What Have We Learned, Charlie Brown?

Directed by:	Bill Melendez
Written by:	Charles M. Schulz
Release date:	May 30, 1983
Running time:	28 minutes
Preceded by:	It's An Adventure, Charlie Brown
Followed by:	It's Flashbeagle, Charlie Brown
Availability:	You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown iTunes, What Have We Learned, Charlie Brown? VHS, Peanuts Emmy Honored Collection DVD

What Have We Learned, Charlie Brown? is the twenty-sixth prime-time animated television special based upon the strip cartoon Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz who introduced the special. It aired on the CBS network on two occasions: originally on May 30, 1983 (Memorial Day), and last aired on May 26, 1984 (the Saturday before Memorial Day and ten days before the 40th anniversary of the D-Day Invasion).

The special is a sequel to the movie Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (And Don't Come Back!!). It depicts Charlie Brown, Linus, Peppermint Patty, Marcie, Snoopy, and Woodstock traveling through France and Belgium, visiting sites associated with World War II and World War I. The title is a rhetorical question asked by Linus, meaning, "What has mankind learned from war?"

Plot

Sometime after returning from France, Charlie Brown is assembling a photo album of pictures from the trip. Sally comes along and notes he never said much about what happened after the fire at the chateau, asking if anything happened on the trip back or if they learned anything. This reminds Charlie Brown of something Linus said, and he begins to recount what happened on their way back home.

Charlie Brown, Linus, Snoopy, Marcie, and Peppermint Patty's trip back from the Château du Mal Voisin to the ferry proves ill-fated when their dilapidated rented car, already having caused them trouble on their trip, finally breaks down completely in a small town in the French countryside. Snoopy attempts some repairs while the group gets lunch, but when it becomes clear the car is beyond saving they head to a rental dealership. The owner, a kind French lady, agrees to trade in the car for a new one after recognizing Snoopy as a Flying Ace from World War I – "My war," she says proudly. The new car requires a hand crank to start it, with Charlie Brown being forced to do so and getting shocked every time they get in the car.

The group soon becomes lost, and after getting their bearings decide to camp at a nearby beach for the night before traveling up the coast to Boulogne where they can board the ferry. Shortly before daybreak, Linus wakes up and expresses that there is something familiar about their location. As he surveys the beach, images of war flash through his mind as he gradually realizes it is Omaha Beach, the site of the World War II Normandy landings on D-Day. He rushes back to the campsite and informs the others, describing the events of the Allied Army's arrival on June 6, 1944, and the deaths of thousands of soldiers invading the shores. He points out various locations along the beach and explains their significance during the battle.

He leads the group to the American cemetery for the fallen soldiers. As they approach, Linus recalls a speech he heard by General Eisenhower where he recalled his experiences in the massive battle:

"Many hundreds of men came here- the British, and our other allies, the Americans, to storm these beaches for one purpose only: not to gain anything for ourselves, not to fulfill any ambitions that America had for conquest, but just to preserve freedom, systems of self-government in the world. Many thousands of men have died for ideals such as these, and here again, in the 20th century, for the second time, Americans, along with the rest of the free world, but Americans had to come across the ocean to defend those same values. But these young boys, so many of them, whose graves we have been treading, have been looking at, wondering and contemplating about their sacrifices, they were cut off in their prime. But they never knew the great experiences of going through life, like my son can enjoy. I devoutly hope that we will never again have to see such scenes as these. I think and hope, pray, that humanity will learn more than we had learned up to that time. We must find some way to work to peace and to regain an eternal peace for this world."

After paying their respects at the cemetery, a rainstorm starts, forcing the group back into the car. They stop in the nearby commune of Arromanches to wait out the rain in a café, where Linus reads to the group some more of the events at Omaha Beach and the horrifying experiences the Allied soldiers went through. When the storm lets up, Linus brings them to an outcropping and points out the remains of Mulberry Harbour "B", a portable harbor used by the British on D-Day.

Proceeding northwards, they get lost once more. A boy walking along the road informs them they are in Belgium, headed towards Ypres, which Linus recognizes as the site of a series of battles during World War I. They arrive at a field of red poppies, which grew through the wastelands of battles fought during the war, and which serve as a marker for the Ypres battle site. He directs them through some of the remaining trenches dug during World War I and points out the British field dressing station, where Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae wrote the poem "In Flanders Fields". He recites the poem to the group.

