SpongeBob and Patrick and the Furry Encounters

SpongeBob and Patrick and the Furry Encounters is a 2030 American computer-animated adventure science fiction comedy film based on SpongeBob SquarePants. Produced by Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon Movies, United Plankton Pictures and distributed by Paramount Pictures, it is a direct sequel to The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (2004) and The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run (2020) and the fifth film in the Nicktoons Cinematic Series. The film was directed by Paul Tibbitt, with the screenplay by Andrew Goodman, Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger, and stars Tom Kenny, Bill Fagarbakke, Rodger Bumpass, Clancy Brown, and Carolyn Lawrence reprising their roles from the earlier films, alongside Scarlett Johansson reprising her role as Princess Mindy from the first film; Tom Hardy, Michael Keaton, Sylvester Stallone, Jordan Peele, and Keegan-Michael Key voice the characters in this film. In the film, Patrick proposes to Mindy after a long relationship while his best friend SpongeBob wants to keep him in the status quo, but their wedding is interrupted by a race of a feline alien race abducting Patrick as they see him as the ancient star child "Patricius".

SpongeBob and Patrick and the Furry Encounters premiered in Hollywood on August 27, 2030 and was released in the United States on September 27, 2030. The film received positive reviews from critics with praise towards Fagerbakke's performance as Patrick, animation, themes, and tone. Many reviewers considered it as one of the best films in the SpongeBob SquarePants franchise. It grossed $447 million worldwide against an $70 million production budget.

Plot
Arriving to Bikini Bottom, having since become a refuge for sail,1 King Neptune arrives announcing the marriage of Patrick Star and Princess Mindy, following the former's proposal. Everyone but Patrick's best friend, SpongeBob SquarePants, was unaware of their marriage. After work, Patrick tells him that he and Mindy had dated for a month and had gotten her father's blessing after he was also responsible for retrieving the royal crown,2 but hadn't mentioned it as he had his recent independent cake delivery job occupying him.

At the bachelor party at the Krusty Krab later that night, SpongeBob, serving as best man, tells his boss, Eugene Krabs, and neighbor/co-worker, Squidward Tentacles, about his worries about him eventually moving out and and misusing his royal authority over all of Bikini Bottom for his needs like last time and they suggest he should not assume the worst of Patrick after his marriage; Patrick overhears and feels concerned while SpongeBob walks out, subsequently wishing for something to prevent the wedding. Meanwhile, Mindy throws a bridal shower with her chosen maid of honor, Sandy Cheeks, chosen bridesmaids, Squilvia; Mrs. Puff; Pearl Krabs; and her cousin, Jody. She spends the night receiving their gifts and forms a bond with Sandy.

On the wedding day, Patrick confronts SpongeBob, who interrupts the officiant and objects to it out of breaking away from the status quo, about the words he heard last night and felt hurt over his assumption while assuring him that he will be taking his monarchy role seriously and will keep in touch with him; Patrick, calmly yet disappointed in his friend's intentions, kicks him out of his wedding. As he leaves the castle, a flying saucer arrives and catches Patrick in a tractor beam, with Mindy trying to pull him down, only to be caught as well. SpongeBob, drowning his sorrows at Goofy Goober's, notices them captured and grabs onto the saucer right before it flies up to the surface and into outer space; SpongeBob loses his grip and drifts off into space.

On the saucer, Patrick and Mindy are cornered by a group of extraterrestrials with cat heads in mechanical suits called the Milky Wayfarers, led by their cloak-wearing leader Emperor Galcatacus. The reason for abducting Patrick is that they believe he is the ancient star child called "Patricius", a star from the heavens; Patrick uses their belief to their advantage to escape. With SpongeBob, he wakes up onboard a spaceship (resembling a pirate ship) where he reunites with Sandy, Squidward, and Mr. Krabs and meets the ship's captain, Grant White, and his crew, Hal Halibut and Red Herring, who were were tasked by King Neptune to rescue Patrick and Mindy with the use of Sandy's Sea-Creature-Tracker. Arriving to their mothership at the Milky Way, Patrick and Mindy are treated to their hospitality for the time being until Patrick must defeat their skilled warrior, Snowflake, in the arena before their trip home, in which Patrick accepts.

