Hollywood Exclusive by Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

Will Snoopy and the Red Baron Fly Again? Maybe, Says Craig Schulz/How 'Ghost Hunters' Eases Apparition Apprehension

There could be a new generation introduced to the zany thrills of the most famous World War I beagle flying ace ever in history — if the new team assembled to make Warner Bros.' March 29 release, "Happiness is a Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown," succeeds with this latest entry into the "Peanuts" oeuvre. That's the word from Craig Schulz, son of the late great Charles Schulz, creator of Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Lucy, Linus and rest of the beloved comic-strip gang.

"Next would be the 'Flying Ace' film. We've got that started, and we've been having a lot of trouble with it, but if the 'Blanket' show goes over well, I'm sure we'll find a way," he says.

According to Craig, "Every month or so, there will be a new producer who'll come up to Santa Rosa from L.A. with an idea for a new 'Peanuts' — with new themes, with the edginess that's out there in animation now. We get that constantly. But the family is really resolved that we're sticking with my dad's work."

Thus, "Happiness is a Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown" was made with painstaking effort toward authentically recreating the look, sound and feel of the classic 'Peanuts' specials. According to Craig, 95 percent of the dialogue comes from original Charles Schulz strips. The senior Schulz, you may recall, decided to end the strip when he retired rather than hand it over to anyone else.

Craig tells us the impetus for "Warm Blanket" came when Warner Bros. contracted for Peanuts (Paramount was the comic's former film home) and "within the contract were rights to two new specials." But without his father or the late director Bill Melendez, "We had to get all-new people and work from the ground up."

Craig served as one of the executive producers and writers of the new special along with Stephan Pastis — author of the "Pearls Before Swine" comic strip and an avid "Peanuts" fan.

A great break for Charlie Brown and his pals came when Pixar director Andy Beall ("Up," "Ratatouille") moved over to the "Peanuts shop."

"I always thought that no matter how good the story was or the voices were, if it didn't look right, we'd be in big trouble," says Schulz. "Once Andy came in, it started to look like the strips from the '60s. All the animators said the same thing: The characters look so simple, but they're extraordinarily difficult to animate."

As for the cast, "We had over 100 kids come in" to audition. He personally listened to a selection of candidates while going back and forth between recordings from the 1965 Christmas special "matching voices. It turned out Andy and I agreed on every voice, with the exception of Pigpen. I never thought we'd find a Sally, but we actually had a pair of sisters who each sounded like her."

The end result, which Warner is launching as a home video release, is exactly what Schulz had hoped for — a special so true to the originals, "It will seem to fans as if they must have missed it earlier." In it, Linus faces extreme blanket withdrawal as his blanket-hating grandmother's visit draws near.

Meanwhile, Schulz adds that "We're working hard" to expand the presence of "Peanuts" on Internet portals, iPods, mobile phones, etc.

"Obviously, the world is changing dramatically. We have to create stuff that works well in the new digital platforms. At the same time, 'Peanuts' is timeless."

SOMETHING SPECTRAL: Syfy star Kris Williams believes that both "Ghost Hunters" and "Ghost Hunters International" have "helped a lot of people. I think that many people have been afraid they'd be kind of labeled as crazy if they talked about this paranormal stuff. There are a lot who've had experiences. They know we're out there looking for this stuff, so obviously, we believe in it. So that makes it seem more safe and normal to talk about. It makes it OK. People don't feel odd talking about their ghost stories anymore."

And who better to share those stories with than the "Ghost Hunters" themselves? According to Williams, viewers "sometimes catch us when we're out walking around exploring. We also will do a lot of events when we have the time" — meeting and greeting fans. "And we get to hear about their experiences and their stories, which is a lot of fun."

The paranormal investigator points out, "I do believe in hauntings. I've had many experiences. But I don't believe that every place we go is haunted."

READY FOR TAKEOFF: Olympia Dukakis, Trevor Donovan, Mitzi McCall and Lindsay Hollister have been lined up for the feature version of actor/director/writer and esteemed acting coach Anthony Meindl's "Birds of Feather" TV series pilot. Meindl stars as well. The original got the nod as Best Pilot at the 2010 Banff World Television Festival and won acclaim at the Los Angeles Independent Television Festival. We're used to stage plays being turned into films, TV series being spun from movies, movies being spawned from TV shows and all of that. But a feature film being adapted from a pilot seems new. In any event, it sounds like fun. Described by Meindl as a cross between a "'Glee' for grownups" and "Extras," this "Birds" has a colorful group of actors out to put on a musical of Anton Chekhov's 'The Seagull.'

THE VIDEOLAND VIEW: More breaking of forms and hybrids are dotting this pilot season. With a March 22 production start looming, casting forces on the ABC/DreamWorks pilot "The River" have their hands full. "The River" sounds sort of like a "Blair Witch" meets "Animal Planet" drama that will look like a reality show. It centers on a famous adventurer, Dr. Emmett Cole, who disappears with his camera crew while on a river expedition. Casting notices mention "the success of the show rests on the illusion of reality" and that, outside of the actor who'll play Cole, other cast members must not be immediately recognizable and must not appear to be acting.

To find out more about Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel Smith and read their past columns, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

COPYRIGHT 2011 MARILYN BECK AND STACY JENEL SMITH

DISTRIBUTED BY CREATORS.COM