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Would the early viewers who chuckled through the initial SpongeBob escapades have envisioned the franchise persisting for a quarter-century, even after absorbing the most lysergic of narrative twists? Such staying power is partly attributed to its wide-ranging charm, amusing the funny bones of grown-ups – perhaps even those former students – alongside the very young viewers. Although it can't claim anything as unexpected as a certain legendary David Hasselhoff appearance in the 2004 film, this fourth feature thinks nothing of making a veteran voice actor speak as a pirate while handing out payments to music icons like Barbra Streisand. This proves anything can still in the zany world of Bikini Bottom.

A Familiar Zany Groove

Kicking off with a festive short featuring Paramount's alternative weathered family favorites, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the latest SpongeBob movie quickly finds a comfortably silly rhythm. Its script serves as a PG-rated treatise on the pros and cons of growing up. This iteration of SpongeBob (again voiced by Tom Kenny) now stands 36 clams high, a fact that thrills him as it finally allows him to experience his fantasy coaster. (An early, trippy gag: our overexcitable hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) Yet, like the best contemporary American cartoons, the real rollercoaster is the corkscrew plotting.

The Adventure for Pirate Proof

SpongeBob's mission to obtain the fabled swashbuckler certificate that will prove him a “big guy” leads him into a showdown with the ghostly Flying Dutchman, brought to life by the suddenly ever-present Mark Hamill. Although the Dutchman's ship introduces a grander scope, the movie's visual style remains a delightful bricolage of digital animation and hand-crafted elements, forever highlighting pleasing, authentically cartoonish effects.

If its freewheeling humor will linger when the lights come up is up for discussion, but it's a solid SpongeBob movie.

Notable scenes feature SpongeBob squeezing himself into an air conditioner and coming out somehow squarer than ever; a brief appearance from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a punishment sure to delight the younger audience: our hero being subjected to never-ending dishwashing.

The Verdict

In the end, Search for SquarePants is a solid addition to the series – and perhaps the funniest Pirates of the Caribbean movie in years, encompassing a robust Davy Jones joke and a cheekily innuendo-laden saying 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 December 19th in the US, December 20th in Ireland, and 26 December in Australia and the UK.