Plankton: The Movie

image for Plankton: The Movie

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Not suitable under 7; parental guidance to 9 (violence, scary scenes, coarse language, themes)

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This topic contains:

  • overall comments and recommendations
  • details of classification and consumer advice lines for Plankton: The Movie
  • a review of Plankton: The Movie completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 12 March 2025.

Overall comments and recommendations

Children under 7 Not suitable due to violence, scary scenes, coarse language and themes.
Children aged 7–9 Parental guidance recommended due to violence, scary scenes, coarse language and themes.
Children aged 10 and over Ok for this age group.

About the movie

This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Australian Government Classification Board and the associated consumer advice lines. Other classification advice (OC) is provided where the Australian film classification is not available.

Name of movie: Plankton: The Movie
Classification: PG
Consumer advice lines: Mild animated violence, themes, coarse language, crude humour, and scary scenes
Length: 88 minutes

ACCM review

This review of the movie contains the following information:

A synopsis of the story

After another failed attempt to steal the secret recipe for the renowned Krabby Patty, Plankton (voice of Mr. Lawrence) and his wife, Karen the Computer (voice of Jill Talley), get into an argument. Karen is fed up with being ignored and disrespected and breaks up with Plankton, throwing him out of the Chum Bucket to take over the world on her own.

Plankton teams up with SpongeBob (voice of Tom Kenny), who uses psychoanalysis and hypnosis to determine what went wrong with their relationship. While talking through their history, Plankton remembers the original components for Karen are still at their old university. He uses the parts to create a new Karen and then takes the new Karen to fight the old Karen, but instead of fighting, they combine to take over the world together!

Plankton is unable to see the faults in his actions, until Karen’s removed empathy chip is inserted into his brain. Consequently, he realises his mistakes and sets off with SpongeBob to seek her forgiveness and rekindle their relationship before she destroys the world.

Themesinfo

Children and adolescents may react adversely at different ages to themes of crime, suicide, drug and alcohol dependence, death, serious illness, family breakdown, death or separation from a parent, animal distress or cruelty to animals, children as victims, natural disasters and racism. Occasionally reviews may also signal themes that some parents may simply wish to know about.

Crime; War; Family Breakdown.

Use of violenceinfo

Research shows that children are at risk of learning that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution when violence is glamourised, performed by an attractive hero, successful, has few real life consequences, is set in a comic context and / or is mostly perpetrated by male characters with female victims, or by one race against another.

Repeated exposure to violent content can reinforce the message that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution. Repeated exposure also increases the risks that children will become desensitised to the use of violence in real life or develop an exaggerated view about the prevalence and likelihood of violence in their own world.

There is some violence in this movie, including:

  • Plankton brandishes a pistol-like flamethrower.
  • Mr Krabs stretches Plankton like a slingshot and flings him back to the Chum Bucket.
  • Plankton argues with Karen over her changes to the restaurant. He tears down all her changes, setting the restaurant and SpongeBob’s feet on fire.
  • Karen threatens to crush and destroy Plankton.
  • During a musical act, Karen envisions taking over the world and universe. She uproots many major structures including the Statue of Liberty, which she wears as a heel while stomping and destroying the ground beneath her.
  • Karen magnifies the Chum Bucket, causing buildings and citizens in Bikini Bottom to be lifted into the sky.
  • A multitude of weapons fly at SpongeBob, including swords and spears. They impale nearby tomatoes, sending juice resembling blood splattering onto the walls. SpongeBob is momentarily obscured by the weapons, creating worry that he may have been impaled as well.
  • Bikini Bottom citizens dressed as army soldiers catapult barrels at Karen.
  • Mr Krabs is almost squashed as Karen throws an anchor at him. He is obscured for a short time, creating worry that he was hit.
  • (In a flashback) Plankton’s college roommate attempts to squash him with studded football boots but he is frozen by Karen and stays in this state from the flashback to the present moment.
  • Plankton is hit by an explosive banana.
  • A child tries to step on Plankton and Karen, before throwing them back into the sea.
  • The old and new Karen face off, with the new Karen leaping into the air with both hands raised in fists, ready to smash the old Karen in the face. However, after getting hit with a beam, they dance and team up instead.
  • Karen shoots a freeze ray at Plankton, who escapes thanks to SpongeBob.
  • SpongeBob and Plankton enter the Krusty Krab restaurant and find blood (tomato sauce) all over the floor, causing SpongeBob to freak out.
  • The ‘Gal Pals’ fight the Karens, getting shot with laser beams, stomped on and slammed against the floor.
  • Karen and Plankton rise out of the ocean to take over the world, scaring the people at the beach who scream and run away.

