By Heinrich Domingo

Here is a movie that caters to the wide spectrum of audience without being sloppy and cheap. It entertains the general audience while teaching lessons of falling in love, embracing diversity, and finding self-definition. Snoopy and Charlie Brown: The Peanuts Movie is a must-watch feel good animation film that would bring you a visual and storyline treat.

Charlie Brown, a socially awkward kid, finds himself in a difficult situation where he develops a crush on a little red-haired girl. As he tries to get noticed, he meets streaks of bad luck that makes him more undesirable. In contrast, his dog, Snoopy, writes an adventure-romance book on how his love interest is captured by an evil pilot. The two takes on an adventure trying to capture the heart of their loved ones.

Snoopy and Charlie Brown: The Peanuts Movie is commendable for bringing a relatively mature topic into the eyes of its children audience. With ease and subtlety, it covered the difficulties of young romance and growing up. It ended with a good lesson on believing in one’s self and building confidence. These kinds of films are needed for a generation who has grown accustomed to trashy films disguised in the tag of ‘family film.’

While Snoopy’s separate story written in his book can be difficult to tie with the main plot, it was able to offer a contrast to the never successful tale of Charlie Brown. The contrasting story of the two provides a clear distinction on how confidence can achieve goals while fear can discourage initiating a move. Through this, the message is clearly written on the big screen. There is no possibility of misinterpretation from the viewing crowd.

The film prides itself with the quality of the story it wants to tell. Yet, visual animation also plays at its advantage. The computer-generated images on the screen complement the profound yet easy to digest storyline. Hence, the movie resulted in a beautiful tapestry of meaningful narrative, sufficient audio, and stunning animation. In the end, it is a complete movie experience.

For audience who might wish to go for values-based cinema while being entertained, Snoopy and Charlie Brown: The Peanuts Movie is for them. Since the lessons it teaches are universal, moviegoers from all age groups can enjoy the movie.