The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Thread!

[minor muppetz]

I was just thinking about the ending to Snoopy Come Home, where once Snoopy comes home and everyone is happy, Snoopy decides he wants back everything he gave away (I wonder if he gave those orders to the charities he gave things to), his letter to Charlie Brown telling him that since he gave Charlie Brown nothing CB owes him nothing. For some reason that sounds like an insult, but then again he doesn't owe anything, so he shouldn't be so mad (maybe because the others blamed him... But Snoopy only gave things away to Schroeder and Linus).

I recently found out that Warner Archives recently released the complete Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show on DVD. I'm surprised that it had to be part of Warner Archives. I feel it could have done well at regular retail (I feel a "1980s specials collection" or a "1990s collection" would have been better for Warner Archives).

 

[CensoredAlso]

I was just thinking about the ending to Snoopy Come Home, where once Snoopy comes home and everyone is happy, Snoopy decides he wants back everything he gave away (I wonder if he gave those orders to the charities he gave things to), his letter to Charlie Brown telling him that since he gave Charlie Brown nothing CB owes him nothing. For some reason that sounds like an insult, but then again he doesn't owe anything, so he shouldn't be so mad (maybe because the others blamed him... But Snoopy only gave things away to Schroeder and Linus).

Well it is a bit of an insult in that it's wrong in the first place for Snoopy to ask for any of these gifts back and he's basically acting all snooty saying "Oh it's OK, you owe me nothing!" Lol

 

[minor muppetz]

Well it is a bit of an insult in that it's wrong in the first place for Snoopy to ask for any of these gifts back and he's basically acting all snooty saying "Oh it's OK, you owe me nothing!" Lol

One thing that's odd: Lucy and Sally were there at the time, and Snoopy didn't give them papers telling them they owe him nothing. Just Charlie Brown. Perhaps Snoopy ran out of blank paper (though he was able to type the credits...).

 

[CensoredAlso]

One thing that's odd: Lucy and Sally were there at the time, and Snoopy didn't give them papers telling them they owe him nothing. Just Charlie Brown. Perhaps Snoopy ran out of blank paper (though he was able to type the credits...).

Well it wouldn't be as funny if it was Lucy or Sally, lol.

 

[minor muppetz]

I've been thinking about the various pre-Paramount Home Video releases of Peanuts specials. There is a great Peanuts animation guide which mentions video releases but doesn't seem to talk much about the VHS releases from before the Paramount days (though I'v found that the Peanuts Wiki has information on various video companies). It's interesting how most of the companies that held the video rights would release two specials on one VHS as well as single-special videos (I also recall a three-special release at the video store, containing It's the Great Pumpkin, What a Nightmare, and It Was a Short Summer).

There was a old release of It Was a Short Summer, Charlie Brown that depicted them at the beach on the packaging, even though the special was about them going to camp (though they did swim in one scene). And I saw this video packaging before I knew any details, and became confused when I first read about it taking place at camp.

And an older VHS release of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown had the original poster image on the cover, which means that Patty was part of the group shot even though she's not in the special at all. In fact, it's said that Sally replaced Patty in the special and later performances of the musical because fans aren't as familiar with Patty anymore... But she's in quite a bit of A Charlie Brown Christmas, one of the most broadcast Christmas specials of all-time. Fans should be more aware of her because of this.

I've always noticed that the cover of Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown has seven of the eight main characters in the raft, though one of the visible characters is looking up. I often wonder which one that is... Sally or Marcie? And I guess the other one isn't actually missing, she could very well just be behind one of the other characters and out-of-view.

I also recently saw an old VHS cover of Play It Again, Charlie Brown, and noticed that Schroeder isn't on that cover. And he was a big part of that special. I wonder why he was left out.

 

[minor muppetz]

Anyone notice how some of the animated Peanuts shows seem to have random characters who resemble regular characters?

Like in A Boy Named Charlie Brown, one of the kids in the spelling bee championship (in fact the one who ends up winning) looks just like Schroeder.

And in It's Flashbeagle, Charlie Brown, when Snoopy and Franklin go to the disco, there's another kid who looks exactly like Franklin.

Something else I noticed recently: In A Boy Named Charlie Brown, when Charlie Brown loses Linus blanket, he doesn't seem to feel too guilty about losing Linus's blanket (well, most of the other characters don't really care about the blanket), or concerned about upsetting his best friend. What's up with that?

 

[CensoredAlso]

Charlie Brown's a little out of it at that point. Notice how he randomly spells out words during conversations. He's clearly been studying hard and is slightly sleep deprived, lol.

 

[minor muppetz]

Is it just me, or did the Peanuts specials become more "kiddie" in the 1990s? I haven't seen any of the '90s specials in years, but I remember "It's Spring Training, Charlie Brown" being a bit more juvenile (especially with that one song), while I haven't seen it It's My Best Birthday Ever, Charlie Brown seems like a more childish-special, and after watching the TV Trash review of You're in the Super Bowl, Charlie Brown, I can't really determine the childish level of the special. It's the Pied Piper, Charlie Brown also feels like it's for little kids, as opposed to kids and adults.

For awhile, I've felt that the specials made after Schultz's death weren't too good, and those were based entirely on actual strips Schultz wrote and drew. During Charles Schultz' lifetime he did similar specials (A Charlie Brown Celebration, It's an Adventure Charlie Brown, and most of The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show) and I never saw those as bad (though I feel most of the Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show segments that were NOT based on existing strips - I assume "Snoopy's Robot" and "Giant" were original stories - were not very good). But thinking about it, it seems like the animation in the 2000s specials wasn't that good, while the animation in the earlier specials based on strips was a lot better.

 

[Bliffenstimmers]

The Peanuts specials of the 90s were not quite as sharp as the previous ones, save perhaps for "Why, Charlie Brown, Why?"

"Pied Piper" is my least favorite of the Peanuts specials I've seen, and having seen a lot of them, in my opinion it's the most poorly animated one of the bunch. However, it's interesting to note because it's one of the few Peanuts specials to include on-screen adult characters who don't speak in Guaraldi trombone, as well as one of the earliest to use digital animation as opposed to analog animation.

 

[mr3urious]

That latest one, Happiness is a Warm Blanket, sounds pretty good. I mean, it was written by the creator of Pearls Before Swine, and it uniquely uses the art style of the early '60s strips.