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Would the early viewers who laughed through the initial SpongeBob escapades have predicted the series enduring for a 25 years, even after experiencing the most surreal of plotlines? Such staying power 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. While it can't claim anything as unexpected as a certain legendary David Hasselhoff appearance in the 2004 film, this fourth feature has no qualms about having Clancy Brown talk like a pirate while dispensing royalty cheques to stars like Barbra Streisand. It seems anything can still in the whimsical world of Bikini Bottom.

An Established Zany Groove

Starting with a holiday short starring Paramount's other long-running family favorites, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the latest SpongeBob movie soon finds a recognizably goofy rhythm. Its script acts as a family-friendly treatise on the pros and cons of growing up. This iteration of SpongeBob (again voiced by Tom Kenny) now measures 36 clams high, a detail that thrills him as it finally qualifies him to experience his dream rollercoaster. (An initial, trippy gag: our enthusiastic hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) Yet, like the best contemporary American cartoons, the true thrill ride is the corkscrew plotting.

The Quest for Pirate Proof

SpongeBob's mission to obtain the legendary pirate license that will prove him a “big guy” brings him into conflict with the spectral Flying Dutchman, brought to life by the currently ubiquitous Mark Hamill. Although the Dutchman's ghost ship introduces a larger scale, the movie's visual style remains a charming mix of digital animation and hand-turned components, consistently showcasing satisfying, properly cartoonish visuals.

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

Notable scenes feature SpongeBob wedging himself into an AC unit and coming out somehow squarer than ever; a cameo from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a penalty guaranteed to resonate with the six-year-old audience: our hero being forced into endless dishwashing.

Final Thoughts

In the end, Search for SquarePants is a reliable entry to the franchise – and arguably the most humorous Pirates of the Caribbean movie in years, including a hearty Davy Jones joke and a saltily suggestive saying for SpongeBob's pal Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” It's clear: those original fans will probably be chuckling anew.

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