It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown

Directed by:	Phil Roman
Written by:	Charles M. Schulz
Release date:	April 9, 1974
Running time:	30 minutes
Preceded by:	It's a Mystery, Charlie Brown
Followed by:	Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown
Availability:	It's The Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown iTunes, It's The Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown DVD, It's The Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown Deluxe Edition DVD, Peanuts 1970's Collection, Vol. 1 DVD, Charlie Brown Collection: Volume 1 DVD (Region 4: Australia/New Zealand), Apple TV+, Peanuts: 75th Anniversary Ultimate TV Specials Collection

It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown is the twelfth animated television special based on the Peanuts comic strip by Charles M. Schulz. It was the fourth Peanuts TV special to be based around a holiday, following A Charlie Brown Christmas, It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown and A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown was first broadcast on CBS on April 9, 1974.

Plot

Easter comes to town, and the various members of the Peanuts gang prepare to celebrate in various ways. Peppermint Patty recruits Marcie to help her paint eggs by having Marcie cook them. Unfortunately, Marcie is unable to comprehend how to cook them without otherwise destroying the eggs: she at first fries them, waffle presses them, toasts them, and roasts them in the oven while still in the carton. After Peppermint Patty spends the last of her allowance on a third dozen of eggs, she finally tells Marcie to boil them. Unfortunately, Marcie promptly cracks them all into the water, unintentionally making egg soup, much to Peppermint Patty's anger and dismay.

Linus tells Peppermint Patty not to fret, as the "Easter Beagle" will come and hand out Easter eggs to everyone. As usual, no one believes him: Sally in particular is still mad at him for making her wait for the Great Pumpkin during the previous Halloween. Lucy prepares for an Easter egg hunt by hiding some painted eggs outside, and tracks their locations so that she can win the hunt.

Woodstock grows tired of sleeping in his nest during the rainy spring season and recruits Snoopy's help. Snoopy buys Woodstock a birdhouse, which he initially has trouble getting used to but eventually turns into a bachelor pad complete with furnishings. Unfortunately, a curious Snoopy accidentally destroys the pad when he gets his nose caught in the door while taking a peek inside, forcing him to buy Woodstock a new birdhouse, which the frustrated bird does not even bother furnishing.

On Easter morning, Snoopy emerges as the Easter Beagle, and hands out eggs―which he stole from Lucy's hiding spots―to the rest of the Peanuts gang. Everyone receives them with glee, except for Charlie Brown, who in typical fashion is unable to receive one due to Snoopy running out. Now having a real Easter egg, Marcie questions Peppermint Patty what to do with it, to which Peppermint Patty simply replies that you eat the egg with some salt and pepper. Marcie proceeds to put salt on it and eat the egg whole, shell and all, which she tells the dismayed Peppermint Patty tastes terrible. Lucy inspects her egg and quickly realizes Snoopy gave her her own egg. Ten weeks later she is still grumpy about it and goes to see Snoopy to fight him. However, Snoopy stops the fight before it can start by giving Lucy an alarming but charming kiss on the cheek, which she begrudgingly accepts.

Voice cast

• Todd Barbee – Charlie Brown/Schroeder
• Stephen Shea – Linus van Pelt
• Melanie Kohn – Lucy van Pelt
• Lynn Mortensen – Sally Brown
• Linda Ercoli – Peppermint Patty
• Jimmy Ahrens – Marcie
• Bill Melendez – Snoopy/Woodstock

Quotes

• Peppermint Patty: Marcie! You've made egg soup!? (screams)
• Sally Brown: It's Easter and they already have that Christmas decorations up!
• Charlie Brown: Good grief.
• Linus van Pelt: I can't believe it.
• Lucy van Pelt: I told you. It's the gift-getting season.

Soundtrack

(NOTE: A full soundtrack album for the special was released on March 21, 2025.)

