SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, The MPAA Rating: PG Entertainment: +2 Content: +1 1/2

This popular Nickelodeon TV cartoon splashes onto the big screen with SpongeBob (voice of Tom Kenny) dreaming of becoming the manager of the Krusty Krab diner in the underwater village of Bikini Bottom. When Mr. Krabs, the owner (Clancy Brown), announces that Plankton (Mr. Lawrence), not SpongeBob, will be the new manager, SpongeBob is devastated. After all, he has been named employee of the week for the last 374 weeks. When Mr. Krabs is falsely accused and arrested for stealing King Neptunes (Jeffrey Tambor) crown, SpongeBob and his starfish pal Patrick (Bill Fagerbakke) agree to search for it. After facing the unknown, outsmarting thugs, and eventually being captured by the dreaded one-eyed Cyclops in Shell City, they find the kings crown. Will they be able to escape Cyclops and find their way home to Bikini Bottom?

Some slightly crude humor about flatulence and Patricks underwear probably wont offend parents, but SpongeBob getting drunk on ice cream sundaes might. He and Patrick stagger home from the sundae bar and show up for work the next day with bloodshot eyes. The two adventurers enter a deep, dark abyss that terrifies them, and thugs on motorcycles chase them, threatening to crush them with sharp cleats. One of the thugs (Alec Baldwin) comments, You got guts, kid. Too bad I have to take them out. One road is surrounded by mounds of skulls, implying that few escape alive. Compassionate Princess Mindy (Scarlett Johansson) tries to help SpongeBob and Patrick by bestowing on them magical powers to overcome evil. The excessive cartoon violence, a few crude words and the humorous treatment of drunkenness prevent SpongeBob from receiving a high acceptability rating from Preview. Both youngsters with a short attention span and grown-ups may find 90 minutes of SpongeBob a bit tiresome.

Preview Reviewer: Mary Draughon
Distributor: Paramount