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WARNER

MOVIE INFO

Director:
Alexis Lavillat
Cast:
Cassidy May Benullo, Finn Carr, Sage Correa, Jude Perry
Writing Credits:
Alexis Lavillat

Synopsis:
Whether pestering Charlie Brown for a snack, battling Linus for his blanket or snoozing the day away with Woodstock, Snoopy once again proves that he's not your ordinary dog.

MPAA:
Rated NR

DISC DETAILS
Presentation:
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Audio:
English Dolby 5.1
Subtitles:
English
French
Closed-captioned
Supplements Subtitles:
None

Runtime: 227 min.
Price: $18.94
Release Date: 1/24/2017

Bonus:
• Trailers


PURCHASE @ AMAZON.COM

EQUIPMENT
Panasonic TC-P60VT60 60-Inch 1080p 600Hz 3D Smart Plasma HDTV; Sony STR-DG1200 7.1 Channel Receiver; Panasonic DMP-BD60K Blu-Ray Player using HDMI outputs; Michael Green Revolution Cinema 6i Speakers (all five); Kenwood 1050SW 150-watt Subwoofer.

RELATED REVIEWS


Peanuts: Snoopy Tales (2017)

Reviewed by Colin Jacobson (February 1, 2017)

Charles Schulz may have died 17 years ago, but the Peanuts empire continues to roll. This means we get a new compilation of animated adventures via a package called Snoopy Tales.

Across two DVDs, Tales provides 32 shorts based on Schulz’s original cartoons. As expected, Snoopy becomes the primary focus of these.

Going into Tales, I assumed each one would tell its own narrative. Like standard Disney or Looney Tunes shorts, each segment of Tales runs about seven minutes, so I figured these would use self-contained stories to fill those brief time periods.

Nope. Instead, each cartoon gives us a mix of brief segments. Some of these last up to two minutes or so, while others wrap up in five to 10 seconds.

I guess I should’ve anticipated this approach, as Tales touts itself essentially as a collection of Schulz comics brought to animated life. Even the longer Sunday strips shouldn’t need a ton of time to act out on screen.

Still, this take on the material makes Tales feel a bit ADD. Not that the shorts depict the material in hyperactive manner, as the collection resists the modern world’s rapid-editing and other overly “dynamic” techniques. The pacing can seem almost sedate at times given all the material packed into such short packages.

The “ADD” comments come from the frequent lack of thematic unity. Though each short includes a title that might imply consistent stories, only a few boast overriding threads to link the various sequences within each one.

Of course, the cartoons concentrate on Snoopy’s adventures, but I don’t view that as a “theme”. At times, the shorts do connect to their titles, such as with “My Blanket”, one that mostly relates topics that deal with Linus’s security blanket.

Episodes like “Blanket” remain exceptions to the rule, though, as most of the shorts seem more random. This isn’t automatically a bad thing, but it can make prolonged viewing of Tales a bit tedious.

That’s because the lack of cohesion tends to make the shorts all run together at some point. With so many brief bits and stories, the whole becomes less than enthralling.

If viewed in smaller bites, though, Tales can provide moderate entertainment. As noted earlier, the shorts give us a reasonably low-key rendition of the original material – they don’t come across as “filmed comic strips”, but they represent the source in an acceptable manner.

So if you want to view Snoopy Tales in one or two shorts in a session, you’ll probably find more to enjoy – but who watches DVDs that way? As a Peanuts fan, I think Tales offers a perfectly adequate representation of the source material, I think the format can be a little lackluster.


The DVD Grades: Picture B+/ Audio B-/ Bonus D-

Peanuts: Snoopy Tales appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.78:1 on these single-sided, double-layered DVDs; the image has been enhanced for 16X9 televisions. Given the limitations of SD-DVD, the shorts looked very good.

Colors fit the watercolor look used by Schulz in his Sunday comics. Actually, a few of them broaden horizons somewhat, but we usually got fairly subdued, pastel tints. These choices worked well and came across with positive reproduction.

Sharpness seemed more than adequate. Some wider shots demonstrated a smidgen of softness, but most of the shorts offered nice clarity and delineation.

I saw no issues with jaggies or moiré effects, and source flaws remained absent. Blacks appeared dark and dense, while low-light shots offered positive smoothness. Overall, the shorts provided pleasing visuals.

Though not exceptional, the package’s Dolby Digital 5.1 audio seemed suitable. Dialogue and music dominated, but effects added some oomph to the proceedings. Though the five channels never got much of a workout, they added some goofy cartoon pizzazz when necessary and brought out fun components at times.

Audio quality pleased. Dialogue appeared natural and concise, while music seemed perky and clear. Effects brought us more than acceptable range and accuracy. The shorts offered satisfactory sound.

Disc One includes trailers for Peanuts Valentines/Easter and Peanuts 1970s Collection. We get no other extras.

As a package of animated shorts, Snoopy Tales delivers moderate entertainment. Though the source material remains clever and amusing, the presentation lacks cohesion. The DVDs bring us very good picture and acceptable audio but it fails to contribute bonus materials. Tales becomes average Peanuts product.

Viewer Film Ratings: 2 Stars Number of Votes: 1
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