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Could those early viewers who laughed through the first SpongeBob adventures have envisioned the franchise persisting for a 25 years, following experiencing the most lysergic of plotlines? Such staying power is in part due to its wide-ranging appeal, amusing the sense of humor of adults – possibly even those now grown students – alongside the youngest viewers. While it may not feature anything as surprising as the legendary David Hasselhoff cameo in the 2004 film, this latest movie thinks nothing of having a veteran voice actor talk like a pirate while handing out royalty cheques to music icons like Barbra Streisand. It seems anything can still in the zany world of Bikini Bottom.

A Familiar Zany Vibe

Starting with a holiday short starring Paramount's alternative long-running family favorites, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the new SpongeBob movie quickly settles into a comfortably silly groove. Its storyline serves as a PG-rated treatise on the advantages and disadvantages of maturity. This iteration of SpongeBob (again brought to life by Tom Kenny) now measures 36 clams high, a fact that excites him as it finally allows him to experience his dream rollercoaster. (An initial, trippy laugh: our overexcitable hero's fantasized loop-the-loops.) Yet, like the best contemporary American cartoons, the real rollercoaster is the twisting plotting.

The Quest for Pirate Credentials

SpongeBob's quest to obtain the fabled pirate license that will declare him a “big guy” leads him into a showdown with the ghostly Flying Dutchman, brought to life by the suddenly ever-present Mark Hamill. While the Dutchman's ship adds a grander scope, the movie's visual style remains a charming mix of digimation and hand-turned elements, consistently showcasing satisfying, authentically animated effects.

If its freewheeling humor will linger when the lights come up is up for discussion, but it's a strong SpongeBob movie.

Memorable scenes feature SpongeBob squeezing himself into an AC unit and coming out somehow squarer than ever; a brief appearance from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a penalty guaranteed to resonate with the six-year-old audience: our hero being forced into never-ending dishwashing.

Final Thoughts

In the end, Search for SquarePants is a reliable addition to the franchise – and arguably the funniest Pirates of the Caribbean movie recently, including a robust Davy Jones gag and a saltily suggestive catchphrase for SpongeBob's pal Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” It's clear: those early students will likely be snickering anew.

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