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Could those early viewers who laughed through the initial SpongeBob adventures have envisioned the franchise persisting for a quarter-century, even after experiencing the most lysergic of plotlines? This staying power is in part attributed to its broad appeal, tickling the funny bones of adults – perhaps even those now grown students – as well as the youngest viewers. While it may not feature anything as unexpected as a certain memorable David Hasselhoff appearance in the 2004 movie, this fourth feature has no qualms about making Clancy Brown talk like a pirate while dispensing payments to music icons like Barbra Streisand. It seems anything can still in the zany world of Bikini Bottom.

An Established Goofy Vibe

Starting with a holiday short featuring Paramount's other long-running babysitters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the latest SpongeBob movie soon finds a recognizably goofy rhythm. Its storyline acts as a PG-rated exploration on the advantages and disadvantages of growing up. This iteration of SpongeBob (again brought to life by Tom Kenny) now stands 36 clams high, a detail that thrills him as it at last allows him to ride his fantasy coaster. (An initial, trippy gag: our enthusiastic hero's fantasized loop-the-loops.) Yet, like the best contemporary American cartoons, the true rollercoaster is the corkscrew plotting.

The Adventure for Pirate Proof

SpongeBob's quest to secure the fabled pirate license that will declare him a “big guy” brings him into conflict with the spectral Flying Dutchman, voiced by the suddenly ubiquitous Mark Hamill. While the Dutchman's ghost ship adds a larger scale, the movie's visual style remains a charming bricolage of digimation and hand-crafted elements, consistently highlighting pleasing, authentically animated visuals.

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

Notable scenes feature SpongeBob wedging himself into an AC unit and coming out somehow squarer than before; a cameo from a pair of chattering novelty false teeth; and a penalty guaranteed to delight the six-year-old crowd: our hero being forced into endless dishwashing.

Final Thoughts

In the end, Search for SquarePants is a solid addition to the franchise – and perhaps the funniest pirate-themed movie recently, including a robust Davy Jones joke and a saltily innuendo-laden catchphrase for SpongeBob's friend Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” It's clear: those original students will probably be snickering all over again.

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