A Charlie Brown Celebration is the twenty-third TV special based upon the popular comic strip Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz, who introduces the special. It first aired on the CBS network on May 24, 1982. It is the first hour long Peanuts special.
Unlike previous Peanuts specials, this special consists of a number of stories adapted from the comic strip, between August 26, 1956 and August 3, 1979 but has no unifying plot. This formula was later adapted for The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show TV series, and also used in another special, It's an Adventure, Charlie Brown.
Storylines
There are a number of storylines in this special.
- Charlie Brown, Sally Brown, Lucy van Pelt, Linus van Pelt, and Schroeder are going to school. The others are going into third grade but Sally is going into first grade.
- Charlie Brown is flying a kite while Snoopy is resting, and Lucy and Linus are talking about Edgar Allan Poe.
- Charlie Brown, Linus, Sally, Peppermint Patty, and Franklin are going to school.
- Sally, Eudora, and Snoopy are at summer camp. Eudora teases Snoopy.
- Linus is reading his report on summer camp. Miss Othmar is horrified by references to queen snakes. Charlie Brown is worried because he studied the wrong chapter and Sally is refusing to draw a cow leg.
- Peppermint Patty is having trouble in school and tries to find a private one to attend instead. Following Snoopy's advice, she goes to the Ace Obedience School and quickly graduates from it, not realizing that it is a dog school. The teacher and principal from Peppermint Patty's elementary school do not believe that she has already graduated. When the girl finds out what has happened, she ends up fighting the vicious cat next door, mistaking him for Snoopy.
- Linus and Sally are going on a field trip. Linus is reunited with Truffles. Sally quickly comes to dislikes Truffles, believing her to be a rival stealing her "Sweet Babboo" away from her. Sally and Truffles fight over Linus and he gets stuck on a farm roof. it is up to Snoopy and Woodstock to save him.
- Lucy annoys Schroeder while he is playing his piano. Lucy throws the piano down the sewer. Schroeder tries to get it back with Charlie Brown's help.
- Lucy is very angry and feels she has nothing for which to be thankful. She wants Linus to get logs for the fireplace, playing jokes on him and talking about Abraham Lincoln while he fetches them.
- Marcie tries to make some baseball caps for Peppermint Patty's team.
- Charlie Brown gets sick and goes to hospital. Sally takes the opportunity to move into his room but Peppermint Patty, Marcie and Lucy are worried about him. Lucy promises that, if Charlie Brown gets better, she will never pull the football away from him again. Linus tells Charlie Brown's mother about this. When Charlie Brown recovers, Lucy is forced to go through with her promise. However, Charlie Brown misses the ball and kicks Lucy's hand.
Notes
- The formula used in this special, several stories with one or two-word titles, was later adapted for the Saturday morning CBS series, The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show, which started in 1983, and used in another special, It's an Adventure, Charlie Brown. However, this special has no one or two-word titles.
- Despite the special airing in 1982, the copyright date is 1981.
- During Lucy and Schroeder's storyline, animation is reused from Play It Again, Charlie Brown.
- This special was nominated for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program (as was Someday You'll Find Her, Charlie Brown).
Voice cast
- Michael Mandy – Charlie Brown
- Rocky Reilly – Linus van Pelt
- Kristen Fullerton – Lucy van Pelt
- Cindi Reilly – Sally Brown
- Brent Hauer – Peppermint Patty
- Shannon Cohn – Marcie
- Christopher Donohoe – Schroeder
- Casey Carlson – Truffles/Kid
- Bill Melendez – Snoopy/Woodstock
- Charles M. Schulz- Himself
- John Hiestand – Announcer
External links
- A Charlie Brown Celebration on the Internet Movie Database.
- A Charlie Brown Celebration on the Big Cartoon Database.
- A Charlie Brown Celebration on Rotten Tomatoes.
- A Charlie Brown Celebration on AllMovie.