Courtesy: Warner Brothers Home Video
Peanuts is one of the most beloved franchises both in the print realm and that of broadcast television, so it only makes sense that any number of DVDs and Blu-rays have been released (and re-issued) over the years featuring the franchise’s TV specials and comics adaptations. Those specials and collections have been released in large part through Warner Brothers Home Entertainment. Late last month, Warner Home Video released yet another new Peanuts collection in the form of Peanuts: Snoopy Tales. This new two-disc collection of animated shorts is an intriguing new offering from Warner Home Video that is worth at least one watch. That is due in part to the writing. This will be discussed shortly. The shorts’ artwork is just as important to note here as their collective writing. That will be discussed later. The voice cast’s work rounds out the set’s most important elements. Each element is important in its own right to the collection’s overall presentation. All things considered, they make Peanuts: Snoopy Tales a collection that is worth at least one watch.
Peanuts: Snoopy Tales is one of the most intriguing Peanuts offerings that Warner Home Video has released to date. Even being so unlike almost every one of its predecessors, it is still worth at least one watch. That is due in part to the collection’s overall writing. Rather than presenting one or two specific stories, this collection presents 32 separate shorts. The shorts in question are comprised of Peanuts strips presented in newspapers throughout the years. This means that while the stories are not new per se, the shorts give those strips a whole new life and identity here. On the surface, this is a good thing. On another level, the shorts’ segments are in themselves so short that audiences will be forced to devote their full attention to each short in order to fully appreciate each short and segment. That can be both good and bad. Keeping that in mind, the general writing involved in these shorts shows why it is so important to this collection’s presentation. It is just one of the key elements to note in the collection’s presentation. The artwork used in bringing the strips to life on the screen is just as important to the set’s collection as their collective writing and run times.
The writing and run times of the shorts presented in Peanuts: Snoopy Tales is collectively key to the set’s presentation because they are both good and bad all at the same time. The segments that make up each short are lifted directly from Schulz’ famed comic strips. They are also short in themselves, essentially forcing audiences to devote more time and attention to each one in order to appreciate the whole of each short. It is certain to leave audiences divided. On a more positive note, the artwork used to bring the strips to life on screen will unite audiences in applauding its look. It is a near mirror image of the designs used in the segments’ print counterparts right down to the minutia of the segments’ backgrounds. Even the Peanuts gang itself looks almost identical on screen here as they do in print. Audiences will love that the animators went to such painstaking lengths to duplicate the look of the strips on screen all the way down to the lines showing Woodstock’s flight paths and his word bubbles complete with little lines to show his “words” among so much more detail. Between these noted details and so much more, it becomes clear that the artwork used in this collection of Peanuts shorts is its most important positive. While it might be the set’s most important element, it still is not the only remaining important element. The work of the shorts’ voice cast is important to note, too.
The writing behind the shorts culled for Peanuts: Snoopy Tales and the artwork therein are both key elements to their presentation. The writing forces audiences to devote their fullest attention to the shorts. That can be both good and bad. The artwork presented in each short is really the shorts’ cornerstone. That is because it makes each short look just like the strips that are enjoyed every day in print. Having noted all of this, the last element to note here is that of the voice cast’s work. The voice cast impresses as it brings to life the Peanuts gang in each short. While obviously not the same cast that brought the kids to life in the original TV specials (and likely not the cast that voiced the kids in the more recent TV specials from the 90s), this voice cast still does an impressive job of bringing Charlie Brown and company to life on screen. Even as short as each segment is, the voice cast still entertains, paying homage to the work done by its predecessors. The end result is a collection of performances that audiences of all ages will enjoy. When those enjoyable performances are joined with artwork that makes Schulz’s comic strips jump from the page to the screen, what audiences get is an extensive group of Peanuts stories that the whole family will enjoy as long as they fully devote themselves to each adventure.
Peanuts: Snoopy Tales is a collection of Peanuts shorts that the whole family will enjoy as long as they fully devote themselves to the truly short stories. As long as they do, they will find both the shorts’ artwork and the voice cast’s work to be equally worthy of praise. Keeping that in mind, the combination of all three of these elements makes Peanuts: Snoopy Tales an enjoyable addition to any Peanuts fan’s home DVD library. It is available now in stores and online. To keep up with the latest sports and entertainment reviews and news, go online to http://www.facebook.com/philspicks and “Like” it. Fans can always keep up with the latest sports and entertainment reviews and news in the Phil’s Picks blog at https://philspicks.wordpress.com.
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