The Peanuts Movie
Directed By Steve Martino
Starring the voices of Noah Schnappe, Mariel Sheets, Alex Garfin, Hadley Belle Miller, Venus Omega Schultheis, Francesca Angelucci Capaldi, Bill Melendez, Kristin Chenowith, and Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews
Backstory
I’ve always been fascinated by Charlie Brown in animation. Who hasn’t seen A Charlie Brown Christmas at the holidays? I remember a friend of mine had A Boy Named Charlie Brown on VHS when I was a kid, and I watched it a lot at his house. So the thought of a 21st century, CGI Charlie Brown movie had me a little bit nervous. Could the charm of the original Peanuts animation be retained when Charles Schutlz passed away 15 years ago?
Plot
It is winter, and things are going as they typically do for Charlie Brown. His clever plot to finally successfully fly a kite in winter, when the Kite Eating Tree is hibernating, backfires. But then, a new, little red-haired girl moves into the neighbourhood, and Charlie Brown is instantly smitten. Charlie Brown then launches on a series of mis-adventures to try to get the Little Red Haired Girl’s attention. Complicating (or easing?) matters is the fact that Charlie Brown just got a perfect score on the standardized tests, making him a school celebrity. Meanwhile, Snoopy has his vivid fantasies as a World War I flying ace. Will Charlie Brown finally catch the eye of the Little Red Haired Girl? Will Snoopy finally shoot down the Red Baron?
What I Liked
Holy crap. This is incredibly faithful to the original comic strips. It would have been far too easy to make it a gritty origin story and answer how Charlie Brown and Snoopy first met or why Charlie Brown is bald, but no. This is just like opening up the Sunday comics and reading Charlie Brown. The characters are exactly like we know them. And, as always, Snoopy’s fantasies are a remarkable diversion.
What I Didn’t Like
Well, as I feared when I first saw the trailers, the pop songs seems a little out of place. And, because it is so faithful, things do get a tad predictable.
Final Verdict
This movie made me cry. It’s just such a perfect Charlie Brown film.