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Could those original fans who laughed through the first SpongeBob escapades have envisioned the series enduring for a 25 years, even after absorbing the most surreal of plotlines? Such longevity is in part due to its broad appeal, amusing the funny bones of adults – perhaps even those former students – as well as the very young viewers. Although it can't claim anything as unexpected as a certain legendary David Hasselhoff cameo in the 2004 movie, this fourth feature has no qualms about making Clancy Brown talk like a pirate while dispensing payments to stars like Barbra Streisand. It seems anything can still in the whimsical world of Bikini Bottom.

A Familiar Zany Vibe

Starting with a festive short featuring Paramount's alternative long-running babysitters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the new SpongeBob film quickly finds a recognizably silly rhythm. Its script serves as a family-friendly treatise on the advantages and disadvantages of growing up. This iteration of SpongeBob (again brought to life by Tom Kenny) now stands a specific height, a detail that thrills him as it finally allows him to experience his fantasy coaster. (An early, trippy gag: our overexcitable hero's fantasized loop-the-loops.) Yet, as in the finest modern American cartoons, the true rollercoaster is the corkscrew narrative.

The Adventure for Pirate Credentials

SpongeBob's mission to secure the fabled swashbuckler certificate that will declare him a “big guy” leads him into a showdown with the spectral Flying Dutchman, brought to life by the currently ever-present Mark Hamill. Although the Dutchman's ghost ship adds a grander scope, the movie's visual style remains a charming bricolage of digimation and hand-turned components, forever highlighting pleasing, authentically cartoonish effects.

If its freewheeling humor will linger when the lights come up is debatable, but it's a solid SpongeBob movie.

Memorable moments feature SpongeBob squeezing himself into an air conditioner and emerging inexplicably more rectangular than ever; a brief appearance from a pair of chattering novelty false teeth; and a penalty sure to resonate with the younger audience: our hero being subjected to endless dishwashing.

The Verdict

In the end, Search for SquarePants is a reliable entry to the franchise – and arguably the funniest Pirates of the Caribbean movie recently, encompassing a hearty Davy Jones joke and a saltily innuendo-laden saying for SpongeBob's pal Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” One thing is clear: those original fans will likely be snickering anew.

Coming to Theaters: The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants arrives on 19 December in the US, December 20th in Ireland, and December 26th in Australia and the UK.