Bob’s Burgers’ simple premise, kind-natured characters and largely improvised comedy has made it a grounded, charming alternative to long-running animated shows like The Simpsons or South Park. Its winning episodic formula, which blends the mishaps of the scrappy Belcher family — Bob, Linda and their three kids Tina, Gene and Louise — and their wider community with accompanying musical numbers and plenty of emotional pay-off, has endured comfortably for 13 seasons.
Yet for its big-screen treatment, their insular world — the show rarely strays beyond its seaside setting — is blown up in scale via fresh, vibrant new palettes, playful fantasy sequences and intricate set-pieces. (A carnival dance ensemble in which the characters all move slightly out of time with each other feels especially well orchestrated.) The narrative stakes have also been significantly raised; Bob’s Burgers, which is always teetering on the brink of going under, now has a countdown to closing, and some gruesome evidence found nearby weaves a murder mystery into the family’s mission to save their future. Meanwhile spiky nine-year-old Louise (voiced by Kristen Schaal) embarks on a journey to prove her self-worth, which sees the story at its most tender.
These larger plot points engage, but the film, as with the show, is strongest in its minor interactions. The voice cast of comedians — led by Archer’s H. Jon Benjamin as Bob — provide a constant stream of throwaway lines and puns that bring a light, propulsive energy to every scene. Meanwhile the film’s writers (Nora Smith, Loren Bouchard and Jim Dauterive), who have worked on the show since its debut, have mastered imbuing the story with just enough sentimentality without the tone ever straying into mawkishness. Without these pockets of sweet, occasionally corny exchanges, The Bob’s Burgers Movie would coast by as an exuberant animated adventure on an epic scale. With these ingredients however, the film has found its own special sauce.
