Nice to know that Charlie Brown and the gang is going to have a new film after so long.
http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/10/09/fox-to-make-a-peanuts-gang-animated-movie
Nice to know that Charlie Brown and the gang is going to have a new film after so long.
http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/10/09/fox-to-make-a-peanuts-gang-animated-movie
I'm hyped for this.
What kind of animation are we talking here? Schulz's designs don't seem like they would work in anything other than 2D.
As long as it's not live-action and doesn't try to make any cheesy pop culture references, I'm all for it.
I'm pretty sure this:
"The film will be directed by Steve Martino (Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who!, Ice Age: Continental Drift)"
and this
""We have been working on this project for years. We finally felt the time was right and the technology is where we need it to be to create this film," said Craig Schulz"
Heavily suggests that the movie will be in 3D, either like Avatar/Tintin movie (which I doubt based on the director and possible lack of budget) or like Dreamwork's mass produced animation (which is more probable). Unfortunately, the director has very little under his belt so it is difficult to determine whether he (and the writers) will decide to pollute the film with pop culture references. Adding 21st century pop culture into Peanuts will cause putrid bile to rise in my throat especially if they decide to add in a dance routine that isn't anything like this:
!
But who am I kidding, it is highly likely they will have Snoopy do a hip-hop routine at the credits. Chicks and kids will love it.
If this is CGI, I think I'll vomit.
What kind of animation are we talking here? Schulz's designs don't seem like they would work in anything other than 2D.
Well, depends on how they do it. If Hotel Transylvania shows you anything, CG done right can match a 2D style.
I really can't see Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and the gang in anything but 2D.
….I'll see where it goes.
…in about three years....
Not CG, but here's a statue.
I'd watch it if it looked like this digital painting;
Even though that's just a statue, it looks so weird. Charlie Brown really, really belongs in 2D.
And if it looks like that second image I'm just offing myself from this sinful earth.
My body is ready.
Hm, interesting. I guess it's really something more like 2.5 D then where the 3D models really just move along basically a 2D plane? Guess we'll just have to find out.
It's like 2D spruced up to make it look kind of 3D.
I'm worried about this, but I'll admit that the trailer made me smile.
It's only a teaser, but this has the potential to be a great film if they keep it true to the comic strip.
The hug at the end made me go "d'aaaaaaaaaaaaw".
–- Update From New Post Merge ---
No rapping, no twerking. We're good. lol
Honestly, I'm diggin' the 2.5D blend. Now let's see if they can pull off a good story.
Look, I'm going to throw this out there: Peanuts, in its peak years, was the greatest comic strip of all time. Yes, better than Calvin and Hobbes. It holds a very, very special place in my heart, right next to the Muppets.
Please, please don't screw this up for all the kids who never knew the strip outside of A Charlie Brown Christmas (which, honestly, has great moments but is really random) and MetLife.
And if you can find a way to bring Vince Guaraldi back from Jazz Heaven to write the soundtrack, I will be eternally grateful.
That animation looked all right, 2.5-D kinda works. Original soundtrack and snoopy sound? The Shulz estate formally involved?
Could be okay.
That teaser eases a lot of fears.
2.5D? Eh, I'll accept it, although I still have a very hard time accepting anything but 2D. The trailer earns many bonus points for using Linus and Lucy as a BGM though.
Yes, better than Calvin and Hobbes.
Yeah, gonna have to argue with you on that one.
Yeah, gonna have to argue with you on that one.
…eh, know what? It's really not the kind of thing that's worth arguing. They're both wonderful and hit me right in the heartstrings, so forget I said anything.
Snoopy Hug
@RobbyBevard:
The Shulz estate formally involved?
Nine words: It's The Girl in the Red Truck, Charlie Brown.
It was inevitable!
At least its not Live Action.
The hair closeup is frightening
I like how it is animated, tho
I'm on the fence, something about the ink-like lines on CG textures feels weird to me.
Already a previous thread, man.
Yeah found that out a little too late, still I think we all saw this coming.
I really like the look of it. The flat-ish look combined with a lack of motion blur really emulates the look of frame-by-frame 2D animation pretty well. I tend to geek out about little things like that so it was a fun teaser to watch. Can't wait for the full film.
The style looks very stop-motion. I like it.
The textures really bug me; it seems wrong to take a strip with such a simplistic style and render it this way. Plus calling it Peanuts bothers me as well since Schulz hated that name.
Plus calling it Peanuts bothers me as well since Schulz hated that name.
But Schulz hated everything.
I really like the animation. It's very comforting and warm. Appealing to the eye.
I don't know if they can manage an entire movie like this, but if they do, I'll watch it for sure.
Plus calling it Peanuts bothers me as well since Schulz hated that name.
While true… what can you do? That has been its title for 64 years.
Either that or yet another It's _________ Charlie Brown! or Snoopy ________ Something!
Im gonna make one of my small cousins come with me to watch this.
@RobbyBevard:
While true… what can you do? That has been its title for 64 years.
Either that or yet another It's _________ Charlie Brown! or Snoopy ________ Something!
"It's a 3D 2.5D CG Animated Cash Grab, Charlie Brown!"
@RobbyBevard:
While true… what can you do? That has been its title for 64 years.
Either that or yet another It's _________ Charlie Brown! or Snoopy ________ Something!
