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Who doesn’t love a mischievous microorganism? Back in July 1999, when Plankton first appeared on Nickelodeon’s recently launched show SpongeBob SquarePants, few would have guessed that the cyclops copepod would be alive and kicking over 25 years later. Voiced by the prolific Mr. Lawrence, and accompanied by his mad supercomputer, Karen (Jill Talley), Plankton is now starring in his own movie, which premieres on Netflix in March.
Plankton and Karen, who began as minor characters in early seasons of the show, are the married owners of the unsuccessful Chum Bucket restaurant. They are always coming up with schemes to steal the famous Krabby Patty recipe from Mr. Krabs’ popular Krusty Krab restaurant. In the new movie, Plankton’s lifelong dreams of world domination are scuttled when his long-suffering AI wife decides to take charge. Directed by Dave Needham (The Loud House Movie), The Plankton Movie is based on a story by Mr. Lawrence, with a screenplay by Lawrence, Kaz and Chris Viscardi. The show’s longtime voice actors Tom Kenny, Bill Fagerbakke, Carolyn Lawrence, Clancy Brown and Rodger Bumpass also reprise their roles.
Mr. Lawrence’s Little Fiend
“I came up with the idea for the movie four or five years ago,” Mr. Lawrence (aka Douglas Lawrence Osowski) tells Animation Magazine. “In my head, it was going to be a half-hour special for the series, but around the same time, the studio was asking us to come up with new movies for Sandy and Plankton, and my story (Karen becoming Plankton) was perfect for a movie.”
Lawrence, who is largely responsible for fleshing out Plankton’s character throughout the series, believes that he is a fascinating villain. “His frustrations are relatable to everyone, even though his aspirations to rule the world are not,” he explains. “Plankton is the only character who’s married on the show, so he has a home life that’s a bit more realistic than the others. But because of his size and his ego, he never really wins or gets what he wants. He becomes sympathetic but easy to laugh at. People tell me sometimes that they feel Plankton’s pain. And I guess that means I’m getting to the root of something very human with my portrayal. He’s insane, he’s megalomaniacal, he’s a criminal, but he’s got a wife pointing out his faults all the time, [which] makes him funny and humble even though he’s screaming in protest. There’s a little part of Plankton in all of us, a very small and angry part, but it’s there!”
The film’s executive producers are none other than franchise veterans Marc Ceccarelli and Vincent Waller. “When Vince and I took over the show about 10 years ago, all of these projects were in the pipeline, and now we’re finally getting to roll them out, because everything takes so long to develop and produce,” says Ceccarelli. “This project was being written and developed at the same time as the next SpongeBob movie, which will be coming out later this year. This one was on top of The Sandy Cheeks Movie as well, and we were working on both projects around the same time.”
“Doug (Lawrence) remained a constant throughout the whole thing, like from beginning to end,” says Ceccarelli. “It was sort of Doug’s movie, and it’s really helpful when he’s writing his voice. He is this unique talent, as he’s been both a writer and a main character on the show since the early days. So, this seemed like the perfect opportunity to explore both sides of what he has to offer for the show.”
“This movie is a real up-close, personal look at Plankton and Karen’s relationship, which we’ve explored before but not on this nitty-gritty ‘nuts and bolts’ level,” Waller adds. “Another reason why we love it is because it slowly and sneakily became a great musical project, which is unusual for us as well,” says Waller.
“How often do you have a movie with a star where he sings an entire song about what a total jerk he is?” Ceccarelli asks. “We’ve always been a fans of Bret McKenzie (Flight of the Conchords), and working with musical stars like Mark and Bob Mothersbaugh (Devo) and Linda Perry has been a dream come true.”
Waller also points out that SpongeBob creator, the late, great Stephen Hillenburg, who passed away in 2018, also tried to include a nice selection of eclectic bands to provide music for the show. “It was something that you don’t expect to get weaved into the show, and we just wanted to carry on that great tradition.”
For the film’s director, Dave Needham, the movie provided a chance to work on something that was different from earlier material. “This one was a bit weirder and a little bit darker [and] sits just to the edge of what you’d expect from a SpongeBob movie,” he says. “Of course, Karen becomes the real villain of this story, and it’s hilarious to see Plankton go through all the stages of grief and revenge and acceptance to kind of become the hero. Not only that, but we got to play with different animation styles, from 1920s rubber hose to a 1980s Transformers vibe in different sequences!”
Eclectic Stylings
The movie also stands out because of the way it mixes CG animation with various kinds of 2D animation. (The film’s animation was produced by four studios: ReDefine, Mikros Animation, Yukfoo Animation and mcbess.)
“We have four different styles of animation, as well as live action in this movie,” adds Waller. “It’s really a wild trip!” “The visual style is just as eclectic as the music styles we included in the feature,” adds Ceccarelli. “We’ve always been a big fan of mixing different styles. The storyline offered a structure where we could have different parts of Plankton’s life being shown in different animation styles, so we jumped on that opportunity. It might be a cliché, but we think there’s never a dull moment! If you don’t like something, just give it seconds, and the style will change, and you’ll see something completely different. We even have exciting battle scenes with giant robots.”
Since yet another SpongeBob movie is coming later this year, we asked the producers to give us a special scoop on the project. “We are sworn to secrecy, so we can’t tell you much, except that it’s going to be awesome,” says Waller. “However, I can give you a little Easter egg about The Plankton Movie: When you watch the most recent trailer, you’ll see a live-action shot of a man wearing a wet suit running toward the camera as he screams his brains out. That’s Mr. Lawrence!”
The Plankton Movie premieres on Netflix on March 7.
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