Play It Again, Charlie Brown

Premiered March 28, 1971.
Lucy:Schroeder, do piano players make a lot of money?
Schroeder:MONEY!  Who cares about money?  This is art!

Lucy Van Pelt (Pamelyn Ferdin) has got it bad.  She is "in love" with Schroeder (Danny Hjeim) and is constantly stopping by his house and telling him how much she likes him.  But Schroeder barely acknowledges her existence, other than to tell Lucy he doesn't like her.  He's only interested in playing Beethoven's music on his piano.

Sally (Hilary Momberger) tells Lucy that "the only way to attract older men is to flatter them."  Lucy takes this advice to heart and tells Schroeder he's cute.  Schroeder ignores her and keeps playing his piano.  

Lucy tells Snoopy (Bill Melendez) about her romantic problems.  The beagle tells her (through his gestures) that she should cut to the chase and give Schroeder a kiss.  Schroeder responds to her kiss by crying out for hot water and iodine!

When Lucy is about to throw in the towel, Peppermint Patty (Christopher DeFaria) has an idea that gives her hope.  

The local PTA is holding a benefit and Peppermint Patty is responsible for booking entertainment.  She tells Lucy that Schroeder can provide live music and Lucy can take credit for setting up his professional debut.

Schroeder is grateful for this and tells Lucy she is "nice" for arranging his first paying gig.  Lucy is on top of the world when Schroeder thanks her.  But Peppermint Patty has some bad news.  Schroeder will not be allowed to play classical music.  The PTA wants a rock concert.

Charlie Brown (Chris Inglis) has a solution to this problem.  He has a rock trio that can serve as Schroeder's back-up band.  But Schroeder isn't interested in playing rock music.  Charlie Brown begs him to reconsider and think of how everyone will be disappointed if he doesn't play.  

Schroeder changes his mind and decides to play rock at the benefit show.  But he feels that he's sold out.

Has Schroeder sold out?  Will he go through with the concert?

J.A. Morris says:
Play It Again, Charlie Brown is another fun special that was rarely shown on tv.  If nothing else, it's noteworthy as one of the few specials that relegates Charlie Brown to a supporting role.  He doesn't even appear onscreen until the 8-minute mark of this special.

Schroeder looks to Beethoven for guidance.

Another unique aspect is that Charlie Brown gets to be sort of "cool" in Play It Again.  He's the lead guitarist in a combo with Pigpen on drums and Snoopy on bass.  Even Lucy, who is usually Chuck's biggest detractor, dances to the music played by his band.  

Schroeder expresses his dislike for rock music, while Lucy dances.

It might sound silly to speculate about the lives of fictional characters when they're "off camera."  But I'd like to think this means Charlie Brown has friends who appreciate his "musical" side and don't call him a blockhead. 

Lucy has a line where she says the women's liberation movement will take away her membership if they "ever found out how I throw myself at that man!"  This is the sort of cultural reference that could only occur in the 1970s.  Some might feel that this line dates Play It Again, but as a historian, I appreciate the "period" detail.

In a case of role-reversal, Lucy seeks psychiatric help!

There's a strange and funny running gag about spray cans in Play It Again.  Lucy tells Schroeder that "Beethoven comes in spray cans" and we hear Beethoven's 5th symphony emanate from a spray can!  I guess it's a comment about the disposable nature of modern music?  It's very strange, almost surreal and not the sort of thing I can recall seeing in other Peanuts specials.  But I like it!

 
If I have any problem with Play It Again, Charlie Brown, it's the pacing.  The special is more than half over before we hear about the PTA benefit concert.  Before that, it's just a series of vignettes. That doesn't make it bad at all, it just means it's a notch below the best Charlie Brown animated offerings.   

Frieda (Lynda Mendelson) makes a brief cameo...

...and pays a price for not knowing who Beethoven was.

All of the voice actors do a fine job.  Lucy is more pouty than mean in this special and Pamelyn Ferdin does a great job delivering the pouty-ness.  Danny Hjeim is also fine as Schroeder.  

This was the first Peanuts animation that did not feature Peter Robbins as Charlie Brown.  Perhaps that's why the creative team decided to build a special around other characters?  In any event, Chris Inglis (in his only outing as Charlie Brown) makes a good Chuck.  Inglis is especially convincing when he says "think of your ol' manager!" while begging Schroeder to play with his rock band. 