1. "Peppermint Patty" (laid-back vamp)
2. "Easter Theme"
3. "Piano Sonata No. 3 in C Major" (Beethoven)
4. "Snoopy & Woodstock #1" (an up-tempo re-working of "Mystery Theme")
5. "Linus and Lucy #1" (bridge)
6. "Background #1" (actually "Snoopy's Gumballs")
7. "Woodstock's Dream #1"
8. "Easter Theme #2"
9. "Background #2" (actually "Woodstock's Dream #2")
10. "Snoopy & Woodstock #2" (an up-tempo re-working of "Mystery Theme") N
11. "Background #3" (actually "Sally and Linus")
12. "Kitchen Music #1" (actually "Kitchen Music (Marcie's Song)")
13. "Linus and Lucy #2" (bridge; reprise)
14. "Woodstock's Pad" (TV version)
15. "Woodstock's Dream #3"
16. Minuet in G Major, BWV Anh. 116 (Bach) ["Music Box Dance"]
17. "Woodstock's Dream #4"
18. "Kitchen Music #2" (actually "Easter Egg Soup (Kitchen Music 2)")
19. "Linus and Lucy #3"
20. "Linus and Lucy #4"
21. "Symphony No. 7, op. 92, second movement" (Beethoven)
22. "Symphony No. 7, op. 92, first movement" (Beethoven)
23. "Background #3" (actually "Salting Eggs")
24. "Linus and Lucy #5"
25. "Easter Theme #3"

Trivia

• Charles Schulz once said in an interview that the bunnies Snoopy dances with are none other than the Bunny Wunnys from Snoopy's favorite storybooks.
• This special was nominated for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Children's Special (as was Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown). The award went to Yes, Virginia, There Is a Santa Claus, which was directed by Bill Melendez.
• This is the final special that animator Frank Smith worked on before his passing in 1975.
• The song from the music box scene is "Minuet in G Major (BWV Anh. 116)" by Johann Sebastian Bach.
  • A shortened version of this track was reused in 1975’s Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown.
• The song in the egg distributing scene is "Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92" by Ludwig van Beethoven.
• This is one of a few times Snoopy speaks in a Peanuts special; he happily shouts "Hey!" when he approaches the Bunny Wunnys in his dream.
• This is the first special Schroeder voiced by Greg Felton.
• Schroeder appears in only 2 shots and has only three lines throughout the 25-minute special.
• This is the only special Peppermint Patty voiced by Linda Ercoli.
• The hopping beagle with the Easter basket sequence can be seen during the opening credits from The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show.
• This marks Marcie's 4th appearance in a Peanuts TV Special; following after "There's No Time for Love, Charlie Brown", "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" & "It's a Mystery, Charlie Brown".
• Charlie Brown would have had an egg if Snoopy had thrown one less egg on the ground when he first arrived.
• This special is one of the few times where Lucy does not react with disgust to being kissed by Snoopy.
• For unknown reasons, ABC did not air this special in 2007, 2011, and 2012 despite it airing every other year. In 2014 (coincidentally the special’s 40th anniversary) it aired for the last time on network television. Apple TV + would acquire the rights seven years later.

Goofs

• When Snoopy passes Easter eggs out to everyone, he gives Lucy the last one, but when he dances away from her, his Easter basket is still full of eggs, but when he walks up to Charlie Brown to give him one, his Easter basket is empty.
• All of the furniture inside of Woodstock's birdhouse disappears after the birdhouse is destroyed.
• When the Peanuts Gang goes to the shopping mall and sees all of the Christmas decorations, Lucy says to Linus, "I told you. It's the gift-getting season." She did say this earlier in this special, but when she was talking to Schroeder, not Linus.
• When Peppermint Patty is about to yell at Marcie for cooking the egg soup, the stove disappears.
• After Snoopy, Peppermint Patty, and Marcie were having fun dancing to the music, the music box with the angel blowing his horn on the left has disappeared.
• When Snoopy shouts "Hey!" while approaching the Bunny Wunnys in his dream, his mouth does not move.
• While Lucy is pulling out the eggs for their Easter Egg hunt, all of the eggs in her basket are solid colors, but after they are taken out of the basket, they are colored elaborately.
• One hat that Snoopy tries on in the mall turns from brown to purple after it lands on the ground.
• While in the mall, the gang is taking one escalator up while Snoopy takes another one down. As they do this, we see them cross paths, even though they are going in different directions.
• While they are visiting the mall, there is a sign that proclaims that there are 246 days until Christmas. This would mean that the date during which the events take place is on April 23, 1974, with the latest possible date being April 25, which is extremely rare. Also, since Easter was on April 14, 1974, Sally is looking for a new pair of shoes nine days after.
• Unlike most specials, this special was not aired early in Canada, but rather 3 days later on CBC on April 12, 1974.

Gallery

Peppermint Patty angrily scolds Marcie for cooking the egg soup

Ad for premiere in Canada.

External links

• It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown on the Internet Movie Database.
• It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown on AllMovie.