The Peanuts are known and loved by almost everyone whether it be the comic strips created by Charles Schultz or the hour-long holiday specials from “It’s The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown” or “A Charlie Brown Christmas”. Needless to say, when it was announced that Blue Sky Animation Studios were gonna take on the task to make a Feature-length CGI film based on The Peanut’s, I’ll admit that I was very concerned about how the final product would turn out especially considering the studio’s track record with the quality of their film’s. That’s not to say that Blue Sky hasn’t turned out entertaining movies (Ex: Ice Age, Robots, Rio) but they aren’t really up there with the likes of Pixar or Disney. When I did get a chance to see the film in the theaters, my doubts were washed away and it was surprising that a little-known animation studio could turn out such an entertaining product.
Charlie Brown is known as the kid who feels like the world is always against him whether it’s trying to kick a football, getting a kite off the ground, or always trying to do the right thing even if things go wrong for him in the end. One day a little red hair girl moves into the neighborhood and Charlie Brown finds himself love-struck and goes on a journey of self-discovery with the help of some of the other peanuts characters in order the gain the confidence to win the heart of the little red hair girl over. Meanwhile, Snoopy and Woodstock have an adventure of their own as they find an old Typewriter in the dumpster and decide to write a story based on his experiences with events of Charlie Brown’s story arc.
This story could have so easily been too modern or too blatant with the use of smartphones or anything kids use these days. Thankfully, this narrative strikes just the right balance of being true to the spirit of The Peanuts while also telling a timeless, sweet, and somewhat romantic story with the occasionally action-adventure storyline from Snoopy’s adventures as the flying ace. Charlie Brown’s story arc is both silly but also heartwarming in its overall tone while at the same time Snoopy’s side story is adventurous and action-packed. The great is that you don’t have to know anything about The Peanuts to fully enjoy the movie as there are a lot of nods and references to past Peanuts work that is great for any Peanuts fan. It’s rather old-fashioned in telling its story, but the emotions of the characters ring true into how each of their timeless personalities plays out in. Speaking of which, almost all the characters you know from the comic strips and animated specials are all in check and none of them feel like soulless imitations as they all are almost on point to their already established personalities that they have to stay in line with. It’s also rather cool to know that Snoopy’s and Woodstock’s voices are ripped from the same person who did the voices for them in the animated specials, Bill Melendez.
You’d think the Peanuts being brought from 2D drawings to 3-Dimensions would be a bad thing, but the movie actually managed to pull off the unthinkable as they manage to make the 3D designs of the peanuts characters feel just like their 2D counterparts without having them looking uncanny. The whole movie is shot to look like a 2D Peanuts cartoon but have it still done in 3D. The movements of the characters have those limiting movements that were iconic in the animated specials and it looks amazing. Sometimes they’ll take short breaks from the 3D animation and do things like having 2D animated segments or animated drawn lines to emphasize the cartoony nature of the world of peanuts. They’ll also do some interesting things when it comes to Snoopy’s flying ace adventures as they will keep the rule to never show the bottom of the doghouse throughout his fantasy and the backgrounds will shift to being more 3-Dimensional than they can be in the Charlie Brown story arc. The Music is composed by Christopher Beck the same person who scored the soundtrack for Frozen. His compositions are beautifully nostalgic and wonderfully whimsical as it borrows from many recognizable peanuts tunes but in a way that still makes it fresh and relevant to today’s culture. There are even some pop tunes that make their way into the movie and while they can take away from the timeless factor of the movie, I still think it’s not a huge loss as they don’t stick around for too long. I admit that I do like the main theme of the movie called “Better when I’m Dancing” by Megan Trainor as its really catchy and irresistible to listen to.
I was never expecting Blue Sky Studios to make what is possibly one of the best revelations of The Peanuts I’ve ever seen. What could have been a mindless cash grab in the making turned out to be a movie that is not only heartwarming and somewhat romantic but also completely true to the spirit of The Peanuts while also updating it for modern moviegoers. It's got great animation, a nostalgic score, and characters that we all know and love from previous Peanuts adventures. If Charles Schultz were here today, I’d think he’d be proud of Blue Sky Studios for making a film that is not only incredible but faithful to his timeless creation.
(Final Grade: A-)