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There are very few examples of feature length theatrical films that came from television shows that turned out well. There are plenty of mediocre to subpar examples like The Flintstones or The Last Airbender or Charlie’s Angels and they all have one major failing in common: they fail to capture what made the original property beloved. Even The Simpsons Movie had this issue to an extent when it came out because it failed to keep the stakes the same as the show the movie came from. The key to a well-executed television to theatrical transition is to make the new edition feel like the original. The Bob’s Burgers Movie succeeds because, as the title would suggest, it is an episode of Bob’s Burgers extended to an hour and forty minutes.
This is a very fine line that needs to be walked when executing a narrative like this. Everything about the plot feels exactly like an episode of the show, which is how it should be. The madcap adventures that Bob and his family get into feel totally feasible as a story arc on the show. While the stakes of the movie do not need to be earth-shattering, like putting a dome over the entirety of the town and watching it devolve, they should be somewhat bigger than that of a standard television show to justify the theatrical release. The Bob’s Burgers Movie does not quite hit this mark, leaving the viewer questioning why this was not just pushed to Hulu.
The other thing The Bob’s Burgers Movie fails at is using the medium at hand to make the movie more visually interesting than a standard episode. While there are some moments where they use 2D animation to simulate a 3D environment, the movie looks too much like the show it comes from to warrant a theatrical release. If an animated show is going to make the jump to this format (and budget) there should be something there to warrant the expansions. This film does nothing to do that.
The movie does have a number of musical sequences, however unlike other musicals they are not interesting or entertaining or even that funny. It is an interesting approach to delivering exposition, however after the first sequence it becomes apparent that the musical numbers are only present because they pad out the runtime. Without them, it would clock in at under an hour and a half so there is a reason for them, just not a good one.
It is also worth noting that the way the trailers before this movie were selected is proof that there is something to substantiate Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s assertions that animation as a medium is looked down upon as material only for children. The Bob’s Burgers Movie is rated PG-13, a light PG-13 that would probably be safe to bring a child too, but PG-13 nonetheless. The other features being advertised before this one were mostly targeted for children, namely Lightyear, Paws of Fury, DC’s League of Super Pets, and Minions: The Rise of Gru which is not necessarily in the same target audience as The Bob’s Burgers Movie, nor is there a particularly large crossover of parents who will be going to see this movie without kids to then convert someone to buy a ticket for one of these other features to make this a solid marketing decision. It seems the only thing all these films have in common is that they are animated.
All of that said, The Bob’s Burgers Movie is well done and a solid over-long episode of the network tv show, but at the same time there is nothing that attracts viewers to the theater for an urgent viewing. When one takes into consideration that this is a 20th Century release and likely will end up on Hulu, there really is no reason one should run out to see it immediately. Compound the fact that this movie also is competing with a number of other features that benefit from the theatrical experience including Top Gun: Maverick, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and Everything Everywhere All at Once.
Final Rating: 7/10
