“The Peanuts Movie" at the Figge Art Museum -- August 10.
Thursday, August 10, 6:30 p.m.
Figge Art Museum, 225 West Second Street, Davenport IA
Presented in conjunction with the venue's current exhibition The Life & Art of Charles M. Schulz, the box-office smash The Peanuts Movie will enjoy a special August 10 screening in the Figge Art Museum's John Deere Auditorium, the film lauded by Rotten Tomatoes' critical consensus as "a colorful gateway into the world of its classic characters and a sweetly nostalgic ... treat for the adults who grew up with them."
Based on Schulz's beloved comic strip, The Peanuts Movie was produced by Blue Sky Studios and distributed by 20th Century Fox, and is the fifth full-length Peanuts film, as well as the first in 35 years. The film was directed by Steve Martino from a screenplay by Cornelius Uliano and Craig and Bryan Schulz (Schulz's son and grandson, respectively), and stars the voices of Noah Schnapp as Charlie Brown and, via archival recordings, Bill Melendez as Snoopy and Woodstock. Martino's movie sees Charlie Brown trying to improve his odds with his eternal crush the Little Red-Haired Girl, while Snoopy writes a book in which he is a World War I Flying Ace trying to save his fellow pilot and love interest Fifi from the Red Baron and his flying circus.
Development of the film began in 2006, six years after the death of Charles Schulz and the final release of the last Peanuts comic strip. Craig Schulz, the son of Charles, pitched a film idea to his son Bryan Schulz, and in 2012, Twentieth Century Fox and Blue Sky Studios announced development of a computer-animated version with Martino directing, due to his faithfulness to the style of Dr. Seuss in 2008's Horton Hears a Who! Numerous elements from the comic strip are featured in the film, among them Charlie Brown's skating pond, his house, "the wall," and Lucy's psychiatrist booth. The soundtrack was composed by Christophe Beck, with contributions by Meghan Trainor and David Benoit.
After The Peanuts Movie premiered in New York City on November 1, 2015, and was released in the United States five days later, it went on to gross $246 million worldwide against a $99 million budget, enabling it to become the seventh-highest-grossing animated film of 2015. The film was met with generally positive reviews from critics, with particular praise for the animation, voice acting, and faithfulness to the source material. Additionally, The Peanuts Movie received nominations for the Annie Award for Best Animated Feature, the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Animated Feature, and was the first Blue Sky Studios film to be nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film.
The Peanuts Movie will be presented on August 10, admission to the 6:30 p.m. screening is free, and seating is limited to 140 patrons and will be on a first-come/first-served basis. For more information, call (563)326-7804 and visit FiggeArtMuseum.org.
