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Could those early viewers who chuckled through the initial SpongeBob adventures have predicted the franchise persisting for a 25 years, following experiencing the most lysergic of plotlines? Such staying power is in part attributed to its wide-ranging charm, tickling the funny bones of grown-ups – possibly even those former students – alongside the youngest viewers. Although it may not feature anything quite as unexpected as a certain legendary David Hasselhoff appearance in the 2004 film, this fourth feature thinks nothing of making a veteran voice actor speak as a pirate while dispensing payments to stars like Barbra Streisand. It seems anything remains possible in the zany world of Bikini Bottom.

A Familiar Goofy Vibe

Starting with a holiday short featuring Paramount's other weathered family favorites, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the latest SpongeBob film soon finds a comfortably goofy groove. Its script acts as a PG-rated treatise on the advantages and disadvantages of maturity. This iteration of SpongeBob (again voiced by Tom Kenny) now stands a specific height, a detail that thrills him as it at last allows him to ride his fantasy coaster. (An early, trippy laugh: our enthusiastic hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) However, like the finest contemporary American cartoons, the true rollercoaster is the twisting plotting.

The Quest for Pirate Credentials

SpongeBob's mission to secure the legendary swashbuckler certificate that will prove him a “big guy” leads him into a showdown with the spectral Flying Dutchman, brought to life by the currently ever-present Mark Hamill. While the Dutchman's ghost ship adds a larger scale, the movie's visual style remains a delightful bricolage of digital animation and hand-crafted components, consistently highlighting satisfying, properly cartoonish effects.

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

Memorable moments include SpongeBob wedging himself into an AC unit and emerging inexplicably squarer than before; a cameo from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a penalty guaranteed to delight the younger crowd: our hero being forced into endless dishwashing.

Final Thoughts

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

Coming to Theaters: The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants debuts on 19 December in the US, 20 December in Ireland, and 26 December in Australia and the UK.