It stars the voices of Noah Schnapp as Charlie Brown and, via archival recordings, Bill Melendez as Snoopy and Woodstock.

It was the fifth full-length Peanuts film and the first in 35 years, following Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (and Don't Come Back!!).

[1] Development of the film began in 2006, six years after the death of Charles Schulz and the final release of the last Peanuts comic strip.

[2][9] Numerous elements from the comic strip were featured in the film, such as Charlie Brown's skating pond, his house, "the wall" and Lucy's psychiatrist booth, as well as the Snoopy and Woodstock voice tracks from Bill Melendez.

[10] The score was composed by Christophe Beck, with additional soundtrack contributions by Meghan Trainor and David Benoit.

When the Little Red-Haired Girl moves into the neighborhood and later joins his class, Charlie Brown becomes infatuated with her, though worries his long-running streak of misfortunes and bad luck will prevent her from noticing him.

After Lucy van Pelt tells him he should try being more confident, Charlie Brown decides to embark upon a series of new activities in hope of finding one that will get the Little Red-Haired Girl to notice him.

At the same time, Charlie Brown finds he is the only student to get a perfect score on a standardized test taken earlier that school year.

However, when he goes to accept a medal at a school assembly, he learns the test papers were accidentally mixed up, and that Peppermint Patty was actually the one who got the perfect score.

Saddened that his sudden popularity was all for nothing, Charlie Brown reveals the mistake and declines the medal, thus becoming unpopular again, and, once again, aggressively put down by everyone else.

Meanwhile, Snoopy writes a novel about his World War I Flying Ace persona trying to save Fifi from the Red Baron with help from Woodstock and his friends, using the key events and situations surrounding Charlie Brown as inspiration to develop his story.

Upon reaching the bus, Charlie Brown finally asks the Little Red-Haired Girl why she has chosen him in spite of his previous failed attempts to try and impress her.

The Little Red-Haired Girl explains to him that she admires his selflessness and determination, calling him an honest, kind, caring, and compassionate person.

The other kids congratulate him and praise Charlie Brown, thus, finally both making it up to him for all their previous acts of selfishness and rude and aggressive behavior towards him and accepting him as a true friend.

[9] Craig, stating there is no one "more protective of the comic strip than myself," chose Martino as director because he showed faithfulness to literature in his adaptation of Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who!.

[2] Classic locations are featured, such as Charlie Brown's skating pond, his house, "the wall" and Lucy's psychiatrist booth, each retaining the "eternal look of the strip.

[23] On January 8, 2013, Leigh Anne Brodsky became the managing director of Peanuts Worldwide and was set to control all the global deals for the film.

The site's consensus states: "The Peanuts Movie offers a colorful gateway into the world of its classic characters and a sweetly nostalgic – if relatively unambitious – treat for the adults who grew up with them.

"[47] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 67 out of 100 based on 31 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

He did, however, feel that Peanuts purists would take issue with a few things in the film, such as seeing and hearing so much of the Little Red-Haired Girl, who was always off-panel in the comic strips, and Peppermint Patty acknowledging that Snoopy is a dog and not a child with a big nose (even though, unbeknownst to him, Marcie told her that Snoopy was a beagle in the latter years of the strip).

[49] Pete Hammond from Deadline Hollywood admitted his trepidation about translating the characters from 2D to 3D, but enjoyed the film overall, only criticizing the amount of fantasy sequences involving Snoopy.

The movie is a testament to Charlie Brown's place in pop culture and a showcase for a new generation bound to fall in love with its perennially insecure star".

[51] Neil Genzlinger from The New York Times named the film an NYT Critics' Pick, calling it "the most charming and the most daring experiment in human genetics ever conducted".

[53] Joe McGovern from Entertainment Weekly was also not as receptive, giving the film a grade of C+, and criticizing the animation, stating, "Even if you assume that Schulz always wanted his frozen pond reflecting lustrous light and Snoopy frolicking in a lavish Hayao Miyazaki world, the animation steroids injected into the aesthetic here nonetheless shrivel the great melancholy that's so key to the comic's endurance".

[54] Vadim Rizov of Filmmaker Magazine criticized the film's unfaithfulness to the comic, saying "The Peanuts Movie celebrates well-known character quirks, but it completely trashes the spirit of the strip.