Thanks for the memories!

Excellent, a Must See

Better Late Then Never

Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

With only one day until The Peanuts Movie comes out, I'm writing about the first big- screen adventure the Peanuts gang took for today's review: the 1969 animated feature, A Boy Named Charlie Brown. This is where the unfortunate characteristics of our hopeless protagonist, Charlie Brown, are on full display. The beginning features every unlucky situation he's ever used to. He can't fly a kite, he can't win a baseball game, and he can't kick a football. The one person that loves to mock him of his shortcomings, Lucy Van Pelt, suggests that he not necessary suffers from a lack of luck, but rather from a lack of confidence. Taking her advice into consideration, he ends up winning a class spelling bee, and the next thing he knows, he's traveling to New York to compete in a national spelling bee. The wonderful thing about Charlie Brown is that he resembles a lot of hopeless people with a lack of confidence out there, and I've definitely been in these similar situations many times. This makes A Boy Named Charlie Brown that more special, because on top of its colorful animation, funny writing, original sound effects, and charming soundtrack, its story aims to make our hero relatable to as many of us as possible and provide a little hope for us in the most downer situations.

In 1969, Charles M. Schulz's beloved comic strip "Peanuts" had become so popular, as had the first six half-hour animated television specials based on it, that Schulz and animation director Bill Melendez decided it was time to bring Charlie Brown, Linus, Lucy, Snoopy, and all of their pals to the big screen for their first feature-length movie. The result was the most delightful and wonderful masterpiece "A Boy Named Charlie Brown", which to my mind is not only the best animated special based on Schulz's comic strip, but maybe even the best animated film ever made.The story borrows elements from some of the strips Schulz had previously published, but also introduces a fresh new storyline. Charlie Brown, the classic American un-success story, is still struggling to prove himself to the world, or at least to himself. Yet despite his greatest efforts, he cannot fly a kite, kick a football, or win a baseball game and is deemed a failure by his peers. But when Charlie Brown discovers he has a talent in a spelling bee and soon becomes selected to take place in a national contest, he finds his peers not only supporting him, but depending on him to succeed and he warily wanders in, determined to win for the first time in his life.I guess the most powerful element for me about "A Boy Named Charlie Brown" is that it contained the greatest message in Schulz's strip and the truest emotion in every young child in America or the world for that matter: the strive to prove oneself and facing the daunting possibility that one might not succeed and wondering how the world will respond to a failure.But Schulz, who wrote the screenplay, wisely decides not to let it become an all-out serious drama, for that would lose the spirit of his classic tale, which would run for nearly half a decade. Incorporated into the story is Schulz's more than imaginative and effective sense of humor. Also incorporated is all of the classic elements of "Peanuts." All of the unforgettable characters and traits that people today, almost ten years after Schulz's death, are still in love with. Charlie Brown's inability to kick a football from under Lucy's hand, his failure to fly a kite or win a baseball game, Linus' dependence on his security blanket, Lucy's lovable fuss-budget attitude, her "psychiatric treatment" for poor Charlie Brown and her unrequited love for Schroeder, Sally's for Linus, and of course, the ubiquitous and enigmatic beagle Snoopy performing one awesome performance after another amongst the characters. Although the film is telling a new story for the characters, it does not depart from the never-ending subplots that we love and cherish. Like in the comics, all adults are hidden from view. Their voices are dubbed by a trombone being played with a hand in the horn. The story is about the children, so it focuses on the children.What's more, for one of the few times, the voice casting is absolutely perfect! Sometimes in previous and following specials, Lucy's voice would be too strident, Linus' would be lacking a lisp, Charlie Brown's would be too high, and so forth. But here, every character, every single character, is matched to the child actor perfectly! Peter Robbins, who voiced Charlie Brown in "A Charlie Brown Christmas" (1965) takes the role for the last time and…well, who else could have done it so well? One of the few complaints about the "Peanuts" specials is that the animation is primitive. And yes, it is. Everything is hand-drawn frame-by-frame save for a few rotoscoping shots such as during one of Snoopy's whimsical adventures. But the animation, while primitive, is more than passable, absolutely convincing, it matches Schulz's drawing style so well, and it works. But like with all movies, the strength is not in the look of the picture, but in the story. And "A Boy Named Charlie Brown" scores with both. Every now and again, we see a movie that is so delightful and so wonderful that it leaves a good feeling in your soul that never goes away. And for me at least, "A Boy Named Charlie Brown" was one of them and one of the strongest yet. We follow Charlie Brown so well, because a lot of us can personally identify with him, so that when he's in the national spelling bee, we are rooting for him all the way, hoping that once—just once—he can win and not be a failure in the eyes of his friends.This is the best of the animated "Peanuts" specials. And again, I would even go as far as to say it's the most heart-warming and delightful animated film I've ever seen in my time. And remember, I've seen quite a few.

As a kid, I loved this film when I saw it in the theater and when I saw it years later as an adult, I found it still had a lot to offer. You can't say that about MOST kids' movies! Charlie Brown is, as usual, an outcast and nothing goes right for him when the movie begins. However, when he decides to enter a spelling bee and he wins, he is thrilled because he finally is good at something and the other kids treat him better. He doesn't realize that because he won he will be going to the state competition, and when he does, he's a nervous wreck. However, in the state competition, he comes in second. The kids reward this performance by once again demeaning him by calling him a block-head! Despite the very simple outline I gave above, the film actually has a lot more depth and character development. Plus, being the funky 1960s, the visuals at times are pretty indicative of the era (i.e., splashy and loud).I know he never would have been allowed to do it, but when Charlie Brown came home after having come in second, I really wanted to see him administer a well-deserved butt-kicking to Lucy and the other nasty kids!

This is another of the few Charlie Brown specials/movies that still sticks around in my mind. In fact, there are some scenes that, for one reason or another, still seem as fresh as ever. It's not the best of the specials, but it is a very good way to introduce one not terribly familiar to the Peanuts world because it makes use of almost all of the main characters and their trials, tribulations, quirks, and gifts. Like Charlie Brown's inadequacy with flying a kite, or Lucy's imperative to mess with the kid's head at most turns, or Linus's compulsive need for his blue blanket, or even Schroder's knack at the piano. Some of these revelations of character are charming and funny. The animators also bring some interest and imagination to otherwise unnecessary (story-wise) scenes, like Schroder's piano sequence (as a kid I was a little perplexed but not now) and Snoopy's wonderful ice skating scene in the city. The plot is more for the kids than adults as Charlie Brown competes at the one thing that looks like his knack, the spelling bee, reaching to the highest competition and a chance to make himself no longer an outsider. Some of the songs accompanying the film are less than great and hamper on the amusing scenes. However this doesn't exclude how entertaining the special can be, with every spelling-bee scene worth the watch. And the conclusion is wholly satisfying for anyone in the audience, not a happy one but not compromised either.