CG SpongeBob And Live-Action Mark Hamill Star In The First Trailer For ‘The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants’

Paramount Animation and Nickelodeon Movies have unveiled the official trailer for The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants, coming to theaters on December 19.

Directed by 20-year franchise veteran Derek Drymon, the film is produced by Paramount Pictures with Nickelodeon Movies in association with Domain Entertainment and MRC. Reel FX handled animation for the mostly CG feature, with Cinesite providing support for integrating live-action footage.

Nick’s official synopsis for The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants reads:

SpongeBob and his Bikini Bottom friends set sail in their biggest, all-new, can’t miss cinematic event ever…The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants. 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 comedy-adventure that takes him to the deepest depths of the deep sea, where no Sponge has gone before.

The film’s first act was screened at last month’s Annecy Festival, in which SpongeBob is riding the emotional highs of finally being tall enough to go on a rollercoaster, only to back out and stumble into a pirate-fueled journey with the Flying Dutchman as he tries to get his swashbuckler certificate. In a bold twist, SpongeBob signs away his fate and plunges into the Underworld.

The film’s voice cast features Tom Kenny, Clancy Brown, Rodger Bumpass, Bill Fagerbakke, Carolyn Lawrence, Mr. Lawrence, George Lopez, Isis “Ice Spice” Gaston, Arturo Castro, and Sherry Cola, with Regina Hall and Mark Hamill.