The imagination of the late illustrator Charles Shultz comes to life, with a 21st century spin, in “The Peanuts Movie”. During the winter, Charlie Brown gains a new neighbor across the street, a Little Red headed Girl who he has a crush on instantly. Through the advice of his psychiatrist, Lucy, he attempts to make himself seem more confident to win her over. Meanwhile, when sneaking into school, Snoopy finds a typewriter in a dumpster. With the help of his editor, Woodstock, the ambitious dog attempts to write the greatest novel about the World War I Flying Ace attempting to take down the Red Baron and win the love of his life, Fifi. “The Peanuts Movie” offers a colorful adaptation of the longtime popular comic strip, but it does it while offering an equal benefit to both Peanuts fans young and old, supplying enough visual excitement to make this update a very inviting one.

While the story is a little simple, the majority of the film’s presmises are based on former Peanuts comic shorts that many of longtime fans will be familiar with. I myself am not the world’s biggest Peanuts fan, but I always understood the nostalgia of such well written characters and imaginative scenarios that children could lose themselves in. What’s great for both sides of the fan coin, is that the movie reminds those longtime fans of the world’s biggest dreamer, in Charlie Brown, that it’s those times of being a kid when anything feels possible, while offering a positive message that kids can learn from. Charlie fails at every plan he seems to conjure up, but the movie offers a nice message to those children experiencing this strip for the first time. The movie instills that life isn’t about what kind of spiral you can throw with a football, or who gets the highest score on a test. What “The Peanuts Movie” really tells it’s audience is that life is about what kind of person you are. How do you help others realize their potential, and just how great the importance of a self-less attitude has on the great people who are a part of your life. In addition to it’s message, the movie is given an upgrade with beautiful stop-motion animation that almost feels three-dimensional at times. It’s cool to see the classic black and white strips getting some screen time while Charlie looks back on his past failures, but I enjoyed the fresh and updated look a lot more than I thought I would.  The backgrounds and settings certainly feel more than just wooden atmospheres, and that makes the inside look at this world that much more believable.

There is also a lot of solid comedic timing, mostly coming in the wacky adventures of Snoopy and Woodstock. The movie flows the best when these two are on screen, and that has a lot to do with Snoopy acting as the kind of conscience for Charlie. Snoopy is always trying his best to change the attitude of Brown, and it makes for some truly marvelous gut busters, including a tango lesson, and a ding dong ditch by Snoopy when Charlie gets the courage to walk up the new girl’s house to talk to her.  If you don’t relate to Charlie, fear not. There are plenty of characters in this film that will leave everyone with a personal favorite. Much of the film was in great hands with Schultz’s family involved in much of the screenplay writing, as well as modern day comedic director Paul Feig (Spy), who was involved because of his love for the series. The film’s screenplay does feel a little jumpy at times, with many storylines weaving in and out too quickly, without receiving enough solid screen time to take in the ever-changing events. It sometimes made the movie (Mostly during the third act) feel like a marathon of Peanuts strips, instead of an 82 minute motion picture. This of course doesn’t matter much because the chemistry of such a childhood magic is constantly there, even if the narrative aspects sometimes lack the Hollywood conflict storylines.

“The Peanuts Movie” is one of the very best animated films of 2015. It proves that kids movies don’t have to be some big elaborate scheme, complete with monster creatures and wacky talking protagonists. This is a movie that revolves around being a kid, and that isn’t always easy. If Charles Schultz did anything great, it was in the fact that he knew children and their everchanging surroundings. He knew how to write these scenarios without ever making kids feel ashamed for liking them into their transitions with adulthood. The latest offering for Peanuts fans offers a faithful presentation for grown ups to hand down to their children.  It embraces the awkwardness in all of us by seeing life through a true underdog, without ever abandoning it’s sweet storytelling roots.  A true lost art in today’s animated features.

8/10