Five stars. Rated G, and suitable for all ages
By Derrick Bang • Originally published in The Davis Enterprise, 11.6.15
It’s truly amazing.
Philippe Petit’s 1974 wire-walk
between the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers notwithstanding, The Peanuts
Movie is the best balancing act I’ve ever seen: an unerringly precise blend of
Charles M. Schulz’s gentle, four-panel elegance with the high-spirited vitality
of 21st century computer animation.
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| Lucy, far right, is disgusted when, after Charlie Brown's reputation takes a sudden upswing, most of their classmates decide to imitate his "recipe for success." |
It’s impossible to imagine the
discussions, conferences, impassioned arguments and frustrated hair-pulling
that must have taken place behind the scenes — Schulz’s family and artistic
guardians on one side, Blue Sky Studios and 20th Century Fox on the other — in
order to deliver this miracle baby. One false step at any of scores of moments
in the finished film, and the result would have failed to satisfy either camp.
But miracle it is, with the
lion’s share of credit going to director Steve Martino, scripters Craig Schulz,
Bryan Schulz and Cornelius Uliano, and vice president of 20th Century Fox
Animation Ralph Millero. They, in turn, are quick to acknowledge the massive
Blue Sky team that embraced the challenge of wholly inhabiting Charles Schulz’s
Peanuts “atmosphere,” in order to faithfully adapt it for the sensibilities of
modern moviegoers.
This film will live forever. Most
immediately, though, it will create a whole new generation of fans.
Full disclosure demands an
acknowledgment that I’m far from impartial, as a perusal of my publishing CV
will reveal. If anything, though, that makes me hyper-critical, because I count
myself among those devoted to preserving Charles Schulz’s role in the creation
that has grown far, far larger than the humble newspaper medium that gave it
birth.
I take second place to nobody,
for example, when it comes to the fan-frenzy that erupted during television’s
original run of Star Trek, and the excitement with which I greeted the
initial news of the show’s first big-screen adaptation. But that didn’t stop me
from ripping into the result — 1979’s Star Trek: The Motion(less) Picture —
and branding it a leaden, overwrought stiff. (To this day, I’ve never gotten
more hate mail for a single review.)
My razors thus were sharpened, my
thesaurus of vitriolic adjectives at the ready, as “The Peanuts Movie” came
ever closer to release.
The sword remains sheathed,
thesaurus tossed aside.
What’s not to love?
