Photo: Jay L. Clendenin for AFI, c/o Paramount Animation
“Everybody has their own SpongeBob experience — they remember seeing an episode at a certain age, with family or during a particular moment in their life. As an artist, it’s pretty rare to have that connection.” — Director Derek Drymon
As usual, it stars Tom Kenny as SpongeBob, Clancy Brown as Mr. Krabs, Rodger Bumpass as Squidward, Bill Fagerbakke as Patrick Star, Carolyn Lawrence as Sandy Cheeks and Mr. Lawrence as Plankton. It also stars Mark Hamill as the Flying Dutchman, George Lopez, Ice Spice, Arturo Castro, Sherry Cola and Regina Hall.
For director Drymon, Search for SquarePants was a welcome return to Bikini Bottom after a few years away working for DreamWorks Animation, Illumination and Sony Pictures Animation, where he helmed Hotel Transylvania 4. But Drymon’s connection to SpongeBob goes back to before it was even a show, when he worked with series creator Hillenburg on Rocko’s Modern Life in the mid-1990s. He also worked extensively on SpongeBob Comics, which ran from 2011 to 2018.
“There was a while where I was like, ‘I’m done with SpongeBob,’” Drymon told Animation Magazine for their January ’26 issue. “But then … as time went on, I kind of missed those guys, missed the characters.”
Just Like Old Times
When schedules finally aligned, the time was right for Drymon to return and direct the new feature. “My agent said they’re thinking about doing a new movie, and would you be interested? And I was like, ‘Yeah, I would love it,’” he says.
The feature was first developed as a streaming project starring Mr. Krabs, and already included the Flying Dutchman and the journey to the Underworld, when Drymon came on board to work with long-running exec producers and showrunners Marc Ceccarelli and Vince Waller on the script. Their first draft was good enough to convince the studio to turn it into a theatrical feature with SpongeBob himself as the star. “That’s when it had a lot of changes,” Drymon says. “We brought in some new writers, and I helped fashion the story from there, but the core of the story was always there.”
Head of story Mark O’Hare, another veteran of the show, says the movie’s story is exciting because it takes SpongeBob to a new place, and Hamill’s Flying Dutchman was a “grand character.” But the real challenge was to make a SpongeBob movie using 3D animation that still felt like the 2D character and world everyone knows and loves. “In that sense, it’s very familiar to me, but it’s a challenge … to bring that to the stuff into the 3D world without sacrificing what we love about SpongeBob,” O’Hare says.
O’Hare says the story team developed a visual palette inspired by animation and by such disparate live-action influences as Sam Raimi’s films, the Coen brothers, the Pirates of the Caribbean movies and Phil Joanou’s 1987 cult comedy Three O’Clock High.
“We’re making fun of these movies but also honoring them,” O’Hare says. “The contrast between SpongeBob’s world and those dynamic 3D cinematic styles is a big part of the fun.”
“Every movie is different, and this one is very specific in the way it needs to work … You shoot it from one side, it looks amazing and hilarious. You just move the camera like 30 degrees either side, and it looks like a big mess.” — Head of story Mark O’Hare
Kent Seki served as head of cinematography early in production before handing off the job to Tom Bruno Jr. (on his way to directing the short Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Chrome Alone 2 — Lost in New Jersey, which screens with the movie in theaters). Seki says he worked with Drymon to develop the movie’s look and shooting style, drawing on Pirates and Three O’Clock High. “We took those two films and applied them to SpongeBob as reference,” he says. “And we created a document, a sort of video documentation, as well as written documentation, of what to do there. And that was done remotely with Tom Bruno Jr., and then, when he came on, he took it and ran with it.”
Seki says SpongeBob is appealing because of his innocence. “He is not a cynical character in the least bit, and I think there’s something very appealing about that.”
Drymon says he tried not to think too much about what works and does not work in 3D versus 2D animation and instead approached the story from a creative perspective, relying on collaborators to help solve problems along the way. For example, Wes Mandell, head of character animation, told Drymon that the two types of animation are almost opposites. “He said, ‘If it’s easy in 2D, it’s really hard in CG, and if it’s easy in CG, it’s impossible in 2D,’” Drymon says.
“Every movie is different, and this one is very specific in the way it needs to work,” O’Hare says. Getting the rigs set up required a lot of work and specialized tools to achieve the right effect. “You shoot it from one side, it looks amazing and hilarious,” O’Hare says. “You just move the camera like 30 degrees either side, and it looks like a big mess.”
As always, one challenge of making a SpongeBob feature is that the character was designed for short-form content. “I remember, even when we did the first movie, Steve [Hillenburg] was really racking his brain, because the characters just worked in 11 minutes,” Drymon says. “How do you sustain 80 or 90 minutes?”
The other challenge was that the nature of the franchise resists the traditional movie arc, in which characters evolve over the course of the story. “On SpongeBob, you’ve got to leave the character how you found him, you know?” Drymon says. “How do you bring this character the audience knows and loves and — you don’t want to change them — but you want to give them some significant movement. You can dive deeper into the emotions with the characters, and you can kind of play around with having them feel something a little deeper than you would want to do in the 11-minute versions. And that’s always fun, to see the characters have some real emotions.”
