Peanuts 2015 movie: first trailer, new pictures, interview with the creators

Fans eager to learn more about next year's 3D computer-animated Peanuts film are in luck this week.

The big news is the official first trailer for the film, released today by Fox Family Entertainment.

And yesterday, USA Today ran an article interviewing producers Paul Feig and Craig Schulz, and director Steve Martino. The article includes five new still pictures from the movie.

Check them out to get a taste of what's coming in November 2015!

Also, in case you didn't know... the movie has its own Facebook page and Twitter account.

First details and teaser trailer for the 2015 Peanuts movie revealed

The first promotional push for the new Peanuts theatrical movie, currently scheduled for release on November 6, 2015, arrived this morning from 20th Century Fox and Blue Sky Studios.

The studios released the first teaser trailer for the movie, giving a taste of how the new CGI-based animation will look. You can watch it on YouTube.

Next, producers Craig Schulz (son of Charles Schulz) and director Steve Martino talked with USA Today in two articles about the movie, Sneak Peek: 'Peanuts' cracks big screen again and 'Peanuts' true loves: Red-Haired Girl and Fifi step out.

From the articles we learn that "the story will bring together the entire cast from the strips and television specials" and will also feature a large on-screen role for the "little red-haired girl" (who was an off-screen character in the comic strips, but who did appear on-screen in the TV special It's Your First Kiss, Charlie Brown). Also appearing as a love interest for Snoopy will be Fifi, a poodle who appeared in the TV special Life is a Circus, Charlie Brown. Other small reveals are that we'll see the World War I Flying Ace in action and familiar strip locations such as the skating pond and "the wall" where characters often ponder life.  Both Schulz and Martino promise that "the settings will not be updated to the present, continuing with the eternal look of the strip."

Finally, there's now an official website for the movie, http://www.peanutsmovie.com , although at the moment it's pretty much a placeholder with just a very short blurb about the movie and a link to the trailer.

New Peanuts feature film confirmed to be in 3D

According to a report from The Wrap last week, the Peanuts feature film scheduled to be released in fall 2015 will be in 3D.

This isn't much of a surprise - considering that nearly every film produced by animation studio Blue Sky Studios has been a 3D movie (and, in fact, nearly every animated film regardless of studio is 3D these days) - but it is the first confirmation that the new Peanuts film will be following that trend.

New Peanuts feature film in development for 2015

This week Peanuts Worldwide, Twentieth Century Fox Animation, and Blue Sky Studios announced they are developing a new Peanuts theatrical film for release on November 6, 2015, timed to celebrate the 65th anniversary of the Peanuts comic strip. (Yes, that's three years from now.)

The currently untitled film's script will be written by Craig Schulz (Charles Schulz's son), Bryan Schulz (Craig Schulz's son), and Cornelius Uliano (writer of several short films). No plot details have been announced yet.

Directing the film will be Steve Martino, who has directed two other films for Blue Sky Studios: the 2008 feature film version of Dr. Seuss's Horton Hears a Who! and the 2012 film Ice Age: Continental Drift.

You can read the official press release at Blue Sky Studio's website.

While the press release doesn't explicitly state how the movie will be animated, reading between the lines suggests it will be computer animation of some form (especially since all of Blue Sky Studio's films so far have been CGI).

Keep in mind that the film has just been announced and isn't due for another three years; the details are probably still being worked out and films often undergo a variety of changes as they are produced.  For example, the film's planned release date changed only six weeks after the initial announcement - initially they said it would be released November 25, 2015.  It's likely there will be more changes to the release date over time; so if the date listed in this article doesn't match other dates you see, it probably changed again.

This isn't the first Peanuts theatrical film; as fans will know, there were four earlier theatrically released films - A Boy Named Charlie Brown (1969), Snoopy Come Home (1972), Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown (1976), and Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (1980).

Stay tuned for more details in the months ahead! But in the meantime remember there are lots of other great Peanuts animation shows and films to enjoy, from the classic holiday specials, to the four earlier theatrical films, to the most recent release, 2011's Happiness is a Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown.