SpongeBob's Atlantis SquarePantis

For the video game of the same name, see SpongeBob's Atlantis SquarePantis (video game).

SpongeBob's Atlantis SquarePantis
Atlantis SquarePantis DVD cover
Creator	Stephen Hillenburg
Directed by	Casey Alexander (Storyboard) Zeus Cervas (Storyboard) Vincent Waller (Creative) Andrew Overtoom (Animation)
Produced by	Stephen Hillenburg Paul Tibbitt
Written by	Casey Alexander Zeus Cervas Steven Banks Dani Michaeli
Starring	Tom Kenny Bill Fagerbakke Clancy Brown Rodger Bumpass David Bowie Carolyn Lawrence Mr. Lawrence
Music by	Casey Alexander
Cinematography	Erik Conhamg
Country	United States
Language	English
Original channel	Nickelodeon
Release date	November 12, 2007 (2007-11-12)
Running time	93 minutes
Preceded by	The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie
Followed by	SpongeBob's Truth or Square

SpongeBob's Atlantis SquarePantis is a television film and musical from the fifth season of the animated television series SpongeBob SquarePants. The film first aired in the United States on November 12, 2007, following a 12-hour-marathon of SpongeBob SquarePants episodes. It attracted an estimated 8.8 million viewers. Behind the Pantis, a short special telling how the film was made, followed the main film.

Plot

The show begins with SpongeBob blowing bubbles and Patrick taking pictures of them, causing them to pop. Patrick then destroys the camera, saying it is not fast enough. SpongeBob thinks it is the very nature of the fragile bubble. He then sings a song about bubbles, during which he pledges to blow a bubble that will last all day, then accidentally blows a larger bubble than expected. It lifts SpongeBob and Patrick off the ground and they eventually float into a cave. Then, a broken coin (half of the Atlantean Amulet) pops the bubble. Patrick assumes the amulet belonged to SpongeBob's ancient ancestors (SquarePantis). They take it to the Bikini Bottom museum to see if the staff there know what it is. There, Mr. Krabs sets up his own admission booth, but soon takes it down when a person who he cheated of money complained to a Museum security guard. Patrick and SpongeBob run into Squidward, who was busy painting. Squidward thinks SpongeBob and Patrick stole the missing half of the Amulet. He soon matches it to the displayed other half of the Amulet. Then Mr. Krabs, interested in the untold riches, runs into Squidward, who tells Mr. Krabs that the streets were paved with gold and street lights made of diamonds (Mr. Krabs soon finds out that both cases are not true). Squidward teaches Mr. Krabs, SpongeBob and Patrick about Atlantis, its origin and other things, including the Oldest Living Bubble, to SpongeBob's delight. Sandy, who overheard them, steps in, mentioning Atlantis' science. Sandy, Patrick, Mr. Krabs and SpongeBob convince Squidward to link the two halves together since according to legend, if the two halves were joined, the path to Atlantis would open.

The magical path (a luxurious bus) is opened. The captain tells the group to refill fuel, but he reveals the fuel as song (Music). The group sings about their desires. Plankton sneaks on wanting to use Atlantis's powerful weapons to become king of the city. Patrick at last, causes the bus to crash by singing his own song and stops in the middle as he does not know what he likes when he says that part. The bus crashes in to a topiary garden in Atlantis. There, they meet the Atlantean King, Lord Royal Highness (David Bowie), who shows them a grand tour of the fortress. During the tour, Mr. Krabs, Sandy and Squidward each get distracted by places in Atlantis; Mr. Krabs unsurprisingly by the treasury room, Sandy by the science lab, and Squidward by the art gallery. Each sings their own song about how much they love Atlantis.

Meanwhile, Plankton checks out the Weaponry Room. He then chooses his weapon, a tank. Finally, SpongeBob and Patrick get to see the world's oldest living bubble alive, over 1 million years old. They take a picture of it, which causes the bubble to pop. They are afraid to speak, saying they have to go back to Bikini Bottom (SpongeBob makes an excuse that Gary misses him). Then, Patrick shouts out the 'truth' ("WE DESTROYED YOUR MOST PRIZED POSSESSION!", "It's not a joke! We burst the Bubble!").

