You’re a good pen pal, Charlie Brown: new ‘Peanuts’ film reveals ‘pencil-pal’

Charlie Brown‘s pen pal -- actually, the star of the beloved “Peanuts” comic strip called that person a “pencil-pal” -- has finally been unmasked.

The girl’s name is Mia, and she is a South Asian who uses a wheelchair while living in London, The Associated Press reported. She will make her debut in an animated film, “Snoopy Unleashed.”

The movie will be released on Apple TV in 2027, according to the news organization.

According to a “Peanuts” fan site, Charlie Brown was first shown writing letters to his pen pal on Aug. 25, 1958. At the time, Charlie Brown attempted to write it in pen and ink but kept smearing it, causing him to yell out “Rats!” in frustration.

So, his salutation was quickly adapted from “pen pal” to “pencil pal” in the final pane of that day’s strip.

“The story is really about what real friendship is about, and I think that continues to be something that’s relevant not only to kids, but adults,” the film’s producer, Bonnie Arnold, told the AP. “True friends love you for who you are. And that’s something that we not only have to learn as kids, but we have to remind ourselves as we become teenagers and young adults and adults and even in older age,” she added.

In the 80-minute movie, Mia surprises Charlie Brown by visiting him. The flustered boy now has to live up to the image he projected in his letters. That strains his relationship with his pet beagle Snoopy, who runs away.

The “Peanuts” gang -- plus Mia -- then set out to bring him back from a nearby city.

“Charlie Brown is probably one of the most insecure human beings that we know. That’s what makes him charming. It’s how we see ourselves in him. So we felt that we wanted Mia to be more comfortable with who she is,” “Unleashed” director Steve Martino told the AP. “A big part of her role in the movie is to be a mirror to Charlie Brown, to journey with him and to reflect some things that he couldn’t see himself.”

The script was written by the son and grandson of strip creator Charles M. Schulz. Craig Schulz and Bryan Schulz were joined in the writing process by Cornelius Uliano and Karey Kirkpatrick.

Lara Mehmet, a wheelchair user who lives just outside London, was picked to voice Mia, according to the AP.

In the digital age, a pen pal through snail mail seems quaint. But the filmmakers believe the storyline still strikes a universal chord of friendship.

“On social media, we like to curate and project a life that is the very best of who we are. And I thought that is such rich story material to dig into,” Martino told the AP. “We communicate differently today, but feelings that are universal.”

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