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Could those original fans who laughed through the initial SpongeBob escapades have envisioned the franchise enduring for a 25 years, following experiencing the most surreal of plotlines? Such longevity is in part due to its broad charm, amusing the funny bones of adults – possibly even those now grown students – as well as the very young viewers. While it may not feature anything quite as unexpected as the legendary David Hasselhoff appearance in the 2004 movie, this latest movie has no qualms about having Clancy Brown speak as a pirate while handing out royalty cheques to stars like Barbra Streisand. This proves anything remains possible in the zany world of Bikini Bottom.

An Established Zany Groove

Kicking off with a festive short starring Paramount's alternative long-running babysitters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the latest SpongeBob film soon finds a comfortably silly rhythm. Its script acts as a family-friendly exploration on the advantages and disadvantages of maturity. This iteration of SpongeBob (again voiced by Tom Kenny) now stands 36 clams high, a fact that excites him as it finally allows him to experience his dream rollercoaster. (An initial, trippy laugh: our enthusiastic hero's fantasized loop-the-loops.) However, as in the best contemporary American cartoons, the real thrill ride is the corkscrew plotting.

The Adventure for Swashbuckling Credentials

SpongeBob's quest to obtain the fabled pirate license that will prove him a “big guy” leads him into a showdown with the spectral Flying Dutchman, voiced by the suddenly ubiquitous Mark Hamill. While the Dutchman's ship adds a larger scale, the film's visual style remains a charming bricolage of digimation and hand-turned components, consistently highlighting pleasing, authentically cartoonish effects.

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

Notable moments include SpongeBob squeezing himself into an AC unit and emerging inexplicably squarer than ever; a brief appearance from a pair of chattering joke-shop false teeth; and a punishment guaranteed to delight the younger crowd: our hero being forced into endless dishwashing.

The Verdict

Ultimately, Search for SquarePants stands as a reliable addition to the franchise – and perhaps the funniest Pirates of the Caribbean movie in years, including a robust Davy Jones joke and a saltily suggestive saying for SpongeBob's pal Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” One thing is clear: those original fans will probably be chuckling anew.

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