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Would the early viewers who chuckled through the first SpongeBob escapades have predicted the franchise persisting for a 25 years, following absorbing the most surreal of plotlines? This staying power is partly due to its wide-ranging charm, amusing the sense of humor of adults – possibly even those now grown students – as well as the youngest viewers. Although it can't claim anything quite as unexpected as the legendary David Hasselhoff appearance in the 2004 film, this latest movie thinks nothing of having Clancy Brown talk like a pirate while dispensing payments to stars like Barbra Streisand. It seems everything can still in the zany world of Bikini Bottom.

A Familiar Zany Groove

Kicking off with a festive short featuring Paramount's other long-running family favorites, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the new SpongeBob movie quickly finds a recognizably silly rhythm. Its script serves as a family-friendly exploration on the pros and cons of growing up. This iteration of SpongeBob (again voiced by Tom Kenny) now measures 36 clams high, a detail that excites him as it at last qualifies him to experience his dream rollercoaster. (An early, psychedelic laugh: our overexcitable hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) However, as in the finest modern American animation, the real rollercoaster is the corkscrew plotting.

The Adventure for Pirate Credentials

SpongeBob's mission to secure the legendary swashbuckler certificate that will prove him a “big guy” leads him into conflict with the spectral Flying Dutchman, voiced by the suddenly ubiquitous Mark Hamill. While the Dutchman's ghost ship introduces a larger scale, the film's visual style remains a charming mix of digital animation and hand-turned components, forever showcasing pleasing, properly animated effects.

If its freewheeling silliness will resonate when the lights come up is debatable, but it's a solid SpongeBob movie.

Memorable moments include SpongeBob wedging himself into an AC unit and emerging somehow more rectangular than before; a brief appearance from a pair of chattering novelty false teeth; and a penalty sure to resonate with the younger crowd: our hero being forced into never-ending dishwashing.

The Verdict

In the end, Search for SquarePants is a reliable entry to the series – and perhaps the funniest Pirates of the Caribbean movie in years, including a robust Davy Jones joke and a cheekily suggestive saying for SpongeBob's pal Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” One thing is certain: those early students will probably be chuckling anew.

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