This Is America, Charlie Brown:"The NASA Space Station"

Premiered November 11, 1988.

America's next space station will be launched in the mid-1990s.  It will carry a crew of 8 and the 8 will be together for 90 days.  

-Linus Van Pelt

Summary:
Linus Van Pelt (Brandon Stewart) and Charlie Brown (Erin Chase) are working on a project for school. They have been assigned to build a model of the International Space Station (ISS), which will open in the 1990s.  Chuck's dog Snoopy is also in the process of building...something.  

When Linus goes to sleep, he dreams that he is an astronaut working on the ISS as a scientist. 

Charlie Brown is also working on the station.  They're joined by their friends Franklin (Grant Gelt) and Peppermint Patty (Jason Mendelson) and Chuck's sister Sally (Brittany Thornton).  Their commander is none other than Linus' sister Lucy (Erica Gayle)!  She calls her command status "one small step toward becoming a queen." 

Each astronaut plays a special, defined role:
Peppermint Patty serves as the station's exercise instructor. 

Charlie Brown is their cook and photographer. 

Sally conducts onboard experiments.  

Franklin, a social scientist, will observe how living in the station impacts the astronauts.  

Snoopy (Bill Melendez) serves as the space station's operator.  

Pigpen conducts tests outside the space station.   

Woodstock (Melendez) is onboard the station in order to test how birds fly in a zero gravity atmosphere.  

They will serve on the station for 90 days.  Lucy says that since is he is commander, everyone must do as she says.  Franklin worries that if an emergency strikes, the crew will be unable to deal with it.  

The crew of the ISS is interviewed live on TV by news anchor Jason Welker (Frank Welker). The astronauts show Welker many devices that are used on the station. 

Everything seems to be going well at the ISS, but suddenly the station is struck by a meteorite!  It damages the station's truss structure and has broken one of its solar panels.  When Lucy calls for volunteers to repair the ISS, Snoopy steps forward.  Charlie Brown joins him, believing he can't let his dog go out in to space alone.  

It's a very dangerous mission and even mission control doesn't have a lot of faith in Chuck and Snoopy.  

Will Snoopy and Charlie Brown succeed in saving the International Space Station?  Or will Linus' dream of being an astronaut turn into a nightmare?

Review:
This is an overall good special, even if the plot is razor-thin.

One of the interesting aspects of This Is America is that it placed the Peanuts characters in unusual settings.  It's fun to see Charlie Brown and the others in space and working on the ISS.  This episode is also interesting because it was produced before the International Space Station was operational.  The ISS would eventually be launched on November 20, 1998, ten years after this aired.

"The NASA Space Station" has lots of fun scenes that focus on how the zero gravity setting impacts the characters.  These include Linus' hair standing straight up, which is amusing.  What makes it even funnier is that no other character ever mentions it!  Lucy gets Charlie Brown to try to kick the football.  When he (SPOILER ALERT!) misses, he ends up bouncing all over the space station.  

However, I some issues with "The NASA Space Station."  It includes the presence of adult characters, who always feel out of place alongside Charlie Brown and friends.  News reports of  the Peanuts gang's space exploration are anchored by a reporter named Jason Welker.  

The crew also interacts with NASA's Mission Control, which is made up of adults.  

This is completely unnecessary.  This special depicts the Peanuts kids as adults, why couldn't it have also featured children as news anchors or working in Mission Control? 

During one of Welker's newscasts, we're told Snoopy has gone on more space missions than anyone else on the space station.  This is (likely) a reference to the Peanuts characters' history with NASA.  In 1969, NASA's Apollo 10 mission used Charlie Brown and Snoopy's names as call-signs and the mission's lunar module was named Snoopy.  Charles Schulz also drew artwork for the mission and Snoopy became NASA's mascot for safety.  

Apollo 10 Commander Tom Stafford touches Snoopy's nose for luck before before he's rocketed into space.

The voice cast is most of the same kids who voiced the characters in the other episodes of This Is America.  They're all well-cast and they sound great in this special.

Cartoon voice legend Frank Welker voices Jason Welker.  Welker is fine here, even if his presence doesn't make me any more receptive to adults appearing in Peanuts specials.  

It's worth noting that "Jason Welker" looks a bit like legendary CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite.  

During his long career, Cronkite was very enthusiastic about covering space launches and in 2006, he became the only non-NASA individual to receive NASA's Ambassador of Exploration Award.

Walter Cronkite holds a model of a lunar module while covering the 1969 moon landing.

Music:

Dave Brubeck composed new music for this special.  Brubeck was one of the greatest jazz pianists of the 20th century and his music here is excellent.  It's worth noting that Brubeck was Lee Mendelson's first choice to create music for Charlie Brown specials before Vince Guaraldi eventually got the job.  In addition to the new music, Brubeck and his group also puts their own spin on Guaraldi's classic "Linus And Lucy."  

Availability:
"The NASA Space Station" has been released on as part of the This Is America, Charlie Brown DVD set. 

This Is America, Charlie Brown:"The NASA Space Station" is an enjoyable special and kids who are interested in space will especially enjoy seeing Chuck, Snoopy and the gang bounce around a space station.  The presence of adults prevents means it gets a one-Sparky deduction from me.

J.A. Morris' rating:

3 Sparkys.

You're In The Super Bowl, Charlie Brown.

Premiered January 18, 1994.

Marcie:I'm not sure I'd want to go to the Splendid Bowl, sir.
Peppermint Patty:Super Bowl, Marcie!

The Animal Football Legue (AFL) season is winding down.  Snoopy (Bill Melendez) is coaching his Bouncy Birdies in a game that will decide the winner of the AFL's Eastern Division.

