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Would the early viewers who chuckled through the first SpongeBob escapades have predicted the series enduring for a quarter-century, following experiencing the most lysergic of plotlines? Such longevity is partly due to its wide-ranging appeal, tickling the funny bones of grown-ups – perhaps even those former students – as well as 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 dispensing payments to music icons like Barbra Streisand. It seems anything remains possible in the whimsical world of Bikini Bottom.

An Established Zany Vibe

Kicking off with a holiday short starring Paramount's other long-running family favorites, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the new SpongeBob movie quickly settles into a comfortably goofy groove. Its script serves as a PG-rated treatise on the advantages and disadvantages of growing up. This version of SpongeBob (again voiced by Tom Kenny) now stands 36 clams high, a fact that thrills him as it finally qualifies him to experience his fantasy coaster. (An early, psychedelic laugh: our enthusiastic hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) However, as in the finest modern American cartoons, the real rollercoaster is the twisting plotting.

The Adventure for Swashbuckling Credentials

SpongeBob's quest to obtain the fabled pirate license that will prove him a “big guy” brings him into a showdown with the spectral Flying Dutchman, voiced by the suddenly ever-present Mark Hamill. While the Dutchman's ghost ship adds a larger scale, the movie's visual style remains a delightful mix of digital animation and hand-turned components, forever highlighting pleasing, properly animated visuals.

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

Notable moments include SpongeBob squeezing himself into an AC unit and coming out inexplicably more rectangular than ever; a cameo from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a punishment sure to delight the younger audience: our hero being forced into endless dishwashing.

The Verdict

In the end, Search for SquarePants is a reliable entry to the franchise – and perhaps the funniest pirate-themed movie recently, encompassing a hearty Davy Jones joke and a saltily suggestive catchphrase for SpongeBob's pal Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” One thing is certain: those early fans will probably be snickering anew.

Coming to Theaters: 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.