Why Kristen Schaal Was Never Sent A Script For The Bob's Burgers Movie
As someone who only got into "Bob's Burgers" within the past year, it was wonderful to see the Belchers make the leap to the big screen with "The Bob's Burgers Movie." Unfortunately, the film underperformed at the box office, raking in about $34 million against a $38 million budget, which means that any chance of a sequel, at least theatrically, has probably been nipped in the bud. It's a shame, really, as the 2022 feature, while certainly flawed, settled in nicely among the other animated feature adaptations such as "The Simpsons Movie" and "Beavis and Butt-Head Do America."
What "The Bob's Burgers Movie" lacked in a consistent musical rhythm, it made up for with a delightful and hilarious hometown adventure with Bob (H. Jon Benjamin), Linda (John Roberts), Tina (Dan Mintz), Gene (Eugene Mirman), and Louise (Kristen Schaal). Where some feature adaptations would take the main characters out of their local environment, this film sees the Belchers exploring familiar locations of Seymour's Bay, most notably with the secrets beneath Wonder Wharf.
With a movie of this size, series creator Loren Bouchard would likely want to keep a lot of its secrets close to the chest. "The Bob's Burgers Movie" was going to reveal the origin of Louise's bunny ears. According to a report from Comic Book Resources, this was a huge reason why Schaal was never given a hard copy of the script. "That was not allowed because everything was so top-secret. I did feel honored that Louise would have such a heavy storyline throughout this very special event," Schaal said.
Louise's arc was hush-hush
Throughout the series, Louise's bunny ears have always been a safety blanket for the character. In a season 3 episode, a bully yanks them off of her head, a shocking moment because she's never seen not wearing them. This plays right into "The Bob's Burgers Movie," as it picks up with the youngest Belcher grappling with her lack of courage without her ears. Schaal knew that it was an important detail to learn about Louise going into the movie. "I feel just very honored that this is the moment that we get to share it with the world in this other big form," says Schaal (via Comic Book Resources).
I doubt Schaal needed the script, given that the "Bob's Burgers" crew is more than used to making improvisational dialogue feel completely natural to the story at hand. But regardless, the last thing you want to do is accidentally leak out a notable revelation that the series' most fervent fans have been waiting for.
Louise's subplot, amid a larger murder investigation, isn't as earth-shattering as, say, discovering the origin of the Reavers from "Firefly" in "Serenity," but it gives an animated sitcom character a surprising amount of nuance. The heartwarming revelation gives Louise the confidence to face the world with or without her colorful headgear. For that reason alone, they did a great job incorporating it into the film, and will likely expand upon it in future seasons of the television series.
"The Bob's Burgers Movie" is currently streaming on Hulu and HBO Max.