The Peanuts Movie (2015)

Directed by Steve Martino. Starring (voices) Noah Schnapp, Hadley Belle Miller, Alex Garfin, Mariel Sheets, Venus Omega Schultheis, Noah Johnston, Rebecca Bloom, Micah Revelli. [G]

First movie based on Charles M. Schultz comic strip in over three decades; focus is placed on Charlie Brown (Schnapp) and his hopeless crush on the new girl in class (“the Little Red-Haired Girl”), with the occasional interlude set in Snoopy’s fantasy world where he engages in dogfights with the Red Baron. Animation, rendered in a bright form of flattened three-dimensional art, has lots of elegant style, but is a bit too crisp and polished compared to the original comics, negating the scratchy minimalism and melancholy that is such an important part of its identity. Contains numerous charming moments and nostalgic references, but also deals out brief, frantic bursts of action, which is also hardly in the same spirit as the source material; a soundtrack that includes songs from Meghan Trainor and Flo Rida certainly doesn’t help matters either. A mixed bag, but gently appealing, and more forgiving or casual fans should have a good enough time. Snoopy and Woodstock’s voice are provided by archival recordings of Bill Melendez.

63/100