What Have We Learned, Charlie Brown?

 Premiered May 30, 1983.

Charlie Brown (Brad Kesten) is adding new pictures to his photo album, including photos from his time as an exchange student in France (as seen in the movie Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (And Don't Come Back!)).  His sister Sally (Stacy Heather Tolkin) mentions that he never told her what happened after he and his friends left the chateau.  Chuck decides it's time to tell Sally about the last part of the trip:

After leaving the chateau, their rental car is involved in a collision and the car falls apart when it reaches the next town.

Snoopy (Bill Melendez) is able to trade it for another car because Marcie tells the rental agent (Monica Parker) that Snoopy is a World War I Flying Ace.  

Unfortunately, the only car available is an old one with a crank-starter.  This leads to Charlie Brown getting injured every time he has to crank the starter.

After a few miles, the gang checks their roadmap and realizes they've taken a wrong turn somewhere.  At nighttime, they stop and camp by the side of the road.  Linus (Jeremy Schoenenberg) feels that there's something familiar about the place and walks down to a nearby beach.  

He realizes it's Omaha Beach in Normandy, site of the famous D-Day allied invasion during World War II!  Linus imagines that he's watching soldiers and planes fight on the beach.

Later on, Linus brings his friends to the beach and tells them of its historical significance.  He leads them to the American cemetery and recalls comments by Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower.  The general stated that the soldiers who stormed the beach did so "not to gain anything for ourselves, not to fulfill any ambitions that America had for conquest, but just to preserve freedom, systems of self-government in the world."  

The gang sees white crosses for miles around them, each cross marking the resting place of someone who died during the invasion.  Since it starts to rain, Linus says they should return to their car.

Sometime later, they are lost again and ask a boy for directions.  He says they're on "the road to Ypres." Linus says that Ypres, Belgium is the site of a famous World War I battle.  They drive to a field of poppy flowers and Linus talks about their significance.  A legend says that when battles are fought, all white poppies turn red, and a white cross can be found at the center of every poppy.

They wander through the field and see WWI-era trenches and the British field dressing station, where Lt. Col. J.M. McCrae wrote the famous war poem "In Flanders Field."   Linus then recites the poem, which begins with these lines:

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

When Charlie Brown has finished recounting this story to Sally, he says Linus asked "what have we learned, Charlie Brown?"  

Review:
Charles Schulz and his collaborators Lee Mendelson and Bill Melendez were particularly proud of What Have We Learned, Charlie Brown, since it paid tribute to fallen soldiers and because it's so beautifully animated.  The special won a Peabody award for "distinguished achievement and meritorious public service."  If it's not obvious from my summary, the question "what have we learned" is also asking all of human kind what it has learned from fighting two world wars.  

It's worth noting that this is the only true sequel to any Peanuts animated film or TV special.  There is very little "continuity" from one special to the next, but What Have We Learned picks up right where Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (And Don't Come Back!) left off.  

I should mention that I had not seen What Have We Learned until a few years ago, so I bring no nostalgia to this review.  I have a degree in history and I've been interested in events that shape the world and boundaries of nations for my whole life.

Marcie (Michael Docker) translates a French inscription at the D-Day memorial.

As a Peanuts fan and a historian, I consider this a good introduction for children of a very serious topic.  I can imagine children watching this special and asking their parents and grandparents about D-Day and the Battle Of Ypres.  If I'd seen this special as a kid, I definitely would've hit the library in search of more information. 

This special contains very serious subject matter for a special aimed at kids.  Schulz and company show that they were up to the task, since the discussion of war never gets heavy-handed and strikes all the right tones.

It's appropriate that Linus is the kid who tells his friends about the battlefields.  He's always been the "emotional center" of animated Peanuts specials, ever since A Charlie Brown Christmas.  When Linus quotes Eisenhower's comments about D-Day, we hear audio of the real Eisenhower's voice (recorded during a 1964 CBS News interview at Normandy).  This adds more weight and depth to the special than simply having Linus speak the words.    