The funny thing is, I watched a lot of the Charlie Brown specials and TV show before I even realized the name of the comic strip was Peanuts (never was crazy about that name either, to be honest).
I always thought "Charlie Brown" itself worked pretty well as a title.
Wow…I'm not going to lie...I'm impressed! I liked what that looked like a lot!
I can't say I am a fan of any of Bluesky's films (the animation and art are nice, its the rest that I'm apathetic to) but this looks like a step in the right direction.
Actually looks a bit like a claymation style, I kinda like it. Now let's see if they can make a story worthy of it.
@RobbyBevard:
While true… what can you do? That has been its title for 64 years.
Either that or yet another It's _________ Charlie Brown! or Snoopy ________ Something!
This is only the fourth animated work from the franchise to not have Charlie Brown in the title and the first of those to not have Snoopy instead; "Peanuts" seems more like a title insisted on by Universal to support the brand name than anything else.
New trailer is out.
Same basic reaction as from a year ago. (and its still got another year to go?) CGI Peanuts is still weird. Like Coyote and Roadrunner, it just needs to be in 2D to really work.
But I do like the general color palette and texture they're trying for.
I also gotta give them props for trying to retain the camera angles, all profile shots, the hand-drawn look of the facial expressions, the music and general snoopy sounds though. If the adults speak in WAWAWAHS I'll probably have to give it a pass for at least trying to keep the spirit of things, regardless of whatever quality the movie has.
I'm kinda hoping the general story and stuff is real subtle and slice of lifey (while being genuinely funny) instead is something that creates an expected grand scheme for a draggy final act. Alot of recent animated movies I've seen recently kinda lost their rewatch value for me because of the last act. Aside that, I'm still lving everything about this. Especially the new approach to CGI animation. I feel too many of them these days tend to look the same.
Charlie Brown's Good Grief at the end gives me hope.
Just saw it.
Very low-stakes, old-fashioned, naive, simply plotted, unironic. Loved it. Charles Schulz would be proud.
Pretty much what tatermoog said though I'll add that it's not really like the other Peanuts films but in a good way.
This is really the first time since A Boy Named Charlie Brown where the main character was definitely Charlie Brown himself; sure, Snoopy gets a lot of focus but his sequences are inspired by what is going on with Charlie Brown rather than being unrelated shenanigans to eat up screentime. In previous films, Charlie Brown comes across as a secondary character even if his name is in the title. Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (And Don't Come Back) and Race For Your Life, Charlie Brown aired on Discovery Family the other night and were actually pretty mean-spirited by comparison to the new one, particularly the latter film. Here, it's definitely a story about Charlie Brown himself.
The artstyle is a bit distracting at times, particularly things like how hair works in this film, but that's just a minor quibble. I never really got used to it exactly but the story was engaging enough to overcome it.
Was super impressed with how they modernized the artstyle without modernizing the feel of it at all. Some of those facial expressions had me giggling from pure delight.
It's not a flawless movie, especially with the strange amount of space given to Snoopy's dream sequences. But let's face it, all of the Peanuts specials were pretty scattershot (except for Race for Your Life Charlie Brown, which was AMAZING and don't anyone say otherwise). All that matters is if it captures that peculiar blend of melancholy and joy that made Peanuts what it was, and this does in spades.
Saw it too. Comments in spoiler tag.
! Ultimately I think the ending was probably too optimistic for a Charlie Brown film. There's probably been times when Charlie Brown catches a break that I haven't seen or can't recall, and it's a new generation I guess, but Charlie Brown was always about the bittersweet and having him never getting a complete victory. The point is that at the end of the film, he's optimistic as ever despite the shortcomings in his life. That ending was nothing but a victory, it would've been nice if something went wrong for Charlie Brown at the end there.
! Other than that though? Overall it was pretty solid film. Think the rest of the kids were showcased enough to show off their various personalities, even though the focus was solely on Charlie Brown (and Snoopy's scenes).
! The Red Baron scenes warmed up to me once I realized he it was going to be an ongoing thing, even if I felt they were a bit long.
! The only art decision that bothered me was Snoopy's eyes (and Fifi's), but otherwise I was completely fine with how everyone was drawn/acted.
! Story wise, when I think of scattered plots, I normally think of It's Christmas Time Again Charlie Brown. It was the VHS I grew up with and saw dozens of times as a kid, if not hundreds (not an exaggeration either, I watched it a lot). So showcasing Charlie Brown in various different scenarios for failure isn't odd in and of itself (especially since the movie takes place during half a year), I was just expecting more subplots with the rest of the gang in between. Still, I think it really highlighted Charlie Brown's inability to not catch a break (despite the ending), which is good to highlight for a new generation not introduced to Charlie Brown yet.
! The only other bit was that it felt like it was trying to do the "best hits" of all of the Charlie Brown generations, between the music and references. Understandable of course, since this is a new generation. The music is iconic for sure, but there was a piece or two that felt shoehorned. That's why I actually liked that the Red Baron continued as a story line instead of it being a one off thing, just so there's consistency instead of it just being there because Red Baron is such an iconic Peanuts staple.
Just saw it.
! It's cute. It's not anything extraordinary, but it does the Peanuts name justice and it's cute. It would have been nice if they'd tried a more innovative or dynamic story, but it still worked for what it was. And it could have done without lifting so many lines straight from the TV specials.
Most of those lines were directly from the comics and were just reused by the specials to begin with.