The Birds easily defeat a team of cats.

Coach Snoopy is rewarded with the Division Championship trophy and a bath of Chirpade!

Later, Lucy (Molly Dunham) is trying to get Charlie Brown (Jimmy Guardino) to fall for her "kick the ball" gag.  Peppermint Patty (Haley Peel) arrives and interrupts them with some exciting news.

She's learned of a Punt, Pass and Kick skills contest.  The winner will receive a new bicycle and a trip to the Super Bowl.  Chuck and the others are excited and decide to enter the competition.

While practicing for the contest, Linus and Charlie Brown, meet a girl named Melody Melody (Crystal Kuns) and invite her to join them at an ice cream parlor.

It's obvious that both Chuck and Linus are both smitten with Melody.  She tells the boys she has confidence in them and will be rooting for them during the competition.

Later, during halftime of a football game, it's time for the Punt, Pass and Kick contest.  The boys see Melody in the crowd.  Linus thinks she's come to watch him, while Charlie Brown presumes she's there to see him.

All the kids are representing different NFL teams and wearing their helmets.

Lucy is the first competitor, wearing a Raiders helmet.

Next up is Franklin, representing the Houston Oilers...

...followed by Peppermint Patty, representing the Broncos.

Pigpen competes in a Green Bay helmet.

Marcie wears Washington's burgundy and gold.  She does okay with passing, but feels kicking the ball would be cruel.

Charlie Brown, showing off his 49ers uniform, does great and takes the lead in the contest.

Peppermint Patty believes Chuck has won, but Linus, wearing a Rams helmet, beats his friend by a few inches.

Linus thinks he's won a trip to the Super Bowl and a new bike, but it turns out there's one more surprise competitor.

Meanwhile, Coach Snoopy is preparing his Bouncy Birdies to face the Beastly Bisons in the Animal Football League championship game.

The Birds come out fired up and take a 14-0 lead.  Lucy isn't impressed and suggests Snoopy should call more "modern" plays.

Who will win the Punt, Pass and Kick contest?  Can Snoopy's team of birds defeat the Bisons and win the championship?

Review:
I had not seen You're In The Super Bowl, Charlie Brown until now.  It's a decent special built around a sporting competition, even if the story is a bit thin.  The animation looks great, especially during the Punt, Pass and Kick contest.

While Charlie Brown doesn't win, it's somewhat refreshing to see him depicted as a good athlete.

In real life Punt, Pass and Kick competitions, kids wear official NFL team.  So their inclusion adds a bit of realism to the special.  It's interesting to note that Franklin wears the colors of the Houston Oilers, a team that doesn't exist today.  They've since moved to Nashville and changed their name to the Titans.

Lucy represents the Raiders in the contest.  Historically, the Raiders have been considered by some to be a "bad guy" team, so it makes sense that Lucy wears their colors.

During the football games, the bird players are given humorous names.  When the birds play the dogs, the announcer mentions players named Unitas, Namath and Csonka, which are names of Hall Of Fame football players.

The bird players are given Presidential names like Tyler, Fillmore and Van Buren when they face off against the Bison.

The football game scenes in this special are entertaining and they contain lots of action.  But the game portions rely on lots of recycled animation.  The opening game against the Cats re-uses the same footage at least four times.  In fact, all three games feature the same footage, with  different animal opponents added. Such overuse of animation gets distracting and a bit annoying after a while. I also recognized footage of cheerleaders that was taken from It's Your First Kiss, Charlie Brown, Charlie Brown's previous gridiron-themed special.

But the biggest problem I had was the ending.  You're In The Super Bowl just sort just...ends.  I found myself saying "is that it?" the first time I watched the special.  It even feels unfinished.  But I don't think it's a bad special, just sort of middling.

The voice actors are all good, they "sound like" their characters should sound.  Jimmy Guardino is especially convincing as Charlie Brown.  This special is Guardino's only acting credit, it's a shame he didn't voice Charlie Brown in future Peanuts productions.

During the football scenes, the action is described by a sports announcer voiced by Steve Stoliar.  In addition to some voice-acting work, Stoliar has written for television series and produced documentaries. He first gained notoriety when he worked as Groucho Marx's secretary and archivist during the legendary comedian's final years.  Fans of Groucho should read Stoliar's book Raised Eyebrows (I highly recommend the book) and visit him online at stevestoliar.com.

The Birds celebrate a fumble recovery!

Music:
David Benoit provides the score here, it's all newly recorded versions of Vince Guaraldi's classic tunes.  Guaraldi's "Charlie Brown Theme" is performed in a nice up-tempo horn-based arrangement, which makes it sound like a football fight song.  "Peppermint Patty's Theme" is used to accompany Linus and Chuck's football practice. Slowed-down performances of "Charlie Brown And His All Stars" and "Surfin' Snoopy" serve as the soundtrack for the Punt, Pass and Kick contest.  Nice work by Benoit.

Availability:
This special has never been released on DVD.  That's likely due to the inclusion of real NFL team logos.  Current rights holders would need to make a new deal with the league for any possible reissue.  However, you can still find copies of the VHS at libraries (which is how found my review copy) and you can buy used copies from online vendors.

Lucy gets a bath of Chirpade!

You're In The Super Bowl, Charlie Brown is a decent special with some entertaining action.  If you're a Peanuts fan who also enjoys NFL football, it's worth watching at least once.  But its overdependence on recycled animation and thin plot keep it from receiving a higher rating.

J.A. Morris' rating:

.5

 2 and a half Sparkys.