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Would the original fans who chuckled through the initial SpongeBob escapades have envisioned the series persisting for a 25 years, even after absorbing the most surreal of narrative twists? Such staying power is in part attributed to its wide-ranging appeal, tickling the sense of humor of grown-ups – perhaps even those former students – alongside the youngest viewers. While it may not feature anything quite as unexpected as a certain memorable David Hasselhoff cameo in the 2004 movie, this latest movie has no qualms about making a veteran voice actor speak as a pirate while handing out payments to music icons like Barbra Streisand. This proves everything remains possible in the zany world of Bikini Bottom.

A Familiar Goofy Groove

Kicking off with a festive short featuring Paramount's alternative long-running family favorites, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the latest SpongeBob film quickly finds a comfortably goofy rhythm. Its script serves as a family-friendly treatise on the pros and cons of maturity. This version of SpongeBob (again brought to life by Tom Kenny) now stands a specific height, a detail that excites him as it finally qualifies him to ride his dream rollercoaster. (An early, trippy gag: our overexcitable hero's fantasized loop-the-loops.) However, like the best modern American cartoons, the true rollercoaster is the twisting narrative.

The Quest for Swashbuckling Credentials

SpongeBob's quest to obtain the fabled pirate license that will declare him a “big guy” brings him into a showdown with the ghostly Flying Dutchman, voiced by the currently ubiquitous Mark Hamill. Although the Dutchman's ghost ship introduces a larger scale, the movie's visual style remains a charming mix of digital animation and hand-turned components, consistently showcasing pleasing, authentically cartoonish visuals.

If its spitballing humor will resonate after the credits is up for discussion, but it's a solid SpongeBob movie.

Memorable scenes feature SpongeBob squeezing himself into an air conditioner and emerging somehow squarer than ever; a brief appearance from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a punishment guaranteed to resonate with the younger audience: our hero being subjected to endless dishwashing.

The Verdict

Ultimately, Search for SquarePants stands as a solid entry to the series – and perhaps the funniest Pirates of the Caribbean movie recently, including a hearty Davy Jones gag and a saltily innuendo-laden catchphrase for SpongeBob's pal Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” It's clear: those early fans will probably be snickering all over again.

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.