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Blue Sky Studio's Peanuts: Lights. Cameras. Beagles. (Nov. 6 2015)


Kaze no Klonoa

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That trailer looks great! This is one movie I gotta see!!

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I've never seen anything Peanuts but I can say I am fucking loving the looks of this movie. The art style, the voices, the comedy, the animation, it all just looks so fucking good and I frankly can't wait to see it. I especially love how sneaky Snoopy is in the trailer, and how much of a show off he can be, but it's especially funny seeing Charlie Brown screw up things like dancing only for Snoopy to step in and show him how a pro does it. 

 

But the one thing I'm especially liking is how it has the underlining theme of friendship throughout. The trailers show Snoopy as a bit of as show off, and sneaky, but at the end of the day, he's a good friend to Charlie Brown, the guy who's basically the person who invented awkward and clumsy. It's a really cool message.

 

As a person who hasn't seen Peanuts, this has really got me really damn hyped.

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  • 3 weeks later...

So there's a game being released to accompany the film, called Snoopy's Grand Adventure and coming to pretty much every conceivable platform:

 

 

Includes two player co-op, with Player 2 flying around as Woodstock.

 

While I'm sure this will mostly be generic movie tie-in platformer fluff, I've gotta admit those visuals sure do look nice and are very in keeping with the style of the film. In that regard alone, it's worth taking note of!

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A bit strange that its available on the 360 in addition to current-gen consoles (PS4/XBO/Wii U), but not the PS3.

 

Anyway, I thought this would be a flying game based on the boxart (a la the earlier Snoopy: Flying Ace on XBLA), so to have it as a platformer is a bit surprising. The game's aesthetics and gameplay reminds me quite a bit of WayForward's works, as well as the Wii U Kirby and Yoshi games.

 

Videogamer reports that the developer for the game is Behavior Interactive, who have to their name a truckload of licensed games, as well as some individual titles like the Naughty Bear games. They were also responsible for the PS3/360 ports of Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor. While the production values do look nice, I wouldn't expect anything amazing from this title.

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  • 2 months later...

So Blue Sky's been releasing videos on what I think might be a weekly or biweekly basis going over the behind the scenes stuff, called "The Art of Dreaming Big". 

The staff talk about their childhood Peanuts love, showing off the decorated studio, talking about the Peanuts museum, the director, and the animation.

 

Pretty interesting, IMO. Kind of wish the animation one was more in depth but I get why it's not. 

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Official final trailer:

The only thing I'm wary about is the film's music. Hoping the modern pop music is only for the trailers (and maybe stretching it, a very brief gag or credits sequence), because it seems it will greatly clash with the film's tone and setting (especially so, it looks like it's evoking the 50s-60s setting of the strip).

Otherwise, if Blue Sky have played their cards right with this film, I think it will be their best film since the first Ice Age film, if not their best film overall.

Edited by Gabe
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Pretty certain the pop music is mostly for promotional purposes and not for the final product.

It's taken over ten years for Blue Sky to make something genuinely great, but I think they've finally cracked it again.  Super excited for this.

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Like all the other trailers, this new one is just adorable. I can't wait to see this movie!

@Gabe, I'm pretty certain that the modern pop songs are just for the trailers and whatnot. I don't expect this kind of music to show up in the film itself.

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  • 1 month later...

Wow, looks like this might be Blue Sky's best movie since the first Ice Age.

Took them long enough.  It's just a shame this golden nugget will unlikely usher a better age for the studio, since they're making another Ice Age sequel next year (and let's not kid ourselves here, it still won't be as good as the first).

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Its also worth noting that the major reason the film is so close to the original comic strip and animated specials in the first place is because descendants of Schulz's family made sure to keep it that way. Charles M. Schulz's son Craig actually came up with the concept for a new Peanuts film as far back as 2006, and then developed it with his son Bryan Schulz, a film screenwriter. Craig is on record on stating they were making sure to create something that was faithful to his father's work: when he and Bryan shopped their project around for a studio to take up the offer, they did it under the stipulation that the Schulz family maintained control over the film's production. Indeed, both Craig and Bryan are credited for both the script and as the film's producers. Even director Steve Martino was a personal pick by Craig himself, based on his earlier Horton Hears A Who! film adaptation (which in itself was rather faithful to to Dr. Seuss' original story). The film being released in the same year as the 65th anniversary of the original strip, and the 50th anniversary of the Christmas TV special A Charlie Brown Christmas, is also no coincidence-a deliberate decision on the Schulz family's behalf too.

This quote from Craig Schulz (who also proclaims there is "no one more protective of the comic strip than myself" in the same article) sums it up, really:

"We need[ed] to have absolute quality control and keep it under Dad’s legacy... You can’t bring people in from the outside and expect them to understand Peanuts."

Edited by Gabe
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^Which is ironic since a couple of the reviews actually put that as negative and that they should have innovated or done something "new." Personally I think they missed the point and should be thankful we didn't get another Garefield scenario where they attempted to reinvent rather than reintroduce a classic comic strip character.

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Early reviews have come in! Currently at an 82% on Rotten Tomatoes right now, no official consensus but what seems to be the general thought is that it's a sweet, funny, charming movie that stays true to its source material. Just what I was hoping for, honestly. So excited for this Friday!

