After two years of scheduling hell, changing of studios, and a pandemic The Bob’s Burgers Movie is finally out and is streaming on HBO Max & Hulu. After being denied an extension for their rent the Belcher family has a week to come up with the money before ending up on the streets. In the midst of their financial troubles a murder mystery begins to unfold in Ocean Avenue. 

The Bob’s Burgers Movie is a 2022 animated musical, it is produced by Bento Box Entertainment & distributed by 20 Century Studios. It is currently airing on HBO Max & Hulu for streaming. 

Editor’s Note: This review contains spoilers for both the Bob’s Burgers film and TV series.

I’ve never really mentioned it too much before on the site, but I’m actually a huge Bob’s Burgers fan. I randomly came across the series by chance during the middle of season 3’s airing out of boredom and looking for something new to check out. Considering how much of a fan I am for adult animation it was only natural that I’d check the show out eventually and twelve seasons & a theatrical movie later I haven’t looked back. So what is Bob’s Burgers exactly? Well for starters it’s a show about a family of five often struggling to make ends meet with their titular family restaurant ran by father & husband Bob Belcher. However, this is just surface level and at the core and heart of the series it’s about a loving & supportive family who are quite literally hanging on by a thread of hope that could break at any moment. These points are turned up rather highly in the film in some unexpected ways even with a direct rehash of a previous storyline.

THE GOOD: The film opens with the Belchers discussion their approach to ask for an extension on rent for the month after coming up short close to due date (a running gag in the series). Following a catchy as hell opening tune they’re denied the extension and consider their options. Afterwards, Calvin & Felix Fischoeder; the family’s landlord & his brother respectively introduce the Belchers to their awkward lawyer cousin Grover (quick side note this isn’t his first appearance in the series). Bob talks Calvin whom he has a bit of a friendly relationship with into considering another extension, though he likely only considers it due to having been slightly drunk at the time. At the same time, Gene has created his own “musical instrument” which is really just a bunch of utensils tied to a napkin holder and hopes to use it at an upcoming event at Wonder Wharf, Tina plans on finally asking Jimmy Pesto Jr. to be her boyfriend, and Louise tries to overcome her fears of losing her bunny ears hat while climbing the jungle gym after being called a baby by her classmate. A sinkhole suddenly opens up directly in front of Bob’s Burgers which makes customer entry nearly impossible.

One night Louise enlists Tina & Gene to help her climb down the sinkhole in a show of bravery for her classmates. She slips and falls in finding the dead body of a former Wonder Wharf carny named Cotton Candy Dan who suddenly went missing years ago. Police (including Sergeant Bosco) investigate the area and close it off. Invested in the case, Louise, Tina, and Gene go off to find Mickie who’s a family friend & former ex-con turned carny. It’s revealed that Dan met with Felix & Calvin on the night of his disappearance and was killed by a bullet matching a gun owned by Calvin Fischoeder leading the kids to believe that he’s being framed by Felix & his girlfriend Fanny after a previous murder plot by the duo. Teddy has created a makeshift mobile food cart for Bob & Linda which is initially successful until health inspectors Ron & Hugo (who know they don’t have the necessary license) show up threatening their plans.

While hiding from Ron & Hugo, Bob, Linda, and Teddy accidentally destroy a memorial for Cotton Candy Dan angering the carnies who chase them. The kids go to Felix’s treehouse home to look for clues on Dan’s murder and overhears a conversation of his & Fanny’s plans to flee to Cuba. Calvin having been arrested and later released on bail arrives at his & Felix’s clubhouse are greeted by the kids and Grover informs them of the plans to use a repurposed submarine ride to Cuba. As Calvin & Felix bully Grover, Louise tries to warn him about Felix, but comes to realize that it was actually Grover who killed Dan. As Bob & Linda joins them, Grover holds everyone hostage with a spear gun revealing he framed Calvin after accidentally killing Dan in a dispute. Grover revealed that the Fischoeder family have a rule that anyone guilty of a crime is cut off from the family wealth which threw a ranch in his plans to turn Wonder Wharf into a mega park. Grover came up with a plan to kill the Belchers as well as Calvin & Felix in an incident that would drown the latter & burn the Wonder Wharf. Calvin aides the Belchers in escaping and they use a go-kart to leave but are chases by Grover.

Grover traps the family in the sinkhole and buries them alive. He returns to the wharf where he lights an explosive returning to his alibi at the gym. The Belchers all open up to each other leading to Bob telling Louise the true origin of her hat. The Belchers escape the sinkhole and Teddy frees them from the broken kart & calls the police. Louise & Bob stop the explosive from going off and Grover is arrested with the Fischoeders having been freed as well. A week later Calvin pays the Belchers’ loan as a debt of gratitude, Tina successfully asks Jimmy Jr. to be her boyfriend which he accepts, Gene reforms his old band The Itty Bitty Ditty Committee joined by the Fischoeders and plays at the wharf, and Louise climbs the jungle gym and is no longer upset about losing her ears as predicted earlier. The sinkhole is fixed and Bob’s Burgers has it’s grand re-re-re-re-opening. 

So something I have mentioned before here, I tend to hate musicals. They can be cringey and embarrassing, but Bob’s Burgers has always had a robust soundtrack when it came to it’s showtunes. The same is true even for the movie and pretty much every song is fantastic and catchy. Even the ridiculously poorly performed (which was as intended) “Not That Evil” sung by Grover (David Wain) had it’s own level of charm. Something I didn’t really expect is how they turned not only a storyline the series itself did in way back in season four but also one of the most hated storylines from The Simpsons and still managed to come out with both looking fresh and renewed. We also get some very solid character growth, development, and background for the Belchers including further info on Bob’s mother who had only been subtly & rarely referenced throughout the series. The scene shows the connection Bob had with his mother and how it relates his own kids & his relationship with them. And it also shows that the series purposely avoids bringing her up because Bob is still hurt by her loss even today. 

It’s rather unfortunate that the film underperformed at the box office but it’s so appropriately Bob’s Burgers it hurts. The main theme of the show is success in failure and I have the utmost confidence that the film will go on to become a cult classic for fans of the series and animated musicals alike. I had been following social media after being surprised by the streaming release drop and there was a general consensus I found; this film was poorly advertised. Many people didn’t even know the movie was in theaters until they actually even went there themselves even. Like I get Disney/FOX’s thinking when you consider all the chaos it took to even get the film out the door, but come on man this show is twelve seasons running you could have done something. Strangely a lot of people who managed to watch the film in theaters also weren’t fans of the show and it became a bit of a second pilot episode for them. I saw a lot of people talking about how the film got them invested into the TV series moving forward so I expect streaming numbers to flourish within the coming weeks & months. 

THE BAD: Even with the influx of newcomers I can see The Bob’s Burgers Movie not being for everyone, especially with no prior history to the source material. Also keep in mind this is a musical as is the source (on occasion) so there’s a lot of animated singing and dancing so it can be a turn off if you absolutely despise that type of content. 

OVERALL THOUGHTS: Having previously been a rarity adult animation is now a dime a done these days. And for every Family Guy or The Simpsons clone there’s maybe one or two gems like Futurama and yes Bob’s Burgers. In most cases film adaptions of these types of shows in animation tend to just be extended episodes the source with no sense of advancement or canon to the source. However, The Bob’s Burgers Movie make sure everything connects as the show does with it’s own impressive use of callbacks and even develops our main characters much further than where they were at the start of the film and end of season twelve. It’s because of this that I think Bob’s Burgers is going to remain open for business for years to come. Otaku Dome gives The Bob’s Burgers Movie a 90 out of 100.