A screen capture from The Peanuts Movie. [Photo provided to China Daily]

According to Western media reports, the Schulz family owns 20 percent of licensing rights of the Peanuts gang, and has the final say on the cinematic adaptations. In recent years, they have been hesitant to revisit the classic roles on the big screen.

Martino, 56, and his main assistants, who led a team of around 100 animators, studied nearly 18,000 Peanuts strips and analyzed the lead characters' facial and body characteristics through different decades.

Computer analysis showed that a slew of minor parts, such as Snoopy's nose and Charlie Brown's hairstyle, had evolved during the 50 years from 1950 to 2000. The final Snoopy model is built on a composite of the 1980s and 1990s drawings.

When asked about Snoopy's cultural significance, Martino notes that the dog is one of the oldest and largest balloons in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City.

"Snoopy is a very simple and appealing design with a beautiful shape. Schulz put humanity into him and he said Snoopy was everything that he wanted to be," says Martino, who believes Snoopy in some sense represents the US spirit of optimism and bravery.

Some critics who attended a sneak preview of the film by 20th Century Fox in its Beijing office in October told China Daily that it was a "heart-warming, happy" production.

"It could be defined as an old-school tale with stereotyped Hollywood humor. For the booming Chinese mainland market, it may not be attractive and charming enough to generate big box office," says one viewer who prefers to be anonymous.

"But it's worth buying tickets for nostalgia. After so many years, Snoopy is still a sincere and inspiring dog, a friend dreamed of by every child."