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Could those original fans who chuckled through the initial SpongeBob adventures have envisioned the series enduring for a quarter-century, following absorbing the most lysergic of narrative twists? Such staying power is in part attributed to its broad appeal, tickling the funny bones of grown-ups – possibly even those former students – alongside the youngest viewers. Although it can't claim anything as surprising as the legendary 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 music icons like Barbra Streisand. This proves anything remains possible in the whimsical world of Bikini Bottom.

A Familiar Zany Groove

Kicking off with a holiday short starring Paramount's other long-running babysitters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the new SpongeBob movie quickly finds a comfortably silly groove. Its script acts as a PG-rated treatise on the advantages and disadvantages of growing up. This version of SpongeBob (again brought to life by Tom Kenny) now stands 36 clams high, a fact that thrills him as it finally allows him to ride his dream rollercoaster. (An initial, trippy laugh: our enthusiastic hero's imagined loop-the-loops.) However, like the best contemporary American animation, the real thrill ride is the corkscrew plotting.

The Adventure for Swashbuckling Proof

SpongeBob's quest to obtain the legendary swashbuckler certificate that will prove him a “big guy” leads him into a showdown with the ghostly Flying Dutchman, voiced by the currently ubiquitous Mark Hamill. Although the Dutchman's ghost ship introduces a larger scale, the movie's visual style remains a delightful bricolage of digital animation and hand-crafted elements, consistently highlighting satisfying, authentically animated visuals.

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

Notable moments feature SpongeBob wedging himself into an air conditioner and coming out inexplicably more rectangular than ever; a cameo from a pair of chattering novelty false teeth; and a penalty guaranteed to delight the six-year-old crowd: our hero being subjected to never-ending dishwashing.

The Verdict

In the end, Search for SquarePants stands as a solid entry to the series – and arguably the most humorous Pirates of the Caribbean movie recently, encompassing a robust Davy Jones joke and a saltily suggestive saying for SpongeBob's pal Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” It's clear: those early fans will probably be snickering all over again.

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