by Michael P Coleman
“It must feel pretty great to be Charlie Brown right now.”
It’s a line that Linus delivers near the end of the charming new The Peanuts Movie. I always connected with Linus, and he certainly spoke for me with this one.
Don’t get it twisted: there’s more than enough in the new movie, from attempts at kite-flying and football-kicking, to make it easy to recognize our long-suffering Charlie Brown. I never thought I’d get to see the gang on the big screen again.
After a pre-movie trailer featuring a new Alvin & the Chipmunks flick, I was nervous about seeing what a modern take on the Peanuts strip would be. Sometimes, in efforts to modernize a franchise, folks stray too far from the heart and soul of our beloved characters. But I was relieved to see the Peanuts franchise is in very good hands.
They’re all there — Linus, Lucy, Peppermint Patty (who’s still in sandals, even in the snow!), Marcie, Franklin, Schroeder, Pig Pen — looking and sounding as they did 35 years ago when the last big screen Peanuts flick flopped, threatening the end of their film career. The new movie’s beautiful computer animation is rendered in a minimalist style that leaves our beloved troop looking better than ever, in a variety of scenes that are throwbacks to the venerable holiday specials.
Snoopy steals the show in every scene he’s in (as well he should!). Many of his incarnations, from Joe Cool to the great american writer to the World War I flying ace are there, with his feathered buddy Woodstock right by his side. Snoopy’s flight scenes in pursuit of the Red Baron are a wonder in 3D.
Most significantly, the creative team behind the new film has captured the heart of the original strip, while emphasizing an important aspect of Charlie Brown that sometimes got short shrift over the years: is it important to think about ol’ Chuck never kicking that football or getting that kite in the air, or is it more important to understand that through it all, he never gave up?
I hadn’t seen a G-rated film at the theatre since my own girls were young, and it was a complete joy to watch The Peanuts Movie keep kids and adults in the audience in stitches for over an hour. Just when I’ve started purging my collection of animated features on DVD and Blu Ray (again, those pesky girls of my own grew up), I’m now anxiously awaiting the release of The Peanuts Movie on Blu Ray. But since that’s months away, I think I’ll go see it again.
Welcome back, Charlie Brown.
Michael P. Coleman is a Sacramento-based freelance writer. Connect with him at michaelpcoleman.com or on Twitter: @ColemanMichaelP.
