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Could those original fans who chuckled through the first SpongeBob escapades have envisioned the series persisting for a 25 years, even after experiencing the most lysergic of narrative twists? Such staying power is in part due to its broad appeal, amusing the sense of humor of adults – possibly even those now grown students – as well as the youngest viewers. Although it may not feature anything quite as surprising as the legendary David Hasselhoff appearance in the 2004 film, this fourth feature has no qualms about making a veteran voice actor talk like a pirate while handing out royalty cheques to stars like Barbra Streisand. It seems everything can still in the zany world of Bikini Bottom.

An Established Goofy Vibe

Starting with a festive short starring Paramount's other long-running family favorites, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the latest SpongeBob movie soon settles into a comfortably silly groove. Its storyline acts as a family-friendly treatise on the pros and cons of maturity. This version of SpongeBob (again voiced by Tom Kenny) now stands a specific height, a detail that thrills him as it finally allows him to experience his fantasy coaster. (An initial, trippy gag: our enthusiastic hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) However, like the best contemporary American cartoons, the true rollercoaster is the corkscrew narrative.

The Quest for Swashbuckling Credentials

SpongeBob's quest to secure the fabled swashbuckler certificate that will prove him a “big guy” leads him into conflict with the ghostly Flying Dutchman, voiced by the currently ubiquitous Mark Hamill. While the Dutchman's ghost ship adds a larger scale, the movie's visual style remains a delightful mix of digimation and hand-crafted components, forever highlighting satisfying, properly cartoonish effects.

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

Memorable moments feature SpongeBob squeezing himself into an air conditioner and coming out inexplicably more rectangular than before; a cameo from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a penalty sure to resonate with the younger crowd: our hero being forced into endless dishwashing.

Final Thoughts

Ultimately, Search for SquarePants is a solid addition to the franchise – and arguably the funniest Pirates of the Caribbean movie in years, encompassing a hearty Davy Jones gag and a saltily innuendo-laden catchphrase for SpongeBob's pal Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” It's certain: those original fans will probably be snickering anew.

Release Dates: 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.