Caroline Fellows
Web/Video Editor
“Peanuts” celebrated its 65th anniversary this year, and from the original comic strip by Charles M. Schulz and Blue Sky Studios came “The Peanuts Movie,” a family-friendly movie which will charm people of all ages.
Charlie Brown can’t seem to do anything right. His unsuccessful kite flying combined with his lack of self-esteem always take him down and make him a laughing stock. When a new red-haired girl moves into his neighborhood, he tries to turn over a new leaf. Despite embarrassing himself numerous times and still having no luck with his 5-cent psychiatrist, he does everything in his power to win over the red-haired girl.
The fact that the story mainly revolves around Charlie Brown and his bad luck makes a portion of the movie a little depressing, but his trusty sidekick Snoopy definitely cheers up the audience with his comedy and imagination. Almost in a world of his own, he types out a story on his classic red doghouse of his heroic battle in the skies against the Red Baron in an attempt to rescue the love of his life, Fifi.
No adults actually appear in “The Peanuts Movie” and rarely in any of the original Peanuts comic strips, as Schulz said he never was interested in adults and chose to depict the children as growing up by themselves with adults just in the background. When the adults spoke, the only sound heard is a trombone and a muffled voice.
A major theme of “The Peanuts Movie” is becoming a winner, something eventually Charlie Brown achieves by being honest, responsible and caring for others. Viewers can learn something from Charlie Brown’s determination, not to mention his overwhelming talent to have read Leo Tolstoy’s “War and Peace” by himself during scene in which he must write a book report in only a couple days.
“The Peanuts Movie” stays true to the innocence of Schulz’s original comic strip and keeps the world of children still actually reading hard-copy books and playing outside. In the modern times of increasing technology and lack of physical activity, it was definitely refreshing to see that director Steve Martino respected the timeliness of “Peanuts.”
“The Peanuts Movie” is rated 8.1/10 stars by IMBd.com and plays at local movie theaters like Ronnies 20 Cine, AMC Esquire 7 and Galleria 6 Cinemas. Tickets range between $5 and $11, it is rated G and runs for 88 minutes.
