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Could those early viewers who chuckled through the initial SpongeBob adventures have envisioned the series enduring for a quarter-century, following absorbing the most surreal of plotlines? This longevity is partly due to its wide-ranging appeal, tickling the sense of humor of grown-ups – possibly even those now grown students – alongside the youngest viewers. While it can't claim anything as unexpected as the memorable David Hasselhoff appearance in the 2004 film, this fourth feature has no qualms about having Clancy Brown speak as a pirate while dispensing payments to music icons like Barbra Streisand. It seems anything remains possible in the zany world of Bikini Bottom.

An Established Goofy Groove

Starting with a holiday short featuring Paramount's other long-running family favorites, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the latest SpongeBob movie quickly finds a comfortably silly groove. Its storyline acts as a PG-rated treatise on the advantages and disadvantages of maturity. This iteration of SpongeBob (again voiced by Tom Kenny) now measures 36 clams high, a fact that excites him as it at last qualifies him to experience his fantasy coaster. (An early, trippy laugh: our enthusiastic hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) Yet, like the finest contemporary American animation, the real rollercoaster is the corkscrew narrative.

The Quest for Pirate Proof

SpongeBob's mission to secure the fabled swashbuckler certificate that will prove him a “big guy” brings him into a showdown with the spectral Flying Dutchman, brought to life by the suddenly ubiquitous Mark Hamill. Although the Dutchman's ghost ship introduces a larger scale, the movie's visual style remains a delightful bricolage of digital animation and hand-crafted components, consistently showcasing satisfying, properly animated effects.

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

Notable scenes include SpongeBob wedging himself into an air conditioner and coming out inexplicably squarer than ever; a brief appearance from a pair of chattering novelty false teeth; and a punishment sure to resonate with the six-year-old crowd: our hero being forced into endless dishwashing.

Final Thoughts

Ultimately, Search for SquarePants is a reliable entry to the series – and perhaps the funniest pirate-themed movie in years, encompassing a robust Davy Jones joke and a saltily suggestive saying for SpongeBob's friend Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” It's clear: those original students will probably be snickering anew.

Coming to Theaters: 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.