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Could those original fans who chuckled through the first SpongeBob adventures have predicted the series enduring for a quarter-century, following experiencing the most surreal of plotlines? This staying power is partly due to its broad charm, tickling the funny bones of adults – perhaps even those now grown students – as well as the youngest viewers. While it may not feature anything as unexpected as a certain legendary David Hasselhoff appearance in the 2004 movie, this latest movie thinks nothing of making Clancy Brown talk like a pirate while handing out royalty cheques to stars like Barbra Streisand. It seems everything can still in the whimsical world of Bikini Bottom.

A Familiar Goofy Groove

Kicking off with a holiday short starring Paramount's other long-running babysitters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the new SpongeBob film soon finds a comfortably goofy rhythm. Its storyline acts as a family-friendly 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 ride his dream rollercoaster. (An early, psychedelic gag: our overexcitable hero's fantasized loop-the-loops.) However, as in the best contemporary American cartoons, the true thrill ride is the twisting narrative.

The Adventure for Swashbuckling Proof

SpongeBob's quest to secure the legendary pirate license that will declare him a “big guy” leads him into conflict with the spectral Flying Dutchman, brought to life by the suddenly ubiquitous Mark Hamill. Although the Dutchman's ghost ship introduces a larger scale, the film's aesthetic remains a delightful bricolage of digital animation and hand-crafted elements, forever showcasing pleasing, properly cartoonish visuals.

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

Memorable scenes include SpongeBob squeezing himself into an air conditioner and coming out somehow more rectangular than ever; a brief appearance from a pair of chattering novelty false teeth; and a penalty sure to resonate with the six-year-old audience: our hero being subjected to never-ending dishwashing.

The Verdict

In the end, Search for SquarePants stands as a reliable addition to the series – and perhaps the funniest pirate-themed movie recently, encompassing a robust Davy Jones gag and a saltily innuendo-laden saying for SpongeBob's friend Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” One thing is clear: those early fans will probably be snickering all over again.

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