CNN’s Jake Tapper got an exclusive, behind-the-scenes look at the making of “The Peanuts Movie” at Blue Sky Studios.
He sat down with animation supervisors Scott Carroll and Nick Bruno who told him one of their biggest challenges was perfecting the Peanuts’ iconic hairstyles. “We have a whole team that specializes in getting the hair right,” said Bruno.
Animator, director and producer Bill Melendez was the longtime voice behind Snoopy and Woodstock. “The Peanuts Movie” animators said listening to his original recordings was one of the most exciting parts of making the film, and explained how Melendez originally recorded the voices slowly and deeply, then it was sped up. “It had to be really difficult to do,” said Carroll, “in order to really know the tempo, to record it at half-speed.”
Tapper also spoke with director Steve Martino, who explained the charm behind Charlie Brown and how he lays all his feelings out there. “We connect with him and we get a laugh at him because we see ourselves in him,” said Martino.
Martino also described the pressure to bring such a beloved character to the big screen in 3-D for the first time. “It was that combination of a great opportunity to share these characters with a new generation and the unbearable pressure at times of not screwing it up,” he said. “We wanted to build on the legacy Charles Shulz gave it. That was the challenge that also became the greatest motivator.”