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Could those original fans who laughed through the initial SpongeBob adventures have predicted the franchise persisting for a quarter-century, following absorbing the most lysergic of plotlines? This longevity is in part attributed to its broad appeal, tickling the funny bones of adults – possibly even those former students – alongside the youngest viewers. While it may not feature anything quite as surprising as a certain memorable David Hasselhoff appearance in the 2004 film, this latest movie has no qualms about making Clancy Brown talk like a pirate while dispensing royalty cheques to music icons like Barbra Streisand. This proves anything can still in the zany world of Bikini Bottom.

A Familiar Zany Groove

Kicking off with a holiday short featuring Paramount's other long-running babysitters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the new SpongeBob movie soon finds a recognizably silly groove. Its storyline acts as a PG-rated treatise on the advantages and disadvantages of growing up. This version of SpongeBob (again voiced by Tom Kenny) now measures 36 clams high, a detail that excites him as it at last allows him to ride his fantasy coaster. (An initial, trippy laugh: our overexcitable hero's fantasized loop-the-loops.) Yet, like the best modern American animation, the true rollercoaster is the corkscrew plotting.

The Adventure for Swashbuckling Proof

SpongeBob's quest to obtain the fabled pirate license that will declare him a “big guy” leads him into a showdown with the spectral Flying Dutchman, voiced by the suddenly ever-present Mark Hamill. Although the Dutchman's ship introduces a grander scope, the movie's aesthetic remains a delightful bricolage of digital animation and hand-turned elements, forever highlighting pleasing, authentically cartoonish effects.

If its freewheeling silliness will resonate 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 somehow more rectangular than ever; a brief appearance from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a penalty sure to delight the younger crowd: our hero being subjected to endless dishwashing.

The Verdict

Ultimately, Search for SquarePants stands as a solid entry to the franchise – and arguably the funniest Pirates of the Caribbean movie recently, encompassing a hearty Davy Jones gag and a saltily innuendo-laden catchphrase for SpongeBob's pal Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” One thing is clear: those original students will likely be chuckling all over again.

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