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Plankton: The Movie

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This is the page about the movie. For other uses, see Plankton (disambiguation).

Plankton: The Movie is a film based on Nickelodeon's hit TV show SpongeBob SquarePants. In this movie, Plankton's tangled love story with his sentient computer wife Karen goes sideways when she takes a stand --- and decides to destroy the world without him.

Characters[]

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Synopsis[]

Act 1[]

Plankton once again attempts to steal the secret formula, this time with his Operation Success plan which uses an invention of his to bring various machines in Mr. Krabs's room in the Krusty Krab to life to facilitate him opening the safe containing the formula. However, the plan having minimal involvement of Karen annoys her and Mr. Krabs only let Plankton think Operation: Success would work as an attempt to crush his spirits, and he foils it. Karen, soon after, starts running the Chum Bucket herself without Plankton's consent, for once making chum-based meals that customers like. However, an enraged Plankton doesn't like the changes she made and destroys them, infuriating her. She kicks Plankton out of the Chum Bucket before magnetizing it. She then angrily declares that their evil alliance is through. But in doing so, all of the neglect, hurt, and anger towards Plankton's ingratitude have been brought to the surface. It consumes her and she undergoes a wild transformation. She turns into a massive three-headed war machine whose personalities are based on three other personality chips. Karen then begins building a giant robot from various buildings with magnetism to take over the undersea, the surface world, and presumably the entire universe.

Act 2[]

SpongeBob and Plankton team up in order to stop Karen's madness, with SpongeBob using his Junior Psychologist kit to hypnotize Plankton to make him remember his past so he can rekindle his love for Karen. They head to Plankton's old university where Plankton attempts to build a new Karen out of various parts from her original body in an attempt to have it fight the old Karen, but this is unsuccessful, with "New Karen" simply being merged into the hydra. With Bikini Bottom reduced to a barren wasteland, SpongeBob is distraught that Plankton lied to him and was never interested in getting back with Karen to begin with. He then blames Plankton for causing the whole disaster and that his own selfish desires for conquest are what lead to it in the first place. But Plankton, in denial of his actions, selfishly brushes it off as if none of it was his fault at all. However, SpongeBob still calls him out when he reminds him of who he truly is through his analysis: a pitiful, pathetic jerk who refuses to take full responsibility for his actions. He then leaves Plankton so that he could be with his real friends. Plankton, now all alone with no friends or family, begins to feel remorseful for everything he did and finally realizes that he is a jerk. Soon after, Hydra Karen arrives to try to eliminate Plankton. But before she can do so, SpongeBob comes back with the Gal Pals to rescue him. They take Plankton to their hideout, where they interrogate him and demand to know how Karen ended up becoming such a monstrous beast. Through hypnosis, Plankton reveals that the reason Karen went berserk is because she had removed her empathy chip, and without it, she cannot feel anything for anyone. The Gal Pals decide that the only best bet for Plankton to do is to simply apologize to her. But it turns out that apologizing is something he's never done before. So, Sandy installs the empathy chip into his brain and saying "sorry" wasn't very hard for him anymore now that he realized how poorly he mistreated her.

Act 3[]

SpongeBob, Plankton, Sandy, Mrs. Puff, and Pearl infiltrate the robot, while Plankton is suffering from "empathy overdose," that being the Empathy chip inserted into his brain due to an exasperated Sandy coming up with a new plan to make him feel love to Karen. It is revealed that the original Karen still exists despite her monstrous transformation. SpongeBob finds Patrick within the Krusty Krab, but everyone gets caught by the evil Karens. The Gal Pals battle the evil Karens while SpongeBob and Patrick take Plankton up to the control room to apologize to the original Karen. At the top, the empathy chip burns out as Plankton makes it up to the control room. Just before going in, he orders SpongeBob and Patrick to try to stop the mech's engine, which they do. Plankton enters and attempts to apologize to her, but she rejects him upon believing that the empathy chip is forcing him to act nice, though Plankton reveals it's burnt out, and his feelings are genuine. Still too hurt, she solemnly gives him the Krabby Patty formula as a parting gift. But instead of reading it, he discards it and ultimately proves how truly sorry he is when he tells her that the secret formula was her. Karen is touched by his words and forgives him. Even without her empathy chip, the only thing she needed was to reactivate her empathy was to be given it in return. She then allows him to take part in the global conquest together. However, the two's newly merged plans to conquer the world are foiled when SpongeBob and Patrick take out the mech's potato power source (SpongeBob chopping with his spatula and Patrick eating all of them). Plankton apologizes for being involved in messing up the plan. Despite this, Karen's not angry at all, saying all that matters is that she has him back. The two hug as Mega Karen falls apart and Bikini Bottom is restored to normal. Once the Bottomites are about to attack Plankton & Karen, SpongeBob saves them and tells everyone that the whole incident was just a love story between Karen and Plankton since he's a "sucker of a love story." And with that, everyone agrees with SpongeBob's statement. Mr. Krabs, still enraged at what happened, deduces that everyone's gone soft on him. But he immediately changes his mind when his cash register's money fall into his hands, admitting that he's also a "sucker for a love story" too. Karen & Plankton share a heartfelt moment while SpongeBob and the others started celebrating before the movie ends.

