Everyone’s favorite Sponge ventures out of water, bigger and bolder than ever before and we got a chance to talk to the cast and find out what to expect in “The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water.”
Yesterday, the yellow carpet was rolled out for the premiere of “The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water.” Featuring most of the cast, including Antonio Banderas, Tom Kenny, Bill Fagerbakke, Rodger Bumpass, director Paul Tibbit, writers Glenn Berger and Jonathan Aibel and creator Stephen Hillenburg, all of whom we spoke to about the upcoming movie. Excitement was high as people of all ages came to watch Spongebob and friends in this all new adventure, set to hit theaters February 6. The color yellow was everywhere yesterday from the carpet to the ceiling as well as the all new 2015 Toyota Sienna inspired by the film and designed to look just like Spongebob. Stephen Hillenburg explained that Spongebob’s inception was a result of his passions for marine-biology and the arts and Paul Tibbit mentioned that the Krabby Patty formula is a mystery to them as well as the audience. Find out what else the creators and cast had to say about the film, their experiences and Spongebob over the past 15 years.
Bill, talk about the experience of being Patrick for the past 15 years.
It’s been the greatest thing that could ever happen. It’s just been so wonderful, not only do I love the character and how fun he is, but he makes me laugh when I watch the series and I love the way kids respond to him and no one cares about this *points to face*. No one cares about my hair, my teeth, my eyes, my waistline, none of that stuff. I have no anxiety about it and no cosmetic hysteria in my life, that is a beautiful thing in this particular industry, let me tell you.
Did your kids watch Spongebob growing up?
Yeah they were five and seven when the show started so it was a part of their childhood very much.
Can you talk about the experience of working with Tom over the years ?
I love him, he’s like a brother to me. I really dearly love the guy, his kids know my kids and it’s just another wonderful extension of a wonderful of a wonderful job.
What’s your favorite episode?
I’ve always been fond of the pilot because it represents to me when I first realized what a wonderful project it was because I didn’t know before that, I didn’t get it. The first time I watched that I was just so tickled and then you just hope that it’s treated well and gets the right opportunities.
Stephen, why did you decide to leave “Spongebob” early on? Why did you come back?
I’ve always been connected to the show. What happened after the first movie was that I needed a break, but I would still read the premises and I was still executive producer and then what happened was, Paramount was interested in doing a new movie and so Paul and I – Paul Tibbit is the director – started thinking about stories and we basically got this idea and we sort of beat out the story, so I got back involved. We’ve been working on the movie for about three years now.
Did you ever think that Spongebob would turn into the huge phenomenon that it is?
No, I really didn’t expect that. You never know what’s gonna happen, how can you anticipate that ? I’m certainly thrilled that people responded to his character and that kids like it.
What has been your favorite episode or a few of your favorites ?
Oh gosh, that’s a tough question because I’ll look at one episode and I’ll think, ‘oh that’s my favorite’ and then I’ll see another one. It’s very difficult to pinpoint.
What can we expect from the movie?
This movie has CG characters and we’ve never done that before. We’ve done stop-motion, but not CG and the company that we worked with was in Australia and they did an amazing job.
Glenn Berger and Jonathan Abel, this is not the first time they’ve ventured out of water. How is this better than the first one or different than the first one?
Berger: Well in this movie they come out in much different form. They’re CG, which has never been done before and they’re giant super hero size, in that regard it’s bigger and bolder.
In terms of the plot, without giving anything away?
Abel: They get to have new forms that we’ve never seen them have before, so in the first movie when they came out of the water, they were still themselves. This time when they come out of the water they have superpowers.
Over the years, do feel like you’ve had to change up the comedy for each new generation of kids, how has the writing changed in your opinion?
Berger: I don’t think we change the comedy. The comedy we can write is our comedy mixed with the sensibility that’s already been established for Spongebob and I think the beauty of Spongebob and its world is that each generation of kids can see something relatable and funny in it. Spongebob is universal and that’s part of its global appeal.
Paul, you’ve been with Spongebob for a while now, how was it directing the feature?
Oh it was great. I’ve been with the show since pretty much the beginning, since about 1998. This was a great experience. I’m glad I got the chance to do it because it was fun to tell a longer a story. We’re used to telling really short ones and that’s fun too, but the ability to do something big is exciting and special and different from the shows, it’s fun.