Mindy, suspicious about Galcatacus, sneaks into his quarters and finds an old journal and newspapers where revealing that he was an ordinary cat put in a mechanical suit made by his former owner to treat his paralyzed body; the suit also gave him super-intelligence and he had fled before thanking his owner for giving him his sapient gift. The newspaper headlines also reveal that Galcatacus had led an army of stray cats to steal an armory of mechs from the government, followed by stealing cat-based items (i.e. cat food, milk, kitty litter, and scratching posts). They had later demanded their own spacecraft in the form of their mothership, in exchange for leaving Earth in peace. In the journal, she learns that Patricius, the star child Galcatacus searched for, was a fictional story made up by his owner; Galcatacus believed the story to be real. Informs Patrick about the truth, he suggests they escape after finding himself way over his head passing himself off as a legend before the guards, unbeknownst about their discovery, take them to the arena.

Patrick is brought to the arena, his opponent, Snowflake, is revealed to be an unkempt cat in a muscular body-like mech, much to Patrick's dismay. During the match, Snowflake effortlessly beats Patrick, with the latter hardly able to beat him from the former's mech and strength. The match is interrupted when his friends arrive and they save Patrick and Mindy. As they escape, Mindy says they must destroy the mothership, in which SpongeBob sacrifices himself to make up for his mistake; the mothership is sent plummeting to its destruction.

Returning to Bikini Bottom, the citizens rejoice in their return while Patrick and his friends mourn for SpongeBob, who turns out to have survived as he was captured by Galcatacus and his right-hand cat Commander Twinkles who had boarded one of the escape pods. Patrick, after telling the truth about Patricius to Galcatacus, pleads Twinkles to spare SpongeBob; Twinkles then pursues Patrick instead after lying to Galcatacus, much to the latter's shock. When told to run, Patrick reflects on his past and decides to stand up to Twinkles in a duel, with him outsmarting him and damaging his suit. Upon his defeat, Twinkles is confronted by Galcatacus, who apologizes to Patrick for everything before departing. Patrick and SpongeBob reconcile with each other and the latter resumes his role as the best man. After Patrick and Mindy's wedding, before they leave their honeymoon after Patrick promises his friends that he will visit.

Voice cast
The Cyclops and Dennis from the first film and King Poseidon from Sponge on the Run appear in flashbacks.
 * Bill Fagarbakke as:
 * Patrick Star
 * Rocky II
 * Herb Star
 * Tom Kenny as:
 * SpongeBob SquarePants
 * Gary the Snail
 * French Narrator
 * Tom Hardy as Emperor Galcatacus
 * Michael Keaton as Commander Twinkles
 * Sylvester Stallone as Captain Grant White
 * Jordan Peele as Lieutenant Hal Halibut
 * Keegan-Michael Key as Major Red Herring
 * Scarlett Johansson as Princess Mindy
 * Jeffery Tambor as King Neptune XV
 * Carolyn Lawrence as Sandy Cheeks
 * Rodger Bumpass as Squidward Tentacles
 * Clancy Brown as Eugene Krabs
 * Doug Lawrence as:
 * Sheldon Plankton
 * Larry Lobster
 * Jill Talley as Karen
 * Mary Jo Catlett as Mrs. Puff
 * Lori Alan as Pearl Krabs
 * Sirena Irwin as:
 * Margaret SquarePants
 * Margie Star
 * Squilvia
 * Carlos Alazraqui as Squire
 * Ally Maki as Jody
 * Tim Blaney as Goofy Goober
 * Dee Bradley Baker as:
 * Perch Perkins
 * Snowflake

Development
During production on the third film of The SpongeBob Movie: It's a Wonderful Sponge, which later became The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run, the "Space Cat" storyline was the second pitch by director Paul Tibbitt alongside Kyle McCulloch and writers Jonathan Aibel, Glenn Berger and Andrew Goodman that was in development in 2015 after the release of The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water before it was dropped in 2017. Compared to the final version of Sponge on the Run, this storyline centers around the "science-fiction" genre, described as a "SpongeBob movie in the mold of Independence Day." The plot had originally focused on Gary, originally revealed to be prince of a world inhabited by snails before being evacuating, kidnapped by the Milky Wayfarers who would use him to free Galcatacus and turn the Earth into a giant litter box.

