Charlie Brown Specials

[Randall]

Sadly, we didn't get the new special in, at least not yet. But here's a review of the 2-movie collection recently released:

http://animatedviews.com/2011/peanuts-d ... come-home/

[Whippet Angel]

Very disappointing indeed. I've been wanting to upgrade my VHS of Snoopy Come Home, for a while, but I've been holding off with the hopes that there would be a better DVD with more features. Guess that won't be anytime soon.

Such a shame that there still hasn't been a DVD release of either of the last two films. Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown was one of my favorites as a kid.

[Randall]

... especially considering that I prefer the final two to the first two!

[Randall]

And here's the latest in Warner's Peanuts marketing: The "Happiness is... Peanuts" line. The first disc in this new line features Snoopy. It's certainly a budget release, but the contents are pretty good:

http://animatedviews.com/2011/happiness ... dventures/

[Randall]

Not quite as good this time around, but okay for a bargain price, perhaps.

http://animatedviews.com/2011/happiness ... snow-days/

[droosan]

The 1980 feature film Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (and Don't Come Back!), released just three months after the premiere of She's a Good Skate, also featured 'adult' speaking roles: a London cabbie, a french schoolteacher, and the Baron -- who remains the only adult actually depicted on-screen, in a Peanuts animated cartoon (albeit, only in silhouette).

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A complete 1980s Peanuts TV special boxed set would include:



She's a Good Skate, Charlie Brown (February, 1980) -- included on the Happiness Is: Snow Days DVD, just released

Life is a Circus, Charlie Brown (October, 1980) -- released; see Randall's note below!

It's Magic, Charlie Brown (April, 1981) -- included as a bonus feature on the Deluxe Remastered It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown DVD, released in 2008

Someday You'll Find Her, Charlie Brown (October, 1981) -- included as a bonus feature on the A Charlie Brown Valentine DVD, released in 2004

A Charlie Brown Celebration (May, 1982) -- hour-long special; unreleased

Is This Goodbye, Charlie Brown? (February, 1983) -- released; see Randall's note below!

It's An Adventure, Charlie Brown (May, 1983) -- unreleased

What Have We Learned, Charlie Brown? (May, 1983) -- unreleased on DVD (I think I have this as a bonus feature somewhere on Laserdisc, though)

It's Flashbeagle, Charlie Brown (April, 1984) -- included as a bonus feature on the Snoopy's Reunion DVD

Snoopy's Getting Married, Charlie Brown (May, 1985) -- included on the Happiness Is: Snoopy's Adventures DVD, released earlier this year

You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown (November, 1985) -- released; see Randall's note below!

Happy New Year, Charlie Brown! (January, 1986) -- released; see Randall's note below!

Snoopy! The Musical (January, 1988) -- animated adaptation of the stage play; unreleased

It's the Girl in the Red Truck, Charlie Brown (October, 1988) -- live-action/animated hybrid TV special starring Schulz' daughter Jill and Snoopy's brother Spike; unreleased


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I can understand why WBHV hasn't been in a 'hurry' to release such a set .. but I'd still like to see it actually happen, someday..!

[Randall]

A few respectful corrections, droo:

Is This Goodbye, CB was on the Christmas Tales disc.

Happy New Year, CB is on Warner's I Want a Dog for Christmas, CB disc.

You're a Good Man, CB got its own DVD release.

Life is a Circus, CB appeared on the DVD for He's Your Dog, Charlie Brown

As for the others, their lack of individual commercial appeal is all the more reason to group them together on one set, which I'd like to see. There really aren't too many left, though, which is nice to see.

[droosan]

Corrected! (and I'm only too glad to learn I was wrong about these)

So, yeah; now I can really see why a 1980s compilation has been slow in coming .. almost all of it is practically available, already..!


Addendum: After a visit to a few local video stores, and an Amazon run, I've now managed to track all of these DVDs down .. so that I can assemble my own 'mostly-complete' Peanuts: 1980s Collection set.

[Daniel]

FYI: Fox is airing the premier of Happiness Is a Warm Blanket Charlie Brown, Thanksgiving night at 8:30pm.

Not one of my favorites... it could've had more heart.

[EricJ]

For some odd reason--I liken it to Disney deliberately trying to "cleanse" the Pooh franchise by make the '11 movie to 60's Sebastian Cabot standards--"Blanket" looked like the makers were deliberately going out of their way to restart the ex-Mendelez franchise under the new "Happiness" brand label by making it look "retro", as if there hadn't been a new special made since the 1965 Christmas.
The jokes were all taken from mid-60's strips, Peppermint Patty didn't exist (she didn't show up in the specials until "All-Stars"), Snoopy was still acting more like a "real" dog instead of Joe Cool, and when was the last time you saw Shermy or Violet? They even went stylistically out of their way to reference the very first 1950 comic strip ("Good ol' Charlie Brown...How I hate him.')

That's nice, but, um...can the next specials work our way back up to the 70's and 80's pretty soon?

[Randall]

I liked the retro charm, myself.

I thought it came off quite well. Of course, being so directly adapted from the strips may have hamstrung the writers more than it really needed to, which might explain a perceived lack of "heart."

[droosan]

Many gag sequences in the Melendez specials -- and especially in The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show -- were direct 'lifts' from the comic strips; that's why they had a "written by Charles M. Schulz" credit screen.

IMO, Happiness is a Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown is a welcome throwback to this traditional method of 'writing' a Peanuts cartoon .. as opposed to the 'history lesson' or 'social issue' stunts which had characterized their last several outings.

I do agree that Peppermint Patty and Marcie were sorely missed .. but I did appreciate seeing Shermy, Patty and Violet again.

And I'd love to see the HiaWB,CB team adapt some of the longer-running continuities from the late-1970s period.

[Randall]

It's been a little while since we've posted a Peanuts review. But here's a nice reason to have a review: The complete series set of The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show!

http://animatedviews.com/2012/the-charl ... ed-series/

[Randall]

Good news! The last two theatrical films are FINALLY coming to DVD!

http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Charli ... rown/20477

[droosan]

Wow wow!!

On October 5th, Varèse Sarabande Records is slated to release the complete Original Soundtrack for It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown on CD..!



This has long been a 'holy grail' item for many Peanuts fans & collectors .. the program features (IMHO) the finest arrangement of the iconic "Linus & Lucy" theme ever performed, with Ronald Lang accompanying the Vince Guaraldi Trio on flute:



An abbreviated ~1-minute-long snippet from this performance was released on Kritzerland's CD soundtrack for A Boy Named Charlie Brown, just last year .. but otherwise, this version of the beloved theme has been 'MIA' on the many Peanuts soundtracks or Guaraldi compilations released, over the decades (and believe me -- I was always lookin' for it).

I'm so stoked to see not only this arrangement -- but the complete soundtrack for the special -- will finally be available for listening pleasure!

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Addendum, with tempered expectations:

There are sample audio clips of some tracks on the Varèse Sarabande product page, linked above .. and it seems most (perhaps all?) of the tracks have some cartoon sound effects 'mixed-in' with the music. Apparently, the master tapes of the original music recording sessions are lost .. and these (sourced, presumably, from the isolated 'music & effects' track for the special's international dubs) are the best available versions that remain.

So, this CD may not be the ideal 'holy grail' item that I'd first imagined it to be .. but I've pre-ordered it, anyway, and look forward to listening to the full album, next month..!