Cast[]

Production[]

Main article: Plankton: The Movie/production

Promotional images[]

Officially posted by Netflix as these promotional images are screenshots from the movie.

Music[]

( ‣ ) Production music
( • ) Original music
( ◦ ) SpongeBob music

 • Hawaiian Adventures aka SpongeBob Theme - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [SpongeBob tries coffee.]
 • Hawaiian Adventures aka SpongeBob Theme - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield ["Why don't you help yourself for some of this stuff?"]
 • Hawaiian Adventures aka SpongeBob Theme - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [SpongeBob smashing his face in coffee cups]

"I can turn into a skyscraper!"
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Reception[]

Main article: Plankton: The Movie/reception

Soundtrack[]

Plankton The Movie Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Main article: Plankton: The Movie (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

The Plankton: The Movie (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) album was officially released on March 6, 2025, a day before the movie was released. The soundtrack features most of the original soundtrack for the movie.

Trivia[]

General[]

  • Just like Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie, this film was originally set to be released on Paramount+,[5] but was then moved to releasing it on Netflix.[6]
    • Notes: Prior to its release, the entire film was leaked on August 8, 2024, following a hack on 4chan.[7] Saving Bikini Bottom was also leaked prior to its release.
  • The film's release date (March 7) also references the opening date of the Krusty Krab 2, which was shown in The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie.
  • This is the first movie in the SpongeBob SquarePants franchise to do several things:
    • The first movie on which Mr. Lawrence was a screenwriter.
    • The first movie where Pearl and Mrs. Puff play a main role. Mrs. Puff was listed under "Main Cast" in the credits of the 2004 film, but her role was minor.
    • The first movie that has no human main characters/villains (like David Hasselhoff, Burger Beard, Sage, The Gambler, and Sue Nahmee).
    • The first movie where Squidward does not play a major or supporting role, as he only has two lines of dialogue, in addition to several non-speaking scenes and two scenes playing his clarinet. Despite this, he is still credited as the main character.
    • The first movie not to feature any celebrity guest stars voicing new characters.
    • The first movie to feature Rube Goldfish as a character.
    • The first movie to not feature Larry the Lobster.
  • This is the first SpongeBob-related media that Casey Alexander has worked on since "Yeti Krabs," which premiered almost 10 years ago when this movie came out. However, if the copyright year, 2013, is counted, then it marks 12 years since then.
  • Some of SpongeBob's lines were reused from Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie.
  • Karen says, "Your plans haven't worked for 25 years," referencing the age of the franchise when this movie initially released.
  • Just like Plankton in the The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, Karen is the second antagonist of the SpongeBob SquarePants movie franchise to not be introduced in the movie.
    • After Sue Nahmee, Karen is the second antagonist of the movie franchise to be female.
  • The fourth wall is broken five times throughout the movie:
    • First, Plankton breaks the fourth wall when he says that the movie is his.
    • Secondly, the Gal Pals invite Karen to watch a sci-fi rom-com screwball thriller movie, hinting this movie's genres, including Mrs. Puff saying that it's animated, Pearl saying that it has songs, and Karen also hints out the plot of Plankton failing, and taking a stand to rule the world without him.
    • Thirdly, SpongeBob breaks the fourth wall by touching the screen and drawing a heart on it.
    • Fourthly, Sandy, Mrs. Puff, and Pearl subtly break the fourth wall by saying, "Stop the flashback!"
    • Finally, Perch Perkins and Plankton break the fourth wall when the former says that Bikini Bottom is back the way it was since the beginning of the movie, and when the latter says that the movie is over.
  • The film follows Plankton's family life from season 3's "Plankton's Army," rather than following the different backstory presented in season 5's "Friend or Foe." As depicted in the movie, Plankton begins his quest for the secret formula after he overhears Mr. Krabs jokingly say his patties could take over the world.
  • In "Plankton's Army", Karen learns that Plankton's first name is Sheldon. However, in this movie, Karen is shown to have known Plankton's first name when she was given the ability to talk.
    • Unlike Kamp Koral, where Karen was able to talk in her roller skate form, Karen was only able to talk when Plankton upgraded her from the roller skate form to her mobile form. The movie disregards the events of Kamp Koral.

