‘The Peanuts Movie’ review: The look is updated, but he’s still the same Good Ol’ Charlie Brown.
Did Peter Debruge, a movie critic, say he thinks Charlie needs a black girl friend. If he said this, does Peter say it because he needs some attention or is it to stir controversy in the diversity area? Why is it that children and college students have to be diversified; but, yet, the colleges professors throughout the USA do not have to have diversity – they are all liberals. Time for a change, as Alan Jackson’s song goes, “Who’s Cheatin’ Who?|
A good example is Cornell College and Hollywood is soaked from the bottom of the tub to the top of the wash tub with liberals. Why is that so? Why is it that liberals want everyone to be diversified but themselves? And why is it the liberals always inject race into any story?
Snoopy and the gang are back on the big screen in director Steve Martino’s 3D animated ‘Peanuts Movie,’ the first feature film for good ol’ Charlie Brown in 35 years. (Twentieth Century Fox and Peanuts Worldwide LLC)
November 03, 2015, updated November 03, 2015 at 5:52 PM
Maybe the Peanuts gang hasn’t been on the big screen in decades because they’ve had such long-running success on the small one. With specials like “The Great Pumpkin” and “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” they’ve been an annual TV tradition for assorted holidays since the 1960s.
Thankfully, “The Peanuts Movie” isn’t just a small-screen special writ large. The filmmakers take advantage of their cinematic scope with a bigger story, more sophisticated animation and effective use of 3-D that gives new depth to the Peanuts world. But the characters loved by generations of fans — Lucy, Linus, Snoopy, Woodstock and beloved blockhead Charlie Brown — are as charming and timeless as ever.
It’s been nearly 40 years since the last Peanuts film, 1977’s “Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown.” The gang’s other theatrical outings were “A Boy Named Charlie Brown” in 1969 and “Snoopy, Come Home” in 1972.
“The Peanuts Movie,” written by the son and grandson of Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz, doesn’t cover new thematic territory, but it doesn’t really need to. Relying on 50 years of character development, the Peanuts gang stays true to their original selves — there’s no new edge or post-modern snark in the mix. The central concepts (be honest, be yourself, do your best) are as gentle as the curves of Charlie Brown’s silhouette.
There are two simultaneous stories at play in the film: one set in the “real world” of Charlie Brown and his friends, and a more fantastical tale of Snoopy as his alter-ego, the Flying Ace. ‘The Peanuts Movie’ trailer, Charlie Brown returns to the big screen on Nov. 6, 2015.
“The Peanuts Movie” opens during wintertime, and a snowy introductory scene with Woodstock sets viewers up for the 3-D experience. Charlie Brown and the gang are excited about a new kid moving into their neighborhood. She turns out to be the Little Red-Haired Girl, and Charlie is instantly smitten.
School starts up again, bringing a series of challenges. First of all, the Little Red-Haired Girl is in Charlie Brown’s class. “I just came down with a serious case of inadequacy,” he says.
Then, there is the talent show, school-wide tests, book reports and other kid-sized hurdles to overcome. The story follows the gang through the school year, focusing on Charlie’s foibles. Sally Brown plays a supporting role. Everything looks as colorful and round as the comic strip.
Meanwhile, Snoopy types himself into a high-flying adventure atop his doghouse as he battles his nemesis, the Red Baron. These sequences are distinguished by more realistic background animation — snowy mountains and grassy landscapes that look more like the world outside the movie theater. Snoopy’s Flying Ace, aided by a team of Woodstock mechanics, flies off in pursuit of his love, Fifi, just as Charlie Brown tries to work up the nerve to introduce himself to the Little Red-Haired Girl.
Director Steve Martino cast child actors to voice the Peanuts gang, and used vintage recordings of late actor-producer Bill Melendez to realize Snoopy and Woodstock’s inimitable expressions. In addition, New Orleans musician Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews was enlisted to provide the “wah-wah” voices distinct to all the film’s on-screen adults. A catchy new song contributed by pop star Meghan Trainor is a bouncy bonus.
While “The Peanuts Movie” may lack the wink-wink wisdom aimed at adults often found in Pixar releases, it retains the wholesome appeal of those stalwart TV specials. The 3-D makes it look modern, but the Peanuts’ sweetness is satisfyingly old-fashioned.
Note: Sandy Cohen of The Associated Press wrote this review.
We do not have enough diversity in Hollywood (sin city). How do we get more conservatives in Hollywood so that we can have a choice – isn’t that what diversity is all about? What are the liberals afraid of – THE TEN COMMANDMENTS? Oops, forgot, a liberal wants to forget about those because then he would have to behave and as Hollywood tells us, THAT AINT NO FUN!
kommonsentsjane