According to Tibbitt and some storyboards, one subplot had Nicolas Cage portraying himself running for President of the United States under the nickname "President Cage" while owning a pet tiger named Fluffy, an army general called Tallenback (portrayed by Jeff Goldblum) and an animal trainer named Terry. Although Nicolas Cage was first considered for the USA President role, he was later replaced by Dwayne Johnson before the idea was eventually dropped. Another subplot had Mr. Krabs, disguised as SpongeBob, opening a "favor truck" and selling favors and compliments to the Bikini Bottomites. David Hasselhoff was also planned to return from the very first film. Executive producer Vincent Waller replied on Twitter about the storyboards that the "I believe that was a first pass at the story, but the entire alien cat storyline was later tossed out and rewritten." In an interview with Sponge on the Run director Tim Hill explained that Paramount had other plans for the plot and the script was "a bit too far-fetched." Tibbitt also chimed in on the dropping of Cage's subplot as it paralleled to Donald Trump.

Upon the announcement of Nicktoons Cinematic Series, Paramount announced the film, under its name SpongeBob and Patrick and the Furry Encounters was in development, with Tibbitt as director, Aibel, Berger and Goodman as screenwriters, and the discovery of Patrick as the main character. Bill Fagerbakke was announced to reprise his role as Patrick, alongside his co-stars Tom Kenny, Rodger Bumpass, Clancy Brown, and Carolyn Lawrence. Doug Lawrence, Jill Talley, Mary Jo Catlett, and Lori Alan. A month after the series' cast's return, Tom Hardy, Michael Keaton, Sylvester Stallone, Jordan Peele, and Keegan-Michael Key were announced as the film's characters along with Scarlett Johansson and Jeffrey Tambor reprising their roles from The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie.

Animation
The film's animation was provided by Animal Logic, known for animating the Lego Movie film series and DC League of Super-Pets. Its animators were tasked in capturing the series' animation from its fourth to eighth seasons while keeping the nature of the first three seasons in it rather than match the "stop-motion"-like animation Sponge on the Run had done. The studio was also chosen for the sake of the Milky Wayfarers' anatomically correct features in their facial expressions. This is also the first film in the SpongeBob SquarePants film series not to feature any live-action elements or human characters, a means to contrast from previous installments.

Music
Mark Mothersbaugh, composer of the Rugrats film series and original preceded series, composed the film's score for capturing the film's "sci-fi aspects" while replicating the iconic melodies from the series. The soundtrack was released on September 27, 2030, by Paramount Music.

The film also features "I Get Around" by The Beach Boys, used during the opening of the film; "Only Time", by Enya, used during Patrick's flashbacks with Mindy; "The Best Day Ever" by Tom Kenny, the last song heard in the end credits of the 2004 film, is sung by SpongeBob near the end of the film after Patrick and Mindy are married; "Ocean Man" by Ween, used at the start of the first film's end credits, is used at the start of this film's end credits; "Friends" by The Beach Boys, used at the very end of the credits; and a cover version of the SpongeBob SquarePants theme song, sung by Avril Lavigne for the first film's soundtrack, is the last song in the end credits and used in the trailers and television spots.

Release
SpongeBob and Patrick and the Furry Encounters premiered at the El Capitan Theatre on August 27, 2030. The film was theatrically released in Australia on July 6, 2022, in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and New Zealand on July 7, and in the United States on September 27, 2030, in 4DX, RealD 3D, IMAX, and Dolby Cinema. The film is accompanied by The Mighty Bessie, a short film based on The Mighty B!.

Marketing
The film's first trailer was released on the Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon YouTube channels on March 26, 2030, with the use of Avril Lavigne's cover of the SpongeBob SquarePants theme song from the soundtrack of The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie. Its second trailer was released on June 18.

Paramount Consumer Products had partnered with Lego, for playsets and a minifigure series based on the film, and Thinkway Toys, for action figures of its characters. McDonald's had also put out a wave of toys based on the film from August to October 2030.

Home media
SpongeBob and Patrick and the Furry Encounters was released on digital by Paramount Home Entertainment on December 24, 2031 (Christmas Day) and on Ultra HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray, and DVD on January 7.

Box office
SpongeBob and Patrick and the Furry Encounters grossed $189.3 million in the United States and Canada, and $258.7 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $447.4 million. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 88%, with an average rating of 7.4/10, based on 379 reviews. The site's critics consensus reads: "Patrick takes the lead in SpongeBob and Patrick and the Furry Encounters in this sci-fi-filled adventure that has the NCS take off to the skies rather than drown into the ocean." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 78 out of 100, based on 64 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale.