Animation Guild | We are 839 Digital Magazine
Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1257506
JOURNEY UNDER THE SEA By Whitney Friedlander FOR TWO DECADES SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS, THE EXTREMELY ENTHUSIASTIC, UNDER-THE- SEA DWELLING CHARACTER, HAS BEEN ENTERTAINING AUDIENCES AND THIS YEAR MARKS HIS THIRD FEATURE- LENGTH FILM. BUT THE CHARACTER, AND HIS COHORTS IN BIKINI BOTTOM, MAY LOOK DIFFERENT WHEN AUDIENCES VIEW THE SPONGEBOB MOVIE: SPONGE ON THE RUN. That's because, for the first time, the long-running animation franchise is coming fully via computer generation. (It also comes with its own accompanying SpongeBob prequel series, Kamp Koral: SpongeBob's Under Years, which is also produced in CG with plans to air on Nickelodeon. "It adds just another layer of intrigue because we've never seen a SpongeBob movie like this," Sponge on the Run director Tim Hill explains of the decision to change things up after the TV show and previous two movies mainly relied on 2D animation. With Sponge on the Run, Hill—who became part of the franchise during its nascent days as an increasingly popular Nickelodeon program—says his goal during the film's development was to figure out if you can make it new and different without breaking it. He says "the challenge is the show has a specific look and a specific style," such as its use of blurred "painterly" walls in the background. "You don't want to repeat that in CG because that'll just be kind of more of Fresh perspectives make Bikini Bottom come alive in The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run F E AT U R E 38 KEYFRAME