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Would the early viewers who chuckled through the first SpongeBob escapades have envisioned the series persisting for a 25 years, following absorbing the most lysergic of plotlines? Such staying power is in part due to its broad appeal, amusing the funny bones of adults – perhaps even those former students – alongside the youngest viewers. Although it can't claim anything quite as unexpected as a certain memorable David Hasselhoff cameo in the 2004 movie, this latest movie has no qualms about making Clancy Brown talk like a pirate while handing out payments to music icons like Barbra Streisand. It seems anything remains possible in the whimsical world of Bikini Bottom.

A Familiar Zany Groove

Starting with a holiday short starring Paramount's other long-running family favorites, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the latest SpongeBob movie soon settles into a comfortably goofy groove. Its script acts as a PG-rated treatise on the pros and cons of maturity. This version of SpongeBob (again voiced by Tom Kenny) now stands a specific height, a fact that thrills him as it finally qualifies him to experience his dream rollercoaster. (An initial, trippy gag: our overexcitable hero's fantasized loop-the-loops.) Yet, as in the finest contemporary American cartoons, the real thrill ride is the corkscrew narrative.

The Adventure for Pirate Credentials

SpongeBob's mission to secure the fabled pirate license that will declare him a “big guy” leads him into conflict with the spectral Flying Dutchman, brought to life by the suddenly ever-present Mark Hamill. Although the Dutchman's ghost ship adds a grander scope, the film's visual style remains a delightful bricolage of digimation and hand-crafted components, forever highlighting pleasing, authentically animated visuals.

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

Notable scenes feature SpongeBob wedging himself into an air conditioner and coming out inexplicably more rectangular than before; a cameo from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a punishment sure to delight the younger audience: our hero being forced into endless dishwashing.

Final Thoughts

Ultimately, Search for SquarePants stands as a solid entry to the series – and arguably the most humorous Pirates of the Caribbean movie recently, including a hearty Davy Jones joke and a saltily innuendo-laden catchphrase for SpongeBob's pal Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” It's certain: those original fans will likely be chuckling anew.

Release Dates: The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants debuts on 19 December in the US, 20 December in Ireland, and 26 December in Australia and the UK.