Let's face it. When 20th Century Fox began promoting "The Peanuts Movie" months ago, we were excited, but somewhat distraught that a 2015 movie would probably ruin our memories of the classic comic strip.
To our relief, recent reviews of the movie since its Nov. 6 debut have been generally positive.
During its opening weekend, the computer-animated film produced by Blue Sky Studios grossed $45 million across nearly 3,900 screens, pushing it to need just around 50 percent more of its $100-million budget to breakeven.
As of posting, "The Peanuts Movie" has an IMDb rating of 8.1.
"I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised," wrote Movie Pilot reviewer Francoise Nina-z Frenchy Edwards, who gave the movie and 8.5 rating on the website. "What was great is that they didn't force the Peanuts into today's world by giving them cell phones or computers (which I was so happy about)."
Reviews about the film being a good watch for whole family have also circulated.
"Without body-function jokes or vulgarity, kids and adults will be entertained by this jovial, good-hearted movie that's a salute to a creative genius," said reviewer Linda Cook.
The fact that the film remains loyal to the comic strip could perhaps be attributed to the team of writers, which included Craig and Bryan Schulz, the son and grandson, respectively, of "Peanuts" creator Charles M. Schulz.
"The film does exist in a time warp, harkening back to a more innocent and less structured time when children actually played outside," wrote movie reviewer Bob Tremblay. "That should be refreshing for parents of adolescents who would prefer that their children actually enjoy childhood rather than try to act like mini-adults."
"In this movie, children ice-skate, fly kites and dance. And there's not a helicopter mom in sight," Tremblay noted.
One of the challenges being faced by the film is the probable disinterest among audiences who did not grow up reading about Charlie Brown and Snoopy in newspaper funny pages, which have been regarded as "a casualty of the blood-letting in the print industry."
The filmmakers had to reintroduce the characters for the younger generation, a move that proved wise as 38 percent of those who have seen the movie were reported to be under 18 years of age and seemed to be pleased with the film, giving it an A+ CinemaScore.
That being established, the next question would have to be this: could "The Peanuts Movie" be the next Fox animated film franchise?
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