First, I'll get all the good stuff out of the way. I love the animation. They retain most of the elements that make the Peanuts specials look the way they do. They enhance the style with a few things that are truly spectacular. There are far more shots the utilize a greater sense of perspective. The animation for talking is much more realistic, and Snoopy has some really great animations, making him a little less human, and a bit more dog. This makes him more endearing. Seeing the Peanuts universe in widescreen adds a lot of depth to the experience. Combined with the absence of adults (none of the story takes place at school) there's a greater sense of the world that the kids live in. There are some very enjoyable gags recreated for the story, including the first strip. The story seems a little more adult. While there's a whole lot of jumping around from vignette to vignette, the overall story deals with security, and Linus has a spectacular monologue near the end where he points out the reliance of most of the other characters on their crutches. While this is not of much interest to kids, it seemed surprisingly powerful material for adults.
The negative elements, and there are a few, but they aren't deal-breakers. The voices aren't quite right. For most of the characters, it doesn't seem too bad. Lucy seemed notably off, though. Lucy seems more cruel than usual. A little less passively mean than she usually was, and a little more outwardly so. The special is more scattered than it should be. Most of the time, I don't mind this, but one instance really was annoying; we see Lucy playing checkers with Violet. Then the action follows Linus outside. We see Lucy skipping rope past him. Then the shot switches back to Lucy being back inside, still playing checkers.
I have doubts that this special will be of as much interest to children as it will to adults. But I don't think that's a bad thing. The depth of the program will make it more suitable for children who are growing up.
The negative elements, and there are a few, but they aren't deal-breakers. The voices aren't quite right. For most of the characters, it doesn't seem too bad. Lucy seemed notably off, though. Lucy seems more cruel than usual. A little less passively mean than she usually was, and a little more outwardly so. The special is more scattered than it should be. Most of the time, I don't mind this, but one instance really was annoying; we see Lucy playing checkers with Violet. Then the action follows Linus outside. We see Lucy skipping rope past him. Then the shot switches back to Lucy being back inside, still playing checkers.
I have doubts that this special will be of as much interest to children as it will to adults. But I don't think that's a bad thing. The depth of the program will make it more suitable for children who are growing up.