There’s always a danger when cultural icons are fed into the CG vortex for a big-screen update that some of their charm ends up sucked away in the pixelation process. The recent Postman Pat trailer is sadly an example of that. Our hopes are slightly higher, though, for the Peanuts ‘toon from Fox.
Given how beloved Charles M. Schulz’s comic strip remains, the pressure is naturally on all involved to find some way to bring Charlie Brown, faithful, imaginative hound Snoopy and the rest of the gang back to screens in a way that honours their memory and yet keeps things fresh. No easy gig when your competition is a strip that was enjoyed every day by 355 million people and TV specials that have been with us for 50 years. From the looks of the teaser that is now online, Charlie Brown's voice and the music seem right, and the animation style is fairly close to what purists might demand. Of course, the real judgement will come when the film itself arrives.
With Ice Age: Continental **Drift **director Steve Martino calling the shots and Paul Feig producing alongside members of the Schulz family (Charles Schulz died in 2000), the film is tied to the original comic strip’s 65th anniversary, with a release date set for October 16, 2015.
“We have been working on this project for years," Craig Schulz told Deadline when the project was announced. "We finally felt the time was right and the technology is where we need it to be to create... a Peanuts movie that is true to the strip and will continue the legacy in honour of my father. Collaborating with a talent like Paul is a great step forward. Knowing how Peanuts, especially Charlie Brown’s never-give-up-attitude, has influenced him throughout his life makes this partnership even more meaningful."