'Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie' on Netflix: 25 years of 'SpongeBob' character empowering girls who love science
"The more they see of it, the more they know that they can actually do it as well," actor Carolyn Lawrence said
It's been 25 years since SpongeBob SquarePants premiered, but we're still learning about the animated characters under the sea, now in Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie on Netflix. The new film puts Sandy Cheeks, voiced by Carolyn Lawrence, at the centre of the story as she travels to Texas with SpongeBob (voiced by Tom Kenny) in an adventure to save Bikini Bottom.
At the beginning of the movie we see Bikini Bottom and almost everyone in it scooped up by the marine biology lab Sandy works for, now part of Gushing Waters Water Parks working on a mysterious project called Sea Pals, operated by Sue Nahmee (Wanda Sykes). With Sandy puzzled about why the lab has taken Bikini Bottom, she heads above water to Galveston, Texas, with SpongeBob by her side, to figure out what's going on. She's met with the help of her large squirrel family, who we're seeing for the first time.
"It was really fun for me because 25 years in there's things that I still didn't know," Lawrence told Yahoo Canada. "So it's kind of amazing that I'm still learning, even though when you think about it, ... in life, no matter how old you get, you're still [discovering] things about yourself all the time."
"But it's fun for me that I got to learn more about her family and learn more about her background, and figure out why she is who she is. And some of the questions I always had started to get answered. ... We're all kind of learning at the same time. I don't know how often that happens creatively, that I'm getting to expand within this universe after 25 years, and the fans are at the same time. That's pretty amazing."
For fans of all the songs in the SpongeBob universe, there's a lot to enjoy in Saving Bikini Bottom. Singing as Sandy has also allowed Lawrence to really tap into her dream to be a singer.
"I started my career actually as a dancer, I was with a dance company because I was too shy to ever speak," Lawrence said. "So then it's very funny I wound up doing voiceovers."
"But secretly I had always wished that I had an epic sound, because I would have loved to have been on Broadway or been a rockstar or something like that. So the fact that I get to play Sandy and that she's allowed to sing, and she's a squirrel so it's not like she has to be epically fantastic. ... It's like a dream come true. It's the craziest, craziest journey."
Watch — 'Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie' star says we need more characters that show girls can do 'whatever they want to do'
'It's important for girls to know that they can go into science'
Back in 1999 when SpongBob SquarePants premiered, it was very hard to find women animated characters on TV, or even characters more broadly, that were interested in STEM and had careers in science. Being that first representation for a lot of kids, and still doing that to this day, is sometimes "a little overwhelming" for Lawrence.
"It's important to me as a woman and I've had my struggles in my journey, and so I want to make sure that we're respectful of that situation and those relationships," she said. "At the premiere there were a bunch of kids there and I can't tell you how much joy it brings me when they're excited."
"It's important for girls to know that they can go into science, they can be in the medical field, they can do whatever they want to do, and they need to see more of it, right. The more they see of it, the more they know that they can actually do it as well. But it's also important for our boys to see that girls are capable, they need to see more of the characters as well that can do everything, and that they can they can bond with. I like that there are boys out there, they love Sandy too, because she knows karate, and she does all the things and she's not afraid. And I think that's amazing."
With Saving Bikini Bottom being helmed by a director new to the franchise, Liza Johnson, who has directed episodes of beloved shows like The Diplomat, The Last of Us and Dead To Me, it did make Lawrence "nervous" to have someone knew telling Sandy's story.
"I was a little nervous to be honest, because I'm so protective of Sandy and we're all very protective of the world," Lawrence said. "I didn't know her and she didn't know me."
"But then once we spoke and she showed me her panels, like her visuals of what she wanted the movie to be, and how she wanted it to look and how she felt about it, I was like, 'Oh we're in such good hands.' She's amazing and she gets it. And she wants Sandy to be all that Sandy can be and she just did an incredible job, and she was so fun and so caring to work with."