"In Flanders fields, the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields."

The group stands among the field of red poppies, taking in the impact of the war and the sacrifice of the soldiers. Linus turns to Charlie Brown and asks the question that stuck with him after the trip: "What have we learned, Charlie Brown?"

Charlie Brown finishes his story in the present day. Sally awkwardly interrupts his poignant reflecting to point out that he is pasting his pictures in the album upside down.

Voice cast

• Brad Kesten – Charlie Brown
• Stacy Heather Tolkin – Sally Brown
• Jeremy Schoenberg – Linus van Pelt
• Victoria Vargas – Peppermint Patty (one line only)
• Brent Hauer - Peppermint Patty (most of the special, uncredited)
• Michael Dockery – Marcie
• Bill Melendez – Snoopy/Woodstock
• Monica Parker – Frenchwoman
• Kevin Brando - French Girl (uncredited)
• Dwight D. Eisenhower - himself (archive audio)

Notes

• Archival news footage and audio is used in this special; in some cases the characters are inserted into the footage through rotoscoping.
• This is the only special to link to a previous special or movie.
• Stock footage and audio from Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (And Don't Come Back!!) is used.
• This special was nominated for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program (as was Is This Goodbye, Charlie Brown?).
• The last two digits on the license plates on the car that the Peanuts gang rent show that it is registered in France's Marche Department, where Omaha Beach is located.
• This is one of the few specials that have adults visible on screen.
• The archive recording of Peter Robbins shouting "Aaugh!", first used in A Boy Named Charlie Brown, is used in this special when the group nearly collides with a French girl on a bike, who screams the phrase (evidently, "Aaugh!" is a universal exclamation).
• Charles M. Schulz was a World War II veteran who was deployed towards the end of the war, where he was stationed in Normandy, though after the events of D-Day. His experiences directly inspired Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (And Don't Come Back!!), and a subsequent trip to the area inspired the production of his special.
• This is the first Peanuts special to tackle a serious issue, which is war. The second was Why, Charlie Brown, Why?, which discusses leukemia and the third was He's a Bully, Charlie Brown, which explains bullying.
• The special also features real (albeit colorized) footage of the D-Day invasion.
• For most of the special, Peppermint Patty is voiced by Brent Hauer, except for one line where she asks Charlie Brown what he's going to order in the Cafe where Victoria Vargas voices her instead. Oddly, Vargas is the only one credited

Songs

1. "What Have We Learned Intro"
2. "Snoopy Was Driving"
3. "What Have We Learned [Main Theme]"
4. "Ducks"
5. "Why Don't We Have Lunch"
6. "Trade in Car"
7. "We Took A Wrong Turn"
8. "There's Something Familiar"
9. "Pointe du Hoc"
10. "American Cemetary"
11. "Eternal Peace"
12. "It Looks Like It's Gonna Rain"
13. "Slow Up Snoopy"
14. "116th Infantry"
15. "We Can Go The Same Way We Came"
16. "Stop Clowning And Get In"
17. "Around The Circle"
18. "Stop Here Snoopy"
19. "In Flanders Fields"
20. "That's What Linus Asked Me"
21. "Pasting Pictures Upside Down"
22. "What Have We Learned [End Theme]"

Goofs

• During the opening credits, the title of the book about King Arthur is misspelled "Arther."
• There appears to be an editing error with the audio during the scene where the group has lunch in a café while waiting for Snoopy to fix the car: Peppermint Patty asks Charlie Brown what they should order, Linus suggests that they order a few different things, and then Charlie Brown responds to the original question by stating he cannot read the menu.
• When Charlie Brown gets in the car after he first injures his hand while cranking the car at the rent-a-car place, Linus is in the back seat, but when they leave the rent-a-car place and run into the French girl on the bike, Linus is in the front seat.

Gallery

"I don't know where we are, but there's something familiar about this place."

Poppies

"That's what Linus said. 'What have we learned, Charlie Brown?'"

External links

• What Have We Learned, Charlie Brown? on the Internet Movie Database.
• What Have We Learned, Charlie Brown? on AllMovie.