Review of The Peanuts Movie (2015) by Anthony I — 18 Aug 2016

When I heard that they were making a CGI Peanuts movie a couple of years back, I got nervous. I didn't want them update this classic material, of which I proudly grew up on with my whole family, to modern times, so it can laughably become dated in the next decade.

To my delight, they didn't do any of that. The film is as true to the original comics as any Peanuts TV special in the past. They use the 50 year old, tried and true formula, and even in the decade of IPhones, and memes and hashtags, the Peanuts are still as charming as ever.

Seemingly frozen in time, it tells a story of how Charlie Brown tries to overcome his status as the neighborhood sad sack, and be as cool as the other kids. He realizes in the end, that you need to love yourself, in order for others to love you.

Meanwhile Snoopy goes on another Red Baron adventure, and it's created fabulously in CGI. I don't think the film is as deep or as insightful as I wanted it to be (no Pixar edge), But I adored the animation, and the seamless voice work from the all-children cast.

Hearing archival audio from Bill Melendez for the voices of Snoopy and Woodstock was a fantastic touch.