The jump for the small to the big is no easy feat, and is often met with much criticism. Some shows just don’t fit into both the longer format and the grandness a theatrical release requires. ‘The Bob’s Burgers Movie’ is hoping to successfully transition another adult animated comedy to the big screen with similar success to ‘The Simpsons Movie’ or ‘South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut’.
The Belchers are declined a loan from their bank, giving them seven days to repay the bank or lose their restaurant, Bob’s Burgers. It becomes harder to get customers when a sinkhole appears outside, blocking its entrance. The hole uncovers a body that gets their landlord, Mr Fischoeder (Kevin Kline, ‘Beauty and the Beast’ (2017), ‘Ricki and the Flash’), in jail. Gene (Eugene Mirman, TV's ‘Apple & Onion’), Tina (Dan Mintz, TV’s ‘Adventure Time’) and Louise (Kristen Schaal, ‘Bill and Ted Face the Music’, TV’s ‘Gravity Falls’) take the investigation of the corpse into their own hands while Linda (John Roberts) and Bob (H. Jon Benjamin, TV's ‘Archer’, ‘Wet Hot American Summer’) come up with ways to make money with everything going on around them.
The jump for ‘Bob’s Burgers’ to the big screen is about as seamless as you can get. The film feels like a longer episode, but that's a positive - while the movie is for the show's audience it doesn’t rely on fan service, backing itself on its humour and the cast of characters. It takes the much-loved company and locations from the series and showcases them in a grander narrative.
The film also taps into the show's musical sensibility that we have seen grow over the course of its 12 seasons. The film opens with quite a grand number, which really made me hopeful that the movie would be a full-blown musical, but in total there are only about 4 songs. While all were fantastic, I do wish the film were a little more musical.
While the movie is for the show's audience it doesn’t rely on fan service, backing itself on its humour and the cast of characters.
‘The Bob’s Burgers Movie’ is an easy sell for fans; it’s another great outing for the Belcher family. It’s a joy to see them on the big screen with a bigger budget. It’s as successful as you could ask for in a film adaptation of this beloved series.