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Would the original fans who laughed through the initial SpongeBob adventures have predicted the franchise persisting for a 25 years, even after absorbing the most lysergic of plotlines? This staying power is partly attributed to its broad appeal, amusing the funny bones of grown-ups – possibly even those former students – alongside the youngest viewers. While it can't claim anything quite as unexpected as the legendary David Hasselhoff appearance in the 2004 movie, this fourth feature has no qualms about having a veteran voice actor speak as a pirate while dispensing payments to stars like Barbra Streisand. It seems everything can still in the whimsical world of Bikini Bottom.

A Familiar Zany Groove

Starting with a holiday short featuring Paramount's alternative long-running babysitters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the new SpongeBob movie soon settles into a comfortably goofy rhythm. Its storyline acts as a PG-rated treatise on the pros and cons of growing up. This version of SpongeBob (again voiced by Tom Kenny) now stands a specific height, a detail that thrills him as it at last qualifies him to ride his dream rollercoaster. (An early, psychedelic laugh: our overexcitable hero's fantasized loop-the-loops.) However, as in the best contemporary American cartoons, the real thrill ride is the twisting plotting.

The Adventure for Pirate Proof

SpongeBob's quest to secure the fabled swashbuckler certificate that will declare him a “big guy” brings him into a showdown with the spectral Flying Dutchman, brought to life by the suddenly ever-present Mark Hamill. Although the Dutchman's ghost ship adds a larger scale, the movie's aesthetic remains a charming mix of digimation and hand-crafted elements, consistently showcasing satisfying, authentically animated effects.

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

Notable moments feature SpongeBob squeezing himself into an AC unit and coming out inexplicably squarer than before; 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.

The Verdict

In the end, Search for SquarePants is a reliable addition to the franchise – and perhaps the funniest Pirates of the Caribbean movie in years, encompassing a robust Davy Jones gag and a cheekily innuendo-laden saying for SpongeBob's friend Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” One thing is clear: those early students will probably be chuckling all over again.

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