Rating: 
Summary: Mr Schulz would come out of his grave...
Review: ...if he could possibly see this movie!I am a life-long Peanuts fan, and I I heard that a new Film does come out (I am from Germany) I just had to get it!!! In all the years the animated Characters looked more and more similar to the Comic strip. But this film could have been done better by myself!!! The Characters dont look like themselfes. The Lip-Synch isnt given. AND the Characters are all drawn and colored on the Computer, wich doesnt fit at all to the old epidsodes. All Characters in the Film that doesnt belong to the Peanuts gang itself, look like a crossover between the Peanuts and Garfield. The Retrospective with Mr.Schulz is just the 30Year Charlie Brown Special, with some additionalcomments. (Althoug i never seen the the DVD before I had known every word. Because I have the Special in German on Video.) Collectors like me got it already. But anyone else... ...please dont buy! David Malambre, Germany (excuse my bad english)
Rating: 
Summary: Adults have been in MANY Peanuts videos
Review: Actually, to those people on here that insist that adults have never been in any Peanuts videos before, you're wrong. Adults (both animated adults AND live-action adults) have been in MANY Peanuts videos (I can think of 8 off the top of my head). Additionally, if you check the credits on any of the videos, you'll note that Schulz did not draw the characters for animation, he was a cartoonist, not an animator. Personally, I love It's The Pied Piper, Charlie Brown. It's a great old tale with a new Snoopy twist.
Rating: 
Summary: Fun for Kids and Adults
Review: Although, this one is done with a different style than the other Peanuts videos, we enjoyed this one just as much if not more. In this one, they show the adults and they really talk. The whole video had an upbeat mood, and there was music, dancing and humor. I just wish it was a little longer or included another video since it seems short. This video also includes an interesting look at Peanuts through the years with the creator, Mr. Schultz.
Rating:
Summary: Fun for Kids and Adults
Review: Although, this one is done with a different style than the other Peanuts videos, we enjoyed this one just as much if not more. In this one, they show the adults and they really talk. The whole video had an upbeat mood, and there was music, dancing and humor. I just wish it was a little longer or included another video since it seems short. This video also includes an interesting look at Peanuts through the years with the creator, Mr. Schultz.
Rating: 
Summary: A disappointment..........For collector's only
Review: As much as I hate to admit it, I must rate the new Peanuts video as being "for collectors only". On one hand, it's interesting, (for a while, anyway), to see the gang re-interpreting a classic story, but the novelty soon wears thin. The fault lies mostly, I think, with the team of animators. Bill Melendez and Lee Mendelson are once again at the helm of this production, but the animation looks nothing like the classic specials that preceded this one. Much of it has that "no frills" Saturday-morning-cartoon look that the other Peanuts specials managed to avoid. Look closely at some of the drawings, and you'll notice that the animators just did not do a good job of copying Schulz's art work; the characters just don't look like themselves. There are also far too many long stretches where nothing happens. For instance, in the opening sequence before the title credits run, Snoopy appears on top of his doghouse, playing his accordion.....and playing.....and playing.......and playing......with what looks to be the same few frames of animation used over and over. This also happens in a later scene when Schroeder is shown playing his piano........and playing......and playing......and playing........... The same idea is repeated near the end of the video when the "Mayor" and his cohorts are shown singing "barbershop quartet" style, and they keep singing........and singing......well, you get the idea. Suffice it to say, this one is not plot driven. On the "plus" side, David Benoit does a great job (as always) with Vince Guaraldi's original scores, and the 10 minute retrospective with Charles Schulz after the cartoon, makes the tape worth having. If you're like me, and a die-hard fan of anything Charles Schulz did, you'll have to own it, but you'll still find yourself wishing the entire production was just a little bit better.
Rating:
Summary: THE ADULTS ARE SEEN AND HEARD, MAN!
Review: Awful! Stick to the older original cartoons. This is just terrible.
Rating:
Summary: Horrible. The Worst I've Ever Seen!
