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.

What A Nightmare, Charlie Brown

Premiered February 23, 1978.

Summary:

On a snowy day, Charlie Brown (Liam Martin) tries to get Snoopy (Bill Melendez) to pull him on a sled.

When the beagle isn't interested, Chuck tries to explain how sled dogs in the Arctic pull sleds.  Charlie Brown ends up pulling the sled with Snoopy cracking the whip!

That evening, Snoopy makes several pizzas and a milkshake and consumes it all in one sitting.  When Charlie Brown observes this, he tells Snoopy that he's become too civilized.

Since he ate all the food right before bedtime, the huge meal results in a very scary nightmare for Snoopy.

He dreams he's a sled dog in the Arctic, working with six other dogs pulling a sled.  The dogs are ruled by a man with a whip who isn't very nice to any of the dogs.  The other dogs are much bigger and faster than Snoopy and the beagle is in way over his head.

The sled dogs are mean to Snoopy.  When it's time for food and water, they lunge and growl at him when he attempts to grab some food.  It's a miserable life for Snoopy who is freezing in the arctic cold.

Snoopy gets a break from this torturous life when the dogs' owner stops in a small town.  Snoopy hits the local saloon in search of root beer and a meal.  He sits down at a player piano and is mistaken for a piano player.  This gets the beagle a sandwich, a mug of root beer and lots of tip money.

Snoopy decides to gamble the money in a poker game.  When he has a winning hand of four Aces, his poker face gives him away.  This enrages the other gamblers and a brawl breaks out.  Snoopy seeks a hiding place and winds up on a performance stage, dancing the can-can.  The audience doesn't find him entertaining, so Snoopy is thrown out of the saloon and winds up back on the sled.

Will Snoopy awaken from this horrible nightmare?

Review:

According to the (highly-recommended) book The Art and Making of Peanuts Animation, What A Nightmare Charlie Brown was one of Charles Schulz' favorite specials and was equally beloved by director Bill Melendez.  It was inspired by a Schulz family trip to Alaska where they observed sled dogs.

I can't say that I agree with Schulz.  This special features beautiful animation.  The dogs and the Arctic setting look great.  Plus, Snoopy's interactions with Charlie Brown and his trip to the saloon are enjoyable.  Otherwise, What A Nightmare (bad word-play intended) left me cold.

As I've mentioned in earlier reviews, my favorite Peanuts specials are the ones that feature the cast of characters interacting with each other.  In this special, we get only two of the regular characters and they only share a few minutes of screen time.  The rest of it features only dog barks and the trombone voice of the sled dogs' cruel owner.

Since we witness Snoopy fall asleep, it's obvious that he's dreaming and that he'll be okay in the end.

Bill Melendez provides great dog noises for Snoopy.  Liam Martin is good as Charlie Brown.  This is Martin's only outing as Chuck, but he voiced Linus and Schroeder in other specials, which I believe makes him the only actor to play all three of those characters.

Music:
Ed Bogas composed the music for What A Nightmare.  It's similar to the country-themed score Bogas wrote for Race For Your Life, Charlie Brown (which was released the previous year).  The music is fine for the most part and suitable for the special's arctic setting.  Larry Finlayson sings a humorous song (written by Bogas) about Snoopy's overly-civilized life. 

Availability:
This special streams on Amazon and has been released on a DVD set called Peanuts 1970s Collection, Vol. 2.

What A Nightmare, Charlie Brown is primarily recommended for die-hard Snoopy and like all Peanuts specials from the 1970s, it's worth watching at least once.  But it's small cast of characters and lack of dialogue prevents me from giving it a higher rating.

J.A. Morris' rating:

.5.

2 and a half Sparkys.