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Could those original fans who laughed through the first SpongeBob adventures have predicted the series enduring for a 25 years, following absorbing the most lysergic of plotlines? This longevity is partly attributed to its wide-ranging charm, tickling the sense of humor of grown-ups – perhaps even those former students – as well as the youngest viewers. Although it can't claim anything as surprising as the legendary David Hasselhoff appearance in the 2004 film, 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. It seems everything can still in the whimsical world of Bikini Bottom.

A Familiar Goofy Vibe

Kicking off with a festive short featuring Paramount's alternative long-running babysitters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the latest SpongeBob movie quickly finds a recognizably silly rhythm. Its script serves as a PG-rated treatise on the advantages and disadvantages of growing up. This version of SpongeBob (again brought to life by Tom Kenny) now measures 36 clams high, a fact that thrills him as it at last qualifies him to ride his fantasy coaster. (An early, psychedelic gag: our overexcitable hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) Yet, like the best contemporary American cartoons, the real rollercoaster is the corkscrew plotting.

The Quest for Swashbuckling Proof

SpongeBob's mission to secure the legendary pirate license that will prove him a “big guy” brings him into a showdown with the ghostly Flying Dutchman, voiced by the suddenly ubiquitous Mark Hamill. While the Dutchman's ghost ship adds a larger scale, the movie's visual style remains a charming bricolage of digital animation and hand-turned components, forever highlighting satisfying, authentically cartoonish visuals.

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

Notable scenes feature SpongeBob wedging himself into an AC unit and emerging somehow more rectangular than ever; a brief appearance from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a punishment sure to delight the six-year-old crowd: our hero being forced into never-ending dishwashing.

The Verdict

In the end, Search for SquarePants stands as a solid entry to the series – and arguably the most humorous Pirates of the Caribbean movie recently, encompassing a robust Davy Jones joke and a cheekily innuendo-laden catchphrase for SpongeBob's friend Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” One thing is clear: those early fans will likely be chuckling anew.

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