Critic Consensus: The Peanuts Movie offers a colorful gateway into the world of its classic characters and a sweetly nostalgic -- if relatively unambitious -- treat for the adults who grew up with them.

Regarding the critic's comments, I have to really disagree on that. It was clear from the get-go that this wanted to be as close and faithful to the original strip as possible, and it's probably for the best they didn't try anything really far-stretched beyond the strip.

I probably won't watch this anytime soon, but I'm pretty stoked for it. Maybe when it gets a DVD release or when I have the time to go to a theater I'll give it a watch!

Speaking of which, the video game for it is out too..... and hmm

No word on how it's doing in terms of either it's sales or reviews.

Edited by Kaze no Klonoa
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^Which is ironic since a couple of the reviews actually put that as negative and that they should have innovated or done something "new." Personally I think they missed the point and should be thankful we didn't get another Garefield scenario where they attempted to reinvent rather than reintroduce a classic comic strip character.

I agree a lot with this. To think that a couple of weeks ago, we got Universal/Hasbro's Jem and the Holograms reboot, which was torn apart by critics and fans of the original show for largely doing away with the campy material of the original 80s show in favor of reinventing it as a dull by-the-numbers drama in contemporary settings. Same goes for Fox's Fant4stic film adaptation that was released earlier this year.

Its rather fascinating that for every film adaptation that sticks closer to the source material and is then reviewed negatively by some for not being innovate or fresh, you have arguably five adaptations in the same space that moves away from the source material in favor of a "new" direction and is then lambasted by many for that exact reason.

That's not to say a modern adaptation can't be fresh and still be true to the originals of course. I think 2011's The Muppets and 2014's Paddington do a fantastic job in those respects, and in light of that I can understand the critique for The Peanuts Movie in that context. Yet at the same time I'd happily take the new Peanuts movie we got rather than what would had likely been the alternative, if the general track record for rebooting historic IPs (Smurfs, Transformers, Underdog), let alone Fox's own track record (Dragonball, Chipmunks, Marmaduke), is anything to go by.

Edited by Gabe
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Quite true. There can be a fair balance of sticking to the source material and providing new things to keep things fresh. I guess what bothers me is that not being "new enough" seems more like a minor issue. Just seems not that big of a flaw to garner a bad score, yunno?    

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Y'all are forgetting the 2011 Winnie the Pooh film in terms of properly reviving an enduring property. That movie is so overlooked that it hurts.

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I don't usually do mini-reviews like I am doing this minute but I saw the film earlier tonight. It's really really good, I'd go as far as to say it's wonderful actually. Easily Blue Sky's best film, and no, I'm not speaking in a "well that's not saying much when you compare it to most of their previous work", it really is a great film.

The Schulz descendants and the production staff definitely live up to its promises about keeping the film close to the source material, the setting and characters are practically you know them. There really isn't any desire on the writing's part for being satirical or being self-aware either, it in many respects comes off as a period piece. The animation is obviously fantastic, I'll even go as far to say that unless I took a rare note of the backgrounds, I at times sorta forgot the fact that the film was CG, because the animation of the characters replicates Schulz's artstyle and the animation of the earlier traditionally-animated specials/films so well. The music is also great too, anyone worrying about contemporary pop throughout the film should largely set their fears aside--if anything, be prepared to hear some familiar tunes here and there if you're a fan of A Charlie Brown Christmas (this also goes for the soundtrack too). The narrative concerning Charlie Brown's desires to get The Little Red-Haired Girl to like him does hit some notes that does feel like treading the same ground if you know the characters and previous works. Yet it feels genuine, as in it doesn't really try and sugarcoat or exaggerate Charlie Brown's self-esteem or his desires, which makes his rather relatable to the audience in a positive context, i.e. you really do want him to succeed, and feel sorry for him when he doesn't. Oh and he definitely doesn't quite a bit, which allows the film to feel even bleak at times, as well as deservedly heartwarming in other times and overall. There's also a rather neat side story on Snoopy's part that works as a great companion piece to the main narrative. And the film has really good humor in its writing, both concerning dialogue and cartoon gags, especially concerning Snoopy, Woodstock, and Woodstock's pals.

I definitely recommend seeing it.

Edited by Gabe
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It's definitely one of my favorite animated movies this year, up there with Inside Out and Boruto: Naruto the Movie.

I got teary eyed when Charlie Brown finally got that kite in the air at the end. If he managed to kick the football at the end I probably would've lost it completely. XP

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So is this an enjoyable movie for someone like me who isn't a Peanuts fan like at all?

Yes. You don't have to know much about Peanuts to enjoy it.

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Just got back from seeing it:


It does a great job retaining both the charm and humor of the Peanuts gang. For those asking "Do I need to know anything about the Peanuts/Will I enjoy this if I've never been into the Peanuts, etc.", the answer is yes! You'll quickly get accustomed to all the personalities of the characters and what the story is about. While the story itself may have seem cliched with the whole "Boy falls in love with the new girl and is too nervous to talk to her", the characters and the humor more than makes up for that. Snoopy was just as funny as ever and the ending was very sweet and will leave you feeling satisfied.
Edited by Kevin
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Honestly the movie felt like an actual Peanuts special you'd see on TV, btu feature-length. Not in a bad way, mind you, but it's very in line with the cartoons and what I remember from the comics.

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