"Peanuts" review thread

[Tom Hendricks]

The Schulz's are like the Tolkiens of the comic industry.

I think that's a little unfair. The Schulzes, unlike Christopher Tolkien, aren't unwilling to exploit the property. They're just choosy about how they do it.

There are some things I would like to see the Schulzes do, like publish all of the Al Plastino strips (though I've heard that most of them may no longer exist) or collect the 1960s Peanuts comic books by Jim Sasseville. To me, these are projects that I think Fantagraphics would be suitable for, since their Complete Peanuts series next year. I'm not holding my breath on either, though.

Thats kinda harsh about Christopher Tolkien, he's been a good steward for the Tolkien's. Now if you used Brian Herbert, there is man who prostituted his fathers work.

 

[CaptainCanada]

This movie rates as the most pleasant surprise of the year. I didn't think much of the trailers either way, and I was dubious about rendering these characters in a computer-animated format, but I saw it after it got such positive reviews, and I enjoyed it all the way through. This impression was no doubt enhanced by having to sit through the trailer for Alvin and the Chipmunks: Road Chip beforehand, which provided a vivid picture of how badly this could have gone awry. The worst part of going to see movies aimed at younger audiences is the trailers for bad children's movies that accompany them.

The people who made this know exactly why people like these characters and what they want from them. They do a good job of incorporating the more familiar comics setpieces into a workable narrative (they even save the football gag for the credits, which is unexpected). It's also confident enough in the material to be fairly low-stakes.

 

[Christopher]

The worst part of going to see movies aimed at younger audiences is the trailers for bad children's movies that accompany them.

Yeah, I remember seeing some really dumb-looking trailers... I guess it must've been before Inside Out. The one that stood out for me as the most was one about the little wooden "players" in a foosball table coming to life and helping some kid save his town or something.

 

[Aldo]

The worst part of going to see movies aimed at younger audiences is the trailers for bad children's movies that accompany them.

Yeah, I remember seeing some really dumb-looking trailers... I guess it must've been before Inside Out. The one that stood out for me as the most was one about the little wooden "players" in a foosball table coming to life and helping some kid save his town or something.

Agreed with both of you guys. The Alivn and the Chipmunks trailer seemed to highlight a lot of fart jokes and poop jokes. Something this movie could have easily exploited, since that is apparently what Hollywood thinks kids wants. I'm so glad they took the high road though.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Also, the Schulz estate isn't interested in a sequel at this time.

That's a pity. I wonder why.

Per that article:

"We had this one movie," he says. "I'm 62 years old. I thought it would be great if in my lifetime I could see one really good Peanuts movie before somebody decides to buy the brand out and decides to make movies just to make money. For the Schulz family, everything we do is to honor my dad's work and the last thing on our want list is money. It's always about quality control and making the best things we can."

Got to admire that philosophy.

 

[Silvercrest]

I noticed that Bill Melendez was credited as the voices of Snoopy and Woodstock. That was confusing, as I'd heard that he died. Turns out they used his old voice recordings instead of creating new voices. That's really cool.

 

[RJDiogenes]

That is very cool. Sounds like the people behind this movie really had respect for their source material.

 

[Random_Spock]

I noticed that Bill Melendez was credited as the voices of Snoopy and Woodstock. That was confusing, as I'd heard that he died. Turns out they used his old voice recordings instead of creating new voices. That's really cool.

That's neat! Glad that they were able to do so.