Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (And Don't Come Back!)

Premiered May 30, 1980.

Summary:
Charlie Brown (Arrin Skelly) and Linus Van Pelt (Daniel Anderson) are selected to be foreign exchange students and attend a school in France. Chuck's friends Peppermint Patty (Patricia Patts) and Marcie (Casey Carlson) are also sent to France to represent their school.  Chuck also invites Snoopy and Woodstock (both voiced by Bill Melendez).

That same day he's selected to be an exchange student, Charlie Brown receives a letter written in a foreign language he cannot read.  

When Marcie translates it for him, they learn it's from a girl named Violette Honfleur (Roseline Reubens), who invites Chuck to stay with her in France at her home in the Château du Mal Voisin, which means "Chateau Of The Bad Neighbor" in English.  Violette says she's known about Chuck for most of her life, but he's never heard of her. 

The gang flies into London, which gives Snoopy an opportunity to play tennis at Wimbledon. 

They travel by train to Dover where they take a hovercraft ride to France.  

The gang rents a car so Snoopy can drive them to their destination. 

Marcie and Peppermint Patty are dropped off at the home their their host Pierre (Pascale de Barolet), while Linus and Chuck head to the chateau.  Pierre worries that the boys will encounter danger at the Chateau of the Bad Neighbor, because no outsiders ever visit the chateau. 

Charlie Brown, Linus, Snoopy and Woodstock locate the chateau.  It's a very dark and creepy house and no one answers when Chuck knocks on the door.  They're forced to sleep in a stable on a cold, rainy night.  Snoopy and Woodstock sneak off to a nearby pub.

When the boys wake up, they find that someone has left them food and blankets. 

Chuck and friends attend school the next day.  Pierre informs his new friends them that Violette is the ward of a baron (Scott Beach) who never allows guest into his chateau.  Pierre worries that the boys could be in great danger.

Several days pass and Charlie Brown and Linus are still not allowed into the chateau.  When the baron is out, Linus notices a light in a room and decides to investigate.  

He meets Violette, who tells Linus that Chuck's grandfather Silas Brown stayed at the chateau during World War I.  In the middle of Violette's story, the baron suddenly returns and Violette accidently sets the chateau on fire, which endangers her, Linus and everyone nearby!  

Can Linus and Violette be saved?  Will the baron change his un-neighborly ways?  

Review:
First off, Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown has a lot of sentimental value to me.  When my family first got cable TV, this movie was shown over and over again on HBO and I watched it many times.  Which means Bon Voyage was a big part of my childhood. 

Snoopy overpacks for the Transatlantic flight!

It's generally a fun movie that gives all the main characters at least one chance to shine.  Snoopy gets to play tennis and drive around Europe, Marcie gets to show off her French language skills, Peppermint Patty flirts with Pierre, and Linus and Charlie Brown get to save the day at the end when disaster strikes. 

There's a scene (taken straight from the Sunday strip) where Peppermint Patty and Charlie Brown share a desk at school.  This scene also appears in the first episode of The Charlie Brown And Snoopy Show.

It's worth noting that the look of the Chateau of the Bad Neighbor was based on a chateau Charles Schulz stayed in while he was stationed in France during World War II.  

Lucy (Laura Planting) doesn't get much screen time, since she doesn't travel with the others to France.  But she gets to deliver the movie's signature "don't come back" line.

It's also nice to see how beautifully Lee Mendelson, Bill Melendez and company animate European buildings and landscapes. 

Here's how the white cliffs of Dover look in Bon Voyage:

The voice actors are all well-cast and do a nice job portraying their characters.  The actors who play the principal characters also voiced them in You're The Greatest, Charlie Brown and She's A Good Skate, Charlie Brown.  

However, watching this as an adult, I had some problems with Bon Voyage.

Why are there so many adults in this film?  This is something that bothered me when I was a kid.  They don't add anything to the story and as Charles Schulz once said, adults "bring everything back to reality" and take viewers out of the world of the Peanuts characters.  Even the baron, who is always shown in shadow, didn't need to be seen onscreen at all.  In fact, he may have been even more menacing if he was only spoken of.  

Speaking of the baron, the movie never provides any real answers to why he is so hostile.  Why does he want to take "drastic action" to force Linus and Chuck to leave the chateau?  Are we meant to think he is inhospitable to visitors because Charlie Brown's grandfather stopped writing letters?  Are we supposed to forget that Snoopy overhears that the baron plans to do terrible things to Linus and Chuck shortly before events force him to change his wicked ways?  Was he just "born evil?"  

Maybe more detail was cut from the script that would've shown why the baron is a misanthropic recluse.  The film could have devoted more time towards explaining the baron's attitude instead of giving us the Chuck and Peppermint Patty desk scene, which doesn't add a lot.   

Music:
Like most of the animated specials produced around this time, Bon Voyage features music by Ed Bogas and Judy Munsen.  It's solid music, we get a nice combination of funk, jazz and lush orchestral string arrangements.  Chuck and Linus' arrival at the chateau is accompanied by menacing music that's reminiscent of the James Bond theme.  

When Charlie Brown is looking out the window of a train that's travelling across England, we hear a song called "I Want To Remember This."  It's a nice song (performed by the Munsen and Bogas) that expresses the importance of "taking in" your surroundings when visiting new places, something I try to do whenever I travel.  

While Snoopy is drinking root beer at the pub, he plays a selection of WWII-era pop songs on the jukebox, which include "Sentimental Journey" and "I'll Be Seeing You."  I'm guessing these were songs Schulz enjoyed during the war.  

Snoopy dances to popular songs from the 1940s.

Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (And Don't Come Back!) is beautifully animated and has some fun moments, plus it's always interesting to see Charlie Brown and friends in an unusual environment.  I will always enjoy it since it was part of my childhood, and every Peanuts fan should watch it at least once, but the inclusion of adults and weak motivation for the baron prevents me from giving it a higher rating.

Availability:
This movie is available on Blu-Ray and DVD and is available to stream on multiple sites.

J.A. Morris' rating:

.5

2 and a half Sparkys.

Next up:Did you know Bon Voyage had a sequel?  Check back tomorrow for my review of What Have We Learned, Charlie Brown!