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Would the early viewers who laughed through the initial SpongeBob escapades have predicted the franchise enduring for a quarter-century, following absorbing the most lysergic of narrative twists? This longevity is partly due to its wide-ranging charm, amusing the sense of humor of grown-ups – possibly even those now grown students – as well as the very young viewers. While it may not feature anything as unexpected as a certain memorable David Hasselhoff appearance in the 2004 movie, this latest movie has no qualms about having Clancy Brown speak as a pirate while dispensing royalty cheques to stars like Barbra Streisand. It seems everything remains possible in the zany world of Bikini Bottom.

A Familiar Zany Groove

Kicking off with a festive short featuring Paramount's alternative long-running babysitters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the latest SpongeBob movie quickly finds a recognizably silly groove. Its storyline acts as a family-friendly treatise on the advantages and disadvantages of maturity. This version of SpongeBob (again brought to life by Tom Kenny) now stands a specific height, a detail that excites him as it at last qualifies him to ride his dream rollercoaster. (An early, psychedelic gag: our enthusiastic hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) Yet, as in the finest modern American cartoons, the real rollercoaster is the twisting plotting.

The Adventure for Swashbuckling Proof

SpongeBob's quest to secure the fabled pirate license that will declare him a “big guy” brings him into conflict with the ghostly Flying Dutchman, brought to life by the currently ubiquitous Mark Hamill. Although the Dutchman's ghost ship introduces a larger scale, the movie's aesthetic remains a charming mix of digimation and hand-turned elements, consistently showcasing satisfying, authentically cartoonish visuals.

If its freewheeling humor will linger after the credits is debatable, but it's a solid SpongeBob movie.

Memorable moments feature SpongeBob squeezing himself into an AC unit and coming out inexplicably more rectangular than ever; a cameo from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a penalty sure to delight the six-year-old audience: our hero being forced into endless dishwashing.

The Verdict

Ultimately, Search for SquarePants stands as a solid addition to the franchise – and perhaps the most humorous Pirates of the Caribbean movie in years, encompassing a robust Davy Jones joke and a saltily innuendo-laden saying for SpongeBob's friend Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” It's clear: those original fans will likely be snickering anew.

Release Dates: 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.