Music:
John Scott Trotter is credited as arranger of Vince Guaraldi's music here.  Play It Again is the first special that featured Guaraldi's music played on electric instruments.  It's a big change from earlier specials, but it sounds great to me.  Trotter wrote the music played by Charlie Brown's combo and it's a catchy rock 'n roll instrumental. 

But the real musical star of Play It Again, Charlie Brown is Ludwig Van Beethoven.  We get samples from nine of Beethoven's works.  Schroeder's piano solos were wonderfully performed by Lillian Steuber.  She was a renowned concert pianist and a music professor at University of Southern California.  

Availability:
This special can be found on a dvd called Peanuts 1970s Collection Vol 1 and it also streams on iTunes.

Snoopy and Linus (Stephen Shea) dance up a storm, much to the dismay of Lucy.

Play It Again, Charlie Brown is an enjoyable special filled with great music and quirky humor.  It's recommended to all Peanuts fans, especially those who love the Lucy/Schroeder dynamic. 

  J.A. Morris' rating:

 


 .5

 
3 and a half Sparkys.

This Is America, Charlie Brown:The Birth of the Constitution

Premiered October 28, 1988.
Charlie Brown:Just what's this convention all about, Linus?
Linus:Well, the way I understand it, for the past 10 years, our country has been run under the rules of something called the Articles of Confederation.  But things haven't worked out too well.
Charlie Brown:They haven't?

Dateline:Philadelphia, May 25 1787.  A delegation of various officials from all 13 states have gathered for a Constitutional Convention.

Charlie Brown watches George Washington arrive in Philadelphia.

Linus (Jeremy Miller) gets Charlie Brown (Jason Riffle) and Sally (Christina Lange) to the Pennsylvania State House to clean it up before the delegates arrive.  Linus assigns duties to all of the kids.  Peppermint Patty (Jason Mendelson) and Marcie (Keri Houlihan) are tasked with bringing water to the delegates.  Snoopy (Bill Melendez) serves as their watchdog, guarding the secret convention from the public.

Lucy's (Ami Foster) job is to mop the floors.  She's not happy about that.  Sally has to keep ink wells filled.  Chuck is the "outside man," in charge of cleaning outside and "valet parking."  Linus works as an usher and also informs the other kids about what's happening inside the convention.

Linus explains that the purpose of the convention is to create a new form of government for the states.  The Articles Of Confederation have been the law of the land since the end of the revolution, but a new direction is needed.  He tells his friends that the delegates have a myriad of views about which form of government is best.  Some of the men want a strong central government, others believe the states should have more power, some want a king to head the new nation.

Linus explains the purpose of the convention.

During the delegates' deliberation, Linus is the only kid who gets to listen in person.  The convention if filled with many intense debates.  Roger Sherman doesn't want the new House of Representatives to be elected directly by the people.  Others, such as George Mason and James Madison disagree with Sherman

Delegates engage in a debate at the Constitutional Convention.

Debate about the country's chief executive is equally spirited.  Some advocate for a strong head of state, others argue for 3 heads of state, and other delegates favor an executive who carries out the will of the legislature.  Linus tells Peppermint Patty and Marcie that the delegates seem to disagree about everything.  He worries that if the delegates can't find compromise the whole convention will be a failure.

Outside the meeting hall, Charlie Brown spends his free time creating new games.  One such activity involves hitting a ball with a stick and running to a tree before Lucy can retrieve the ball.  Lucy says it's a dumbest game she's ever heard of.

Weeks go by and turn into months and the delegates still can't reach agreements.  The deliberations drag on into mid-September.  Will they finally reach an agreement and create a new Constitution?

Plus, Charlie Brown lends his kite to Benjamin Franklin!

Review:
This Birth Of The Constitution is a good special, but it works better as entertainment than history.  For instance, the story takes place in 1787 and we see Ben Franklin conduct his kite-electricity experiment.  Franklin published his account of this experiment in 1752, not during the Constitutional Convention (recent research indicates that he might not have actually conducted the experiment himself, but that's another story).

Woodstock & Snoopy clown around in powdered wigs.

