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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 experiencing the most lysergic of narrative twists? Such longevity is partly attributed to its wide-ranging appeal, tickling the sense of humor of adults – possibly even those now grown students – alongside the very young viewers. Although 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 Clancy Brown talk like a pirate while dispensing payments to music icons like Barbra Streisand. This proves anything can still in the zany world of Bikini Bottom.

An Established Goofy Groove

Starting with a holiday short featuring Paramount's other long-running babysitters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the latest SpongeBob movie soon settles into a recognizably silly groove. Its script acts as a family-friendly treatise on the advantages and disadvantages of maturity. This version of SpongeBob (again voiced by Tom Kenny) now measures a specific height, a fact that thrills him as it finally qualifies him to ride his dream rollercoaster. (An initial, trippy gag: our overexcitable hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) Yet, as in the best contemporary American animation, the real rollercoaster is the twisting narrative.

The Quest for Pirate Proof

SpongeBob's mission to secure the legendary pirate license that will prove him a “big guy” brings him into a showdown with the spectral Flying Dutchman, brought to life by the suddenly ever-present Mark Hamill. Although the Dutchman's ship introduces a larger scale, the film's visual style remains a delightful bricolage of digimation and hand-crafted components, forever highlighting pleasing, properly cartoonish effects.

Whether its freewheeling silliness will linger after the credits is debatable, but it's a strong SpongeBob movie.

Notable moments feature SpongeBob squeezing himself into an AC unit and emerging somehow more rectangular than before; a brief appearance from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a penalty guaranteed to delight the younger audience: our hero being subjected to endless dishwashing.

Final Thoughts

Ultimately, Search for SquarePants is a solid entry to the series – and arguably the most humorous Pirates of the Caribbean movie recently, including a robust Davy Jones gag and a saltily innuendo-laden saying for SpongeBob's friend Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” One thing is clear: those original fans will probably be snickering anew.

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