Today, we’ll be returning to a certain series of specials we
previously covered to get a good look at more specials from another decade:
Peanuts (1970s Specials)
Basic Premise
If you’ve been keeping up with these blog posts, you’d
probably know that one of my favorite animated series isn’t exactly a show, but
rather a set of specials based on the popular comic strip, Peanuts. I’ve been a fan of these specials for most of
my life as has practically everyone in my family, and as I get older, I
understand more why they're so loved. Not
only are the characters fun and the story ideas interesting, but they also have
a unique appeal in how they make simple moments of life feel big and meaningful
which is how little moments would probably feel for anyone in real life. This relatability brings about a special kind
of entertainment that you just have to watch for all your life. You may know the Peanuts specials by the many
holiday specials that are played throughout the year, but as the reviews of the
1960s specials proved, the specials don’t have to be related to a holiday to
show off what’s great about the franchise.
Now, one set of specials from one decade isn’t enough to do
justice for Peanuts, especially since that decade only had six specials to
cover. So, we’ll be jumping a decade to
the 1970s which features a double amount of the 1960s specials. These specials are much more obscure than the
earlier ones since they not only cover a lot of different topics, but
they also seem to be even less known to the general public. Even the holiday specials seem to somewhat go
under the radar with only one of those being highly known while the other two
(three if you count Arbor Day as an official holiday) only being somewhat
well-known most likely due to revolving around less commercial holidays and not
being aired in certain years. Even with
this in mind, it’s going to be interesting to see how well this decade’s
specials hold up. We’ll see which ones
are highly recommended (great specials with little flaws), recommended (good
show with noticeable detracting factors), worth a look (not that great but has
some interesting points to it), or should be skipped (overall bad special with
little good to it). With all this out of
the way, let’s return to the world of Peanuts.
Now on with the reviews:
Play it
Again Charlie Brown
One of the most memorable occurrences in Peanuts involves
Lucy showing affection for Schroeder by coming over, leaning against his piano,
and talking to him about them getting married.
It’s an interesting dynamic that brings about a lot of amusement from
Lucy’s romantic mindset against Schroeder who’s always engrossed in playing
Beethoven music to really take notice.
We’ve seen instances of this pop up in little moments of prior specials,
but this special is fully dedicated to the concept. The first half sets up the issue of Lucy
wanting Schroeder to look away from his music and notice her for a change with
a collection of highly entertaining moments of her pining for him against his
piano. The moments include Lucy trying
to impress Schroeder with Beethoven music in spray cans, Schroeder literally
defining love complete with the textbook definition appearing on screen at
Lucy’s request, and following her kissing him, Schroeder reacting to it the
same way Lucy usually reacts to dog germs.
These moments bring out a lot of comedy between the two characters, but
they also do a lot of good for Lucy’s character. She’s known for being such a bossy character,
but her desiring Schroeder to notice her brings out a relatable layer, in that
she’s somewhat lonely and wants attention.
It’s a layer like this that makes you understand her more and realize
she’s not completely bad and make you want to get Schroeder to notice her even
though it’s acceptable for her to not get what she wants since it’s technically
wrong of her to badger him while he’s trying to play piano. Speaking of piano, this special is also a
great one for music lovers, which I happen to be. In addition to the usual jazz stylings of the
great Vince Guaraldi, we get a lot of covers of Beethoven pieces. They’re nice to listen to and give the
special a lot of class. They show how
passionate about this type of music Schroeder is. Personally, I find a lot to love about
characters who are driven by their passions in life. They’re believable, present certain topics in
a new light, and I can personally relate to them. On the subject of Schroeder’s passionate
side, it really comes into play in the second half where Lucy finally gets a
chance to get Schroeder to notice her by signing him up to play Beethoven for
an upcoming PTA meeting. The only
problem is that the PTA want him to play rock, a music genre Schroeder has no
interest in, instead of Beethoven. This
is an issue where it’s possible to understand both sides of the issue. It’s easy to see Lucy’s view on things since
she tries to get Schroeder to play rock but also does her best to appeal to his
interests. As for Schroeder he’s shown
to be at strong self-conflict. He
doesn’t want to forsake his passion and “sell out,” but is at a risk of letting
the band down, especially since during the rehearsal scene, they perform a real
catchy rock number. The rock group even
includes Charlie Brown playing guitar and not failing at it if you can believe
it. Ultimately, Schroeder decides to not
sell out to rock and sticks with his own music, which to me is a relatable
moment; it’s like artists sticking to their style and not appealing to what’s
popular. It’s how people in the
entertainment business should think in my opinion. Anyway, while we end with Lucy still not
winning over Schroeder, it’s satisfying enough that the earlier spray can gag
resolves the PTA meeting issue and that Lucy's content with trying to win over
Schroeder by sticking to hanging around his piano as usual. With amusing character dynamics, great
selections of music, and relatable real world themes that define true success
in the arts, there’s enough material to make this a highly insightful special
that must be seen.
Highly Recommended
Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next special where we see an example of how cartoons would make better presidents these days with "You're Not Elected Charlie Brown."
If you would like to check out other Peanuts special reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.
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