This is a production article for the SpongeBob SquarePants film, Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie, which aired on 
August 2, 2024[1][2].
Contents
- 1 Production
- 2 Production images
- 2.1 Promotional images
- 2.2 Storyboards
- 2.3 Concept art
- 2.3.1 Bikini Bottom
- 2.4 Live-action
- 3 Behind the scenes
- 4 References
Production[]
During the development of The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run, a "Sandy"-centered storyline was pitched by Marc Ceccarelli during a round table. The pitch initially got rejected until a few years later where the storyline was reused and developed further for a Sandy Cheeks spin-off film.[3]
On March 4, 2020, Robert Bakish announced that Paramount Global would produce two feature-length SpongeBob SquarePants spin-off movies for Netflix, representing a "profitable, low-risk rental business with set margins," which he said translates to content ownership for separate distribution down the road, including consumer products and recreation.[4]
"So, we're convinced that both an O&O [owned and operated] and a third-party studio strategy is absolutely right for ViacomCBS," Bakish said. "We believe that maximizing the value of our content asset, that is what you see us executing in 2020 and beyond."
When asked about any updates on the movies, Vincent Waller answered that they are in the writing stage as of January 23, 2021.[5]
On May 20, 2021, it was announced that a hybrid movie featuring Sandy Cheeks was in development. Production was slated to start in August in New Mexico.[6]
On August 12, 2021, the title of the movie was revealed as SpongeBob SquarePants: Saving Bikini Bottom.[7]
On August 16, 2021, it was revealed that plans to film Saving Bikini Bottom in Los Alamos were scrapped due to rewrites of the script.[8][9]
On August 26, 2021, Vincent Waller confirmed that the movie will be CG animated with live-action segments.[10]
Christian Adkins, a camera operator on the movie, lists SpongeBob SquarePants Movie:[sic] Saving Bikini Bottom as a 2021 Warner Bros. feature.[11]
On October 24, 2021, Vincent Waller confirmed that Warner Bros. Pictures is not involved in the movie and that Netflix is still the distributor.[12][13]
On February 15, 2022, the movie got an announced release date of 2023.[14][15]
On October 17, 2022, Jay Lender revealed that he was doing storyboards on this movie.[16][17][18]
On October 27, 2022, Vincent Waller confirmed that the initial logo revealed for the movie could be subject to change.[19]
On April 25, 2023, a first look to Saving Bikini Bottom was revealed by Netflix, which turned out to be a frame from the movie. On the same day, it was also announced that the movie's release date got delayed to 2024.[20][1][21]
On April 26, 2023, Spencer Wyatt confirmed that the movie is being animated by Sinking Ship Entertainment, it's also gonna be animated by Pipeline Studios.[22][23]
In late November 2023, multiple characters models and fully rendered clips were leaked due to a networking mistake that happened in 2023 where Pipeline Studios had their entire file server open to the public for a period of time.
On December 29, 2023, it was announced on Twitter that the movie would be releasing "soon."[24]
On January 20, 2024, the movie was leaked via now taken down Google Drive link on Discord.
On January 21, 2024, the entire movie was leaked online on Twitter before it was taken down by Paramount Global five hours later.[25]
On February 12, 2024, it was announced that the movie would be releasing in April 2024.[26]
On March 18, 2024, the movie's release date was postponed to summer of 2024.
On May 1, 2024, it was announced that the movie will be released on August 2, 2024.[2]
Production images[]
Promotional images[]
Designed by storyboard revisionist Eliza Herndon, posted on X (formerly Twitter), saying that she was so thankful for helping with thestoryboard revisions and plussing for the film. Posted during the day that the movie released on Netflix.[27]
Storyboards[]
[28]
[28]
[29]
[29]
[29]
[29]
[30]
[30]
Saving Bikini Bottom - Boots Animatic
Saving Bikini Bottom - Police Chase Animatic
Saving Bikini Bottom- The Sandy Cheeks Movie (SpongeBob spin-off movie) storyboard scene
Concept art[]
Bikini Bottom[]
Color key for the introduction scene (#1)
Color key for the introduction scene (#2)
Color key for the scene with SpongeBob and Sandy heading to the surface (#1)
Color key for the scene with SpongeBob and Sandy heading to the surface (#2)
Live-action[]
The movie's clapperboard which also has a prototype logo on it.
Behind the scenes[]
Saving Bikini Bottom- The Sandy Cheeks Movie - Behind The Scenes Music Video
Spongebob Reel 2024