Lord Royal Highness is not mad at SpongeBob and Patrick for popping the bubble, saying that the one they popped was just a tourist attraction ("That's not the real bubble! It's just a prop for the tourists."). He then shows them the real oldest living bubble, but once again, when Patrick takes a picture of it, it pops. Angered, Lord Royal Highness summons the Atlantean Royal Guard to attack, but the gang manage to escape (thanks to Sandy using them as makeshift weaponry; Patrick as a shuriken, SpongeBob as a shield, Squidward as a gun, and Mr. Krabs as a grasscutter). Just when they escape outside with the guards still in pursuit, Plankton comes in and tries to destroy them with the tank he found, but it showers the group with strawberry ice cream, much to Plankton's dismay ("Ice cream? It shoots ICE CREAM?!"). Lord Royal Highness picks Plankton up saying that a "talking speck" would be a better replacement for the bubble. Lord Royal Highness removes the Amulet from the bus and orders a guard to dispose of it. SpongeBob and crew go home, but Patrick, Sandy, Mr. Krabs and Squidward all cry because they want to stay in Atlantis; even though SpongeBob does not.

Note

• SpongeBob and Patrick both claim to have never heard of Atlantis before, but King Neptune showed it to them in the season 1 episode Neptune's Spatula.

Cast

Voice cast

• Tom Kenny – SpongeBob
• Bill Fagerbakke – Patrick
• Clancy Brown – Mr. Krabs
• Rodger Bumpass – Squidward
• Carolyn Lawrence – Sandy
• Mr. Lawrence – Plankton
• David Bowie – Lord Royal Highness (L.R.H)

Live-action cast

• Tom Kenny – Patchy the Pirate
• Paul Tibbitt – Potty the Parrot (voice), Guy in car

Production

Music

The following songs were featured in the movie:

1. "The Bubble Song" (Tom Kenny, Bill Fagerbakke)
2. "Fueling the Bus" (Tom Kenny, Bill Fagerbakke, Rodger Bumpass, Clancy Brown, Mr. Lawrence, Carolyn Lawrence)
3. "Mr. Krab's Song (All this Money)" (Clancy Brown)
4. "Sandy's Song (The Germ Warrior)" (Carolyn Lawrence)
5. "Plankton's Song (So Many Weapons)" (Doug Lawrence)
6. "Squidward's Song (Pick up a Pencil)" (Rodger Bumpass)
7. "Back in Encino" (Nicholas Carr, Steve Marston)
8. "Good-bye Atlantis" (Tom Kenny, Bill Fagerbakke, Rodger Bumpass, Clancy Brown, Carolyn Lawrence)

Reception

"Happily enough, Lord Royal Highness is voiced by David Bowie, the innovative rock star of yesteryear, and it sounds from his vocal aerobics as if he's having a lot of fun in the role. But the Atlantis adventures of the semi-intrepid little band -- searching for and, naturally, destroying the World's Oldest Bubble -- are tired. Perhaps the writers and producers imagined they were cleverly spoofing traditional children's stories about magical kingdoms, but "SquarePantis" seems to be playing it unimaginatively straight. And flat."

Tom Shales, The Washington Post.

Atlantis SquarePantis was broadcast on November 12, 2007 on Nickelodeon, and was preceded by an "Z-A" countdown of SpongeBob SquarePants episodes picked by voters. It attracted 8.8 million viewers, the largest audience of a series broadcast at 8:00PM show on November 12, 2007, with the exception of Dancing with the Stars, and currently the highest audience in the series' history. Despite the hype surrounded by "Atlantis SquarePantis" and the special receiving high ratings, the special received generally negative reviews from television critics, with an average score of 6.2 from TV.com. The special was given generally mixed to negative reviews from fans, many of whom saw the special as a sign of declining quality and that the episode did not live up to the standards of previous specials.^{[citation needed]} Tom Shales, a television critic for The Washington Post, lambasted the movie in a 11 November 2007 review. In the review, titled Sweet Life of SpongeBob, Shales wrote that "the funniest thing about the film is its title" and "a typical episode has about as many laughs as this inflated version does". Shales also criticized the musical numbers in Atlantis SquarePantis, calling them "numbing". He concluded the review saying, however, that the special was "cool" and "impressive".

In addition, Ian Jane of DVD Talk said "If you've got the Season Five DVD set and intend to collect future seasons, you might want to wait for the exclusive material in this set to show up there. That said, this is a fun selection of solid episodes and the feature attraction is excellent. Extras could have been more in-depth but as it stands, Paramount has done a nice job on this release and SpongeBob SquarePants: Atlantis Squarepantis comes recommended."

Home media

A DVD version was released the day after the show premiered, featuring the TV movie and six bonus episodes: "Money Talks", "SpongeBob vs. the Patty Gadget", "Slimy Dancing", "The Krusty Sponge", "Sing a Song of Patrick", and "Picture Day" (The UK release has "The Krusty Plate", "Pat No Pay", "The Inmates of Summer", "To Save a Squirrel", "20,000 Patties Under the Sea", and "The Battle of Bikini Bottom" as bonus episodes). It also featured a bonus DVD containing a sneak peek of the then new Nickelodeon TV series The Mighty B!.

External links

• "Atlantis SquarePantis" Reviews on tv.com