"Good grief!"
Charlie Brown is tired and sick of being his usual self. His accident-prone, emotionally-unstable and insecure persona continues to show in his life. One day, a new kid moves across the street. Chuck decides to get to know this new kid and that he can prove that he's more than who he's shown himself to be. When that neighbor is revealed to be a red-haired girl, Chuck develops an immediate crush on the newcomer, making it difficult for him to even talk to her. Meanwhile, Snoopy and Woodstock begin writing a story about a World War I flying ace and a red baron....
The Peanuts visual style is nicely realized in 3D computer animation. At first, I was concerned about the transition to computer animation for the Peanuts characters, as it's a 2-dimensional comic strip. I needn't have been concerned. Blue Sky Studios gets it right with a 3D style that brings to mind the felt-like computer animation graphics of the Wii game Kirby's Epic Yarn, with some cartoony CGI mixed in the background.
The most impressive thing about the extra dimension (and the years of technology catch-up obviously) is that the imaginative dogfights between Snoopy and the Red Baron are made to look more realistic. The two or three action sequences are impressive, with a theme park simulator-like feel mixed in with swooping cinematography and nicely-designed backgrounds. In addition to that, they still keep the cartoony bullets seen shooting at (and landing on Snoopy's doghouse) from It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.
One of the best things about The Peanuts Movie is that it doesn't rely on celebrity voices. Relatively unknown kids are cast to play the characters, and they do a good job living up to each character's legacy. Noah Schnapp plays Charlie Brown with many lines delivered similarly to the specials of the 60's and 70's. Alex Garfin got Linus right, and so did Rebecca Bloom as Marcie and Mariel Sheets as Sally. Hadley Belle Miller's Lucy may be a tad high-pitched from what I remember Lucy, but she had a more higher-pitch in the earlier specials and a deeper pitch in the later specials. All the kid actors do a nice job. Francesca Capaldi is given a solid scene or two as the Little Red-Haired Girl (in the specials, she's eventually revealed to be named Heather, but keeping her nameless here may not have been the best overall decision by the production team).
It was a great decision by Blue Sky and the production team to find archival recordings of the late Bill Melendez for Snoopy and Woodstock. Replacing him may have ruined their characters. But Snoopy and Woodstock are as adorable, hysterical, and memorable as ever. This time they are joined by Kristen Chenoweth (the only celebrity name in the list) playing Fifi. Chenoweth's vocalizations are incredibly similar to Snoopy's, though she isn't given a lot to work with. There's also a brief appearance by Snoopy's family during the credits. Oh, and the adults are still only voiced by blurred trombones.
The script by Cornelius Uliano and Charles Schulz's son and grandson (Bryan and Craig) is thoughtful, cohesive and well-paced. The film paces quickly through its 85-minute running time, and is filled with references to the TV specials of the 60's and 70's. And while the story may not be deep or complex (the comic strips never were that way), the screenplay does feature a strong message on individuality. The script also refrains from including any sense of modern technology, as I didn't spot one iPhone or computer in sight. Christophe Beck delivers a solid musical score, with some classic Vince Guaraldi peppered in in spots.
There isn't much on the downside. A couple of tiny issues surface here and there. One, Linus and Lucy are shown to be in the same class. As far as I remember, being brother and sister, they are not the same age. Its a laughable continuity error that, for the most part, I didn't mind. Secondly, we go from Christmas to the end of the school year a little too quickly. I might would have liked to have seen a little more emphasis on Christmas, since most of the film takes place in Winter. But we go right into Spring, and considering how it seems like Charlie Brown just started feeling bad, it seemed a little too long of a fast-forward through time. Now the end of the school year does play a vital role to the story. So, again, these are all small issues. A couple of pop songs do make their way into the background (Meghan Trainor's "Better When I'm Dancin'" is surprisingly catchy), but they thankfully don't hang around.
Like The Muppets, Spy Kids 4, and Winnie the Pooh before, The Peanuts Movie is a blast of nostalgia for yours truly. I grew up with the television specials, and I've always loved these characters. They all are fun. They all have a witty, yet sensibly mature sense of humor that always made me laugh. And they sometimes give us a good message and look at society.
In The Peanuts Movie, the typical formula for the characters is twisted a little by the fact that Charlie Brown finally becomes a winner. But, deep down, Charlie Brown is a character, who, no matter what the risk, always chooses the right thing and always gives his interests up for others. In the end, the message on individuality and not letting what others think about you affect who you are shines through in a strong way. In fact, you may be able to find a parallel to the opening two stanzas of Romans 12:2 if you really dig deep into the message.
Now there are a few slightly modernized touches here and there (standardized tests and a few modernized reactions from Snoopy), but it's never over-the-top. Aside from the strong message, The Peanuts Movie successfully keeps the spirit brought originally by the comic strip's late creator Charles Schultz. And it happily retains the very same charming, whimsical, and smile-inducing feel that the TV specials did years before it.
The first trailer for The Peanuts Movie debuted all the way back in March 2014, 20 months ahead of release. The very cute and sweet 60-second tease gave me an early idea that I might would be in for something special. I can say now that this movie was well worth the wait, and is the best animated movie of the year.
Mr. Schulz would be proud.
Score: 9.5/10
Content Problems Families Should Be Aware Of:
Language: Nothing crude or profane. Only the Peanuts library of inoffensive exclamations ("rats!", "you blockhead!", "good grief!" and "Curse you, red baron!").
Adult Content: None really. A few innocent crushes between Charlie Brown and the Little Red-Haired Girl, Snoopy and Fifi, Lucy and Schroeder, and Sally and Linus. As part of his "Joe Cool" cover, Snoopy growls in a "whistle whistle" tone at a couple of girls that walk by him.
Violence: Some slapstick violence, mostly played for laughs, and no one is shown to be hurt (except for when Snoopy pinches himself with a school binder lol). Snoopy does get into a couple of chases with the Red Baron, and the Red Baron does shoot at him (with cartoonish bullets). A couple of planes are shot out of the sky (we don't see them crash though). Fifi falls from heights a couple of times. Marcie flips Peppermint Patty over. A toy plane crashes into a few things. Charlie Brown hits a tree, gets pummeled by a shelf of books, gets hit by a kite, etc.
Drugs/Alcohol: None.
Other: As usual, some kids (especially Lucy) are kinda mean to Charlie Brown. Even though its played for laughs, Sally retorts, "Is it possible for a brother and sister to get a divorce?"
