Charles M. Shulz’s Peanuts is a timeless comic strip that should translate well for a modern audience.
Or so I think.
That’s because the beloved comic and cartoon series has always had a wholesome blend of melancholy and unbridled joy; you know, just like real life. In many ways, the Peanuts series was to its generation of fans what Linus’ blanket was to its owner – pure undistilled comfort.
If you’re wondering, “who cares?” Well, people still do. In 2017, Wildbrain acquired a controlling interest in the Peanuts IP and Apple became the home of new Peanuts content thanks to their content deal. One of the consequences of that deal was that the annual Christmas Specials were no longer being aired. This soon led to a petition numbering over 250,000 asking for the specials to continue as per ’tradition’. Apple relented.
But more importantly, the Peanuts of old will be coming back to Apple TV+ and it’s a far cry from the most recent Peanuts movie of 2015. Nostalgia is unlikely to go out go style and each upcoming episode will consist of three seven-minute cartoons animated in the vein of the traditional comics series.
Other Peanuts upcoming originals include a second season of Snoopy in Space and a slate of new specials marking Mother’s Day, Earth Day, New Year’s Eve and going back to school.
If you are fortunate enough to young, unwrinkled and love Calvin & Hobbes, then the Peanuts gang will be right up your alley. And that’s the end of my hard sell.
