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Could those original fans who laughed through the first SpongeBob escapades have predicted the franchise enduring for a 25 years, following absorbing the most surreal of plotlines? Such staying power is in part due to its wide-ranging appeal, amusing the funny bones of grown-ups – perhaps even those now grown students – as well as the youngest viewers. Although it may not feature anything as surprising as a certain legendary David Hasselhoff appearance in the 2004 film, this latest movie thinks nothing of making Clancy Brown speak as a pirate while dispensing payments to stars like Barbra Streisand. This proves everything can still in the whimsical world of Bikini Bottom.

A Familiar Goofy Groove

Starting with a festive short featuring Paramount's other long-running babysitters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the latest SpongeBob movie soon finds a comfortably silly rhythm. Its storyline serves as a PG-rated exploration on the advantages and disadvantages of maturity. This version of SpongeBob (again brought to life by Tom Kenny) now measures a specific height, a fact that excites him as it at last allows him to ride his dream rollercoaster. (An early, trippy laugh: our overexcitable hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) Yet, as in the best modern American animation, the true rollercoaster is the corkscrew plotting.

The Adventure for Swashbuckling Proof

SpongeBob's mission to obtain the fabled swashbuckler certificate that will declare him a “big guy” brings him into a showdown with the ghostly Flying Dutchman, voiced by the suddenly ever-present Mark Hamill. While the Dutchman's ghost ship adds a larger scale, the movie's aesthetic remains a delightful bricolage of digital animation and hand-crafted components, forever highlighting pleasing, authentically animated effects.

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

Notable moments include SpongeBob squeezing himself into an AC unit and coming out somehow more rectangular than before; a brief appearance from a pair of chattering novelty false teeth; and a punishment guaranteed to delight the six-year-old crowd: our hero being forced into endless dishwashing.

The Verdict

In the end, Search for SquarePants is a solid entry to the franchise – and arguably the most humorous Pirates of the Caribbean movie recently, encompassing a hearty Davy Jones joke and a cheekily suggestive catchphrase for SpongeBob's friend Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” One thing is certain: those early fans will probably be chuckling all over again.

Coming to Theaters: 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.