The Spongebob Movie’s Director Discusses Favorite Comics, & Whether He’d Ever Retire A Character

The Spongebob Movie: Sponge Out Of Water hits theaters today, taking Spongebob out of Bikini Bottom’s depths and into the world of live-action for the first time. To mark the event, ComicBook.com sat down with co-director Paul Tibbitt for a discussion about Spongebob. In the first part of the interview, which you can read here, Tibbitt discussed the experience of bringing a traditionally animated character into the world of live-action and CGI.

But Tibbitt’s relationship with Spongebob goes way past the cineplex. As Spongebob Squarepants‘ executive producer since 2004, Tibbitt has guided the series’ direction for more than a decade. It’s a lengthy time to spend on any character, especially one that’s remained relatively unchanged throughout his 16-year history. In the second part of his interview with ComicBook.com, Tibbitt discusses the challenges and rewards of steering an established icon, his personal influences, and whether or not he’d ever retire a resident of Bikini Bottom.

You’ve directed Spongebob for more than 10 years now. As the character’s caretaker for such a extended time, how do you find ways to keep him exciting for yourself, and fresh for your audience?

Our main goal when we’re writing is to make ourselves laugh. As long as it’s fun for us, we hope that feeling rubs off on the cartoon. Another thing that’s just so great about Spongebob is that it feels like a sitcom. Thing that we set up early in the series can play out for seasons. But I don’t want to say that it makes it easy, because it’s never easy. It just allows us to comfortably find new ways to push these characters, because they’re just so well-known. They’re so defined, so it just becomes a matter of what situation are we going to put them in next. We’re just trying to make it funny, and that’s really enough. I have one of the greatest jobs in the world. I get to come in and do these cartoons, so I consider myself lucky. So as long as I’m getting a laugh out of it and we’re having fun, I think that’s reflected in the cartoons.

In Sponge Out Water,  Spongebob has one of its most comic-inspired moments yet, and his friends gain superpowers and costumes. Are you yourself a fan of comic books and superheroes?

I do like comics, I’m a fan of Jack Kirby’s art, but it wasn’t a big part of my life. As a kid, I never collected comic books. A lot of friends did, so I’d just sort of cheat and read theirs. I loved the idea of superheroes, but there was something about their serious tone that didn’t appeal to me. I was more into comic books like Hot Stuff. I read a lot of Sad Sack, and I was more into the funny stuff and cartoony things. I just naturally gravitated towards those. I always loved superheroes, and I see the superhero movies now. When I started watching superhero movies, the experience felt like what I wanted out of the comic books. I saw what I was always thinking while reading comics, like “Wow, this would look way better if they were movies, and real people were doing these things.” I loved Guardians of the Galaxy. I thought it was hugely entertaining. Now that these movies are coming out, I’m finding a new appreciation and understanding for them. For me, as a kid, I guess I didn’t get it. Now, I get it.

You’ve seen the light!

Definitely. These movies have really created a place for those kind of myths and characters to exist. What they’re doing now is amazing.

If you could ever do a crossover between Spongebob and a comic book superhero, who would it be and why?

I think the natural character would be Aquaman. We even had a nod to him on the show with Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy. Sadly, we lost (Mermaid Man voice actor) Ernest Borgnine. We wanted to have Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy play a part in this movie, but we sadly lost him right before we started.  He was an amazing part of our show, and we miss him a lot. But, Aquaman would be the most logical choice. Either him, or Namor.

Since Spongebob has aired for so long, have you ever considered any shakeups or taking any characters off the board for the series? What about adding any new characters into the mix?

I think killing off a character would be a little much for our target audience. I feel like we have these strong archetypes and tropes that work really well for the characters. We’ve always felt that the episodes that introduce new characters are less successful, because it ends up feeling like one of those things on a sitcom, where the cousin comes in and overstays. We’ve had a couple of good episodes where we introduced a long-standing characters. But, I think the series works better when we have an episode like the one Johnny Depp guest-starred in. Spongebob was stranded on this island, and he meets a gang of surfer dudes led by Depp’s character. But I think as far as introducing a new regular character into the show, it would be tough call to get my mind around.

The Spongebob Movie: Sponge Out Of Water hits theaters today.