Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown

Directed by:	Phil Roman
Written by:	Charles M. Schulz
Release date:	January 28, 1975
Running time:	25 minutes
Preceded by:	It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown
Followed by:	You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown
Availability:	Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown VHS, Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown iTunes, Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown DVD, Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown Deluxe Edition DVD, Peanuts 1970's Collection, Vol. 2 DVD, Charlie Brown Collection: Volume 1 DVD (Region 4: Australia/New Zealand)

Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown is an animated television special based on the Peanuts comic strip by Charles M. Schulz. It originally aired on CBS on January 28, 1975.

Plot

Linus is fond of his teacher, Miss Othmar. To show his love, he buys her a huge heart-shaped box of chocolates. However, Violet warns him it is probably not smart to fall in love with a teacher. When Linus leaves, Sally believes that he bought the candy for her and decides to make him a valentine in return. Later, Lucy goes to a puppet show held by Snoopy. At the concession stand, Lucy asks for popcorn. However Snoopy cannot understand Lucy and he gives her first candy, then soda, and finally popcorn. With Charlie Brown narrating the show, Snoopy tells a story about true lovers (which ends up being a little too interactive for Lucy's taste).

Valentine's Day then comes and the gang brings valentine cards for everybody. At Birchwood School, Schroeder explains that there is a box labelled "Valentines For Those We Love" with a slot for putting the cards in. Charlie Brown brings a briefcase hoping he will get lots of valentines. However, after the cards are passed out, it turns out Charlie Brown gets nothing except for a candy heart (which reads "Forget It, Kid"). Angry, Charlie Brown throws the valentine box out the classroom window. Linus is also upset as he was unable to give his candy to Miss Othmar (having left with her boyfriend). Sally, who still believes the box of candy is for her, is dismayed when Linus attempts to go after Miss Othmar to give her the candy. Charlie Brown and Linus vent their heartbreak in different ways: Linus throws his chocolates off a bridge, not knowing that Snoopy and Woodstock are under it catching and eating every chocolate he throws off; Charlie Brown kicks his mailbox, only to accidentally hurt his foot in the process. The next day, Violet gives Charlie Brown a used valentine (she took her own name off of it) as an apology, despite Schroeder berating her for dropping by the day after Valentine's Day and acting out of guilt. As Charlie Brown and Linus meet at the brick wall later, Charlie Brown expresses hope that Violet's pity valentine will start a trend and he will get more valentines the following year.

Voice cast

• Duncan Watson – Charlie Brown
• Melanie Kohn – Lucy van Pelt
• Lynn Mortensen – Sally Brown
• Stephen Shea – Linus van Pelt
• Linda Ercoli - Violet Gray and Frieda Rich
• Greg Felton – Schroeder

Uncredited

• Bill Melendez – Snoopy/Woodstock

Peppermint Patty, Marcie, Shermy, Patty Swanson, "Pig-Pen", 5, and Franklin make brief cameo appearances but are silent.

Soundtrack

1. "Heartburn Waltz"* (variation of cue 15)
2. "Heartburn Waltz" (piano version of cue 15)
3. "Valentine Interlude #1"*
4. "Linus and Lucy" (variation)
5. "Never Again"* (waltz version)
6. "Piano Sonata No. 10 in G Major, Opus 49, No. 2" (Beethoven)
7. "Heartburn Waltz" (bossa nova version of cue 15)
8. "Linus and Lucy" (another variation)
9. "Pawpet Overture"*
10. "Freddie's Mood" [Pawpet Theater music]*
11. "Heartburn Waltz" (variation of cue 15)
12. "Never Again" N
13. "Minuet in G Major, BWV Anh. 116" (Bach)
14. "Woodstock's Mambo"*
15. "Heartburn Waltz" E
16. "Jennie L."*
17. "Heartburn Waltz" (variation of cue 15)
18. "Valentine Interlude #2"
19. "Heartburn Waltz" N (an entirely different cue than that of #15 above, despite the identical title: a labeling error that is repeated on the two compilation CDs that feature the cues. This one probably has the wrong title, since the many other variations throughout this animated special are versions of cue 15).
20. "There's Been a Change"* (keyboard and guitar version)
21. "Woodstock's Revenge"*
22. "Charlie Brown's Wake-Up" N (actually another variation of cue 15)
23. "Heartburn Waltz" (variation of cue 15)
24. "Freddie's Mood" [Pawpet Theater music]*

Notes

• Schroeder calls for Joanne Lansing while passing out valentines. Joanne Lansing is an ink and paint artist who worked on many Peanuts specials from 1972 to 1991.
  • Schroeder also calls out the names of some of Charles Schulz's children.
• After the special first aired, many children sent Charlie Brown valentines out of sympathy, just as they had sent him sweets after It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown was first broadcast.
• Unlike most (if not each) special, this special was not aired early in Canada, but rather 13 days later on CBC on February 10, 1975.
• This special was nominated for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Children's Special (as was It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown). The award went to Yes, Virginia, There Is a Santa Claus, which was directed by Bill Melendez.
• At the end credits, puppet caricatures of everyone who worked on the show, including Phil Roman, Lee Mendelson, Bill Melendez, Vince Guaraldi, John Scott Trotter, the production crew, and the voice actors are shown.
• The scene where children leave to celebrate Valentine's Day appears to be borrowed from previous Peanuts special, You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown. However, it's a stock footage.
• It was the last special for Stephen Shea as Linus and Lynn Mortensen as Sally. They would be replaced by Liam Martin and Gail M. Davis, respectively.
• It was the first special for Duncan Watson as Charlie Brown. He would later reprise his role for You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown and Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown.
• Sally Brown's candy heart is apparently inscribed with Elizabeth Barrett Browning's Sonnet Sonnet Number 43 from the Portuguese.
• The abridged and high pitched version of music box dance music is reused from It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown when Snoopy presses the valentine music box.
• Coincidentally Linus van Pelt says to Charlie Brown, "Happy Valentine's Day, Charlie Brown" at the end of the special, which he says the same thing at the end of the 2002 TV special A Charlie Brown Valentine.
• This is the first special for which an ARP String Ensemble was used and added to create the music.
• Charlie Brown's heart reads, "Forget it, kid!", which is the same thing that the fortune telling machine said to him in Snoopy, Come Home.
• Snoopy and Woodstock are seen eating the chocolates that Linus throws away, though being a dog, chocolate would have made Snoopy really sick.

Gallery

"You'll hate yourself in the world and everybody in it!" - Lucy van Pelt

Sally is ineffectual in Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown, even with her big brother's help.

Book adaptation

Hi-Tops Video VHS cover

Paramount VHS cover

Paramount DVD cover

Deluxe Edition DVD cover

A big box cover.

TV Guide ad (also promoting Bugs Bunny's Valentine, 1984)

Tv Guide Ad 2

External links

• Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown on the Internet Movie Database.
• Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown on AllMovie.
• Quotations from Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown on Wikiquote.