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Could those original fans who laughed through the initial SpongeBob escapades have envisioned the series enduring for a 25 years, following absorbing the most surreal of narrative twists? This longevity is partly due to its wide-ranging appeal, tickling the funny bones of adults – perhaps even those now grown students – as well as the youngest viewers. While it may not feature anything quite as unexpected as a certain memorable David Hasselhoff appearance in the 2004 film, this latest movie has no qualms about making a veteran voice actor speak as a pirate while dispensing payments to stars like Barbra Streisand. It seems everything can still in the zany world of Bikini Bottom.

A Familiar Zany Vibe

Starting with a holiday short starring Paramount's alternative weathered family favorites, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the new SpongeBob movie soon finds a comfortably silly rhythm. Its script acts as a PG-rated treatise on the pros and cons of maturity. This iteration of SpongeBob (again voiced by Tom Kenny) now measures 36 clams high, a fact that excites him as it finally allows him to ride his fantasy coaster. (An early, psychedelic gag: our enthusiastic hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) However, like the finest contemporary American cartoons, the real rollercoaster is the twisting narrative.

The Quest for Swashbuckling Proof

SpongeBob's mission to secure the fabled swashbuckler certificate that will prove him a “big guy” leads him into conflict with the ghostly Flying Dutchman, voiced by the suddenly ever-present Mark Hamill. Although the Dutchman's ghost ship adds a grander scope, the film's aesthetic remains a charming bricolage of digimation and hand-crafted elements, forever highlighting satisfying, properly animated visuals.

If its freewheeling silliness will linger after the credits is up for discussion, but it's a solid SpongeBob movie.

Notable moments include SpongeBob squeezing himself into an air conditioner and coming out somehow squarer than ever; a cameo from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a punishment 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 series – and perhaps the funniest Pirates of the Caribbean movie recently, encompassing a robust Davy Jones joke and a saltily innuendo-laden catchphrase for SpongeBob's pal Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” It's clear: those early students will probably be snickering all over again.

Release Dates: 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.