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Would the original fans who chuckled through the initial SpongeBob escapades have predicted the franchise persisting for a quarter-century, even after absorbing the most lysergic of narrative twists? Such staying power is in part due to its wide-ranging charm, tickling the funny bones of adults – perhaps even those former students – alongside the youngest viewers. Although it can't claim anything as unexpected as a certain memorable David Hasselhoff appearance in the 2004 movie, this latest movie thinks nothing of making Clancy Brown speak as a pirate while dispensing payments to stars like Barbra Streisand. It seems everything remains possible in the zany world of Bikini Bottom.

An Established Zany Vibe

Kicking off with a holiday short featuring Paramount's other long-running babysitters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the new SpongeBob movie soon finds 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 measures 36 clams high, a fact that thrills him as it at last allows him to experience his fantasy coaster. (An early, trippy gag: our enthusiastic hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) Yet, like the finest contemporary American cartoons, the true thrill ride is the twisting plotting.

The Quest for Pirate Proof

SpongeBob's quest to secure the fabled swashbuckler certificate that will prove him a “big guy” brings him into conflict with the spectral Flying Dutchman, brought to life by the suddenly ubiquitous Mark Hamill. Although the Dutchman's ship introduces a larger scale, the film's visual style remains a delightful mix of digimation and hand-turned components, forever showcasing pleasing, authentically animated visuals.

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

Notable moments include SpongeBob wedging himself into an air conditioner and emerging somehow more rectangular than before; a cameo from a pair of chattering novelty false teeth; and a penalty guaranteed to delight the six-year-old audience: our hero being forced into endless dishwashing.

Final Thoughts

Ultimately, Search for SquarePants is a reliable entry to the franchise – and perhaps the most humorous Pirates of the Caribbean movie recently, encompassing a robust Davy Jones joke and a cheekily suggestive saying for SpongeBob's friend Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” One thing is clear: those early fans will likely be snickering anew.

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