I was eight years old when I caught a bug that had me delirious with fever and feeling miserable for a week. To cheer me up, my dad promised to bring home Shakey’s Manager’s Choice pizza (thin crust) and Snoopy books. I ate the pizza and threw it up minutes later, but I devoured the Snoopy books, and when I felt well enough to get out of bed, I asked my mom to take me to National Book Store so we could get more Snoopy books.
It was through Snoopy cartoons that I learned a valuable spelling lesson: i before e, except after c (e.g., believe, receive), and Charles Schulz had drawn such a charming, imaginative, adorable dog that I was shocked (and a bit disappointed) when I saw a real beagle for the first time and discovered it did not look at all like Snoopy.
Unlike other characters, Snoopy and the Peanuts gang don’t get left behind in your childhood. Apart from Schulz’s brilliant art, he also imbued his cast of characters with wit, heart, and a depth that adults can very much relate to—ironic, considering how adults don’t appear at all in any of the strips or cartoons, save for a speech bubble or a disembodied garbled voice.
“The Peanuts Movie” by Blue Sky Studios was a project that held so much meaning for everyone involved. For the longest time, many film studios have been courting the Schulz estate, asking them for a chance to bring Snoopy to the big screen. Schulz’s family was very protective of his legacy, and it was only when Craig and Bryan Schulz (Schulz’s son and grandson), together with Cornelius Uliano, came in as producers and writers did the movie gain traction. The whole production team, according to director Steve Martino, came in as fans first and moviemakers second.
Sentimental story
Each member of the team had a sentimental story attached to Peanuts. For Twentieth Century Fox Animation President Vanessa Morrison, her parents were fans of the strips, and as an African-American family, took “pride and ownership,” according to her, of Franklin, who in the ’60s was one of the few African-American characters in the comic strip industry.
Indeed, when you watch the movie (we recommend watching it in 3D), you can really see the great effort, care and love that went into bringing “The Peanuts Movie” to life. Modern touches were added; it’s the first time for the characters to be rendered in 3D animation, but the classic lines and figures were retained.
The story was true to the Peanuts universe, but despite a more modern take on the animation, you won’t see anything related to this century creeping up, like smartphones or computers. But then, that was always the magic of Peanuts, how it remained timely despite being around since the ’50s.
We loved the incredible detail on the characters—the leathery texture on Snoopy’s nose looks exactly like the patterns we study on our dogs’ noses. Charlie Brown is still as insecure as ever, but his friendliness and big heart save the day. There are callbacks to the classic strips and the cartoons, and composer Christophe Beck’s score pays wonderful homage to Vince Guaraldi’s “Linus and Lucy,” which was re-recorded by jazz legend David Benoit.
The colors are warm and cozy, and the world “The Peanuts Movie” inhabits is one you won’t to leave even when the credits start to roll. It’s a movie made by fans for the fans.
“The Peanuts Movie” is now showing at cinemas nationwide and is distributed by Twentieth Century Fox.