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The Peanuts Movie
The beloved animated characters created by Charles Schulz return to the big screen for the first time in over 40 years in 2015's The Peanuts Movie, which features all the characters we've loved since the 1960's and a lovely story at its center, but too much silly and not very funny stuff going on around it that distracts from a nice primary story.
The film begins by introducing Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Lucy, and all of the other characters we know and love and then moves into its primary plot which is the arrival of the little red haired girl moving into town, who Charlie Brown becomes immediately obsessed with. As obsessed as he is, needless to say, Charlie can't look the girl in the eye, but he has to face his fear when he and the little red haired girl are paired in school for a book report.
Charles Schulz' son and grandson are two of the screenwriters for this zany animated comedy that respects the legacy of these characters and was smart to center this story on a story that was always sort of peripheral in the original comics and was never central to any of the animated television specials made during the 60's and the 70's. Charlie Brown's crush on the little red haired girl was never really a central story in the comics so it made a logical and fun center for this story and it is handled quite competently, but the story is only about a third of the screentime her and therein lies the problem.
A large portion of the screentime is devoted to Snoopy's fantasy as the WWI flying ace who, instead of pursuing the red baron, is pursuing Snoopy's first love interest ever in the history of this franchise, a pretty French poodle named Fifi, with the aid of a troop of Woodstocks, who have multiplied like oompa loompas This story is told in such a manic and confusing manner it is exhausting to watch. The school talent show where Charlie Brown helps his little sister, Sally save face wasn't exactly appointment viewing either. I did like the school dance, which borrowed images from A Charlie Brown Christmas and Charlie Brown's psychiatric session with Lucy, but frankly, when the film wasn't focused on Charlie Brown and the little red haired girl, I didn't care what was going on. I did love the way we never saw the little red haired girl's face until the final five minutes, giving the character a shroud of mystery that was very appealing. It reminded me of Suzanne Somers as the girl in the convertible in America Graffiti. This film also introduced a new romance: We learned that Violet's girlfriend, Patty, has been crushing on Pig Pen but the film doesn't really take time to explore it.
The animation is rich and the voice work is pretty much on the money, especially Noah Schnapp as Charlie Brown and Hadley Belle Miller as Lucy, I just wish the story had been more concentrated on Charlie Brown/Red Haired Girl romance. It even featured the 80's rom-com device of rushing to the airport for that final declaration of love, only this time it's a bus headed for summer camp. The movie should have been more in this vein.
The beloved animated characters created by Charles Schulz return to the big screen for the first time in over 40 years in 2015's The Peanuts Movie, which features all the characters we've loved since the 1960's and a lovely story at its center, but too much silly and not very funny stuff going on around it that distracts from a nice primary story.
The film begins by introducing Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Lucy, and all of the other characters we know and love and then moves into its primary plot which is the arrival of the little red haired girl moving into town, who Charlie Brown becomes immediately obsessed with. As obsessed as he is, needless to say, Charlie can't look the girl in the eye, but he has to face his fear when he and the little red haired girl are paired in school for a book report.
Charles Schulz' son and grandson are two of the screenwriters for this zany animated comedy that respects the legacy of these characters and was smart to center this story on a story that was always sort of peripheral in the original comics and was never central to any of the animated television specials made during the 60's and the 70's. Charlie Brown's crush on the little red haired girl was never really a central story in the comics so it made a logical and fun center for this story and it is handled quite competently, but the story is only about a third of the screentime her and therein lies the problem.
A large portion of the screentime is devoted to Snoopy's fantasy as the WWI flying ace who, instead of pursuing the red baron, is pursuing Snoopy's first love interest ever in the history of this franchise, a pretty French poodle named Fifi, with the aid of a troop of Woodstocks, who have multiplied like oompa loompas This story is told in such a manic and confusing manner it is exhausting to watch. The school talent show where Charlie Brown helps his little sister, Sally save face wasn't exactly appointment viewing either. I did like the school dance, which borrowed images from A Charlie Brown Christmas and Charlie Brown's psychiatric session with Lucy, but frankly, when the film wasn't focused on Charlie Brown and the little red haired girl, I didn't care what was going on. I did love the way we never saw the little red haired girl's face until the final five minutes, giving the character a shroud of mystery that was very appealing. It reminded me of Suzanne Somers as the girl in the convertible in America Graffiti. This film also introduced a new romance: We learned that Violet's girlfriend, Patty, has been crushing on Pig Pen but the film doesn't really take time to explore it.
The animation is rich and the voice work is pretty much on the money, especially Noah Schnapp as Charlie Brown and Hadley Belle Miller as Lucy, I just wish the story had been more concentrated on Charlie Brown/Red Haired Girl romance. It even featured the 80's rom-com device of rushing to the airport for that final declaration of love, only this time it's a bus headed for summer camp. The movie should have been more in this vein.