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Would the early viewers who laughed through the first SpongeBob escapades have envisioned the franchise enduring for a 25 years, following absorbing the most surreal of plotlines? This longevity is partly due to its broad appeal, amusing the sense of humor of adults – possibly even those former students – as well as the youngest viewers. Although it can't claim anything as unexpected as a certain legendary David Hasselhoff cameo in the 2004 movie, this fourth feature thinks nothing of having a veteran voice actor talk like a pirate while dispensing payments to music icons like Barbra Streisand. This proves anything remains possible in the whimsical world of Bikini Bottom.

An Established Zany Vibe

Kicking off with a holiday short featuring Paramount's alternative long-running babysitters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the latest SpongeBob film soon settles into a comfortably silly groove. Its storyline serves as a PG-rated treatise on the advantages and disadvantages of maturity. This version of SpongeBob (again voiced by Tom Kenny) now stands a specific height, a fact that excites him as it finally qualifies him to experience his fantasy coaster. (An early, psychedelic laugh: our overexcitable hero's fantasized loop-the-loops.) However, as in the finest modern American animation, the true thrill ride is the corkscrew plotting.

The Quest for Swashbuckling Credentials

SpongeBob's quest to secure the legendary swashbuckler certificate that will prove him a “big guy” brings him into a showdown with the spectral Flying Dutchman, voiced by the suddenly ubiquitous Mark Hamill. While the Dutchman's ship introduces a grander scope, the movie's visual style remains a delightful bricolage of digimation and hand-turned elements, forever highlighting satisfying, authentically animated visuals.

Whether its freewheeling silliness will linger when the lights come up is debatable, but it's a solid SpongeBob movie.

Notable moments feature SpongeBob wedging himself into an air conditioner and coming out somehow squarer than before; a cameo from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a penalty guaranteed to delight the six-year-old crowd: our hero being forced into never-ending dishwashing.

Final Thoughts

In the end, Search for SquarePants is a reliable entry to the franchise – and perhaps the most humorous Pirates of the Caribbean movie recently, including a hearty 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 probably be snickering all over again.

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