SpongeBob Gets the Tami Neilson Effect

The favourite characters of SpongeBob’s underwater town Bikini Bottom are set to be given some Aotearoa flavours next year, Amberleigh Jack reports for Stuff. New Zealand-based artists award-winning Tami Neilson and The Phoenix Foundation have been involved in both songwriting and score composing for the upcoming Netflix film Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie.

Canada-born Neilson shared the “insanely exciting news” to her Twitter followers saying that she wrote and co-produced some songs for the film’s main character – the quick-witted squirrel Sandy.

The Phoenix Foundation announced that members Conrad Wedde, Sam Flynn-Scott and Luke Buda composed the score.

“It’s been so hard keeping this secret,” Neilson tweeted, alongside the Netflix official first look of the film, which is due for release sometime in 2024.

Original article by Amberleigh Jack, Stuff, April 27, 2023.