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Could those original fans who chuckled through the first SpongeBob escapades have envisioned the franchise enduring for a 25 years, even after absorbing the most surreal of plotlines? This longevity is partly due to its broad charm, tickling the sense of humor of adults – perhaps even those former students – as well as the very young viewers. While it can't claim anything as unexpected as the legendary David Hasselhoff cameo in the 2004 movie, this latest movie has no qualms about making a veteran voice actor speak as a pirate while dispensing payments to stars like Barbra Streisand. This proves everything remains possible in the whimsical world of Bikini Bottom.

An Established Zany Vibe

Starting with a festive short featuring Paramount's alternative long-running babysitters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the latest SpongeBob movie soon finds a recognizably goofy rhythm. Its script serves as a family-friendly treatise on the advantages and disadvantages of maturity. This iteration of SpongeBob (again voiced by Tom Kenny) now measures a specific height, a fact that excites him as it finally qualifies him to ride his dream rollercoaster. (An initial, trippy gag: our enthusiastic hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) Yet, as in the best contemporary American cartoons, the real rollercoaster is the twisting narrative.

The Adventure for Swashbuckling Proof

SpongeBob's mission to secure the fabled pirate license that will declare him a “big guy” brings him into a showdown with the ghostly Flying Dutchman, brought to life by the currently ever-present Mark Hamill. Although the Dutchman's ship adds a larger scale, the movie's visual style remains a delightful bricolage of digimation and hand-turned elements, consistently highlighting pleasing, authentically animated visuals.

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

Memorable scenes include SpongeBob wedging himself into an AC unit and coming out inexplicably squarer than before; a brief appearance from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a penalty guaranteed to resonate with the six-year-old crowd: our hero being forced into endless dishwashing.

The Verdict

Ultimately, Search for SquarePants is a reliable entry to the series – and perhaps the funniest pirate-themed movie in years, encompassing a robust Davy Jones gag and a saltily innuendo-laden saying for SpongeBob's pal Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” It's clear: those original students will likely be chuckling all over again.

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.