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Would the early viewers who laughed through the first SpongeBob escapades have predicted the franchise persisting for a quarter-century, even after experiencing the most surreal of plotlines? This longevity is in part due to its broad appeal, amusing the sense of humor of grown-ups – perhaps even those now grown students – as well as the youngest viewers. While it can't claim anything as surprising as a certain memorable David Hasselhoff cameo in the 2004 movie, this fourth feature has no qualms about having Clancy Brown speak as a pirate while dispensing payments to music icons like Barbra Streisand. It seems anything can still in the zany world of Bikini Bottom.

A Familiar Goofy Vibe

Starting with a holiday short featuring Paramount's other weathered family favorites, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the latest SpongeBob movie quickly finds a comfortably silly groove. Its storyline serves as a family-friendly treatise on the advantages and disadvantages of growing up. This iteration of SpongeBob (again brought to life by Tom Kenny) now measures 36 clams high, a detail that excites him as it at last allows him to ride his fantasy coaster. (An initial, trippy gag: our overexcitable hero's fantasized loop-the-loops.) Yet, like the finest modern American cartoons, the true rollercoaster is the corkscrew plotting.

The Quest for Pirate Proof

SpongeBob's mission to secure the fabled pirate license that will prove him a “big guy” brings him into a showdown with the spectral Flying Dutchman, brought to life by the suddenly ubiquitous Mark Hamill. While the Dutchman's ship introduces a larger scale, the film's aesthetic remains a charming mix of digimation and hand-turned components, consistently highlighting satisfying, properly cartoonish effects.

If its freewheeling humor will linger when the lights come up is debatable, but it's a strong SpongeBob movie.

Memorable moments include SpongeBob wedging himself into an air conditioner and coming out somehow more rectangular than before; a cameo 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.

Final Thoughts

In the end, Search for SquarePants stands as a solid addition to the franchise – and arguably the funniest Pirates of the Caribbean movie recently, encompassing a hearty Davy Jones joke and a saltily suggestive saying for SpongeBob's friend Patrick: “The best guys are big guys.” It's certain: those early students will probably be chuckling anew.

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