Saturday, January 9, 2016

Review of THE PEANUTS MOVIE: Timeless Throwback

January 9, 2016




Peanuts was very popular back when I was growing up because of their cartoon strips and TV specials. However, in the year 2000, 50 years after its inception, Peanuts creator Charles Schulz decided to retire from writing daily comic strips. Since then, his beloved characters are still around in pop culture, maintaining a steady but low-key presence in various children's merchandise. 

This holiday season though, the Peanuts gang is again getting a lot of media exposure due to their new computer-generated animated film. The local distributors of this film though do not seem sure that Filipinos will still recognize the name Peanuts anymore, so they made the names of the star characters Snoopy and Charlie Brown larger above the title in local posters and newspaper ads.

From beginning to end, this film shows us again the Peanuts we know and love, except that it is now executed in brilliantly colorful digital animation. It would seem that absolutely every little quirk and detail that I remember about the Peanuts canon were crammed into its hour and a half running time, and I was smiling knowingly throughout.

Charlie Brown is still our meek and cowardly hero, who cannot fly a kite or play ball. He still cannot muster up enough courage to talk to his crush, the Little Red Haired Girl. On the other hand, Snoopy is still typing his novel on his doghouse, fantasizing that he is an ace World War I pilot fighting the Red Baron. Of course, his best friend Woodstock is always right there to help him. There is a new twist here though, there is now a cute female dog Fifi he is trying to save.

The rest of the Peanut gang are all here with their own little idiosyncrasies. Linus with his Blanket, Lucy and her Psychiatric Help booth, Schroeder and his Piano, Marcie and her "Sir" Peppermint Patty, Frieda and her naturally curly hair, and so on. The most improved depiction (because the computerized rendering) was that of Pigpen and his cloud of dust (which I am sure was quite a challenge for the traditional animators in the 60s and 70s).

This is a great way to reintroduce the Peanuts franchise to the younger generations. I am sure parents will enjoy this more than their kids. They grew up with these characters so the sense of nostalgia will definitely be there throughout the film. Among the kids, maybe this film will appeal more to the younger set, meaning ages 10 and below. Teenagers may find this material too old-fashioned or too wholesome in contrast with the more frenetic or violent type of animated films they are used to nowadays. 

The Peanuts Movie was indeed a refreshing throwback to a simpler and less complicated time. Watch it and feel happy. 9/10.


15 comments:

  1. I also grew up with Peanuts! I remember having this Viewmaster of the famous cartoon strips in 3D version. I'm so happy they are back and the younger generation will also get to enjoy them.

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  2. We all grew up with Peanuts. It was one of the best comics and I made sure I shared it with my kids as well. I so love snoopy and the gang they are an awesome inspiration for kids!

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  3. I really want to watch this! Who does not love Snoopy and the rest of Peanuts? Love that you rated it very high too, so I'm looking forward to feel nostalgic as I watch this!

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  4. I'm not super familiar with the story of Snoopy but I do love seeing them all over the place! Haha! Would love to watch this movie soon! :D

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  5. It's nice to see Pthe Peanuts gang back. I like that its reintroduced with all the animation capabilities now.

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  6. Is this movie here? I'm surprised because I didn't see this in the cinemas! I have never caught any cartoon of snoopy, just some comic strips...

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    1. Not sure about Singapore. But I was in Bangkok over the holidays, and there were Peanuts Movie posters everywhere.

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  7. I am not familiar with this. I don't know what happened in my childhood that I didn't know this. Haha or was this something not of my generation? haha

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    1. Peanuts existed from 1950 to 2000! I can't believe you have not at least heard of Snoopy? :-)

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  8. Yay for Peanuts! Reminds me of my childhood and I can't wait to share this with my own kids.

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  9. I totally loved Peanuts. Watched a lot in my school days. Till date, cartoons are my perfect stress busters. I look out for some Flintstones or Tom n Jerry on youtube when I wanna relax...

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  10. This is the first time I heard/read about that Peanut. So,your blog urged me to make little research. OMG, I wanna watch this!.

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  11. We watched this over Christmas and it was absolutely brilliant. Great review, love snoopy!

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  12. wowwww! snoopie! i must watch this. <3 <3

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  13. The snoopy movie looks cute. It was up in my nearest cinema a few weeks back but didn't really had the time to watch it.

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