Snoopy and Charlie Brown: The Peanuts Movie promises to be a treat for all ages when it opens in Cineworld cinemas on 21st December. Adults will be bathed in the warm nostalgic glow of recognition, while kids can look forward to discovering the Charles M. Schulz characters that have charmed generations. Here's our rundown of the Peanuts crew.

Charlie Brown 

Charlie is an eight-year-old 'everyboy' in a zig-zag shirt. He's a glass half-empty kinda kid, beset by bad luck and failure. But shy Charlie is also a kind-hearted and inspirational beacon of integrity and dogged persistence. He manages the world's most useless baseball team but never gives up. Every attempt he makes to fly a kite ends in failure, but that doesn't stop him trying. He's unfailingly loyal to friends and family, and adores his dog Snoopy – who thinks of him only as "that round-headed kid". Appropriately, Charlie's catchphrase is "Good grief!"

Snoopy 

Charlie Brown's pet beagle, Snoopy is a good-natured, somewhat lazy dog with a distinctive 'happy dance' and a rich fantasy life. His best-known alias is a WWI flying ace who takes on the dastardly Red Baron while perched atop his kennel. Another is shades-wearing Joe Cool, the hippest canine in the neighbourhood. Snoopy doesn't like cats but is friendly with a little bird named Woodstock. He also has an almost supernatural ability to hear cookies being eaten from a great distance.

Lucy 

Bossy, fussy, vain and selfish, loud-mouthed Lucy is the bane of poor Charlie's life. Her favourite trick is to snatch his football away just as he's about to kick it. She's always quick with unwanted advice and has her own psychiatric booth from which she dispenses nonsensical aphorisms. Lucy's weak spot is her love for piano-playing Shroeder. Alas, he doesn't share her feelings.

Linus

Lucy's little brother and Charlie's best friend. He's never separated from his security blanket and is usually to be found sucking his thumb. Despite having a reputation as the cleverest and most philosophical of the Peanuts gang, he has an unwavering belief in the Santa-like Great Pumpkin. Linus has something of a fractious relationship with Lucy. She often bullies him, but he frequently gets revenge.

Peppermint Patty 

Tomboyish Patty is great at sports and terrible at schoolwork. She coaches a rival baseball team, but has a crush on Charlie, whom she refers to as 'Chuck'. Peppermint Patty isn't the sharpest tool in the box. It took her quite a while to realise that Snoopy is a dog and not a "funny-looking kid with a big nose".

Schroeder 

Charlie's second-best friend and a musical prodigy whose hero is Beethoven. He'd play his toy piano all day if he didn't have to spend so much time fending off attention from Lucy.

Pig Pen

Wherever he goes, Pig-Pen trails a huge cloud of dust. The suspicion is that he's never been acquainted with the notion of bathtime. Some of the other kids tease him for this, but he never loses his cool. As a hero to pint-sized outcasts everywhere, he's always been one of the most popular Peanuts characters.

The Little Red-Haired Girl 

Never actually seen in the original Charlie Brown comic strip except in silhouette, the mysterious little red-haired girl is the object of Charlie's unrequited love. His hopeless longing for this unattainable girl is fuelled by the fact that they've never met. The closest he came was when he worked up the courage to ask her to dance. Alas, Snoopy got there first.

Well, we don't know about you but we've suddenly come over all nostalgic. Check out the trailer for Snoopy and Charlie Brown: The Peanuts Movie, which is released on 21st December.