 We see lots of debates during the Constitutional Convention.  But with the exception of Franklin and George Washington, we are never told anything about the other delegates or who they are.  Sure, when one of them is identified as "Mr. Madison," it's easy to figure out that it's James Madison.

But who is "Mr. Wilson?"  How many school kids (or adults, for that matter) could tell you that he was James Wilson of Pennsylvania (who also served in the Continental Congress and was one of the first Supreme Court Justices)?  When I was a kid, this sort of thing would have bothered me.
Having said that, I believe The Birth Of The Constitution could be useful to little kids as an introduction to an important moment in the history of the United States. 

Peppermint Patty writes a letter to her grandmother.

I generally don't like to see adults present in Charlie Brown animation.  I'm not crazy about their appearances here, but I'll make some allowances for This Is America, since it's meant to be educational.

Perhaps the best history shown in The Birth Of The Constitution is Charlie Brown's daily life.  We see him and Snoopy performing tons of daily tasks, inside the house and out on the land.  Chuck complains that working is all he ever does.  I figure the creative team wanted to show how much manual labor the average kids had to do in 1787.

In spite of its historical shortcomings, this is still an entertaining special.  It's fun to see Charlie Brown and the others interact in a story set in the 18th century.  Chuck's "invention" of modern sports is fun to watch, as is the predictable result when he asks Lucy to hold a ball for him to kick.

As usual, Snoopy and Woodstock get a few moments of humor.  They even get to reenact Washington's crossing of the Delaware River.

The voice actors are all well-cast and do a solid job performing their characters.  

Music:
After Vince Guaraldi died, the Peanuts specials shifted away from piano jazz soundtrack music and the creative team hired new composers.  This Is America, Charlie Brown returned Chuck and his friends to their "jazz roots."

Pianist George Winston handles the soundtrack duties here, it includes some new tunes and some nice re-recordings of Vince Guaraldi's music.  Winston plays a nice harpsichord version of "Linus And Lucy."  He also performs piano jazz arrangements of 18th Century patriotic songs like "Yankee Doodle."

A nice musical surprise is the inclusion of "Cast Your Fate To The Wind."  For those who don't know, this was Guaraldi's breakthrough recording, released on his 1962 album Jazz Impressions Of Black Orpheus.  If you're not familiar with this tune, give it a listen here:

The Birth Of The Constitution is the first time "Cast Your Fate To Wind" appeared on a Charlie Brown special.  Winston's performance of the tune plays during a spirited debate between delegates and it works nicely in this context.

Availability:
This special is available on dvd and also can be streamed on Amazon and iTunes.

After the delegates reach an agreement, Linus reads the Preamble to the other kids.

This Is America Charlie Brown:The Birth Of The Constitution is a good special with a bit of educational value and some great piano (and harpsichord) music, but it's not up there with the classics.

.5

2 and a half Sparkys.

Someday You'll Find Her, Charlie Brown

Premiered October 30, 1981.
Charlie Brown:I've fallen in love!
Linus:The trouble with you Charlie Brown is that you fall in love all the time.  Every week you fall in love!
Charlie Brown:Not this time, this is different.  There won't be another time like this time ever.  I can't go through life knowing that somewhere there's a girl meant for me and that I never got to meet her.

Charlie Brown (Grant Wehr) and Linus (Rocky Reilly) are watching a football game on television.  The TV camera pans the crowd in the stadium and and a girl appears on the screen in a "honey shot."  Chuck sees her and immediately tells Linus he's fallen in love with the girl.

He decides he will do anything to meet her and begins searching the next day.  Linus agrees to help him, Snoopy (Bill Melendez) and Woodstock (Melendez) accompany the boys on their search.

Their first stop is the stadium, since Charlie Brown remembers the section where the girl was sitting. The stadium staff doesn't know who sat there, so they direct the boys to the season ticket office.

That leads them to a house where the ticket holders live.  Chuck is too shy to go to the door and asks Linus to do it.  A girl (Nicole Eggert) answers the door and she's interested when Linus tells her Charlie Brown has a crush on her.  Chuck signals to Linus that this is the wrong girl.  The boys learn that this girl was not at the game, but a relative used her family's tickets.

They visit the relative's house.  For the second time, Charlie Brown gets Linus to do the talking.  Once again, they find a girl, but not the right girl.  This girl (Melissa Strawmeyer) is a teenager, much older than the girl Chuck saw on TV.  This girl is also interested when she hears someone is in love with her, but she tells them to take off when she sees Charlie Brown is a "little kid."

