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Could those original fans who chuckled through the initial SpongeBob adventures have predicted the series persisting for a quarter-century, even after experiencing the most lysergic of narrative twists? This longevity is partly due to its broad charm, tickling the sense of humor of grown-ups – possibly even those now grown students – as well as the youngest viewers. While it can't claim anything as surprising as the memorable David Hasselhoff cameo in the 2004 movie, this latest movie thinks nothing of making a veteran voice actor speak as a pirate while handing out payments to music icons like Barbra Streisand. It seems everything can still in the zany world of Bikini Bottom.

An Established Goofy Groove

Starting with a festive short featuring Paramount's other long-running babysitters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the new SpongeBob film soon settles into a comfortably silly groove. Its storyline serves as a family-friendly exploration on the pros and cons of growing up. This version of SpongeBob (again voiced by Tom Kenny) now measures 36 clams high, a fact that thrills him as it at last qualifies him to ride his dream rollercoaster. (An early, trippy gag: our enthusiastic hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) Yet, like the finest contemporary American animation, the real rollercoaster is the corkscrew narrative.

The Quest for Swashbuckling Credentials

SpongeBob's quest to obtain the fabled pirate license that will declare him a “big guy” leads him into conflict with the ghostly Flying Dutchman, brought to life by the currently ubiquitous Mark Hamill. While the Dutchman's ghost ship introduces a larger scale, the film's aesthetic remains a charming bricolage of digimation and hand-crafted components, forever highlighting satisfying, properly cartoonish visuals.

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

Notable scenes feature SpongeBob squeezing himself into an air conditioner and coming out inexplicably squarer than before; a brief appearance from a pair of chattering novelty false teeth; and a penalty sure to delight the six-year-old audience: our hero being subjected to never-ending dishwashing.

The Verdict

Ultimately, Search for SquarePants stands as a solid addition to the series – and arguably the most humorous pirate-themed movie in years, including a hearty Davy Jones gag and a cheekily innuendo-laden catchphrase for SpongeBob's friend Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” One thing is certain: those early fans will probably be chuckling anew.

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