That also translates into the movie’s visual aspect, allowing the filmmakers to heighten the danger and find moments of jeopardy that are more theatrical. “You don’t want to completely break out of our visual style that’s established in the show, but just kind of tweaking the camera a little bit, lowering it a little bit — subtle things that we wouldn’t normally do in the show — we can just do little tweaks like that and it really feels like something different,” Drymon says.
One example is with set design. “Like in the Krusty Krab, some shots make it feel gigantic, while others are very intimate and close — doors move everywhere, spaces stretch out,” Drymon says. “That’s the style of the show, and the audience probably won’t realize it, but it would feel wrong if we didn’t do it.”
Live action has appeared in SpongeBob movies before, but it was a new challenge for Drymon. While he originally planned to hire someone with live-action experience to direct those sequences, Drymon says producer Lisa Stewart encouraged him to tackle them himself. “It was like doing an animated movie, but all at one time,” he says. “In animation, you orchestrate in pieces; in live action, it’s everyone working together, and you have a take.”
Timeless Chuckles
Asked why SpongeBob continues to thrive, O’Hare points to the show’s ageless sense of humor. “Steve always wanted timelessness,” he says. “Everyone who’s ever worked on SpongeBob agrees — we want it to feel universal, not trendy.”
He’s particularly proud of the film’s dense comedy and big, theatrical moments. “There are jokes within jokes within jokes,” he says. “That’s what SpongeBob is — and why you can watch it multiple times and still find something new.”
“Working on this movie really felt like coming home,” O’Hare adds. “I just love it when people get excited to see SpongeBob again. This one couldn’t have come out better.”
Drymon agrees. After 25 years, SpongeBob has become more than a cartoon character, with kids who watched the first seasons now old enough to be watching with their own kids. “Everybody has their own experience — they remember seeing an episode at a certain age, with family, or during a particular moment in their life. As an artist, it’s pretty rare to have that connection.”
Paramount Animation and Nickelodeon Movies will launch The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants in theaters on December 19.
About The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants:
SpongeBob and his Bikini Bottom friends set sail in their biggest, all-new, can’t miss cinematic event ever…The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants. Desperate to be a big guy, SpongeBob sets out to prove his bravery to Mr. Krabs by following The Flying Dutchman – a mysterious swashbuckling ghost pirate – on a seafaring comedy-adventure that takes him to the deepest depths of the deep sea, where no Sponge has gone before.
The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants features the voices of Tom Kenny, Clancy Brown, Rodger Bumpass, Bill Fagerbakke, Carolyn Lawrence, and Mr. Lawrence, all respective roles from Nickelodeon's beloved animated series, along with guest stars George Lopez, Isis “Ice Spice” Gaston, Arturo Castro, Sherry Cola with Regina Hall, and Mark Hamill.
The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants is directed by Derek Drymon and executive produced by Marc Ceccarelli, Vincent Waller, Pete Chiappetta, Anthony Tittanegro, and Andrew Lary. It is produced by Lisa Stewart, p.g.a., Pam Brady, Aaron Dem. Based on the Series “SpongeBob SquarePants” Created by Stephen Hillenburg. The story is by Marc Ceccarelli & Kaz and Pam Brady. The screenplay is by Pam Brady and Matt Lieberman.
The movie will be accompanied by the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem short Chrome Alone 2: Lost in New Jersey. From producers Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, James Weaver, Jeff Rowe, and Ramsay McBean and directed by Kent Seki, the film reunites audiences with the Turtle brothers from the 2023 feature Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem for a festive adventure. When a mysterious toy company seeks to profit off the turtles’ new hero status, the brothers follow the clues to New Jersey and make a shocking discovery in this all new original short.
CALLING ALL GOOFY GOOBERS! (ROCK!) Are ya ready for a deep dive into the world of SpongeBob SquarePants? The SpongeBob YouTube channel is THE PLACE for all fan-favorite SpongeBob moments! Subscribe now at https://www.youtube.com/SpongeBobOfficial!
The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants | Regina Hall on Voicing Barb (2025 Movie) | Paramount Pictures
Who has one eye and bad teeth? Barb! ☠️⭐️ Watch Regina Hall discuss her first animated role in The #SpongeBobMovie: Search for SquarePants - only in theatres December 19. Get 🎟️ NOW: https://paramnt.us/SpongeBobMovieTix
SpongeBob and his Bikini Bottom friends set sail in their biggest, all-new, can’t miss cinematic event ever…The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants. Desperate to be a big guy, SpongeBob sets out to prove his bravery to Mr. Krabs by following The Flying Dutchman – a mysterious swashbuckling ghost pirate – on a seafaring comedy-adventure that takes him to the deepest depths of the deep sea, where no Sponge has gone before.
CALLING ALL GOOFY GOOBERS! (ROCK!) Are ya ready for a deep dive into the world of SpongeBob SquarePants? The SpongeBob YouTube channel is THE PLACE for all fan-favorite SpongeBob moments! Subscribe now at https://www.youtube.com/SpongeBobOfficial!
