TYLER, Texas — Editor's Note: The above video was published in July 2023 about the 25th anniversary of SpongeBob SquarePants.
The phrase, Tyler, Texas, has been heard in millions of households after the East Texas city was mentioned in the recently released, "Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie."
Released this past Friday on Netflix, the film that stars beloved "SpongeBob" character Sandy Cheeks takes viewers from the underwater town of Bikini Bottom to the scientist squirrel's home state of Texas. Sandy and SpongeBob work together to save Bikini Bottom after it gets scooped up by an evil science lab CEO.
Turns out it's the same science lab that Sandy works for -- B.O.O.T.S., which stands for the Bureau Of Official Texas Science Laboratory, located in Galveston.
As they're working to save Bikini Bottom and get to Galveston, Sandy gets some help from her squirrel family along the way.
Once her family rescues the sponge and squirrel duo from a rattlesnake gang, Sandy's dad, Pa Cheeks, takes the driver seat and says, "Next stop: Varmint Parade in Tyler, Texas."
While there isn't currently a Varmint Parade in Tyler, the mention of an East Texas city created a lot of excitement on social media, including in the Facebook group All Things Tyler.
Visit Tyler even shared an image of the movie with the line, saying "Lol (we don’t really have this)." One commenter asked if there was a Varmint Parade, should the famed Shorty the Squirrel be the grand marshal? In response, Visit Tyler said, "absolutely!"
Now, the Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines a varmint as an animal that's considered a pest, specifically one labeled as vermin and not protected by game law. The word can also refer to a person who is mischievous or a rascal.
Please tell us if you would like to see a Varmint Parade in Tyler and what would that look like exactly!
