 Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies produced The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie , an animated film adaptation of the series that was released on November 19 , 2004 . The film was directed by creator Stephen Hillenburg , and was written by long @-@ time series writers comprising Hillenburg , Derek Drymon , Tim Hill , Kent Osborne , Aaron Springer , and Paul Tibbitt . Hillenburg and Julia Pistor produced the film , while the film score was composed by Gregor Narholz . The film is about Plankton 's evil plan to steal King Neptune 's crown and send it to Shell City . SpongeBob and Patrick must retrieve it and save Mr. Krabs ' life from Neptune 's raft and their home , Bikini Bottom , from Plankton 's plan . The film features guest appearances by Jeffrey Tambor as King Neptune , Scarlett Johansson as the King 's daughter Mindy , Alec Baldwin as Dennis , and David Hasselhoff as himself . It received positive critical reception , and grossed over $ 140 million worldwide . 
