The Peanuts Movie: Life Lessons

Well done, Charlie Brown

I remember following interviews that Guillermo del Toro participated in to promote his incredible spin on Pinocchio (which I absolutely plan to write about here). He mentioned that animation is too often seen as a lesser art form than live action. I think of these words whenever I hear about another live action remake in development. I know part of the reason for the remakes is cynicism: the originals have been so beloved, and therefore a retelling will surely be popular, the thinking by financiers goes. Yet, I also remember how I’ve heard people unironically tell me that animation is for children. Maybe these retellings are partially aimed at viewers with this perspective.

I know the vast majority of filmgoers love animated films, and that there is a passionate audience for them. I find myself turning more and more to animation as comfort. There’s something so immersive about animation.

Sometimes, I turn to things I’ve watched in my childhood that still resonate with me. Other times, I revisit recent works that make me feel warm inside. I think animation can do an incredible and elegant job of establishing mood. A particular emotion is conjured through the art style, through how the characters and settings are rendered. Shapes and colors can do so much to achieve different impacts.

A shining example of this is The Peanuts Movie from 2015. The animation and colors provide an updated rendition of the classic Charlie Brown cartoons, which themselves are based on the Peanuts comic strip by Charles M. Schulz. The film is CGI, but uses techniques that convey a sense of hand-drawn, two-dimensional moving images. It evokes the nostalgia and youthful energy of the original cartoons while feeling updated. So much is new, but so much is familiar, right down to the expressions on the characters’ faces. The wide eyes Charlie Brown has whenever he’s surprised or overwhelmed are always endearing. I give massive props to the talented animators at Blue Sky Studios for the style of animation. According to IMDB, over 150 animators worked on this film. They did amazing work.

Beyond the warmth and nostalgia I feel from this movie because of its animation, I’m deeply touched by its heartfelt and optimistic story. This film doesn’t just play the hits for fans of these characters, though there are delightful moments that hearken back to classic situations and storylines. The Peanuts Movie (directed by Steve Martino, screenplay Craig Schulz, Bryan Schulz & Cornelius Uliano) is one of my favorites because it tells a beautiful story about the value of kindness.

The inciting incident is that a new student moves to town and joins Charlie Brown’s class at school. He instantly has a crush on her. The sudden rush and sweetness of childhood crushes is conveyed in the mystified expression Charlie has and in how he decides to try to get the new student’s attention. What follows is a series of linked episodes that take place over the course of the school year.

Doing things just to get someone else’s approval isn’t the best idea, but Charlie is so young, and his efforts are placed into things that push him beyond his comfort zone and that contribute to his growth. There’s a cute sequence in which Charlie prepares for the school dance, and his diehard buddy Snoopy teaches him how to move to a rhythm. We watch him practice in his bedroom before the big day.

I remember in school dances in my youth, there would be a point during which everyone stands in a circle and people one at a time demonstrate their dance moves inside the circle. The same situation happens in this film, and all eyes turn to Charlie. Charlie’s efforts pay off; his classmates cheer his smooth moves.

But, this is Charlie Brown, the poor boy who always tries to kick Lucy’s football at her insistence only for her to pull it away and have him fall on his back. The things he attempts usually don’t go the way he hoped. Hilariously, at the dance, his shoe flies through the air and hits the sprinkler system, setting off the water and causing all his classmates to get soaked.

A lot of the film is structured in this way: Charlie sets out to do something and falls far short of what he wanted. If the film was merely this, it would be a cute diversion, a lighthearted nostalgia trip. However, the film has more to say.

I’ve mentioned that, though Charlie is doing a lot for the sake of some he’s crushing on, he still grows because he pushes himself out of his comfort zone and acquires knowledge or skills that I think are generally beneficial. The dance is a clear example. Another is when he signs up for the school talent show and learns magic tricks for his performance. It takes a lot of confidence for the usually shy and out-of-the-spotlight boy to do something like this. Also, when he’s paired up with the new student on a book report over winter break, he wants to pick the hardest book possible as the focus of the report, so he decides to write on War and Peace. I think mustering confidence and reading world literature are overall positive things.

The deeper message from the film though isn’t that infatuation leads to self-improvement. The deeper message is that kindness and decency are noble. Multiple times in the film, when Charlie falls short of his plan, it’s because he chooses to do the kind and decent thing instead of the selfish thing.

For the talent show, he watches his sister Sally tank her performance, so he sacrifices his own set to help her out, winning her cheers from the crowd. Later, Charlie is supposed to be honored in front of the entire school for achieving an especially high score on a major exam. The whole student body is celebrating him, and right when he is about to give a speech to his school, he learns that there has been a mix up. He and Peppermint Patty had accidentally written their names on each other’s exams as they rushed to hand in their answers before time ran out on the day of the test. In front of the entire school, he courageously shares the truth of the mix up. In an instant, the adoration from his class evaporates. His decision is the morally correct one here.

Both during the talent show and in the moment when he’s supposed to be honored for his test score, he could’ve made the easier, self-serving decision in order to further his quest to get the new student to notice him. I wonder, If I were at his age in similar situations, even if I wasn’t trying to gain someone’s affection, would I do the self-serving thing or the right thing? Heck, I’d only be a child. On that note, though, I wonder how many adults in similar situations in which they had the choice to do the easy and selfish thing versus the hard and correct thing would choose the latter.

Decency and integrity are their own rewards. Charlie doesn’t expect any praise or anything else in return for his decisions.

However, Charlie’s moral decisions lead to good things for him, to his surprise. As school lets out for the summer, he learns that the new student wants to be his summer pen pal. Mystified, he tries to learn why, only to visit her house and learn from her parents that she’s going away to summer camp. What follows is genuinely one of the most uplifting things I’ve seen in a film.

For the whole movie, Charlie has been trying to fly a kite. He has not succeeded. Now, he tries again in an attempt to intercept the bus taking the new student to summer camp. And, he succeeds. Our beautiful, big-hearted, persevering boy finally flies the kite. It’s as if the world is making room for his wishes.

He stops the bus and finally talks to the new student for the first time in the whole movie, and she explains that she admires the goodness of his character, demonstrated through his helping his sister at the talent show and telling the truth about the exam. The ending is one of joy and celebration.

So overall, I love this film for its animation, for capturing the mood and feelings of the older Charlie Brown specials, and for its poignant message about kindness. The message is especially impactful because it allows for a subversion of the familiar Charlie Brown pattern. Both early in this film and in many Charlie Brown specials I’ve seen, Charlie stumbles in his plans and efforts, and the audience is supposed to laugh and feel endeared to him. Here, while what transpires seems like stumbling, Charlie’s decisions to sacrifice his wishes lead to him becoming a better person.

In addition to the main plot, there are of course incredible scenes with Snoopy and Woodstock. Snoopy writes and imagines a story starring him fighting his arch nemesis, the World War I pilot known as the Red Baron. Anecdote time: I remember having someone read to me when I was young a picture book about Snoopy dueling the Red Baron, and it was among the most delightful picture books I’d experienced.

I find nothing that I don’t adore about this movie. Plus, its central message about the value of kindness feels vital today. As silly and simple as it sounds to say that we should all be kind to each other, sometimes the simplest messages are the most vital. And though what’s wrong with the world is complex and overwhelming, kindness and goodness can make a difference. I do think if people truly lived up to the virtues of decency and sacrifice, if people more often considered their fellows before their own self-interests, the world would be better. The essential message of The Peanuts Movie makes it warm and inviting and ultimately optimistic. I will rewatch this one many times.