Heartwarming / The Peanuts Movie

Moments pages are Spoilers Off. You Have Been Warned.

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• During the talent show when Sally's act is bombing, and Charlie Brown sees that she is starting to cry. He abandons his own act and goes onstage to help her, turning her act into a hit. And by doing so, he unknowingly accomplishes his goal of impressing the Little Red-Haired Girl.
• The ending where Charlie Brown is chosen by The Little Red-Haired Girl to be her pen pal and she tells him that she admires his qualities. The other kids praise Charlie Brown, and even Lucy says he is full of surprises. The kids then lift Charlie Brown up as a hero.
  • What really sets the ending apart is that after 65 years and nearly an entire film of deeming him a hapless loser, the universe decides to let Charlie Brown win. Charlie Brown flies a kite and wins the affection of the Little Red Haired Girl, in front of all of his friends. This is cemented in how Lucy, of all people, sheds a tear after hearing how much the Red Haired Girl admires him.
    • The best part? Charlie Brown had spent the whole movie thinking of ways to impress The Little Red-Haired Girl, and all this time he didn't need to for her to see him as the wonderful person he is.
    • The kite that helps Charlie Brown reach the Little Red Haired Girl was dropped to him by none other than his old nemesis, the Kite Eating Tree. One of the biggest obstacles in Charlie Brown's life ends up being the key to achieving happiness.
    • Not to mention finding the perfect compromise to give the film an unambiguously happy ending without changing the basic premise of the franchise: making the Little Red-Haired Girl Charlie Brown's pen pal. In that manner, Charlie Brown can communicate with her in a way he feels comfortable with while allowing her to stay out of his everyday life.
    • They actually found a second compromise in the way Charlie Brown won. He got a little help on his way to the Little Red-Haired Girl, but that's not what got her attention. What got her attention were the things he did, success or failure. Charlie Brown succeeded because of his virtues, the one thing the universe has never been able to take away from him, rather than a million-in-one victory despite his bad luck. They found a way to show that Charlie Brown isn't a loser, even if he always loses, and it was perfect.
  • And of course, there's the final shot of the film. As the kids are lifting Charlie Brown like he's a hero, the image fades into a black and white drawing, with Sparky Schulz's classic autograph appearing, accompanied with the first twelve opening notes to "Linus and Lucy" as a fond farewell to Charlie Brown and the Peanuts Gang. For now.
• Violet and Patty being legitimately happy at the sight of Charlie Brown and Snoopy hugging each other just after the Little Red Haired Girl leaves for summer camp. It's a short but sweet moment, especially after all the times they both picked on and belittled Charlie Brown in the earlier comics.
• After the credits, we see the image of Charlie Brown and Snoopy hugging.
• Snoopy goes to great lengths to try and help his master succeed. Despite taking a few shots at him like everyone else, he really does care about his "round-headed kid".
  • Shortly after Charlie Brown accidentally sets off the sprinklers during the dance, he finds himself all alone, until Snoopy arrives with an umbrella.
  • Even after eating all of his cupcakes Charlie Brown isn't angry with Snoopy at all, he's just happy to have someone there for him, then later, after he blows his shot at the dance, Snoopy reveals he saved one cupcake and tries to give it to him to cheer him up.
  • When the model triplane that inspires Snoopy's vision of the Red Baron destroys the book report that Charlie Brown worked on alone to impress the Little Red Haired Girl he curses it, not out of the villainy that he does in the strip but because it ruined his owner's efforts.
  • Snoopy's Undying Loyalty towards his owner is heartwarming in and of itself, being one of the characters closest to Charlie Brown, and one of the few that stick with and support him through thick and thin throughout the entire movie, along with Linus. It's made very clear how much he cares and loves his owner, and that his owner reciprocates with equal affection. This is an excellent homage to the comics, as he was often considered the closest to Charlie Brown there too, along with Linus and Schroeder. Him actively supporting and helping his owner just shows how much he loves him.
  • In that same scene, Charlie at first can only stare silently in horror at the ruined report. The one who is as appalled as he is, and says his same Character Catchphrase of "Good grief!" is... the Little Red-Haired Girl. And she says this in clear sympathy and disbelief at the universe being out to get him, not at him being a failure. (Others have used his catchphrase before, notably Lucy and Linus, but this makes it seem more like another thing he and his crush have in common.) And when he gives up and walks sadly away, she's still trying to encourage him, saying maybe they can find all the pieces and fix it.
• Patty's crush on Pig-Pen.
  • It kind of comes out of nowhere, considering their interactions in the comics, but they really get along here. At the beginning of the movie, she greets him with, "looking sharp today, Pig-Pen". Later, they're seen dancing together, which does lead to a funny moment after Charlie Brown sets off the sprinklers and Pig-Pen's dirtiness washes away, causing Patty to not recognize him. When the teacher has them choose pen pals, Patty immediately volunteers to be Pig-Pen's (like Lucy does with Schroeder afterward). Pig-Pen seems taken aback by this, but when Patty shyly says, "A little dirt never hurt anyone," Pig-Pen smiles broadly and his dust cloud turns into hearts. Lastly, near the end we see Pig-Pen at Lucy's booth, implied to be seeking advice on girls similar to Charlie Brown earlier.
  • Patty's question to Pig-Pen at the dance - "Do I know you?" - was probably only intended to be funny, but upon deeper reflection, it says something very touching about Patty's feelings for Pig-Pen. It would be easy to think that Patty likes him despite his being so dirty all the time, and that she would be happier with him if he was cleaned up. Pig-Pen would probably worry about this himself, and it's possible that this is at least partly what motivates him to seek advice at Lucy's psychiatric booth toward the end of the film. But the fact that Patty could not even recognize her crush when he was clean implies that she likes him just the way he is, and that Patty does not need or want Pig-Pen to change himself to make her happy.
• An easy one to miss: when Charlie Brown enters the classroom early on in the film, almost everybody groans, not because it's him, but because they thought it would be the Little Red-Haired Girl. The only one who doesn't react this way is Lucy, who instead waves and greets Charlie Brown.
• In the mid-credits scene, Lucy yet again dupes Charlie Brown into attempting to kick that darn football by pointing out that he's a kind, compassionate, and brave person, and no one would ever try and pull a football away from someone with those qualities. But even after he lands back first, he's still smiling even after Lucy calls him gullible, because she gave him a nice pat on the head.
• Just before the climax, Charlie Brown is agonizing about the Little Red-Haired Girl's reasons for choosing him, sure that she did it out of pity, and Linus gently tells him, "It might be time to consider the possibility that you're a good person, Charlie Brown."
• The song "Better When I'm Dancin" by Meghan Trainor which is heard throughout the film. Special mention goes to this music video where the characters are seen dancing with Meghan. It's one of the happiest songs you might ever hear especially when you're watching most of the characters, particularly Charlie Brown himself, dancing and having a lot of fun as seen in the lyric version of the song.
• In the opening scene, Woodstock perches himself on a snow-covered doghouse. A curious Snoopy erupts from the snow and when the two recognize each other, they greet with a big hug.