The Peanuts Movie

Blue Sky Studios new release of the much-loved Peanuts has been highly advertised, from trailers to offers on Facebook to “Peanut-ize” yourself into a Peanuts-like character. It is directed by Steve Martino and among the Producers / Screenwriters are Craig Schulz (son of Charles Shulz) and Bryan Shulz (grandson of Charles Shulz).

The movie is most definitely nostalgic for adults who may have seen the “old” movies, and read the comic strips. I felt like I was watching bits and pieces of most of the old short cartoon shows that used to play on TV as “specials”, but it wasn’t in a bad way.

The movie is offered in 3-D which seemed at first like it might be a detriment, but it worked well. The Red Baron sequences with snoopy flying his dog house worked well in 3-D but if you get motion sick by those action scenes (as I do) close your eyes!

The audience laughed out loud at many parts of the movie, and we did too right along with them.

It’s cute, it’s funny, and it actually has a pretty good message.

Keep trying, don’t give up, be kind, be selfless, do your best, and people are likely to really SEE you for who you are.

My 7-year-old had the insight to realize when Lucy wasn’t being nice, and also caught the vibe of “life sometimes just “isn’t fair” “.

He laughed throughout the movie and I could see him tense up in anticipation and excitement in the air “combat” scenes. He says his favorite parts were Snoopy and the Red Baron air fights, the kite-eating tree, and especially the dance competition.

I would give this movie 4 out of 5 stars as a great family movie that is fun to watch and has a good message.

It will go on my list of “Movies to buy on DVD to watch next Christmas Eve”