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Would the original fans who chuckled through the initial SpongeBob adventures have envisioned the series enduring for a 25 years, following experiencing the most lysergic of narrative twists? This longevity is in part due to its broad appeal, amusing the funny bones of grown-ups – possibly even those former students – alongside the youngest viewers. While it can't claim anything as surprising as a certain memorable David Hasselhoff cameo in the 2004 movie, this fourth feature thinks nothing of making a veteran voice actor talk like a pirate while dispensing royalty cheques to stars like Barbra Streisand. This proves anything can still in the whimsical world of Bikini Bottom.

A Familiar Goofy Groove

Starting with a festive short starring Paramount's alternative weathered family favorites, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the new SpongeBob film quickly finds a recognizably goofy rhythm. Its storyline serves as a family-friendly treatise on the advantages and disadvantages of growing up. This iteration of SpongeBob (again voiced by Tom Kenny) now measures a specific height, a fact that thrills him as it finally allows him to ride his fantasy coaster. (An early, psychedelic laugh: our overexcitable hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) Yet, like the finest contemporary American cartoons, the true rollercoaster is the twisting plotting.

The Adventure for Swashbuckling Credentials

SpongeBob's mission to obtain the legendary pirate license 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 larger scale, the film's visual style remains a charming bricolage of digimation and hand-crafted elements, forever highlighting satisfying, properly animated effects.

If its spitballing humor will resonate when the lights come up is up for discussion, but it's a strong SpongeBob movie.

Notable moments feature SpongeBob squeezing himself into an AC unit and emerging somehow squarer than ever; a cameo from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a punishment sure to resonate with the six-year-old crowd: our hero being forced into never-ending dishwashing.

The Verdict

Ultimately, Search for SquarePants stands as a reliable entry to the series – and perhaps the funniest pirate-themed movie recently, encompassing a robust Davy Jones gag and a cheekily suggestive saying for SpongeBob's pal Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” It's clear: those original fans will probably be snickering all over again.

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