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Could those early viewers who chuckled through the first SpongeBob escapades have envisioned the franchise enduring for a 25 years, even after absorbing the most lysergic of plotlines? This longevity is in part due to its wide-ranging charm, amusing the funny bones of grown-ups – perhaps even those now grown students – alongside the very young viewers. Although it may not feature anything quite as surprising as the memorable David Hasselhoff appearance in the 2004 film, this latest movie has no qualms about having Clancy Brown talk like a pirate while handing out royalty cheques to stars like Barbra Streisand. It seems anything remains possible in the whimsical world of Bikini Bottom.

An Established Zany Groove

Kicking off with a holiday short featuring Paramount's alternative weathered babysitters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the latest SpongeBob movie soon finds a recognizably silly rhythm. Its script acts as a family-friendly treatise on the advantages and disadvantages of growing up. This iteration of SpongeBob (again brought to life by Tom Kenny) now measures 36 clams high, a fact that thrills him as it at last allows him to experience his dream rollercoaster. (An early, trippy gag: our enthusiastic hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) Yet, like the best modern American cartoons, the real thrill ride is the corkscrew narrative.

The Quest for Pirate Proof

SpongeBob's mission to secure the fabled pirate license that will declare him a “big guy” brings him into a showdown with the spectral Flying Dutchman, voiced by the currently ever-present Mark Hamill. While the Dutchman's ship introduces a larger scale, the film's aesthetic remains a charming bricolage of digimation and hand-crafted components, forever highlighting pleasing, properly cartoonish visuals.

Whether its spitballing silliness will resonate after the credits is debatable, but it's a strong SpongeBob movie.

Memorable moments feature SpongeBob wedging himself into an AC unit and emerging inexplicably squarer than ever; a cameo from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a punishment guaranteed to resonate with the six-year-old audience: our hero being forced into never-ending dishwashing.

Final Thoughts

Ultimately, Search for SquarePants is a solid entry to the series – and perhaps the most humorous Pirates of the Caribbean movie in years, including a robust Davy Jones gag and a cheekily suggestive catchphrase for SpongeBob's friend Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” One thing is certain: those early fans will likely be snickering all over again.

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