The Peanuts Movie

The adventures of Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Lucy and the rest of the gang. The two stars are a pity-rating for old times' sake; in fact, the movie is a near-total dud, endless at 93 minutes, useful only as an intro to the strip for the benefit of those who have been in a coma since 1950. Limply written by Craig and Bryan Schulz (son and grandson of creator Charles M. Schulz) and Cornelius Uliano, the movie has no reason to exist except as a ploy to keep the characters from falling into the public domain. That may actually have been the point, since the Schulzes and Uliano include several characters (Patty, Violet, Shermy) who were dropped from the strip 40-plus years ago. Curiously, the handful of retro drawn-style scenes are more visually interesting than director Steve Martino's glossy 3-D computer animation. J.L.