10 Reasons The New Peanuts Film Will Be A Complete Success

2. Honouring Charles Schulz

When the teaser trailer first hit, the cynical backlash was inevitable. A lot of people felt it was sacrilegious to do to the Peanuts what is being done to them, but no one has seen the film or read the script. All we have to go off of is the minor details we've already discussed and that trailer, which feels about as close to an honest Peanuts animation as any of the specials. But considering what a father figure Charles Schulz is to both his fans and the cartoon industry, it's no doubt that the film is also being done in his honour. Not only is it about the success of the Peanuts but it's clear it's also about remembering their creator as well. Blue Sky lead animator Jeff Gabor recently responded to some of these criticisms eruditely. He says he's toiled over Schulz work, studied his pen strokes and drawn the characters for hours a day. He even loses sleep as he feels the weight of fans as he works to honour Sparky - Schulz' nickname - each day. But it's all the blood and pain of the artists doing what they love and their work that he is most proud of. If nothing else could assure someone of the success of the film, this could be the linchpin. Never before, even with comic book films or adaptations of the literary works of authors like Hemingway, Steinbck, Tolstoy, or Austen have we heard the creators and film-makers treat the original source material with such reverence. It's clear that the film is not about a flash in the pan, make a buck kind of success; but in honouring and respecting the man who has brought joy to so many people.