Now, I have to admit something. When I first heard that পিনাটস্ was being brought to the big screen with the use of CG animation, I was a little on the skeptical side. Would a new production team be loyal to the comic strips? Would the movie's atmosphere need to be contemporary to appeal to a modern audience, and would that work with the style of humour? Would the characters stay true to their personalities? Would the writers respect the wishes of late creator Charles Schulz and not go making changes he wouldn't have approved of? I had a lot of worries, and I think they were fair things to worry about too!
But, here's the good news - the production team did respect Schulz's wishes. They didn't go changing the characters অথবা the scenarios. As always, all প্রণয় is unrequited, good ol' Charlie Brown can never catch a break, but every little victory (as insignificant as it may seem) he enjoys and appreciates. Charles Schulz wrote the comic strips for nearly 50 years; he retired in early 2000 and died shortly after. He stated that no one was প্রদত্ত permission to continue লেখা for Peanuts, and as such, any animated media produced from now on can only contain content from (or close enough to) his own comic strips. There are certain things that must not be changed about the characters and setting, and I think that if he was around today to watch the movie, he would be proud.
The Story
The plot is fairly simple, but put together nicely, and the dialogue and other antics are for the most part taken (sometimes directly) from various comic strips. The movie starts দ্বারা introducing us to the cast of characters and getting a little taste of their personalities. Enter Charlie Brown, and all of his clumsy, unfortunate antics that get him (and everyone around him) in trouble. I imagine most people who watch this movie are already familiar with the characters, but if you're not, you'll have an idea of what to expect from Charlie Brown দ্বারা now.
Suddenly, the neighbourhood kids notice that a new family has moved in. Charlie Brown sees this as an opportunity to reinvent himself and make a good first impression, but that's easier ব্যক্ত that done when it's প্রণয় at first sight for him! Now, Charlie Brown may not have the best of luck in life, but he's not one to give up. He puts in his best effort to turn his life around and become a winner. We see him prepare for a talent show, learning how to dance, and put himself through a lot when trying to write a book প্রতিবেদন on War and Peace... only for things to never quite work out how he hopes they will. At one point in the movie, he actually achieves celebrity status within his school for getting a perfect score on a test... until he finds out he put his name on the wrong paper.
There's a প্রণয় story for স্নুপি too - emphasis on "story". In a side plot, স্নুপি and Woodstock discover a typewriter early on, and স্নুপি begins লেখা his own epic novel about the adventures of the WWI Flying Ace. Charlie Brown's attempts to introduce himself to the Little Red-Haired Girl inspire স্নুপি to give the Flying Ace a beagle-poodle crossbreed প্রণয় interest, and a model plane gone astray influences his character's conflict with the Red Baron. When স্নুপি occasionally gets a little too wrapped up in his story, Woodstock is there to slap some sense back into him!
I was wondering how they would end the movie, and think they did it in the best way possible. It turns out the Little Red-Haired Girl has noticed Charlie Brown, and that she thinks he's worth being বন্ধু with. She leaves for summer camp but the two have already arranged to be pen pals. While Charlie Brown's প্রণয় is not exactly requited, this is আরো than he could have ever hoped for and the movie has a happy ending. Even Lucy has to admit he is full of surprises! Good ol' wishy-washy Charlie Brown.
I wasn't expecting much of a story, as I knew it was being put together from script mostly written দ্বারা Schulz from his comic strips, but it was done very well all the while being faithful to the original material. The events were predictable, but in the way that you'd want them to be; that is, we know that whatever Charlie Brown's doing is going to go wrong, but if everything worked out perfectly for him then that would be wrong. And they gave the story a happy ending without having Charlie Brown and his প্রণয় interest really couple up.
The Animation
This is the first time 3D computer-generated অ্যানিমেশন has been used for a পিনাটস্ film. It sounds like it shouldn't work, and honestly, I wasn't expecting it to a while back. But the movie wasn't animated using just one technique. Instead, they tastefully and artistically mixed the CG অ্যানিমেশন with traditional frame-by-frame hand-drawn animation. There were short sequences in which Charlie Brown would flashback to his past fails, and we would see a hand-drawn sequence of him trying to kick the football অথবা being hit দ্বারা a baseball on the pitcher's mound. Sometimes speech bubble would appear from Woodstock when he chirped, and the thump of Charlie Brown falling to the ground would be accompanied দ্বারা the word "WUMP!" written in large, thick, cartoony letters. The mix of both অ্যানিমেশন techniques looked absolutely gorgeous, and the 2D helped keep the feel of the fact that this movie is based on a comic strip.
