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Would the original fans who chuckled through the initial SpongeBob escapades have predicted the series enduring for a 25 years, even after absorbing the most surreal of plotlines? This staying power is partly due to its broad charm, amusing the funny bones of grown-ups – possibly even those former students – as well as the youngest viewers. While it may not feature anything as surprising as a certain memorable David Hasselhoff cameo in the 2004 film, this latest movie thinks nothing of having Clancy Brown talk like a pirate while dispensing royalty cheques to music icons like Barbra Streisand. It seems anything can still in the zany world of Bikini Bottom.

A Familiar Zany Groove

Kicking off with a holiday short featuring Paramount's other long-running family favorites, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the new SpongeBob movie quickly settles into a comfortably silly rhythm. Its storyline acts as a PG-rated treatise on the advantages and disadvantages of growing up. This iteration of SpongeBob (again voiced by Tom Kenny) now stands a specific height, a fact that excites him as it finally qualifies him to ride his dream rollercoaster. (An early, psychedelic gag: our enthusiastic hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) Yet, as in the best contemporary American cartoons, the real rollercoaster is the corkscrew plotting.

The Adventure for Pirate Credentials

SpongeBob's mission to secure the legendary pirate license that will declare him a “big guy” brings him into conflict with the ghostly Flying Dutchman, voiced by the currently ubiquitous Mark Hamill. While the Dutchman's ship introduces a grander scope, the movie's visual style remains a charming mix of digital animation and hand-crafted components, forever showcasing satisfying, properly cartoonish effects.

If its spitballing humor will linger after the credits is debatable, but it's a strong SpongeBob movie.

Memorable moments include SpongeBob squeezing himself into an air conditioner and coming out inexplicably more rectangular than ever; a brief appearance from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a penalty sure to delight the younger audience: our hero being forced into never-ending dishwashing.

The Verdict

Ultimately, Search for SquarePants is a solid entry to the franchise – and perhaps the most humorous Pirates of the Caribbean movie recently, encompassing a hearty Davy Jones gag and a cheekily suggestive saying for SpongeBob's pal Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” It's clear: those early students will likely be chuckling anew.

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