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Could those original fans who chuckled through the first SpongeBob adventures have predicted the series persisting for a quarter-century, even after experiencing the most lysergic of plotlines? This staying power is partly due to its wide-ranging charm, amusing the funny bones of grown-ups – possibly even those now grown students – alongside the very young viewers. Although it may not feature anything as surprising as the memorable David Hasselhoff appearance in the 2004 movie, this fourth feature has no qualms about making a veteran voice actor speak as a pirate while dispensing payments to stars like Barbra Streisand. It seems anything can still in the zany world of Bikini Bottom.

An Established Zany Groove

Kicking off with a holiday short featuring Paramount's other weathered family favorites, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the new SpongeBob movie soon finds a recognizably goofy groove. Its storyline acts as a PG-rated exploration on the advantages and disadvantages of growing up. This version of SpongeBob (again brought to life by Tom Kenny) now measures a specific height, a detail that thrills him as it at last allows him to experience his fantasy coaster. (An initial, trippy laugh: our enthusiastic hero's fantasized loop-the-loops.) Yet, like the best contemporary American cartoons, the true rollercoaster is the twisting plotting.

The Adventure for Swashbuckling Credentials

SpongeBob's quest to secure the fabled pirate license that will declare him a “big guy” brings him into conflict with the spectral Flying Dutchman, voiced by the suddenly ever-present Mark Hamill. While the Dutchman's ship introduces a grander scope, the movie's visual style remains a charming bricolage of digital animation and hand-crafted elements, forever highlighting satisfying, authentically cartoonish effects.

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

Memorable moments feature SpongeBob wedging himself into an AC unit and coming out inexplicably more rectangular than before; a cameo from a pair of chattering novelty false teeth; and a penalty guaranteed to delight the six-year-old crowd: our hero being subjected to endless dishwashing.

The Verdict

Ultimately, Search for SquarePants is a solid entry to the franchise – and perhaps the most humorous Pirates of the Caribbean movie in years, including a robust Davy Jones gag and a saltily innuendo-laden catchphrase for SpongeBob's pal Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” It's clear: those original students will probably be chuckling anew.

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