(Spoiler Alert)-In the Peanuts movie, the entire Peanuts Gang is back to showcase how the poor-fated Charlie Brown is as we have always known him- adorably tentative and missing the mark: The omnipresent Schimel and shemozzle. Thus making him the butt of pokes and insults from the always meanie Lucy, at times his sister Sally, or the whole class when they yell in disbelief -unison, “Charlie Brown!” He is at times buoyed by his sometimes mischievous dog Snoopy, who at times is more human-like than canine, and is thus more able than his master! Charlie Brown’s mishaps and shortcomings in this movie focus on elusive object of his affection throughout the comics: The red-headed girl!
In this movie she happens to move across the street from Charlie Brown. He attempts to ring the doorbell, with Snoopy’s support, but cops out. As the movie rolls on, he goes to the dance, hoping to successfully show off his dance moves. So he practices endlessly (with Snoopy teaching him the ropes of course) to perfect his strut! Finally, the night of the dance comes and Charlie Brown dances like a champ! But he accidentally slips and sets off the sprinkler system! Later, it is revealed that he was the top scorer on the standardized test! And he gains a lot of acclaim among his classmates, who for once are eager to be around him! But at the classroom assembly praising him as the highest-scoring student on the standardized tets, Charlie Brown realizes that the copy of the test that scored a 100- is not his, and admits to this. This is not the last good honest action taken by Charlie Brown- and coincidently not the last deed to go unnoticed by the Red-headed girl. Who, at the end… well just say, likes all of these of things in Mr. Brown?
I thought that all of the stories in the movie were connected and cohesive. I feel like Peanuts lovers will come and whack me for saying this, but as much as I love the Peanuts specials and TV episodes growing up- at times I thought that some of the storylines were a bit random. Sometimes it seemed like that Peppermint Patty and Marcie would do their own thing, and Lucy would do her thing with Schroeder. But, I don’t know if in the TV series- they ended each show with say 3 subplots and one main plot. Which is something the specials did manage to do well over the years, and this one does really well!
One other thing I think that this movie seems to do better is the parallel fantasy in the story about Snoopy and him being the Flying Ace and saving Fifi. I liked when how Lucy or the other characters would describe chapter 3 or chapter 4 about the next section of Snoopy’s adventure. This may seem like a small gesture- but thanks to this- I am realizing (and I am sure that people will think I am super dumb for admitting this) that Snoopy’s Flying Ace was his alter ego. All these years I thought that this wasn’t fantasy- but that he actually did that! In the TV series especially, he would do every day things with Charlie Brown and then go on to be the Flying Ace—so I never realized that it was a fantasy.
I also felt that in this movie, Snoopy had a much more supportive relationship with Charlie Brown. Don’t get me wrong, he is still sneaky with Charlie Brown- like when he accompanies Charlie Brown to the dance, and eats all of the cupcakes while carrying them! But, earlier in the movie he accompanies Charlie Brown to the Little Red-Headed girl’s door to give Charlie Brown some chutzpah, when Charlie Brown is filled with the utmost eagerness to learn how to dance Snoopy shows him all the dance steps, and perhaps my most favorite of all- when the Charlie Brown’s paper is torn into shreds by that stupid toy plane red baron and he is rightfully devastated – Snoopy lovingly and tenderly touches Charlie Brown’s shoulder. That scene just gets me. And truthfully, I don’t know if I saw Snoopy serving as Charlie Brown’s rock and guiding light in the TV series, comics, or even the TV movie specials.
Overall the movie stayed true to its roots in the way the characters looked, their characteristics and their one liners. Schroeder is the musical one, and he reigns in the Peanuts movie by playing the classic 20th Century Fox soundtrack. Peppermint Patty says her iconic line, “You touched my hand Chuck, you sly dog,” when she accidentally brushes hands with Charlie Brown. Because the main things stayed the same I felt that Charles Schulz lived on. At first I was nervous when I heard that Charles Schulz’s son and grandson were at the helms of this project. I knew that they would do their best to preserve their iconic relative’s legacy- but would they be able to preserve the Peanuts that we have come to love and know? My answer to do this is a resounding, “Yes!”
But in a few ways the film does remind us that we are in the 21st century. In the scene when Charlie Brown realizes that the little Red-head girl is moving, he happens to be taking out his recycling. Recycling? Yup! I don’t remember this in the specials from the 60’s! The kids also have to take standardized tests and are annoyed by them! This is something that 21st century children have to deal with—so another reminder that we aren’t in the 60s anymore! But the biggest way that this movie shows us that we are indeed in the 21st century is: CGI! This movie was able to successfully carry itself in the CGI format; me personally, I like 2-d animation any day over CGI, so I personally would have preferred the 2-d classic animation style. But, Peanuts joined the 21st century thanks to CGI- and since I care about the longevity of Peanuts for future generations- I am glad that followed this route.
Grade: 5 out of 5 stars
Oh one more than thing. I saw this movie in both 3-d and regular CGI. Yeah, I am a Peanuts nerd spending $20 on tickets for the same movie. This movie does do a good job on the 3-d version as well. In my opinion (and I am not a 3-d fanatic), I think you don’t need to see the 3-d version. Both versions aesthetically do a good job and both honor the story line well. The one way 3-d does have an edge over regular CGI is when the Snoopy Flying Ace plane scenes happen. Those scenes in 3-d are epic. I am just sayin’.