Everything was textured beautifully. স্নুপি was fluffy, Woodstock had a subtle arrangement of feathers on his head, Charlie Brown's shorts were made of corduroy, a nice wood texture was used on Snoopy's doghouse, and there was a lake with some very nicely animated water. For the majority of the movie, it seemed that most of it could have been done in 2D, because they used the same sort of camera angles as they did in the old cartoons. The texturing, however, is something আপনি can't do in 2D frame-by-frame. আপনি can't redraw that detail for every 24th of a second! However, we did get to see them make great use of 3D অ্যানিমেশন and আরো creative cinematography in Snoopy's WWI Flying Ace sequences. Sometimes, it felt like those sequences went on for a bit too long, especially as they didn't have much to do with the main story (other than being inspired দ্বারা certain events from it), but I didn't mind because it meant আরো screen time for স্নুপি and the 3D animators got to প্রদর্শনী off their skills!
The Characters
Here's where the movie could have fallen completely flat, had they not got this right. But it didn't, and everyone was nicely in character. Charlie Brown was lovable and sympathetic, and had the same amount of pessimism and determination as he's always had. স্নুপি was completely adorable with oodles of energy and personality, and his antics and expressions were just perfect.
Voice-acting wise, everyone was cast really well. The other major characters were pretty much spot-on too. Linus wise beyond his years, Lucy as difficult as always for the others to get along with, Woodstock sweet, Schroeder had his "classy" and "proper" moments, Peppermint Patty tomboyish, Marcie her every supportive lackey, and Pig-Pen enjoying his filth. I did think that Charlie Brown's little sister, Sally, was perhaps আরো compassionate in the movie than she ever really was in the comic strips, but this wasn't enough to really change her personality and I liked seeing this side of her. Plus, I loved seeing her cash in on her brother's celebrity status; that is exactly the kind of thing she would do!
The Soundtrack
A lot of Vince Guaraldi's সঙ্গীত written for the old TV specials was used in the movie, which really helped maintain the atmosphere we're all used to. The original recording of "Christmas Time is Here" even got used in a short scene. A lot of background সঙ্গীত reminiscent of that of Steve Jablonsky's was used too (think Desperate Housewives) and although it was a little different to Guaraldi's trademark jazz, it was a treat to listen to and suited the movie very well. Some modern সঙ্গীত was used too, particularly at the school dance and leading up to it, which set the scene nicely.
Even though some of the সঙ্গীত was completely different to what we're used to in anything Peanuts, nothing felt out of place অথবা surprising in a bad way. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised at how diverse the soundtrack could be when I was not used to hearing anything other than jazz (and of course a bit of Beethoven!) in পিনাটস্ animation. I think it was a gamble to do this, but it worked in their favour. Plus, the chicken dance সঙ্গীত when Charlie Brown was learning how to dance was priceless.
Overall Enjoyment Value
Honestly, I loved it, and I think I've made that pretty obvious দ্বারা now. I was a little nervous because, having been a অনুরাগী of পিনাটস্ longer than I can even remember (my parents tell me that স্নুপি was my first love!) I was worried that any inaccuracies অথবা out-of-character moments would cause me to hate this movie. But that didn't happen. It was great. The adults didn't talk - they made পিতলের বড় বাঁশি noises. Charlie Brown missed the football. And we never saw the bottom of Snoopy's doghouse in the Flying Ace scenes.
The comedy is really good. It's quite upbeat compared to the older cartoons, as আপনি can imagine, because that's how all অ্যানিমেশন is nowadays. It doesn't detract from the typical পিনাটস্ humour though - that style of comedy actually works just as well. I should also mention that it's not overly hyperactive like some things, and I think they did a good job with the pacing and timing of the comedy. It's fast enough to appeal to the younger generation, but not so rapid-fire that older অনুরাগী will find it distasteful অথবা "too much".
The movie is chock full of charm and all the characters are appealing in their own ways, but I can imagine some viewers feeling হারিয়ে গেছে if they are completely unfamiliar with the পিনাটস্ franchise. There are a lot of in-jokes; some of which can be appreciated without prior knowledge of the comic strip but likely enjoyed আরো দ্বারা those who are already fans. For example, if আপনি don't know much about Schroeder but enjoy a bit of যেভাবে খুশী humour, আপনি might be amused at him keeping a পিয়ানো in his school desk, but অনুরাগী of the comic are আরো likely to laugh at it more.
(Personally, what made me laugh the most was one of the background dancers. Sure, they were all funny references to the বড়দিন special, but in one shot there was a guy at the far left of the screen with the most serious/angry expression while doing a really silly dance. I still grin about it whenever I think about it!)
This movie is also a real treat for those of আপনি who can appreciate artsy creativity, because like I mentioned before there are some great moments in which the animators use 2D and 3D together in a really appealing way. It doesn't look out of place, it just reminds us that this all originated from a charming, hand-drawn comic strip. আপনি know, just in case the amount of constant charm in the film didn't already remind আপনি of that!
So there we go! A fantastic movie and a real treat for all পিনাটস্ fans. I can't wait for it to be released on DVD!
