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Could those original fans who laughed through the first SpongeBob escapades have envisioned the franchise enduring for a 25 years, following absorbing the most lysergic of plotlines? This longevity is in part due to its broad charm, amusing the funny bones of adults – perhaps even those former students – alongside the youngest viewers. While it can't claim anything as surprising as the legendary David Hasselhoff cameo in the 2004 movie, this fourth feature thinks nothing of making Clancy Brown talk like a pirate while handing out royalty cheques to stars like Barbra Streisand. It seems anything can still in the zany world of Bikini Bottom.

A Familiar Goofy Groove

Starting with a holiday short starring Paramount's alternative weathered babysitters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the new SpongeBob movie soon settles into a recognizably silly rhythm. Its script acts as a PG-rated treatise on the advantages and disadvantages of growing up. This iteration of SpongeBob (again voiced by Tom Kenny) now stands a specific height, a detail that thrills him as it at last qualifies him to experience his dream rollercoaster. (An initial, psychedelic laugh: our overexcitable hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) Yet, as in the best contemporary American cartoons, the real rollercoaster is the corkscrew plotting.

The Quest for Pirate Proof

SpongeBob's mission to secure the fabled swashbuckler certificate that will prove him a “big guy” brings him into a showdown with the ghostly Flying Dutchman, brought to life by the suddenly ever-present Mark Hamill. Although the Dutchman's ghost ship introduces a grander scope, the movie's visual style remains a delightful bricolage of digital animation and hand-crafted components, forever showcasing pleasing, properly animated visuals.

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

Notable scenes feature SpongeBob squeezing himself into an air conditioner and coming out inexplicably squarer than ever; a brief appearance from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a punishment guaranteed to resonate with the younger audience: our hero being subjected to never-ending dishwashing.

Final Thoughts

In the end, Search for SquarePants is a reliable addition to the series – and perhaps the funniest pirate-themed movie recently, including a hearty Davy Jones joke and a cheekily suggestive catchphrase for SpongeBob's pal Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” It's clear: those original students will probably be snickering all over again.

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