Good grief! It’s Charlie Brown’s worst
nightmare - MILLIONS of people watching him!
Good thing Snoopy loves an audience!
You’re watching Beyond The Trailer’s review of The Peanuts Movie....
The comic strip used to be an American staple.
Both kids and adults would fight over who
got to read the funny pages first. And Peanuts
was one of its biggest stars. In fact, with
over three hundred and fifty million readers
in its heyday, Peanuts is a billion dollar
empire - first for creator Charles M Schultz
and now, after his death, his children and
grandchildren. And Schultz’s descendants
are incredibly protective of his legacy - not
only writing and producing this film themselves
along with Blue Sky Studios, but when I reviewed
one of the first trailers for The Peanuts
Movie, Schultz’s daughter Amy actually logged
onto YouTube and commented on my review to
defend some of the changes that have been
made for the movie! Changes...?! Well one
of the most obvious is that while Charlie
Brown and company have always been drawn by
hand, and then animated by hand for four movies
and over forty television specials, this is
the first time they’ll be computer animated.
And yes, you heard me right, four movies and
over forty television specials! Yet today,
most people are familiar with Peanuts from
It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown and
A Charlie Brown Christmas, plus a slew of
adorable merchandise that can be found largely
at Hallmark. I’ve bought some, have you...?!
But while Peanuts is definitely a part of
our lives, or at least on the periphery of
our lives, is it something we’d be willing
to pay to see at the movies - in 3D? That’s
a particularly tough question these days as
the animation field gets increasingly crowded,
and competitive. Blue Sky, the animation studio
making Peanuts, has managed to survive thanks
to tremendous overseas appeal. See, while
only Rio 2 has been able to hit the century
mark stateside, all their movies have made
hundreds of millions of dollars thank to strong
foreign box office. And whadya know, the Peanuts
strip has been translated into twenty-one
languages. So, just as Blue Sky Studios has
had to adapt, so must Peanuts if it wants
to stay competitive in a world where brands
have toys, merchandise, TV specials and MOVIES.
And if you’re worried about the Schultz’s
lack of movie experience, Paul Feig is a producer
on the film plus the Schultz’s picked Steve
Martino to direct because they felt his Horton
Hears a Who was faithful to Dr Seuss’s vision.
Too bad Dr Seuss’s widow didn’t agree,
as she took her husband’s books over to
competitor Illumination Entertainment. But
hey, if the Schultz’s score here with The
Peanuts Movie, maybe Bill Watterson will finally
agree to a Calvin and Hobbes movie if he gets
the same creative control?! Watterson has
already said an animated version is a little
intriguing... And then, because this is Hollywood,
BAM, CROSSOVER! No, no - sorry, Watterson, didn’t mean to scare you!
Come back, come back...Let's just both watch The Peanuts Movie and keep an open mind, okay?
