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Would the original fans who chuckled through the first SpongeBob escapades have predicted the series persisting for a 25 years, even after experiencing the most surreal of plotlines? This longevity is partly due to its wide-ranging charm, tickling the funny bones of adults – possibly even those former students – alongside the youngest viewers. While it can't claim anything quite as surprising as a certain legendary David Hasselhoff cameo in the 2004 movie, this latest movie thinks nothing of making a veteran voice actor talk like a pirate while handing out payments to stars like Barbra Streisand. This proves everything remains possible in the zany world of Bikini Bottom.

An Established Goofy Vibe

Starting with a holiday short featuring Paramount's other long-running family favorites, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the latest SpongeBob movie soon settles into a comfortably silly rhythm. Its script serves as a family-friendly exploration on the advantages and disadvantages of growing up. This version of SpongeBob (again voiced by Tom Kenny) now measures 36 clams high, a fact that excites him as it at last allows him to experience his dream rollercoaster. (An initial, psychedelic laugh: our overexcitable hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) Yet, as in the best modern American cartoons, the true thrill ride is the corkscrew plotting.

The Adventure for Swashbuckling Credentials

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 introduces a larger scale, the movie's aesthetic remains a charming mix of digimation and hand-turned elements, forever highlighting satisfying, properly animated effects.

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

Notable scenes feature SpongeBob squeezing himself into an air conditioner and emerging somehow squarer than before; a brief appearance from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a penalty guaranteed to delight the younger crowd: our hero being forced into endless dishwashing.

Final Thoughts

In the end, Search for SquarePants is a solid addition to the series – and perhaps the most humorous pirate-themed movie in years, encompassing a hearty Davy Jones joke and a saltily suggestive catchphrase for SpongeBob's friend 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 December 19th in the US, 20 December in Ireland, and 26 December in Australia and the UK.