As a juggernaut of TV animation, SpongeBob SquarePants is no stranger to the silver screen. The first feature, aptly titled The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, released in 2004 around the peak of the show’s popularity, followed eleven years later by a sequel, Sponge Out of Water. The third movie, Sponge on the Run (originally subtitled It’s a Wonderful Sponge), would have a comparatively rocky release, however. Though Paramount originally planned a full theatrical release, the global COVID-19 pandemic forced them to reconsider the distribution, including at least one release date change. Eventually, the film got a domestic theatrical release exclusively in Canada, followed by an international Netflix release a few months later and a US release in March 2021 exclusively through the Paramount+ streaming service (formerly CBS All Access). This is how we viewed the film once we could access the service, though we mostly did so since Paramount hyped it as their main draw. While an admiral attempt at expanding on the series’ lore, Sponge on the Run is ultimately underwhelming, especially for those who grew up with the show’s first three seasons.
