You’ve probably heard of Blue Sky Studios, the computer animation company that gave us the Ice Age movies, Robots (that movie with Robin Williams), Horton Hears a Who, Rio and Epic.
Well, the Connecticut-based studio has a new project coming out in late 2015, and it’s about a group of characters you’re probably more than familiar with. A Peanuts movie is coming, and it doesn’t look like anything most of us have ever seen.
Here is the first trailer for Peanuts:
Peanuts as an overall franchise has always meant a lot to me, personally. The cartoon, comic strips and movies were a big part of my upbringing, mostly due to their raw emotional pull that I could never overlook. Most animated offerings like to pull punches with introspective kids like me, but Peanuts never really tried to do that.
It was just real. Well, as real as fictional cartoons go.
So the idea of a new Peanuts movie coming out and being computer animated rightfully set off a lot of alarms for me and many of you, as well. I’m all for re-introducing classics to new audiences, but aren’t some properties just sacred?
Of course, I’ve come around since the movie was first announced, and it has a lot to do with this trailer. What I see is a blend of the old and new: hand-drawn animation combined with a CGI flare, making the style something truly unique.
We’ve talked before about this new kind of hybrid animation style that even Pixar has been working on, but Peanuts may be one of the first major productions to actually show it off. Who would have thought that our first chance to evaluate hybrid animation would be an adaptation? (Not me).
At this point, there is reason for both concern and optimism when it comes to this new Peanuts film, though it is almost two years away. All we can take certainty in for now is that Blue Sky is promising to honor the memory of these beloved characters without distorting what made them great. That means avoiding a faux-modernization of the subject material—think Smurfs—or anything else ridiculous like making Snoopy talk.
We’ll just have to wait and see if they can live up to that promise come November, 2015.
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I heard about Blue Sky but it’s a kingdom where a cute Princess named Himelda Wind Cure Queen Of The Blue Sky rules with her parents but right now it’s under attack by the Gennei Teikoku (Phantom Empire) and the Princess is in Japan’s city Pikarigaoka known as Shirayuki Hime/Cure Princess
Source: Happiness Charge Pretty Cure episodes
All we can take certainty in for now is that Blue Sky is promising to honor the memory of these beloved characters without distorting what made them great. That means avoiding a faux-modernization of the subject material—think Smurfs—or anything else ridiculous like making Snoopy talk. Yup i totally agree! http://num.to/4572-8761-9226
This is exciting! I really like this idea. It makes me think, what would have Peanuts been like if this technology was available back then?
OMG! I can’t tell you how angry it made me to hear they were making a CGI Peanuts movie. To the point where I couldn’t even watch the Charlie Brown Christmas Special last Christmas, the first year I ever missed it, because I became angry at the thought of Peanuts all a sudden. Like you said, Peanuts were a major part of my childhood. Peanuts is a very personal thing to me, thus the anger (my friends thought I was overreacting). But there’s two things about this trailer that calms me down. First off, I didn’t know it was being made my Blue Sky. They earned my total love and respect with the Ice Age movies. My least favourite is Ice Age 2: The Meltdown, and even that one I loved. So hearing they are making the Peanuts movie made me instantly feel hopeful about the project. Second was the trailer itself. It was just like classic Peanuts, only Charlie Brown and Snoopy stuck out more. It’s the difference between the flat graphics of Super Mario Bros. and the “see behind them” graphics of NEW Super Mario Bros. For the first time, I actually am excited for this new movie! THANK YOU FOR SHARING THIS!!
(By the way, Peanuts are so nostalgic for me that I actually nearly cried during that teaser! >__>)
I was a little sceptical when I saw this post initially as well. It looks promising, but I feel that Snoopy looks a little too “happy”, I’ve on;y watched a few episodes but I remember him being a bit more sarcastic in the series. Time will tell whether this will be a success, although Blue Sky have made some promising concept films in the past 🙂
It looks maybe half as good as how pixar presented the new style you speak of. I loved all the other blue sky animated movies, except for Epic… and I am not sure about this one. I think they will stay true to the characters, but the animation looks awkward. we all remember Peanuts as two-dimentional!
Reblogged this on both sides of the wall and commented:
Just to show off Blue Sky… coz I’m totally biased towards them and know they are working their butts off to stay true to the characters. I know the animators themselves were skeptical when they first heard of it, but they are doing awesome so far. I can’t wait to see the finished product.
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Not messing too much with the formula or characters that made Peanuts famous, Blue Sky have played it very safe and pretty damn smart keeping most of the charm of Schulz’s original work.
Thaank you for being you