The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants
Movie, 2025, The films, Set in The Underworld
The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants is #9 of 9 in release order and #9 of 9 in chronological order in the SpongeBob SquarePants.
The story
Desperate to be a big guy, SpongeBob sets out to prove his bravery to Mr. Krabs by following The Flying Dutchman – a mysterious swashbuckling ghost pirate – on a seafaring adventure that takes him to the deepest depths of the deep sea, where no Sponge has gone before.
The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants recap
SpongeBob is finally tall enough to ride a terrifying roller coaster but is too scared to try. Wanting to be as brave as Mr. Krabs, who claims he was a swashbuckling sailor in his youth, SpongeBob digs through Mr. Krabs's secret room of pirate relics and accidentally summons the Flying Dutchman. The ghost pirate is cursed to sail the Underworld until he can trade places with an innocent soul, and he picks SpongeBob, taking him and Patrick on as crew. The Dutchman sets SpongeBob a series of dangerous trials, which he passes by copying what he thinks Mr. Krabs would do, and turns him against Patrick. Mr. Krabs, sorry for telling SpongeBob he was not brave, follows with Squidward and Gary. When he catches up, the Dutchman makes him confess he was never a sailor, just a fry cook laughed at for blowing bubbles, and SpongeBob, feeling lied to, blows the Dutchman's horn. The curse passes to SpongeBob and Mr. Krabs, and the Dutchman becomes human and leaves for Santa Monica.
The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants ending explained
The Dutchman's assistant Barb tells them the horn must be destroyed before sunset to break the curse. SpongeBob makes up with Patrick and goes to the surface with Mr. Krabs, where the Dutchman flees onto a roller coaster expecting SpongeBob to be too scared to follow. SpongeBob rides it, traps the horn in a bubble and pops it. The curse lifts, the Dutchman is demoted to the galley and Barb becomes captain. Then SpongeBob and Mr. Krabs realise they have left Squidward in the Underworld.
Where to watch The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants
The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants is streaming on Prime Video, fuboTV, Paramount+, Philo, and MGM Plus in the US. You can rent or buy it on Amazon, Apple TV, and Google Play.
Ratings
Rotten Tomatoes 78%
Where it fits
- Release order: after Plankton: The Movie, the latest.
- Chronological order: after Plankton: The Movie, the last.
What to watch before The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants
In release order, the essentials before The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants (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).
Cast
- Tom Kenny as SpongeBob SquarePants / Gary / Morning DJ (voice)
- Mark Hamill as Flying Dutchman
- Clancy Brown as Mr. Krabs / Pirate / Narrator
- Bill Fagerbakke as Patrick Star (voice)
- Rodger Bumpass as Squidward (voice)
- Carolyn Lawrence as Sandy (voice)
- Mr. Lawrence as Plankton (voice)
- George López as JK Fishlips (voice)
- Ice Spice as Ticket Taker (voice)
- Arturo Castro as Ride Operator
- Sherry Cola as Studio Spokesperson / Krusty Krab Patron (voice)
- Regina Hall as Barb (voice)
Directed by Derek Drymon.