Originally published November 10, 2015 on FrontRowCentral.com
There are two ways to make a feature film out of a cartoon like Peanuts. The first is to try and spin something new out of whole cloth. This has been done before, though thankfully mostly by Charles Schulz himself. The second is to simply remake a series of classic Peanuts bits and string them together into something vaguely resembling one story. This is the route chosen by Blue Sky Studios. The Peanuts Movie is rightly adorable, but seems to be stuck trying to service two types of fans. It somehow manages to be both slightly too polished and upbeat for longtime fans, and also maybe a little too shaggy and downbeat for kids new to the series.
The film is loosely framed as a series of vignettes taking place throughout the school year. On the first day of school, Charlie Brown becomes smitten with a new classmate, the little red-haired girl. Crippling anxiety keeps him from making a good impression. Charlie Brown seeks Lucy’s advice, who in turn gives him a book teaching him the ten steps to becoming a winner. His attempts at throwing out the old Charlie Brown and becoming a winner make up the bulk of the story, where he tries to project confidence, learn to dance, and handle the pressures of fleeting popularity. In between, Snoopy writes about his adventures as the World War I flying ace hunting down the Red Baron in some wonderfully elaborate fantasy sequences.
Unless you’re new to Peanuts (and/or five years old), this will all seem fairly familiar. There are no real surprises in store here, but for Peanuts’ first big-screen outing in 35 years, keeping it simple was the right call. Charlie Brown is still the hopeless blockhead he’s always been, and Noah Schnapp (last seen as Tom Hanks’ son in Bridge of Spies) does a fine job of conveying what can only be described as hopeful melancholy. Bill Melendez, who directed most of the Peanuts cartoons until his death in 2008, provides the voices of Snoopy and Woodstock through the magic of recycled audio. Again, this was the right choice, a new Snoopy just wouldn’t be Snoopy.
The most glaring departure from Peanuts past is the jump to 3D. Led by Horton Hears a Who director Steve Martino, Blue Sky does a remarkable job adapting Charles Schulz’s iconic style to three dimensions. Charlie Brown still has the same 2D look he’s had for fifty years, but now everything from his shoes to his jacket to his little sprout of hair has texture. The animation also features the slightest skips and stutters to the characters’ movement to make it feel like the classic Peanuts cartoons. It’s a simple adjustment, not unlike the stop-motion effect in the otherwise 3D-animated LEGO Movie, but it really works.
What doesn’t work quite so well is the vignette structure itself. Taken on their own, each one is great, but so many have their own beginning, middle and end that the whole movie feels like it’s over every ten minutes or so. I don’t know if the kid behind me was seeing his first movie or if he was really not enjoying it or what, but after every segment he asked “Was that the movie? Is it over?” (He also asked that after the awful little Ice Age short before the film, as well as the Regal Cinemas tag before that, so who knows?)
There’s a comfort afforded in knowing that some things will never change. Linus will always have his blanket, Pigpen will always be followed by a cloud of dust, Charlie Brown will always be a perennially depressed failure, and Lucy will always yank the football right before he can kick it. The Peanuts Movie knows that these things are universal truths, but is also smart enough to realize that some things have to change. Charlie Brown may never be able to fly his own kite, but that knowledge helps him teach a younger potential blockhead what not to do with a kite. There’s hope in moments like that. Maybe Schulz never intended for Charlie Brown to grow into a mentor, but if helping youngsters learn from your own mistakes isn’t a success, then what hope is there for any of us?
This film eventually does let Charlie Brown be a winner, though he realizes he probably didn’t earn it. He may never feel like a winner, and he may fail upwards into it, but a little bit of luck and a little bit of honesty go a long way. Longtime fans in search of a quick Peanuts fix will get exactly what they’re after here, but as a whole, The Peanuts Movie moves fast and ends faster. It’s heartwarming, genial and a little moody. In 2015, half a century since the first animated special aired, that’s frankly a blessing.
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