The Peanuts started as a comic strip in 1950 and ran until 2000 meaning it ran 50 years , 50 years amassed with a legacy and people growing up with it, passing it on, and then it was passed on again to the next until its apart of our world like Shakespeare. (Maybe we are stretching it, maybe not.) The one thing the Peanuts has amassed is nostalgia that connects people to the characters and stories it told. The Christmas special has run since 1965 non stop only switching networks once.
After the comics stopped and Schulz's death there was still more Peanuts media made. From new Christmas specials, new Valentine's Day special, to a few random non specific specials. There is 50 years of comics to pull stuff from and make it work. The biggest thing would be a movie. Now we have had these movies that took something nostalgic and put together that did well but maybe aren't received well so hearing the idea of a Peanuts movie seems to be something to fear. But it was done with loving hands by the family of Charles Schulz meaning we didn't get a movie that would be somewhat a disappointment at best, or worst, terrifying.
The point for all this is our talk about the 2015 movie , "The Peanuts Movie". I am breaking this up into 2 parts because it gives us a little more room to breathe.
First the animation.
This isn't a long winded talk about every part of the animation in the movie, this is to talk about Peanuts and animation. The comics were hand drawn by hand for the entirety so it has that style plus Schulz drawing style. In 1965, the comics were translated into their first animation special (not their first animated appearance though) and when you see the specials like " A Charlie Brown Christmas" you see they have a style to them. As animation changed it kind of where it followed the new techniques but didn't change the characteristics. "It was my Best Birthday Ever, Charlie Brown" used parts of digital ink. Other specials used that tech after that. They didn't go for a traditional 2D hand drawn or flash made movie, they also knew not to use 3D CGI that many animated movies use now.
The animation style is CGI and does give a hint of the 3rd dimension but it still feels like the comics. I will pick up they went with the more classic designs meaning that characters like , Lucy, are back in dresses when they started wearing pants in the 1980's. The animation was seemly carefully thought out as a way to make sure that it didn't make Peanuts fans go ugh in disgust and condemn the movie or something. Personal line: I do think it would have been nice to have a traditional style of animation movie but, they did a nice compromise.
I'll talk about the music later.
Let's talk about the movie ,(there are spoilers ahead ) and again I am breaking this up into __ parts so we aren't going to be doing it all in this post.
more after the jump