Episode references[]

Cultural references[]

  • The thinking pose that Plankton made alludes to the sculpture, The Thinker, which was made by the French artist, Auguste Rodin.
  • The painting that Plankton destroys with his claw-like fingernails references the 1930 painting, American Gothic.
  • While acting as a psychiatrist, SpongeBob speaks with an Austrian (German) accent and references Sigmund Freud, who is an Austrian neurologist.
    • In the German version, however, SpongeBob speaks with a French accent.
  • The iteration of Karen being called the Hydra Karens may be owed, due to Karen having more than one head referencing the mythological monster, the Lernaean Hydra of Greek mythology, which is famous for having more than three heads.
    • Hydra Karen's appearance could also be a nod to King Ghidorah, the three-headed monster dragon who is the archenemy of Godzilla. Since the Hydra Karens are machines, it could also be a reference to Mecha-King Ghidorah from Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah.
    • Hydra Karen's wheels could possibly be inspired by WALL-E.
  • The sequences of Karen taking over the world during "Say My Name, Karen" are animated in the style of Marvel Animation's Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man (which was released two months before this movie).
    • Coincidentally, New York City (which happens to be the main location of the aforementioned show) appears in one of these sequences.
  • Mega Karen is most likely a combination (in terms of appearance, personality, abilities, and motivations) of different robotic monsters from various science fiction and horror franchises such as:
  • SpongeBob's quote, "Whosoever pulleth out this spatula from this wall is right-wise worthy", is a reference to Sir Thomas Malroy's quote, "Whoso pulleth out this sword of this stone and anvil, is right wise king born of all England."

Errors[]

  • Throughout almost the entire movie, SpongeBob's holes are yellow. It's not until he goes inside mecha Karen for the holes to be colored green as they should be.
  • On Netflix, a character says, "Hi", but the closed captions say "High."
    • Similarly, a character says, "Everybody panic!", but the closed captions say "Krabby Patty".
  • Sandy was able to sip her coffee, despite wearing a helmet.
  • Gary's model at the beginning of the movie (which reuses his The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run design) is different than his model at the end.
  • In the end credits, Spot is missing in the list of characters that were voiced by Dee Bradley Baker.

Gallery[]

Posters[]

Other[]

Videos[]

References[]

  1. ^ ‘SpongeBob’ Antagonist Plankton Is Getting His Own Netflix Movie In 2025 - Deadline
  2. ^ ‘Plankton: The Movie’: Netflix’s Second SpongeBob SquarePants Film Arrives in March 2025 - What's on Netflix
  3. ^ a b c ToonHive on Twitter/X: "New look at ‘Plankton: The Movie.’"
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Netflix Unveils 'Plankton: The Movie' Trailer, Key Art, Poster and Stills - NickALive!
  5. ^ Paramount+ on Twitter/X: "As the streaming home for Bikini Bottom..."
  6. ^ Netflix on Twitter/X: "FIRST LOOK: Plankton..."
  7. ^ Netflix Animation Suffers Major Leak; Multiple Movies, Series, and Anime Shared Online - What's on Netflix
Plankton: The Movie (V • E)
Characters: Hydra Karens • Super Snarky Karen • Super Smart Karen • Super Evil Karen • New Karen • Mega Karen • Roommate • Snorkeler
Locations: Gal Pals Secret Headquarters • BSU
Objects: Junior Psychiatrist Kit • Karen's microchips • Empathy chip
Songs: Welcome to Bikini Bottom • I'm Plankton • Say My Name, Karen • I Made a New Friend • I'm A Jerky Jerk • You and Me • Welcome Back to Bikini Bottom
Other: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
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