On a lighter note, there's a running gag involving a gaggle of ducks that swarms their car, much to Snoopy's consternation.  The ducks are funny (and funny looking) and provide a nice contrast to the more serious material.  The ducks also don't stick around long enough to wear out their welcome.

The voice actors are all well-cast and "sound like" their characters.  Linus carries the special, so his portrayer Jeremy Schoenenberg has to work harder than any other voice actor in What Have We Learned.  Schoenenberg is great here and he would play Linus in three other specials, plus The Charlie Brown And Snoopy Show.  

I mentioned animation above and it's absolutely gorgeous.  Mendelson, Melendez and their team give us beautiful drawings of cemeteries, beaches and small European towns.  For the depictions of war, Melendez and his animators mix actual rotoscoped WWII combat footage with traditional animation and it looks stunning.  Here's one example

And here's another:

However, What Have We Learned is not without flaws.  Like Bon Voyage, this special includes adults.  Once again, the adults featured here add nothing and they took me out of the special and brought me back to reality whenever they appeared onscreen.  

The other problem is a running gag involving the rental car's crank-starter.  Three times, when the car is started, Charlie Brown injures his hand while cranking the starter.  He doesn't just say "AAUGH!," he screams and writhes in agony, while Peppermint Patty (Victoria Vargas) mocks him.  The crank-related injuries feel extremely out of place in an otherwise great special.  I guess they were going for physical comedy, but it falls flat all three times.  

Music:
The soundtrack of What Have We Learned features music by Judy Munsen (who also worked on Bon Voyage) arranged by Dawn Atkinson.  It mostly consists of flute, piano and synthesizer tunes.  All of the music provides an excellent accompaniment to the special's subject matter.

Availability:
This special has been released on a DVD called Peanuts:Emmy Honored Collection.

I enjoyed What Have We Learned, Charlie Brown for all the reasons stated above Charlie and I recommend it to Peanuts fans of all ages.  It's a wonderful tribute to those who fought and died during the world wars.  Linus' lessons about the wars and the amazing rotoscoped scenes are impressive.  But the appearance of adults and the unfunny crank-starter scenes prevent me from giving it my highest rating.  

J.A. Morris' rating:

3 Sparkys.  

A Boy Named Charlie Brown (1964 documentary)

"Charlie Brown is, I think a little bit like everyone.  We all need reassurance that some people really do like us.  But I guess Charlie Brown is mostly me. That’s why he often has that dumb expression on his face."
-Charles Schulz

This review is a bit of a change from my usual content.  I recently received a DVD of the documentary A Boy Named Charlie Brown (not to be confused with the 1969 theatrical film of the same name) and thought it was worth writing up, since it includes early Peanuts animation and was the first time Charles Schulz, Bill Melendez, Lee Mendelson and Vince Guaraldi collaborated.  

This documentary was produced in 1964 but never aired on television.  It's historically important because without it, all the Charlie Brown specials that followed wouldn't have been produced, or would have been very different.  Melendez and Schulz previously worked together on Ford commercials, but the rest were new collaborators.

A Boy Named Charlie Brown shows us "a day in the life of Charles M. Schulz."  Mendelson and company film Schulz drawing his comic strip, going through fan letters and driving his kids to school.

A high point features footage of Schulz' appearance at Charlie Brown Day, held on May 14, 1964 at Candlestick Park.  Schulz threw out the ceremonial first pitch prior to a game between the San Francisco Giants and New York Mets.

I love these old school Peanuts toys!:

Short animated sequences are shown every few minutes during the film.  It opens with Charlie Brown attempting to play a piano, only to be told his playing is "terrible."

Other animation includes:

Snoopy's attempted theft of Linus' blanket.

Charlie Brown tries to fly a kite.

Lucy pulls the football away when Chuck attempts to kick it!

Schroeder plays piano while Lucy tries to attract his attention.

The animation is a slight step down from the TV specials that followed, but it looks pretty good considering their budget was tiny and the creative team was figuring how to translate the characters into a new medium.  As the screencaps above show, the cartoon segments give us some of Peanuts "greatest hits" up to that point.

