SNAPSHOT
To Mom (And Dad), With Love is a sweet Mother’s Day celebration of friendship and family featuring the beloved Peanuts gang. While the other kids are excited to celebrate the special day, for Peppermint Patty it’s just a reminder that she didn’t grow up with a mom. With her good friend Marcie by her side, she soon realizes that real families come in all shapes and sizes, and that Mother’s Day is an opportunity to thank that special person in your life who means the most to you. Meanwhile, Snoopy and Woodstock embark on an epic adventure to find Woodstock’s long-lost mom. Apple’s holiday special To Mom (and Dad), With Love is directed by acclaimed animation filmmaker Clay Kaytis, director of The Angry Birds Movie and The Christmas Chronicles previously. Produced for Apple TV+ by Peanuts and WildBrain; and it’s executive produced by Craig Schulz, Bryan Schulz, Cornelius Uliano, Paige Braddock, Josh Scherba, Stephanie Betts, Amir Nasrabadi and Anne Loi, and produced by James Brown and Timothy Jason Smith. (courtesy First Showing)
When I was growing up, my warm, wonderful mum – in Australia, then contracted form of “mother” is “mum”, hence the “u”, not the “o” – never really cared much for Mother’s Day.
While she was big on celebrating things such as birthdays for which the cakes were epic and the parties fun, manufactured days like Mother’s Day never really hit the celebratory radar.
So, when the first Mother’s Day rolled around after she died on 4 November, 2019, I was unduly bothered … or so, I thought; turns out like Marcie and Woodstock, both missing their mums, there was a weird hole there that was begging to be filled in some way.
I love that the new Peanuts special focuses not just on mums or dads but on anyone you love the most, making my heart glad at the wondrously uplifting inclusiveness of it all.
You could argue that there is a Father’s Day already but that would be missing the point – you can ignore days like today but that means trying to effectively put your fingers in your ears and going “lalalalala” when everyone else is justifiably celebrating their mum and so, Peanuts marking the day with such a clever, sensitively realised and fun special is perfect.
Colour me sad that my mum’s not here but glad I feel able to remember her, anyway with Peanuts‘ usual mix of quirky wit and whimsy and just-so poignancy.
To Mom (And Dad), With Love released 6 May 2022 and is currently available to stream on Apple TV+