The Peanuts Movie Review

As a lifelong aficionado of the the world of Charlie Brown (in a fit of gratuitous self-promotion, allow me to link to an essay I wrote over the comic in honors of its 50th anniversary), in theory, a 21st century theatrical feature based on these characters should be something I despise. No doubt such a film updates individuals like Lucy and Linus by giving them cell phones, Vine accounts and other necessities of modern day existence. But a remarkable amount of restraint is shown by the filmmakers responsible for The Peanuts Movie, with the feature refraining from up giving Snoopy a "Poochie" like update in favor of retaining his personality that has managed to work OK for 65 years now.

65 Years Ago Today, Peanuts Debuted And Changed Both Comic Strips And The World Forever

Growing up, I absolutely loved pop culture (shocking, right?), but it was hard to discover pieces of media that really spoke to me, that really understood what I was going through. Being bestowed with Asperger's Syndrome from birth seemed to leave me at a disadvantage at every turn, especially in the realm of social activities. Looking for refugee in films, TV shows and books, it was near impossible to find something that resonated with what I was going for. Oh, it was typical to see characters experience bullying, but most of the time, there was a neat & conclusion involving either competence for the antagonistic characters, or more likely, the bully and the bullied character becoming friends.

A Charlie Brown Christmas Is The Epitome Of Both Storytelling And Christmas

Peanuts is a fundamental part of my life, to put it lightly. Charlie Brown was the first fictional character I encountered who understood and expressed melancholy emotions, someone who assured me I wasn't alone in feeling like an outsider. He stills remains a terrific and relatable character, and each year I eagerly await watching A Charlie Brown Christmas, a special that never fails to compel me.

It's A New Trailer For Your New Movie Charlie Brown!

The forthcoming The Peanuts Movie should be an abomination. It should be a film that takes certain beloved cartoon characters and turns them into freaky, overly realistic CGI concoctions solely to make a buck and spew fart gags (think of those hideous Scooby-Doo movies from 2002 and 2004). Instead though, it actually looks great. The characters have been translated to CGI animation in a successful manner that retains their distinctive hand-drawn look, creating a new kind of style I've never seen in a CGI-animated feature.