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.

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.  

You're A Good Man Charlie Brown

Premiered November 6, 1985.

"Did you know that Charlie Brown has never pitched a winning baseball game, never been able to keep a kite in the air, never won a game of checkers and never successfully punted a football? Sometimes I marvel at his consistency."
-Shroeder

I'm dropping my usual format since this special is a bit different from most.  This year marks the 50th anniversary of the premier of the musical You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown, so I thought it would be a good time to revisit the animated TV adaptation.

A little background for those who unfamiliar with the show.  You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown began as a 1966 album of songs based on the comic strip.  It was produced as an Off-Broadway musical in 1967, with dialogue added in between the songs.  It was highly successful and ran until 1971.

This TV special was produced nearly twenty years after the stage show.  As Peanuts historian Nat Gertler notes in the DVD's bonus documentary, this animated special is an adaptation of the Off-Broadway show, which adapted the album, which adapted the comic strip!

You're A Good Man could be described as "Peanuts' Greatest Hits, with songs and dancing!"  There's no unifying story, just a series of vignettes that cover such Peanuts tropes as Charlie Brown's team losing baseball games...

Chuck failing to fly a kite...

The gang struggling to write book reports...

Lucy leaning on Schroeder's piano and expressing love for him...

Charlie Brown pining over the Little Red-Haired Girl, but afraid to talk to her, etc.

One interesting aspect is that since it was produced in the 1980s, we get to see Schroeder using a personal computer to type his book report.

While typing his book report, Schroeder also imagines a video game, so we're treated to animation that depicts 80s-style graphics.

It makes this special an interesting product of its time.

I'm generally not a fan of Broadway musicals.  However, I've seen a live production of You're A Good Man and I've always felt its songs, written by Clark Gesner are pretty good.

The closing song "Happiness" is probably the most famous song of the musical and deservedly so.  It's a nice list of little things that bring smiles to our faces and help us get through tough days.  As an adult, I can tell you that when you've had a bad day "two kinds of ice cream" may not solve all your problems, but they can help you see that tomorrow may be different and better.  It should be noted that since this special runs just under an hour, some songs from the stage musical are not included.

Snoopy gets two numbers, "Supper Time" is my favorite of the pair.

Unlike the stage musical, which cast adults as Charlie Brown and friends, Melendez and Mendelson continue their practice of using children to voice the characters.  All of the voice-actors do a good job with their characters. Charlie Brown has a different voice-actor for speaking and singing parts, with Brad Kesten (who voiced Charlie Brown in several other specials) voicing Chuck's dialogue and Kevin Brando performing the songs.  The creative team did a nice job casting actors with similar voices.

It's worth noting that this is the first time Snoopy gets a "speaking" voice.  In addition to Bill Melendez' usual dog noises, Robert Towers (an adult voice actor) provides the beagle's singing voice, and speaks for Snoopy when we hear his thoughts.  Towers played Snoopy in a stage production and his voice is a good match for the character.

It looks like the producers gave a little more effort than usual, perhaps out of reverence for the musical.  The animation looks great.  There's a particularly beautiful sunset scene where the background looks like watercolor painting.

Availability:
This special has been released on DVD and it's also available for streaming on Amazon and iTunes.

You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown isn't among the best Peanuts specials, but it's a good adaptation of the beloved musical with good voice-actors and better-than-average animation.

J.A. Morris' rating:

3 Sparkys.