Charlie Brown Specials

[gaastra]

Almost time for the halloween special. Family plans to watch it this year.

[Daniel]

Yep, this Sunday! You better run!

[Daniel]

A reminder that "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" is airing this Sunday, November 21 on PBS.

[James]

A reminder that "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" is airing this Sunday, November 21 on PBS.

Great reminder there! For those with Apple TV+ you can watch it anytime here: https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/a-charlie ... f4dc3yeyms

[Randall]

Kinda random, but I finally picked up my mom's copy of It's the Pied Piper, Charlie Brown this past weekend, and watched it for the first time. Hard to believe, in a way, that I never owned it; but it came out before I got all the Charlie Brown DVDs as screeners from either Paramount or Warner. It's now something of as collector's item, as it has been out of print for a while.

And as I heard, it was pretty bizarre, in terms of departing from the norm: Based on a literary source, and loads of adults, speaking in regular speaking voices! So weird that it ever got produced. Not too bad overall, otherwise, but also not too remarkable other than its unique status, and being the last one that Schulz created while he was alive. It was good to see interview footage of him on the disc, too.

[Daniel]

Yeah, I only owned the Pied Piper special on VHS. Never really got revisited so never bothered with the DVD. Kind of a regret but like all things I'm sure it will get released again.

[EricJ]

The Pied Piper IS bizarre, but only because it keeps having scenes--like the town mayors singing barbershop, the rats Riverdancing, or the kids dancing around Snoopy's doghouse--that just sort of...hang there in space for two minutes after we already got the punchline.
Sort of suggesting "Something else funny was supposed to happen here, but just stall, and talk among yourselves while we try to remember."

It definitely looks like the last of the Schulz-written specials, and not in the good way.

(And we can only hope Warner will go back to the non-holiday Peanuts DVD well, after the sales of the Decade boxsets, but I choose not to frustrate myself.)

[Ben]

I wonder how many physical releases we will see at all now that Apple pulls the strings…

[Daniel]

Reminder that "A Charlie Brown Christmas" is airing this Sunday, December 19th on PBS.

[droosan]

I just received my copy of Craft Records' Original Soundtrack Recording of It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown in the mail today.
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GreatPumpkinOST.jpg (49.61 KiB) Viewed 14723 times

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If that seems like a bit of déjà vu .. you're forgiven; Craft Records released an album titled Music From The Soundtrack of It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown in 2018 -- which featured exactly this same cover art!

The previous album was roundly (and rightly) criticized as not being a soundtrack, so much as simply the 'music & sound effects' mix for the TV special. Those sound effects (and the 'abrupt cut' nature of the special's video editing) detracted from the listening experience of the music itself -- which had never been previously released on records, tape or CDs .. because the original recording sessions had been lost.

During the pandemic, the master tapes for the It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown recording session were finally found .. in a box mislabeled "Big Pumpkin Charlie Brown".

This is the true soundtrack record this special has long deserved .. and more! Several 'alternate' takes of each major theme are included. The music is blissfully 'sound-effects-free', and each track progresses to a logical musical conclusion (rather than stopping abruptly, as in the previous album).

The fact that Craft Records has issued this 'corrected' soundtrack album with the same cover art as its 2018 release is likely to cause some confusion on the secondary market, though! Even the interior liner notes cover art is the same (though, the liner notes content is different, at least).

The 2022 release can be identified by the words "Original Soundtrack Recording" at the top of the front cover; the 2018 release says "Music From The Soundtrack" there, instead.

The 2022 album has 24 tracks .. while the 2018 album had just 17.

Regardless, this is the soundtrack album I've always wanted for this TV special .. and I couldn't be happier.

It was well-worth the extended wait .. and the efforts of everyone who rediscovered and presented these long-sought-after recordings are much appreciated.

[Randall]

Good to know!

[Daniel]

I remember reading about this and wanting to mention it knowing how stoked you were for the last release. Glad you found out and got it! A real holy grail.

[Ben]

Sometimes M&E tracks are the best they have after many years — and it’s better than nothing — but it’s always amazing and heartening when discoveries like this remind us that even "lost" elements can be recovered sometimes, somewhere, somehow. Nowadays things are more documented, backed up and safety protected, making these kinds of finds all the more fortuitous. Glad you’re able to replace that initial offering with a true restored soundtrack option.

[Daniel]

One of the vinyl's being offered is pumpkin shaped:



How cute!

[Ben]

That is lovely!