Official Synopsis
Good ol’ Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Lucy, Linus and the rest of the beloved Peanuts gang appear as you’ve never seen them before in a brand-new feature film from the imagination of Charles M. Schulz and the creators of Ice Age. Join everyone’s favorite eternal optimist, Charlie Brown, as he embarks on a heroic quest, while his beagle pal Snoopy takes to the skies to pursue his arch nemesis, the Red Baron. It’s a hilarious and heart-warming adventure!
There are two stories going on here that, when mixed together, equal out to a fast-paced film that grips the attentions of the youth it’s shouting out to from behind the screen. I’m not blowing that sentence out of proportion either. My son, who is seven, has never liked Charlie Brown shows/movies, even It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown (yep, I know, he must be a communist). Kidding aside, he sat down with this film, laughed constantly throughout the story and was begging for more Woodstock by the end of it all (that is proper). If that isn’t a tell-tale sign of how this film is made, then let me break it down a bit more for you.
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From the get-go you get everything introduced, as if it’s assuming you have no idea who the characters are and why they’re classic. Director Steve Martino takes us through the meanness of Lucy, the awkward love story of Peppermint Patty and Chuck (Charlie Brown), explains the magical world that Snoopy and Woodstock live in and ends up mainly focusing on the constant bad luck on legs that is Charlie Brown. He does all of this introduction within the first 10 minutes of the movie. It’s a brilliant way to kick up some old memories, while setting new viewers straight on the personality pecking order of these characters.
After the first intro, we get the main storyline started with Charlie Brown’s instant love affair with The Little Red-Haired Girl, someone who is new in town. For the better part of the first act of the film, Charlie is trying to find a way for her to notice him. To parallel Chuck and his infatuation with the new girl, Snoopy and his plight to take down the Red Baron (via his dog house, which acts as a plane) finds our favorite pooch soon discovering a love affair of his own with a french poodle that he must rescue before it’s too late. Throughout acts one, two and three, these above storylines intertwine to keep the movie fast-paced, engaging and humorous. It’s a good strategy for Martino, writers Cornelius Uliano and the Schulzs (Bryan and Craig). If they had chosen to focus on the just the storyline with Charlie and the Little Red-Headed Girl, then this movie would have lasted 45 minutes, as that would have been as much attention as it could have garnished from its younger audience. But the story does it right, chooses to mix it up with both storylines and keeps the pace going and going throughout.
By the end of the film everything is resolved in beautiful fashion. Charlie Brown finally gets the courage to speak to the girl, while at the same time growing into a more confident person. Snoopy finally, with the help of Woodstock, takes down the Red Baron and gets his girl. All is well, though nothing is straightforward as that reads in either process. Drama is created here and there with a small dose of suspense sprinkled on top of it. I don’t want to give too much of the process away, though you could have guessed that all ends well, but I will say you will smile like crazy on the conclusion of both stories. The process of getting you to the conclusion is done well and works on every level.
What I particularly liked about The Peanuts Movie is that the message that it sends out. Hard work pays off and confidence is the key to success. A lot of kids these days don’t have a lot of confidence in themselves (I see it in my own kids sometimes), so I’m happy that the complicated undertone that usually comes with Charlie Brown shows/films is still very much intact with The Peanuts Movie. That’s what makes the series something special and far more than a simple cartoon.
Overall, I highly recommend the The Peanut Movie. Heck, you don’t even have to have kids to appreciate the artful style that director Steve Martino and his writers create with their story. It’s special and keeps the same stride of the classic Charlie Brown tales very much intact.
As for the Blu-ray portion of the film, it took me a bit to get used to the 20-25 frames per second animation. That was the style to keep somewhat classic feel of the old series to the new look of the IP. It works and it looks gorgeous on Blu-ray. I was shocked how detailed the animated models were in the film, especially show favorite Snoopy, who actually looked fuzzy up close. Anyway, the transfer to HD boded well for the film and looked fabulous on a 1080p screen. Visually impressive stuff.
On the special features side of things, here’s what you have to look forward to on this release:
• Snoopy Snippets
• You Never Grow Up Charlie Brown
• Snoopy’s Sibling Salute
• Learn To Draw Snoopy, Woodstock and Charlie Brown
• Get Down With Snoopy and Woodstock Music Video – Clap, dance and sing along with Snoopy, Woodstock and Charlie Brown to an all-new version of everyone’s favorite Peanuts song!
• “Better When I’m Dancin’” Meghan Trainor Lyric Video
• “Better When I’m Dancin’” Meghan Trainor Music Video
• Behind The Scenes of “Better When I’m Dancin’”
• Snoopy’s Playlist
A boatload of extras to make the value of this release even better. Honestly, if Fox had just released the movie on Blu-ray with zero features, it would have turned out fine. The fact they added the above, you get a bit of everything for both adults and kids. This is some real extra goods to go along with a great film.