Before they depart, the teen girl gives them another lead.  She says they should visit Happy Valley Farm, which is out in the country.  Charlie Brown is ready to give up, but Linus talks him into continuing the quest.

When Chuck and friends arrive at Happy Valley, They encounter a rather fierce bobcat!

Linus eventually knocks on the door and a girl (Jennifer Gaffin) answers.  Charlie Brown recognizes her from the game and tries to signal to Linus.  But Linus is too distracted when he realizes this girl also has a security blanket!

We learn her name is Mary Jo and they hit it off immediately.  Chuck signals that this is the girl he saw on television, but Linus is oblivious and is invited into Mary Jo's home.  Charlie Brown waits outside, hoping Linus is telling Mary Jo about him.

Will Linus tell Mary Jo how Charlie Brown feels about her?  Will Charlie Brown summon up the courage to tell her himself?

Review:
I'll just cut to the chase and say this is the weakest Charlie Brown special I've seen since I started this blog.  Charlie Brown comes off as borderline creepy and obsessed in Someday You'll Find Her, Charlie Brown.

Is it believable that someone could fall "in love" with someone they saw for a few seconds and hadn't even met?  Yes, but it would have been a good time for Linus (usually the most introspective member of the Peanuts cast) to explain the difference between love and infatuation.  Linus briefly mentions that Chuck falls "in love every week," but that's the only nod to sanity here.

It's also somewhat disturbing to hear Charlie Brown use the phrase "honey shot."  If you've never heard of that before, a honey shot is a term used in sports broadcasting for closeups of attractive women in the crowd.  This first came to prominence in football games in the 1970s, most notably on Monday Night Football.

Making matters worse, the only regular Peanuts cast members featured are Charlie Brown, Linus, Snoopy and Woodstock.   I love those characters, but part of the fun of these specials is watching them interact with other characters.  We don't get to see Sally, no Peppermint Patty, No Lucy, no Schroeder, etc.

Around the time this special first aired, I remember several Charlie Brown specials that featured appearances by adults.  Someday You'll Find Her gives us this scene:

The inclusion of adults adds nothing but distraction.  Charles Schulz once told an interviewer that having adults show up would "bring everything back to reality."  Once the adults were seen onscreen, it made me wonder how Charlie Brown's parents would feel about the boys going way out in the country by themselves?  Would they be worried?  Linus and Chuck also encounter a teenager, who also seems out of place in the Peanuts universe.

There's a bit of a plot hole in Someday You'll Find Her.  When the boys arrive at Happy Valley Farm, Snoopy and Woodstock are already there.  Charlie Brown is surprised and wonders what they're doing out in the country.  How did they get there?  How did they learn the girl from the game lived at Happy Valley?

But it's not all bad.  The animation is excellent in this special, very vibrant for a special that was produced three decades ago.  Snoopy's fight with the bobcat gives us some great action scenes.

And the beagle also has some funny scenes where he attempts to navigate a cattle guard.

Near the end of the special, Charlie Brown walks home alone heartbroken in a dreamlike state.  The animation switches to a beautiful watercolor style.

Snoopy and Woodstock have some funny scenes together at the football stadium, playing football and "working out" in the weight room.

  
Music:
Ed Bogas and Judy Munsen composed the music heard in this special.  The soundtrack for Someday You'll Find Her features various genres of music.  The scenes at the football stadium are accompanied by a tune that sounds like a college fight song.  The bobcat attacks feature electric guitar music.  This soundtrack won't make you forget about Vince Guaraldi, but it's pretty good, with one exception.  Near the end of the special, when a dejected Chuck is walking home, the scene is accompanied by a sappy "easy listening" ballad.

Availability:
This special has been released twice on dvd.  It's a bonus feature on A Charlie Brown Valentine and has been recently released on a set called The Peanuts Emmy Honored Collection.  It's also available for streaming on iTunes and Amazon.

Someday You'll Find Her, Charlie Brown gives us a Charlie Brown who isn't very sympathetic and a limited cast that isn't a lot of fun to watch.  The watercolor animation and the Snoopy/Woodstock scenes save it from a lower rating.

J.A. Morris' rating:

2 Sparkys