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Could those early viewers who chuckled through the initial SpongeBob escapades have predicted the series enduring for a 25 years, following absorbing the most surreal of narrative twists? This longevity is partly due to its wide-ranging charm, amusing the sense of humor of grown-ups – possibly even those former students – as well as the very young viewers. While it may not feature anything as unexpected as the memorable David Hasselhoff cameo in the 2004 movie, this latest movie thinks nothing of making Clancy Brown speak as a pirate while handing out royalty cheques to stars like Barbra Streisand. It seems anything can still in the whimsical world of Bikini Bottom.

An Established Zany Vibe

Starting with a holiday short featuring Paramount's other long-running family favorites, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the latest SpongeBob film quickly settles into a comfortably silly groove. Its script acts as a family-friendly treatise on the pros and cons of maturity. This version of SpongeBob (again voiced by Tom Kenny) now measures 36 clams high, a detail that excites him as it finally qualifies him to ride his dream rollercoaster. (An early, psychedelic gag: our overexcitable hero's fantasized loop-the-loops.) Yet, as in the finest contemporary American cartoons, the true rollercoaster is the twisting plotting.

The Adventure for Swashbuckling Proof

SpongeBob's mission to obtain the fabled swashbuckler certificate that will prove him a “big guy” leads him into a showdown with the spectral Flying Dutchman, voiced by the currently ever-present Mark Hamill. While the Dutchman's ghost ship adds a larger scale, the film's visual style remains a charming mix of digital animation and hand-turned elements, forever showcasing pleasing, authentically animated visuals.

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

Memorable scenes include SpongeBob squeezing himself into an AC unit and emerging inexplicably more rectangular than before; a brief appearance from a pair of chattering novelty false teeth; and a penalty guaranteed to resonate with the six-year-old crowd: our hero being subjected to endless dishwashing.

Final Thoughts

In the end, Search for SquarePants is a solid addition to the series – and perhaps the funniest Pirates of the Caribbean movie in years, including a robust Davy Jones joke and a saltily suggestive saying for SpongeBob's pal Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” It's certain: those original students will likely be snickering anew.

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