Plankton: The Movie
Movie, 2025, The films, Set in The Chum Bucket
Plankton: The Movie is #8 of 9 in release order and #8 of 9 in chronological order in the SpongeBob SquarePants.
The story
Plankton's tangled love story with his sentient computer wife goes sideways when she takes a stand — and decides to destroy the world without him.
Plankton: The Movie recap
Plankton fails yet again to steal the Krabby Patty formula and comes home to find his computer wife Karen has turned the Chum Bucket into a hit restaurant. He hates the idea and burns it down. Fed up with being ignored, Karen removes her empathy chip, turns into a giant robot and starts magnetising the town into a flying fortress to take over the world on her own. Plankton turns to SpongeBob for help, and SpongeBob hypnotises him to relive their history: Karen began as a calculator wired to a potato, built by a young Plankton, and the two plotted world domination together until a child at the beach ended their first attempt. Plankton's obsession with the formula started when he heard Mr. Krabs joke it could rule the world. Plankton builds a new robot from Karen's old parts, but she absorbs him, and the Gal Pals, Sandy, Pearl and Mrs. Puff, put Karen's empathy chip into his head.
Plankton: The Movie ending explained
With the empathy chip, Plankton finally understands Karen, and he sneaks onto her airship with SpongeBob, Patrick and the Gal Pals. When Karen offers him the formula to send him away, Plankton tells her she was always his real secret formula, and they reunite and agree to conquer the world together. Patrick eats the potatoes powering the ship, it falls, and the town returns to normal. SpongeBob talks everyone out of attacking the couple, and Bikini Bottom celebrates.
Where to watch Plankton: The Movie
Plankton: The Movie is streaming on Netflix in the US.
Ratings
IMDb 5.3/10, Rotten Tomatoes 73%
Where it fits
- Release order: after Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie, before The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants.
- Chronological order: after Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie, before The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants.
What to watch before Plankton: The Movie
In release order, the essentials before Plankton: The Movie (2025) are SpongeBob SquarePants (1999), The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (2004), The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water (2015), and The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run (2020). Plankton: The Movie itself is optional in the SpongeBob SquarePants order.
Cast
- Mr. Lawrence as Plankton / Teen Plankton / Rube / Snorkler (voice)
- Jill Talley as Karen / All the Karens / Alarm Voice / Stiletto Woman / Old Lady Cane (voice)
- Tom Kenny as SpongeBob / Random Student / Gary / French Narrator (voice)
- Bill Fagerbakke as Patrick / Troop (voice)
- Rodger Bumpass as Squidward / Fish Troop / Goofy Goober Employee (voice)
- Carolyn Lawrence as Sandy (voice)
- Clancy Brown as Mr. Krabs / Pa Plankton (voice)
- Mary Jo Catlett as Mrs. Puff (voice)
- Lori Alan as Pearl / A Woman in Crowd (voice)
- Dee Bradley Baker as Perch Perkins / Roommate / Guy in the Back of the Crowd / Muscle Fish (voice)
- Kate Higgins as Ma Plankton (voice)
- Genesis Clarre as Bucket Girl
Directed by Dave Needham.