I never thought I'd live to see a big screen version of this beloved comic strip but now that it's here, it exists, I love it even more. THE PEANUTS MOVIE is fun, it's hilarious, it's adorable, it's computer animated 3D but it also honors Charles Schulz's drawing and his legacy. Kids and adults alike will enjoy THE PEANUTS MOVIE.
One of the things that's brilliant about THE PEANUTS MOVIE is the casting of actual children to voice these character, the filmmakers didn't set out to hire A-listers or grown ups pretending to sound like a kid. These are actual little kids. So the result is perfect, because they capture the innocence of these characters, Charlie Brown, Lucy, Peppermint Patty and the rest. Their voices sound more genuine.
The plot is very simple, there's new girl in town, she's mysterious and has red hair, Charlie thinks she's the prettiest girl he's ever seen but there's one problem, Charlie has the same disease that I do in that both he and I are not able to talk properly to a girl that we have a crush on. So Charlie goes to Lucy for advice because as we all know, Lucy claims to be the best psychiatrist in town, and she tells him that women loves a champion, not a nobody. So begins Charlie's effort, from magic tricks to dancing to getting good grades, to all kinds of new skills, in order to show this new girl that he's not a loser, that he's a somebody. With the help of his dog, Snoopy, who has an active imagination, Charlie eventually learns that you don't have to try too hard, because just being yourself pays off.
Snoopy is ridiculously hilarious in this film, he's like Mr sneaky sneaky, he comes out of nowhere at any moment, catches you by surprise and pranks you, his imagination runs wild and serves some of the film's most thrilling 3D action sequences. THE PEANUTS MOVIE wants to remind us that this is the dog that everybody would like to have, the ultimate man's best friend.
As I said earlier, even though it's 3D CG animation, the film retains the essence of Charles Schulz's drawing-sale, this is not a re-imagining, it's an homage, and I think Schulz would be proud of how this film also conveys the good and moral things that his comic strip promoted all those years, because deep in the heart of its humor is the honesty, the courage, and the solidarity of Charlie Brown and his friends. Kids today may not have grown up reading Schulz's comic strip, there's a gazillion other options and distractions out there, but I guarantee one viewing of THE PEANUTS MOVIE and they'll become a fan instantly.