Review: Charlie Brown, Lucy, Linus, Peppermint Patty, Marci, Sally, Snoopy, Woodstock and all the rest of the gang, are as apart of our culture as anything else I can think of. Anybody who says they hate PEANUTS is out of their freakin' minds, I say.
All except when it comes to this particular video, IT'S THE PIED PIPER, CHARLIE BROWN. They can trash it like ISHTAR for all I care. Heck, I'd join in with 'em!
Why do I express such disgust over this short, you say? Well, for one simple reason (which other reviewers have commented on as well): Grown-ups are actually SHOWN! And they TALK! This is nothing short of blasphemy in the Charlie Brown universe!! The stories were always based on the kids' point of view, and dealt with childhood problems alone. Fully introducing adults into the picture destroys half the charm of the comics/series! Sure, adults were featured in the miniseries THIS IS AMERICA, CHARLIE BROWN, but since that was a nonfiction documentary series, that's a totally different case.
It saddens me that my 5-year old neighbor says that this is his favorite Charlie Brown video. He will clearly never fully understand and appreciate what PEANUTS is all about, what makes it so special, and why it is unique. Stick with the original classic specials from the 60s/70s, and the 80s TV series. WITH NO GROWN-UPS!!!
Rating:
Summary: Not the Peanuts you remember, Charlie Brown...
Review: Don't get me wrong. I love Schultz/Melendez animated films, and have amassed quite a library of Peanuts videos & DVDs. I have posted a number of 4- and 5-star reviews on Amazon. But "Pied Piper" is terribly disappointing. The Peanuts gang is relegated to, at best, a supporting role in this production, which is primarily populated by poorly-drawn townspeople who don't look like anything that has ever come from Charles Schultz's pen. The animation looks cheap and hurried (in many parts, they didn't even try to make the mouths sync with the dialogue). Even when the Peanuts characters do appear, they frequently do not look like themselves. A scene with Schroeder pops to mind -- he looks like a fourth-grader's attempt to draw Schroeder, rather than like the genuine article. The whole package -- the animation, the music, the story -- just doesn't feel like a Peanuts film. I grieve to think that this is being sold as some sort of capstone to the late Charles Schultz's career. Unless you're a Peanuts completist, your money would be better spent on any other Peanuts film. With all that complaining out of the way, I should note that the DVD does include a charming -- if a bit short -- retrospective and interview with Charles Schultz. That is a nice touch that I wish had been appended to a worthier program. I'm looking forward to DVD releases of other, classic Peanuts programs, and hope they include similar extras.
Rating:
Summary: Not the Peanuts you remember, Charlie Brown...
Review: Don't get me wrong. I love Schultz/Melendez animated films, and have amassed quite a library of Peanuts videos & DVDs. I have posted a number of 4- and 5-star reviews on Amazon. But "Pied Piper" is terribly disappointing. The Peanuts gang is relegated to, at best, a supporting role in this production, which is primarily populated by poorly-drawn townspeople who don't look like anything that has ever come from Charles Schultz's pen. The animation looks cheap and hurried (in many parts, they didn't even try to make the mouths sync with the dialogue). Even when the Peanuts characters do appear, they frequently do not look like themselves. A scene with Schroeder pops to mind -- he looks like a fourth-grader's attempt to draw Schroeder, rather than like the genuine article. The whole package -- the animation, the music, the story -- just doesn't feel like a Peanuts film. I grieve to think that this is being sold as some sort of capstone to the late Charles Schultz's career. Unless you're a Peanuts completist, your money would be better spent on any other Peanuts film. With all that complaining out of the way, I should note that the DVD does include a charming -- if a bit short -- retrospective and interview with Charles Schultz. That is a nice touch that I wish had been appended to a worthier program. I'm looking forward to DVD releases of other, classic Peanuts programs, and hope they include similar extras.
Rating:
Summary: Great Movie!
Review: I loved this! It's a great movie for all peanuts collectors and children!
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