Film Name: 史努比：花生大电影 / The Peanuts Movie
If there’s one trend dominating animated films this year, it’s certainly not nonsensical slapstick, mechanistic sci-fi, or feel-good family fare that makes you laugh for a decade. Instead, it’s the CG adaptations of classic comics. “Doraemon Movie,” “Le Petit Prince,” and this “The Peanuts Movie” all deliver perfectly executed CG renditions of iconic comic and picture book works.
This trend in CG adaptations largely began around 2011. “The Adventures of Tintin” and “The Smurfs” were the first to be adapted into major CG animated films. However, one was shot using live-action motion capture, and the other was a live-action hybrid, so neither felt entirely pure. “Doraemon Movie” and “The Peanuts Movie” stand as representative works that bring the two-dimensional comics from our hearts into three dimensions. Though both had existing 2D animated series, their soft 3D textures—those plump, rounded characters with a distinct material quality—quickly won our affection.
The Peanuts comic, a hallmark of European minimalist art, features dot eyes and minimal color gradients, allowing viewers to focus on the artist’s fluid lines and the stories they tell. In 3D, those dot eyes became almond-shaped, opening up new possibilities for conveying emotion through the gaze. CG-generated lighting also lends a soft gradient to characters’ faces and clothing. It’s precisely these changes that make us realize Snoopy and Charlie Brown have truly come to life in three dimensions.
Of particular note is the film’s deliberate emphasis on preserving the essence of the comic strip. Elements like the characters’ eyes, beauty marks, and mouths—unlike the nose, ears, and hair—are not modeled but rendered with comic-style lines, as if drawn with a pen on balloons. Comic speech bubbles frequently appear throughout, constantly reminding viewers of the film’s comic origins.
Like “The Doraemon Movie,” “The Peanuts Movie” depicts a story of budding romance among elementary school students. However, while Doraemon is purely a helper, Snoopy is also a participant in his own dreamlike tale. He plays the hero rescuing the damsel in distress, his emotional journey intertwining with that of protagonist Charlie Brown.
When I first encountered “The Peanuts” comics, I found Snoopy to be an incredibly cute and unique canine character with a memorable name. In contrast, the young boy Charlie Brown seemed rather ordinary—both ‘Charlie’ and “Brown” being commonplace names. But after watching the movie, I realized Charlie Brown is just an ordinary boy—much like Nobita—with all sorts of flaws. He’s not some perfect savior hero, but he’s exceptionally sincere and authentic. You could say he lives right among us.
The story of Charlie Brown and Snoopy mirrors that of Nobita and Doraemon—both tales of an ordinary protagonist and a star pet companion, both stories of an overlooked everyman bravely navigating life. This courage feels far more believable and relatable when embodied by an ordinary child like Charlie Brown than by teenage heroes like Ben 10 or Conan.
I wonder how many children will take up kite-flying after watching this film. But they will all be inspired to pursue their dreams in their own ways and live courageously. Every time the children beside me shared a knowing laugh, I felt Brown’s spirit being passed on to them through that laughter. In that moment, we all became Charlie Brown, yet the next, each of us would live our own colorful lives. That is the feeling “The Peanuts Movie” left me with.
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