Material that may scare or disturb children

Under fiveinfo

Children under five are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations.

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children under the age of five, including the following:

  • The Chum Bucket may look scary or disgusting to younger audiences, with cockroaches and filth covering the floor.
  • Plankton and Karen’s menacing appearances may scare younger audiences.
  • The destruction caused by Karen’s magnetic robot and the floating buildings could scare young children.

Aged five to eightinfo

Children aged five to eight will also be frightened by scary visual images and will also be disturbed by depictions of the death of a parent, a child abandoned or separated from parents, children or animals being hurt or threatened and / or natural disasters.

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes and scary visual images, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children aged five to eight, including the following:

  • SpongeBob is electrocuted after he touches a jellyfish.
  • Plankton shouts at Karen after she is out with her friends and not ready to help with his evil plan.
  • Plankton argues with Karen over her changes to the restaurant which may upset children, particularly those with troubled home lives.

Aged eight to thirteeninfo

Children aged eight to thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic threats and dangers, violence or threat of violence and / or stories in which children are hurt or threatened.

  • Nothing further noted.

Product placement

  • None noted.

Sexual references

  • None noted.

Nudity and sexual activity

There is some nudity and sexual activity in this movie, including:

  • SpongeBob slaps Patrick on the bottom with a spatula.
  • Karen says to Plankton, “you walk around naked all the time”.
  • Plankton shakes his bottom at Karen.
  • Plankton and Karen kiss.
  • People are shown shirtless and in bikinis at the beach.

Use of substances

There is some use of substances in this movie, including:

  • Plankton says, “the family business was moonfizz” – a reference to ‘moonshine’.
  • SpongeBob and the ‘Gal Pals’ drink coffee, leading SpongeBob to go hyper.

Coarse language

There is some coarse language in this movie, including:

  • You trying to kill me?
  • Pitiful, pathetic jerk.
  • Plankton says his university is “BSU”, which SpongeBob interprets to be a swear word (bulls**t you) directed at him
  • Boneheaded, puny buffoon.

In a nutshell

Plankton: The Movie is an animated musical comedy set in the SpongeBob universe. Due to the violence, scary scenes, coarse language and themes, the movie is best suited for children aged 10 and over, with parental guidance recommended for ages 7 to 9.

The main messages from this movie are the importance of empathy and respect towards friends and loved ones. It also cautions against blind greed and ambition, showing the effects it has on personal relationships.

Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:

  • Love
  • Empathy
  • Teamwork
  • Respect
  • Growth.

This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children attitudes and behaviours, and their real-life consequences, such as:

  • When remodelling the Chum Bucket, Karen states, “It’s still fast food, there’s the evil”. Parents could use this moment to educate children on the health risks associated with fast food.
  • Mr Krabs advocates for “invasions of privacy” in relation to Plankton and Karen. While it is presented in a comedic manner, younger children may not pick up on this and may benefit from discussion about boundaries and privacy.
  • The film has many references to psychology, with SpongeBob resembling Sigmund Freud while psychoanalysing Plankton, and the three heads of Karen possibly referencing the Id, Ego and Superego. The movie paints an outdated and stereotypical understanding of psychology, which, when coupled with comments by Plankton including “I don’t need a shrink”, may leave children with an incorrect and negative perception towards the psychology field.