At this time, this DVD is only available for purchase at the Charles M. Schulz Museum and the museum's online gift shop.

Since A Boy Named Charlie Brown is different from what I normally feature here, I won't use my usual "Sparky" rating.  However, it's highly recommended for any hardcore fans of Peanuts.

It's A Mystery, Charlie Brown

Premiered February 1, 1974.

Woodstock (Bill Melendez) has built a brand new nest and is very proud of it.

However, disaster soon strikes when his nest disapears!  Woodstock's best friend Snoopy (Melendez again) puts on his detective costume and helps the bird investigate the case of the missing nest.

At the same time, Sally Brown (Lynn Mortensen) is cracking up due to pressures at school.  Her science teacher has assigned Sally to bring in "something from nature" to be used in a science exhibit. Sally vows to show the teacher "the best exhibit she's ever seen!"

Snoopy and Woodstock begin their search for the nest by interrogating Charlie Brown (Todd Barbee).

When that proves fruitless, they visit the homes of Lucy (Melanie Kohn) and Linus (Stephen Shea), Peppermint Patty (Donna Forman), Pigpen (Tom Muller) and Marcy (Jimmy Arens).

Their search comes up empty at every house, and Snoopy is terrorized by Peppermint Patty, who thinks the beagle wants to play "Cops and Robbers."

Their exhaustive investigation leads them to Birchwood School.  They find Woodstock's nest in the science lab.  They learn it was taken by Sally because she needed it for her assignment.

Snoopy rescues the nest and returns it to its proper place.  Woodstock has his nest, but now Sally has nothing for her science class.

Sally decides to sue Woodstock and force him to return the nest.  Woodstock hires Snoopy to represent him as his attorney.  The presiding judge in the case will be none other than Lucy Van Pelt! Lucy converts her psychiatrist booth into a court of law.

How will "Judge Lucy" rule on the case?  Will Woodstock lose his home?  Will Sally flunk her science assignment?

J.A. Morris says:
The plot of It's A Mystery, Charlie Brown is pretty thin, but it's fun and entertaining enough.  This is one of those specials that consists of "Peanuts characters do funny stuff" and that's about it.  But that's okay.

Snoopy's "Sherlock Holmes" costume is amusing.  His interactions with Marcy, Peppermint Patty and the Van Pelt siblings is humorous.  Peppermint Patty is depicted as being a bit crazier than usual and their "Cops and Robbers" game is a high point of the special.

Woodstock gets put through the ringer in the first few minutes.  He loses his nest and is nearly washed away in a rain storm, which might upset some younger viewers.

It's worth noting that Snoopy and Woodstock are the only characters onscreen for the first five minutes.  This means that the only "dialogue" during that time consists of bird and dog noises made by Bill Melendez.  This didn't bother me, but some viewers might find this a bit unnerving.

The animation is excellent, the animators and production team were really hitting their stride when It's A Mystery, Charlie Brown was produced.  The rainstorm that Woodstock encounters is particularly gorgeous.  I love the way storm clouds are drawn to look like they were drawn by a child using the edge of a pencil lead.

The voice actors here are mostly good.  Since Woodstock and Snoopy are the leads, that means Bill Melendez has to do a bit more squawking than usual.  He is more than up to the task.

Music:
It's A Mystery, Charlie Brown was created near the end of  Vince Guaraldi's life, when his music was changing.  The soundtrack features lots of funky, electric guitar and electric keyboard.  Some of it was later re-used in It's the Easter Beagle Charlie Brown. It's not the same music Guaraldi was playing in the early specials, but I love it!

Availability:
This special has been released on the DVD titled Peanuts:The 1970s Collection Vol. 1.  It also streams on Amazon video.

It's a Mystery Charlie Brown is hardly a classic, but it's got enough funny moments and great Guaraldi music to warrant repeated viewings.  Especially recommended for die-hard fans of Woodstock.

J.A. Morris' rating:

.5


3 and a half Sparkys.