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Could those early viewers who laughed through the first SpongeBob adventures have predicted the franchise persisting for a 25 years, even after absorbing the most surreal of plotlines? Such longevity is partly attributed to its broad charm, amusing the funny bones of adults – possibly even those now grown students – as well as the youngest viewers. While it may not feature anything as unexpected as a certain memorable David Hasselhoff appearance in the 2004 movie, this fourth feature has no qualms about having a veteran voice actor talk like a pirate while handing out payments to music icons like Barbra Streisand. This proves everything remains possible in the whimsical world of Bikini Bottom.

An Established Goofy Groove

Kicking off with a festive short featuring Paramount's other long-running babysitters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the latest SpongeBob film soon settles into a recognizably silly rhythm. Its storyline serves as a PG-rated treatise on the advantages and disadvantages of growing up. This iteration of SpongeBob (again voiced by Tom Kenny) now measures 36 clams high, a fact that thrills him as it at last allows him to experience his fantasy coaster. (An initial, psychedelic gag: our enthusiastic hero's fantasized loop-the-loops.) However, as in the finest contemporary American cartoons, the true rollercoaster is the twisting narrative.

The Quest for Swashbuckling Proof

SpongeBob's quest to secure the fabled pirate license that will declare him a “big guy” leads him into a showdown with the spectral Flying Dutchman, voiced by the currently ever-present Mark Hamill. Although the Dutchman's ship introduces a larger scale, the film's visual style remains a charming bricolage of digimation and hand-turned elements, consistently showcasing pleasing, properly animated effects.

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

Notable scenes feature SpongeBob squeezing himself into an AC unit and emerging somehow squarer than ever; a brief appearance from a pair of chattering novelty false teeth; and a punishment 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 solid addition to the franchise – and perhaps the funniest Pirates of the Caribbean movie recently, including a hearty Davy Jones joke and a saltily innuendo-laden saying for SpongeBob's pal Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” One thing is certain: those original students will likely be chuckling all over again.

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