Snoopy Presents: Welcome Home, Franklin is the fifty-first Peanuts TV special based on the comic strip by Charles M. Schulz. It was released on February 16, 2024 on Apple TV+, and is centered around Franklin.
Plot
A soapbox derby race run by the Peanuts gang goes awry when Franklin and Charlie Brown's car, the Friendship 1, flies off a ramp and into the air. As the two friends cling for dear life, Franklin breaks the fourth wall to introduce himself, and explains how he got into this situation.
Franklin’s family is always on the move with his dad’s military job, leaving Franklin in the awkward position of never getting the chance to truly make friends and essentially living out of his suitcase. He takes solace in a notebook his grandfather gave him with advice on friendship. When he arrives in the Peanuts gang's neighborhood, however, he finds trouble fitting in and is taken aback by the odd quirks of the other children: his attempt at befriending Linus fails when he picks a pumpkin out of the pumpkin patch Linus is preparing for the Great Pumpkin; he earns Lucy's ire when he mistakes her psychiatry booth for a lemonade stand; and he is weirded out by Snoopy's bizarre behavior. Just as he despairs of ever making friends, he meets Charlie Brown at the beach when he retrieves his runaway beach ball, and the two quickly strike up a friendly rapport. Upon learning from Shermy and Harold Angel that there is an upcoming soapbox derby (the winner of which will get a trophy and free pizza for a year) Franklin sees an opportunity to make friends by showing himself to be a "winner" as outlined in the book by his grandfather, and so he pairs up with Charlie Brown. While shopping for supplies, Franklin gets into an argument with Lucy, who teases him for partnering with Charlie Brown and warns it will only bring trouble.
While building their soapbox derby car, Charlie Brown and Franklin bond over their mutual love of baseball, and Franklin introduces Charlie Brown to his love of jazz and space travel. Charlie Brown shares his philosophy that he has learned from managing a baseball team: "you don't need to win to finish first," advice that Franklin admits is a little strange. They take their car, the "Unstoppable", for a test run, as Charlie Brown shares with Franklin what he thinks it means to have a best friend: that is, someone special and different who you can always trust to have your back. During the test run, however, Franklin refuses to let Charlie Brown use the brakes despite the high speeds. When the car runs over a rock and skids, Charlie Brown panics and pulls the brake, sending the car uncontrollably into a nearby wood. Franklin lashes out at Charlie Brown over their crashed car, claiming Lucy was right, and the two head home. That night, however, both feeling guilty, they independently return to the wreckage of the car and make-up so that they may attempt to win the race the next day.
The pair compete in the race in their new car, the "Friendship 1". After a harrowing start, the two gain the lead, only to see trouble ahead when Sally accidentally knocks a snack cart onto the race track. Despite having the opportunity to win, Franklin makes Charlie Brown pull the brakes so that they knock the ice cream cart out of the way, in turn causing them to crash their car again and giving Lucy and Schroeder the chance to win the race. Although Charlie Brown is at first angry about losing, he demurs when Franklin admits he wanted to win the race so he could make friends but couldn't just let everyone else lose because of the blocked road. Assuring Franklin he has absolutely made a friend, the two of them resolve to finish the race, carrying the remains of their car to the finish line. The rest of the Peanuts gang, already grateful to the two for having cleared the track for everyone else, witness this and cheer them on, causing Franklin to remember Charlie Brown's philosophy "you don't need to win to finish first." Lucy also expresses gratitude and gives her respect to Franklin, admitting she was wrong, and offers free pizza to everyone that night. At the pizza party, Franklin shares the news with everyone that his dad has a new job; off of everyone's worried looks, he quickly explains the new job is actually in town, as his family has decided they love the neighborhood and wish to remain permanently. He indulges in the pizza party with Charlie Brown and the rest of the gang. He tells the audience that he has learned friendships are not perfect, nor is he, but you can make it through the rough spots together. Permanently settled in the neighborhood, Franklin finally unpacks his suitcase with Charlie Brown's help, and the pair head off to play baseball together. Franklin adds his own friendship advice into his grandfather's notebook: "You know you've found your home when you're surrounded by good friends."
In a pre-credits scene, Sally plays around with her red wagon, only for its wheels to come off, as a result of them having been battered as part of Franklin and Charlie Brown's car. She storms off to chew out her big brother.
Voice cast
- Terry McGurrin as Snoopy
- Rob Tinkler as Woodstock
- Etienne Kellici as Charlie Brown
- Hattie Kragten as Sally Brown
- Arianna McDonald as Marcie
- Lexi Perri as Peppermint Patty
- Isabella Leo as Lucy
- Wyatt White as Linus
- Cash Allen-Martin as Schroeder
- Caleb Bellavance as Franklin
- Lucien Duncan-Reid as Pigpen
- Natasha Nathan as Patty
- Charlie Boyle as Violet
- Maya Misaljevic as Frieda
- Will Bhaneja as Shermy
- Jackson Reid as Harold Angel
- Jacob Mazeral as José Peterson
Lila, Lydia, 3 and 4, 5, Larry, Tapioca Pudding, Floyd, Ethan, "Badcall" Benny, Loretta, Sophie, Emily, Peggy Jean, Naomi, Shirley and Eudora all appear but are silent.
Trivia
- This is the fifth Peanuts TV special not to have Charlie Brown’s or Snoopy's name in the title (not counting the "Snoopy Presents" part). The first, second, third, and fourth being Snoopy Presents: For Auld Lang Syne, Snoopy Presents: To Mom (and Dad), With Love, Snoopy Presents: Lucy's School, and Snoopy Presents: One-of-a-Kind Marcie.
- The end of the special features a scene where Franklin is seated at a pizza party alone on one side of the table, only to be invited to join his friends on the other side. This is an acknowledgement of a minor controversy surrounding A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, where Franklin was depicted sitting by himself on one side of the table, an oversight on the part of the animators that gave the image of racially-segregated seating.
- Franklin's last name, "Armstrong", is used in this special when he introduces himself. The name first appeared in You're in the Super Bowl, Charlie Brown! and was chosen by Charles Schulz himself (as a tribute to Jump Start creator Robb Armstrong, who also co-wrote this special), but due to never being used in the comic strip it has largely been considered non-canonical.
- This is the first Peanuts special where a character speaks directly to the audience, a concept referred to as "breaking the fourth wall".
- When the characters pick their partners for the derby, the voice clip of Peppermint Patty shouting Marcie's name was reused from the previous special.
Cultural references
- Franklin declares the neighborhood feels like The Twilight Zone.
- Franklin describes his favorite artists as being Stevie Wonder, Little Richard, and James Brown, referring to the famed black singers of the 20th century. He also expresses fondness for jazz saxophonist John Coltrane.
- Charlie Brown and Franklin joke about his sharing a last name with Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon.
Video
