Yup, this exists.

Normally, I save "Yup, this exists" posts for movies stuff (like the horrid-looking Grease video game) that looks likely to offend with its putrid quality.  Not so this time, though many would argue that The Spongebob Movie: Sponge Out of Water looks misguided, at best.

The long-running Nickelodeon series already made its way to the big screen with the hilarious The Spongebob Squarepants movie back in 2004, and though I haven't kept up with the show (which has aired nine seasons now), I'm excited to see the gang on the big screen once again.  Spongebob's first cinematic adventure, you'l recall, featured a bit of the real world itself, featuring an unforgettable David Hasselhoff cameo.  For Sponge Out of Water, the animated characters take on a third dimension as they emerge into our world to thwart an evil pirate with a magic book, becoming superheroes in the process.

That people are wary makes sense.  Other recent kids' movies to blend CG characters and live-action settings and actors have included Alvin and the Chipmunks, Yogi Bear, The Smurfs, and TMNT, all of which garnered horrific reviews as they tortured parents' and critics' eyeballs with some really ugly/creepy characters.  Spongebob and his friends look to have made a more natural transition into the third dimension; all the character designs are intact, and the show's carefree sense of humor looks like it's firmly in place.

Yeah, Sponge Out of Water looks really weird, and could easily be a disaster, but based on this first look, I'm glad this movie exists.  (Maybe this post should be titled "Yeah! This exists!")

The Spongebob Movie: Sponge Out of Water hits theaters February 6, 2015, a timeframe that recently proved hugely profitable for The LEGO Movie.