2015 is already going to be a crazy crowded year at the box office, so it might be hard to get excited for yet another major release. But this one just might change your mind.
Blue Sky Studios, the company behind Rio and Ice Age, is making a 3D computer-animated movie based on Charles Schulz's beloved Peanuts. No doubt longtime fans are already crying foul at the very notion of translating Schulz's decidedly lo-fi, 2D world into CGI as an excuse to ape a popular property for a quick buck.
Normally, I'd be inclined to agree with them. And there certainly could be a degree of that going on here. But for whatever it's worth, it's hard to imagine a CGI adaptation of Peanuts that looks any better and more faithful than what Blue Sky has put together. The movie's producer tells USA Today that his team worked very hard at capturing everything that made Schulz's work what it was.
All we have to go on so far is a first collection of stills and a teaser trailer, but it looks remarkably good. The classic look of the characters is there, down to the little dots they have for eyes, but some more detailed textures and subtle shadings are added to give everything more depth.
What do you think?
Peanuts opens November 6, 2015.
