Review of The Peanuts Movie (2015) by Buzz P — 26 Nov 2015

When I first heard of the Peanuts franchise being turned into a CGI animated film by BlueSky studios, I had mix feelings. I am not a big fan of Blue Sky studios since most of there films are knock offs of Dreamworks animated films.

I felt that the studio was going to destroy the Peanuts franchise since they are owned by Fox, who previously ruined memorable cartoon franchise like Alvin and the Chipmuck and the upcoming Secrets of NIMH reboot.

So I went to see the film with all my relatives on Thanksgiving day and came out of the theater with a smile. The Peanuts Movie is probably the second best animated feature film I have seen this year besides Inside Out.

The film managed to say true to its source material without making any pop culture references. They show kids going outside instead of playing on there Apple product, that is something that not animated films would do now theses days.

The story is a typical Charlie Brown story that every old or new fans will enjoy and relate to. This kid tries everything he wants to accomplish whether its is test or flying a kite, but always fail; however, he never gives up.

This is a perfect role model character for the younger audiences to follow. Snoopy is the comedic relief of the film, but always support Charlie Brown through his struggles of talking to the Little Red Hair girl, who is the love interest of the movie.

The Little Red Hair girl is just a character that motivates the main character, which doesn`t give her a lot of personalty. The rest of the character don`t have a lot to do with the movie, but they are still iconic Peanuts characters to see on screen.

For example; Lucy is the typical bitch who makes fun of Charlie Brown, Linus is the wise kid who enjoys sucking his thumb and holding his blanket, Sally is the supporting sister, Peppermint Patty and Marcie are the tomboy and bookworm best friend, Schroeder is the musician who enjoys playing his piano and so many more characters that are easily likable.

The voice acting in this movie is perform by actual kids and its actually not bad. Another thing I praise about the voice acting is bringing back the old voice recordings of Bill Melendez as Snoopy and Woodstock.

The animation is a perfect upgrade to the Peanuts design since it stays true to its source material from the comics and TV specials. If this film was done in 2D animation, I would still enjoy the animation no matter what design that the film is going towards.

If there is two problems that the film has to offer is the Snoopy segments. I thought they focus too much on that part of the film instead of the actual movie about Charlie Brown. I would love to see more of the other Peanuts character than the Snoopy flying segments.

The other nitpick I have is some of the writing in the film is rehashing the main source material from the Peanuts TV special. I still enjoy the writing, but I think the film use too much of the homage writing deliver to this film.

Overall, The Peanuts Movie is a great movie for the whole entire family. Even non-fans could still enjoy this movie. I wish Blue Sky studio could make more original films like the Peanuts movie, but where still stuck to the never ending movie franchise, Ice Age.