[four-star-rating]Directed by Steve Martino[/four-star-rating]
Charlie Brown, Lucy Van Pelt, Snoopy, and Woodstock are classics to many of us. However, they and their comic strip – now 65 years old – may be completely foreign to little children. The trick with this movie is to balance the Peanuts we older people know and love with a flick that the kids can relate to. Because Charles M. Schultz’s characters are timeless, all one has to do is tell a charming story without screwing up too much. That’s what this movie does.
It doesn’t break any new ground or find any edge. And in many ways, it doesn’t need to. It’s exactly what you’d expect, and you’ll be happy it is.
The Peanuts Movie causes us to smile – with delight and recognition – even as it isn’t that deep or complicated. The characters are recognizable, their themes are about the same as they’ve been for over six decades, and the plot is nothing surprising. In other words, it’s a lot like the comic strip.
Charlie Brown is still the classic blockhead, torn between eternal optimism and disappointment at his constant failures. He can’t fly a kite, he can’t kick a football, he can’t pitch a baseball game, and he certainly can’t work up the nerve to talk to the new red-haired girl across the street. Snoopy tries to be trustworthy and faithful, but he’s often lost in his own dream world, trying to be Joe Cool or the World War I Flying Ace. Linus philosophizes, and Lucy criticizes, and Charlie’s life looks like it’s never going to change.
Like the comic strip and the classic television cartoons, everything is episodic. Steve Martino (Ice Age: Continental Drift and Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who) directs. He and his three writers – two kids of Charles M. Schultz – may tie Charlie Brown’s crush on the neighbor girl nicely with Snoopy’s love for his Fifi, but that’s all the tweaking they do. Every so often, they also find ways to show the exact style of the original work and the famous television specials. There is a sense that Blue Sky Studios (the ones behind the Ice Age and Rio syndicates) want to pay deep homage to The Peanuts’ greatest hits. The style is familiar, the dances all look familiar, the voices all sound incredibly familiar, and the story is familiar.
[rating-key]
The Peanuts Movie is offered in 3D, but it’s as delightful on the flat screen. A couple high action scenes – including Snoopy’s famous Red Baron fights – are a little more action filled than what we might expect. However, most of this is congenial, funny stuff aimed to please the entire family.
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