THE PEANUTS MOVIE:
BLUE SKY CRAFTS A BEAUTIFULLY ANIMATED AND CHARMING TRIBUTE TO CHARLES SCHULTZ!
By Nico Beland
Movie Review: *** 1/2 out of 4
20TH
CENTURY FOX
Charlie
Brown and his dog Snoopy are family entertainment winners in The Peanuts Movie
Truth be told, when I first saw the
trailer for Blue Sky Studios’ Peanuts movie adaptation, I honestly
thought it was going to blow hard, I just rolled my eyes and thought “Well, I’ll
go ahead and put this on Charlie Brown’s list of failures!” I kept thinking
about how they would be able to pull this off in cinematic movie form because
the original Peanuts cartoons created
by Charles Schulz were very basic and simple cartoons and specials, but they had
a unique charm that captivated both children and adults, and they were decent
quiet alternatives to the loud and energetic children’s programming we’re so
used to today (I’m looking at you, Teen Titans Go! But I digress).
After several adaptations of other
animated shows that tanked hard like the live-action Scooby-Doo movies, The
Flintstones movie, and Alvin and the
Chipmunks and some surprise hits such as the 1990 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie, George of the Jungle, and most recently Mr. Peabody & Sherman, I was uncertain of what the finished product would end up like, could it be a strong adaptation that succeeds in being an
adaptation of the cartoon but also an entertaining movie or would it just be
another corporate sellout like Garfield,
Alvin and the Chipmunks, and The Smurfs (I was also concerned
about Blue Sky Studios making the
movie because most of their films were only good at best and paled in comparison to the works of other studios like Pixar or DreamWorks).
But I'll go on record and say The Peanuts Movie is Blue Sky's best film to date and found it very endearing especially for something as simple as the Peanuts, the CGI that mimics the style
of the original cartoons is very clever and executed well, the story is basic
but entertaining, it doesn’t rely on pop-culture references like a lot of other
animated films, the humor is decent, and it’s a sweet love letter to the
classic Charlie Brown characters from
the past.
Charlie Brown has always had the
worst of luck, from simple games of football, dancing, and even flying a kite.
Every time he shows up to play with the other Peanuts kids, it always results
in unintentional slapstick and humiliation.
Fortunately for him, he does have
one friend by his side, his pet beagle, Snoopy who is always there to support
him whenever something doesn’t go his way. Not to mention he’s a really good
dancer.
That all changes when a new girl
moves into the neighborhood, right next door to Charlie Brown. Charlie Brown
starts developing a crush on the new girl and wants to prove he’s a winner,
after a therapy session with his classmate, Lucy.
So from attempting to win the school
talent show and showing off some wicked dance moves at the school dance to
reading the greatest book ever written for his book report with the new girl,
Charlie Brown is determined to go from underdog to winner and win the heart of
the new girl and prove to everyone that he’s more than just a clumsy Blockhead…Meanwhile
Snoopy battles a plane…Yeah!
Overall, The Peanuts Movie is a solid adaptation of the beloved cartoons,
from its simple animation and characters to basic humor and completely full of
heart. It succeeds in being a CG film adaptation of the cartoons while still
being its own creation, which is much better than a movie that focuses entirely
on staying true to the source material or a movie that’s not even close to
being an adaptation, new things have to be added to an adaptation, if there isn’t
then what’s the point of watching it, just go back to the source material,
gladly The Peanuts Movie isn’t like
that.
The characters still represent the
same Peanuts characters we grew up with, Charlie Brown being the unlucky loser,
Lucy is still the bossy girl, Linus still has his blanket (Plank from Ed, Edd n Eddy is better than Linus' blanket, but I digress!), Sally is still a
nutcase (No pun intended!), Pigpen still smells, Peppermint Patty is still the
lazy girl, Marcie is still the smart girl, and so on. Not to mention the adults
still have the “Wa-Wa-Wah!” sound whenever they talk which is a sweet relief,
because if an adult said one word of English in the entire movie, I’d be out of
the theater faster than you could say “Good Grief!”.
My only issue with the movie is that
Snoopy’s side-story fantasy can get unfocused and distracting at times, but don’t
worry it’s not nearly as distracting as the daydreams and fantasies from Doug’s 1st Movie. For the
most part this is only a minor issue and the sequences are well-animated and look great in 3D, but at times they do derail the pacing and don't really have anything to do with the story.
If you’re a fan of the classic Peanuts cartoons, young and old, you won’t
be disappointed by The Peanuts Movie.
It has just as much humor and heart as the original cartoons and specials, and
it’s a great movie for parents who grew up with the Peanuts to take their young ones to.
So far, this is probably the best
animated movie released by Blue Sky
Studios, better than Ice Age,
better than Rio, and better than Horton Hears a Who. I hope the studio
learns from what worked in this movie and put just as much effort in their next
movie, wait, their next movie is Ice Age
5: Collision Course…Good Grief.
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