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Would the original fans who laughed through the initial SpongeBob adventures have envisioned the franchise persisting for a 25 years, following absorbing the most lysergic of plotlines? This staying power is partly due to its broad charm, tickling the sense of humor of adults – perhaps even those now grown students – alongside the youngest viewers. Although it may not feature anything as unexpected as the legendary David Hasselhoff cameo in the 2004 movie, this fourth feature has no qualms about having a veteran voice actor talk like a pirate while handing out royalty cheques to music icons like Barbra Streisand. This proves everything remains possible in the whimsical world of Bikini Bottom.

A Familiar Zany Groove

Starting with a festive short starring Paramount's other long-running babysitters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the new SpongeBob movie soon finds a recognizably silly rhythm. Its storyline acts as a PG-rated exploration on the advantages and disadvantages of growing up. This version of SpongeBob (again voiced by Tom Kenny) now measures a specific height, a detail that excites him as it at last qualifies him to ride his fantasy coaster. (An early, trippy gag: our overexcitable hero's fantasized loop-the-loops.) However, as in the best contemporary American cartoons, the real rollercoaster is the corkscrew narrative.

The Quest for Swashbuckling Credentials

SpongeBob's mission to obtain the fabled pirate license that will declare him a “big guy” brings him into a showdown with the ghostly Flying Dutchman, voiced by the suddenly ever-present Mark Hamill. While the Dutchman's ghost ship adds a grander scope, the movie's visual style remains a delightful mix of digital animation and hand-turned components, consistently highlighting pleasing, authentically animated effects.

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

Memorable scenes feature SpongeBob squeezing himself into an air conditioner and coming out somehow squarer than before; a brief appearance from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a punishment guaranteed to delight the six-year-old audience: our hero being forced into never-ending dishwashing.

Final Thoughts

In the end, Search for SquarePants stands as a solid entry to the series – and arguably the most humorous Pirates of the Caribbean movie in years, including a hearty Davy Jones gag and a cheekily suggestive catchphrase for SpongeBob's pal Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” One thing is clear: those original fans will probably be snickering anew.

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