Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year of the Gregorian calendar that started on a Thursday. The year aired only 7 episodes and had a theatrical film on November 19th After this, no new episodes would air until May 6, 2005. This is the second leap year in a row to have a 6-month hiatus between April and October. This happened for the first time in 2000, which was also a leap year. It is the third shortest year for SpongeBob, aside from the previous year 2003, and 2014.
This was intended to be the last year of SpongeBob before the show ended, but due to popular request and extreme commercial success of the movie, it was renewed.
2004 was the 4th year of the 3rd millennium, as well as the 21st century and the fifth year of the 2000's decade.
| Date | Event(s) | |
|---|---|---|
| January 1 | Road Trip in 3-D! was released. | |
| January 6 | And the Winner Is... and The Seascape Capers were released. | |
| January 19 | Plankton's Army and Missing Identity premiered. | |
| February 2 | They Blow Up So Fast was released. | |
| February 10 | Tales From Bikini Bottom was released. | |
| March 5 | Ugh premiered. | |
| March 9 | SpongeBob Goes Prehistoric was released. | |
| April 3 | Krabby Land, The Camping Episode, and Plankton's Plan premiered. | |
| April 13 | Crime and Funishment/Bikini Bottom's Most Wanted was released. | |
| June 1 | SpongeBob and the Princess and the SpongeGuard DVD and VHS were released. | |
| August 10 | Another Day, Another Sand Dollar was released. | |
| September 11 | Nicktoons Basketball was released. | |
| September 20 | Nicktoons Freeze Frame Frenzy was released. | |
| September 21 | Bubble Blowers, Beware!, Ice Cream Dreams, Buried Treasure! Tales from Bikini Bottom, SpongeBob Exposed! The Insider's Guide to SpongeBob SquarePants, Trouble at the Krusty Krab!, and The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie! were published. | |
| September 27 | Nicktoons The Show Must Go On! was released. | |
| October 11 | SpongeBob Meets the Strangler and Pranks a Lot premiered. | |
| October 19 | The Complete 2nd Season was released. | |
| October 21 | Nicktoons Movin' was released in North America. | |
| October 27 | The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie game was released. | |
| November 2 | Sponge for Hire was released. | |
| November 9 | The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie soundtrack was released. | |
| November 19 | The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie was released in theaters in the United States and Canada. | |
| November 26 | Nicktoons Movin' was released in Europe. | |
| December 3 | The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie was released in theaters in Mexico. | |
| December 16 | The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie was released in theaters in Chile. | |
| December 17 | The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie was released in theaters in Brazil. | |
| December 23 | The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie was released in theaters in Germany and Switzerland. SpongeBob's Secret Valentine was released. | |
| December 25 | The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie was released in theaters in Venezuela. | |