Such are the times we live in. "Peanuts" is coming to the big screen for a whole new generation of kids to fall in love with, and then buy officially licensed products, which means that for old codgers like me, Charlie Brown will never be the same. The hand drawn animation of yore is now replaced with 3D CGI and Vince Guaraldi. 20th Century Fox, what have you done….
While the new trailer for "Peanuts" opens with with pianist’s familiar "Linus and Lucy," someone decided that song is now passé. And so the trailer quickly changes to a more contemporary replacement: "What I Like About You" by Flo Rida featuring Fitz. We weep for the youth of today. Anyway, here’s the official synopsis for the movie:
For the first time ever, Snoopy, Charlie Brown and the rest of the gang we know and love from Charles Schulz’s timeless "Peanuts" comic strip will be making their big-screen debut; like they’ve never been seen before in a CG-Animated Feature film in 3D.
"Peanuts" opens on November 6, 2015. Watch below. And good news, the "Linus and Lucy" returns by the trailer’s end.
The person who wrote that long comment is CERTAINLY not a fan of good comments.
the person who wrote this is obviusly not a real fan of the comics I think the animation in the trailer is great i\’m sure is going to be a great movie
CGI or not, it is unacceptable to replace Guaraldi\’s masterpieces with today\’s trash. While this project may not have offended Schulz, it is a slap in the face for Vince Guaraldi, and his genius. BlueSky should be ashamed for throwing his treasures out the window. Which, mind you, contributed to the success of the Peanuts series in the first place.
I don\’t really mind the use of the Flo Rida/Fitz song, as long as it\’s used sparingly like it is here.
May I also add that Schulz himself was all about changing his characters to relate to the younger generation. In later years, Lucy and Sally hung up their trademark dresses for a more modern day look of pants and a shirt. But that didn\’t matter because Lucy was still an abrasive bitch (albeit less so in later years) and Sally was still a complete innocent who was in love with Linus. It doesn\’t matter if they\’re CG now, as long as they embody the original spirit Schulz breathed into them for 50 years. (Although it is nice that the animators have kept Lucy and Sally in their original dresses. Once again, a sign that they really respect Schulz and his work.)
It\’s obvious the person who wrote this article is not really a \’Peanuts\’ fan, just another pretentious hipster who doesn\’t really understand the source material and is more concerned with their "old school" ways. I am 28 and have \’Peanuts\’ embedded into my DNA. Ever since I was little, I have loved Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and the gang. When I was a kid, my mom always used to buy me the Whitman\’s chocolate samplers during holiday seasons and every one came with a little plastic Snoopy figure. I had an entire collection lined up on my book shelf. In school, the only book I would ever get from the library was a treasury collection of \’Peanuts\’ called \’The Beagle Has Landed\’. I had toys, videos, books, bedsheets etc. Even now as a 28 year old adult male, I still carry a love for \’Peanuts\’ that I hope to someday pass down to my future children. I have the entire 50 year run on my iPad and am having a blast watching these characters evolve and grow over those years. And that is what \’Peanuts\’ is doing now: evolving. For those who truly love this comic, those fans will appreciate this trailer for everything that it is. I can tell that the animators understand and respect the source material. The footage here is so quintessentially \’Peanuts\’ it almost brings tears to my eyes. CG animation is a victim of its time. It\’s cheaper and faster to produce than traditional animation. That\’s what matters these days in Hollywood. Animators (like me) always appreciate the old school traditional animation and in many ways prefer it. But the choice of animation style isn\’t up to them. However, they seem to have done a magnificent job with the tools they were given. They\’ve brought Charlie Brown and Snoopy to life in a way that 2D animation would have never allowed.
If Mr. Jagernauth thinks that Charlie Brown will never be the same to him, well that sounds like a personal problem. Charlie Brown is timeless. If the animators were forced to convert the gang into a 21st century 3D animated feature, I must say I couldn\’t be more excited to see it. This trailer is slathered and dripping in \’Peanuts\’ goodness and I think that Charles Schulz would be more than proud to see his characters (to which America holds so near and dear to their hearts) be introduced to a whole new generation. if CG existed in the 60s, I\’m sure we would have had a computer animated Charlie Brown Christmas.
Again, the visual style to which these characters are presented is irrelevant. What matters is that they stay true and timeless to what they originally stood for: the innocence of the child that lives in all of us.
Side note: CBS originally objected to the use of Vince Guaraldi\’s jazz compositions citing that kids wouldn\’t want to hear jazz in a cartoon. Now, you can\’t imagine \’Peanuts\’ without Vince Guaraldi\’s \’Linus and Lucy\’. Am I saying Flo Rida\’s song will become as synonymous with \’Peanuts\’? Absolutely not, but if it helps to market the movie better, why the hell not? Blue Sky is obviously choosing their battles wisely and I commend them for it.
The animation looks so good!