The latest entry in the SpongeBob SquarePants franchise, Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie, just made its unauthorized debut on social media.
SpongeBob SquarePants debuted on Nickelodeon in 1999 and has run for 14 seasons and counting. It is one of the network’s longest-running and most popular cartoons.
The zany comedy’s success has also translated into a range oftie-in mediaand spinoff projects. The latest of these projects is Saving Bikini Bottom: a feature-length side story focused on supporting character Sandy Cheeks.
SpongeBob’s new Sandy Cheeks movie leaks online in full
It’s all thanks to X (formerly Twitter) userIndicator, who uploaded The Sandy Cheeks Movie in its entirety on January 21. Multiple users then shared Indicator’s post, spreading the leak even further.
F*CK IT, FULL SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS, SAVING BIKINI BOTTOM: THE SANDY CHEEKS MOVIE LEAKpic.twitter.com/daFi9gZzsr
Nickelodeon’s parent company, Paramount Global, responded quickly, filing a flurry of copyright complaints. This resulted in strikes for the offending accounts. But The Sandy Cheeks Movie nevertheless remained available on the platform a day after the wave of copyright strikes.
What’s more, once the full-length video was finally removed, copies began cropping up on other sites, includingReddit. Unlike on X, the film wasn’t directly embedded on Reddit, but rather shared via DMs.
The Sandy Cheeks Movie leak isn’t the only negative headline for the SpongeBob SquarePants franchise in recent months, either. The beloved series has also had to weather ridicule from within its own ranks, afterpop rocker Pinkpublicly expressed regret over her participation in SpongeBob’s Truth or Square.
Asked to name her worst-ever single, Pink volunteered her contribution to the 2009 TV movie. “Worst? I mean, there’s been so many… I did put out that SpongeBob thing – ‘We’ve Got Scurvy,'” Pink said. “I wish I never did that. That was a real mistake.”
Leon is a freelance Movies and TV writer at Dexerto. His past writing credits include articles for Polygon, Popverse, The Escapist, Screen Rant, CBR, Cultured Vultures, PanelxPanel, Taste of Cinema, and more. Originally from Australia, Leon is currently based in the UK.