After being with the show for this long, do you feel like they’ve become your family?
Yeah definitely, with the movie it did. Even though I’m working with a lot of the same people, some of the people from the movie I don’t see anymore and it’s really sad. I felt like I wanted to keep working on the movie, but you have to finish it some day.
What’s your relationship with Spongebob?
He’s like a friend who can just cheer you up. Some days I don’t really want to go to work, but when I get there and I see him and I start writing jokes with the writers I always cheer up and have a much better day.
Would you rather have a Krusty Krab Pizza or a Krabby Patty?
I like Pizza better, not a big fan of burgers so I’d rather have pizza.
Are either of them vegetarian friendly?
We don’t really know what’s in them, but I think pretty much the main ingredient is kelp. I don’t know what the special ingredients are but mainly Kelp, so yeah they are vegetarian friendly.
Which character do you relate to the most?
In some ways I relate to Mr. Krabs the most just because at work I’m the boss and he’s the boss, I think I’m a little bit nicer of a boss to my employees than he is, but yeah I relate to him.
What was it like taking over the reigns of Spongebob when Stephen took a break?
It was fun, he gave me his full blessing and he still stayed involved. He didn’t come in and run the day to day, but we showed everything to him, all the stories and storyboards. It was a challenge and it’s tough, with big shoes to fill and hopefully I’m doing my best to just keep his dream going and keep the characters true to what he would want. He tells me I’m doing a good job, so that sounds good to me.
Rodger, what’s it like being squidward for 15 years?
This has been, as they used to say in Star Trek,”This is my first best destiny.” This is the thing that I was made to do. This character has such great versatility and range that it’s just a joy to do. To be sarcastic and observe and make comments on what’s going on around me, but then it gets too much for me and I go apoplectic. It’s great working with the cast too, they’re all very funny people.
Can you speak about working with Tom and Bill?
Tom and Bill, they’re just great. Tom is one of the most prolific comedic actors I’ve ever seen. He can do so so many things. Bill, as he says, he plays stupid really well and he does, too.
Can you talk about the similarities between you and Squidward?
We are sarcastic observers of the world around us. I try not to let it get to me, but sometimes it does and I drop into Squidward just like that.
What’s one thing you want to say to the fans as Squidward?
*Squidward Voice* I hope you all come and have a wonderful time at this film because it’s so jam-packed with action and 3D and fun and jokes and me so please come have a great time because I know I will!
Tom, how was it working with Antonio Banderas and did you teach him how to surf?
Antonio knew how to surf, but I gave him some advice about scoring with the ladies, Antonio wasn’t very good with the ladies, so he asked Dr. Spongebob how it’s done.
Which episode has been your favorite ?
Every episode is fun to record because we’re always laughing and having a great time. We’re like the little kids throwing paper airplanes around at the back of the classroom, but in terms of Spongebob, I gotta say I like a lot of the earlier ones. “Band Geeks” with “Sweet Sweet Victory,” that’s my favorite and “I Ripped My Pants Again,” I love that one. All my favorite ones tend to be from the first couple of seasons I think because that was when we were just making the show, we didn’t know if it was going to be a hit or not and then after a couple seasons, we realized it wasn’t just kids watching, it was people of all ages and that was kind of magical. I think it was those episodes that hooked people, “Hooky” that’s another one of my favorite episodes. Recording every episode I love and there’s new episodes that I can’t talk about that are really great too because we just started a new season, but there’s great new Spongebob episodes coming down the pike.
Antonio, which character do you relate to the most ?
In this particular movie I relate to mine, even if he’s a little bit clumsy and a little bit evil-ish, he’s my character.
How did you react when you found out you were playing the role of a pirate and how did you prepare for it?
Great! It’s one of those recurring dreams that actors have, to play a pirate and to be romantic character. They were calling me to participate in something that became an international phenomenon for 15 years. I prepared by trying to understand it, talking to my director, reading my script again and again, seeing the TV series and trying to see what is the style of the product, how silly I can go and just preparing some physicality because I knew I would have to do some stunts and stuff like that.
-Nishat Baig
