Media
can be a good tool to help escape the hardships of reality and get a feel of
the good things that make life worth living.
However, there are some instances where world events are near impossible
to ignore as they're felt by everyone, no matter who they are. Such is the case last year with the whole
world practically brought to its knees with the COVID-19 pandemic. While most people were left to deal with the
loss of usual privileges, and stay at home except for essential business, that
was nothing compared to those enduring the actual virus. Through its constant spreading to anywhere
and everywhere, the spiking rates, and many deaths, it goes without saying that
this was, and technically still is, a huge deal. Because of this virus’ omnipotent presence, everyone,
if they’re considerate enough, is mostly inclined to feel the serious effects
of the current situation. It is good to
know that vaccines are available now and are doing their part to turn the
pandemic around for those who get them, but a historic event like this will never going to be
forgotten.
As
for animated entertainment, when looking at the pandemic, a fitting thing to
watch would be something to explore what it’s like to go through something as
deadly as a virus. Film and animation,
after all, is a unique art form that allows for emotional connection in endless
visual possibilities. I’m personally
fortunate enough to know of the perfect animated work to watch in this
case. With the novelty of COVID, the
featured virus clearly isn’t that, but the idea is still the same. It’s a work that covers a life-threatening
disease, showcases how its victim’s life is harshly effected, and even features
how outsiders handle the situation. In
addition, it’s also the blog’s first Peanuts special review since the 2019 holiday season, and it asks:
Why, Charlie Brown, Why?
(March 16,
1990)
It’s
true that the Peanuts specials are kind of somber in nature with the majority
of them highlighting how difficult and unfair the world can be. Having the cast consist of kids actually
compliments this direction by showing how anyone going through life’s
challenges can feel, no matter how old they are. While most of the challenges in these
specials come from living amongst harsh peers or lack of success in certain
areas, the main challenge here goes beyond that. It’s an occurrence legitimately unprecedented
to any kind of person including the youth, hitting much harder than
average. Just like how COVID has stopped
modern life dead, we’re talking about a disease that’s known to take a toll on
pretty much everyone. It’s not just the
disease’s victim, but everyone hearing about it as well. This is the very prevalent medical condition
of cancer, and its effects are probably best felt living through it
or witnessing it. In the case of this
special, according to research, it was originally thought that cancer could be
felt through just a short educational video.
However, since Charles Schulz had huge memories of his mother fighting
and eventually succumbing to cancer, he felt that the subject could be handled
better with a full special. This
direction would prove to be a huge benefit, making for one of the most
emotionally-gripping works the Peanuts franchise has offered.
Considering
how hard things like cancer can hit emotionally, the special goes down a route
of not having any of the established Peanuts characters go through it. Instead, they create an entirely new
character to endure the disease and by extension allow the audience to follow
through all its steps. Her name is
Janice, and though she exists exclusively to this special, she has good
appeal. Personality-wise, there’s not
much to her beyond being generally nice and enjoying rides on the playground
swings, but being generally nice is enough to invest the audience. That’s not even mentioning some honestly
adorable chemistry with Linus. In fact,
just their simple interactions at the beginning is all that’s needed to build
major sympathy that follows for the rest of the special. There’s sudden focus on peculiar ailments
Janice seems to be picking up from bruises that don’t seem to heal after weeks
to high temperatures that drive her to get sent home from school. Apart from maybe the bruises, these don’t
seem terribly alarming and could be seen as a standard cold. Then more signs of something much more
serious arise shortly after like Janice being absent from school for a long
time, and eventually landing in the hospital.
That’s when it becomes clear that the disease is not anything standard
and is a much bigger deal than usual.
From this perception, it hits close to home in a way with how the
current pandemic escalated. At this
point, a fitting course of action would be to further investigate the matter,
and that’s what the special goes on to do, on many fronts in fact.
When
Charlie Brown and Linus visit Janice in the hospital, they get all the
necessary details to really understand her condition. The thing that’s made her so sick is cancer,
more specifically a strong form of it known as leukemia. In Janice explaining the details of leukemia,
there’s a noticeable shift in focus from telling a story to being intentionally
educational and topical. The
explanations of the treatment she’s been given, how it can be known for sure
that she even has cancer, and side effects like hair loss feel straight out of
a school lecture. It’s not that there’s
anything too wrong with that; it just isn’t as interesting in terms of animated
works. A direction such as this gives
the feel that it’s here to get a class of kids ready for a quiz on this
particular subject. As a matter of fact,
I wouldn’t be surprised if this was all the special would have consisted of if
it stayed an educational short.
Benefitting everything though is that the blatantly educational direction merely gives a background to the true power of the special. While talks of Janice’s condition and treatment aren’t the most interesting approach for a special, it does connect to something truly compelling; the emotional effects it has on everyone. When considering the victim of leukemia, Janice mostly seems like a stand-in to teach the audience all about it. Still, she come out as an inspiring cancer patient where despite all that she has to go through, she’s determined to beat the disease and get back to her life. That’s a rarely seen attitude coming from people in her condition whether they’re real or not, and is especially good for any kid faced with bad diseases.
However, the real emotional effects are felt
through the world around Janice hearing about her leukemia, particularly the one
who’s been closest to her, Linus. In
great Peanuts fashion, the littlest moments of life leave the heaviest of
impacts, and kids enduring them all hits harder than otherwise. Linus may not have to endure what’s happening
with Janice, but the sound of everything is enough to significantly depress
him. This is even more of the case when
you consider how long the leukemia even lasts.
I mean, it started in the fall, and as we eventually get to the
winter/Christmas season, Janice is still feeling the effects of her
chemotherapy and getting treatments. It
really shows how hard it can be when something so strange and life-altering
affects someone you care about.
If that’s not enough, Linus is also faced with how other people react to Janice’s condition out of lack of knowledge or consideration. Like in most Peanuts specials, you can probably guess that this includes Lucy showing attitude issues over what her brother tries to explain. To broaden the effects of the disease for this special though, outside world reactions go beyond that. One scene shows Janice’s siblings be annoyed with how much attention and presents she’s gotten, how they’re feeling left out, and how they have to be really careful around her. It only takes a conversation to get them to see that this is all for people to show how much they care for Janice. That said, I think this can relate to how some people feel about COVID’s mask, social distancing, and now vaccine mandates.
The biggest instance of outsider ignorance of
the disease occurs just as Janice is well enough to come back albeit still
enduring the effects. She has to wear a
cap due to the chemotherapy making all her hair completely fall out. Then a random bully at school makes fun of
the cap, flicks it off, and then inconsiderately taunts Janice for her
baldness. It’s bad enough that Janice is
faced with this, but the more affected person is Linus. It’s like the pent-up frustration of the
situation explodes within him, and the only way to deal with it is to
aggressively tell off the bully about what Janice is going through. That’s a heavy-hitting reaction certainly not
expected from such a usually good-manner kid.
However, it’s an appropriate example of how unforeseen bad circumstances
can often bring out the dark side of people or push them over a proverbial
edge.
Clearly,
this is easily a true heavy-hitting Peanuts special, but to keep the emotional
effects from overwhelming and be better appreciated, there are also a few
moments of levity. As is usually the
case in Peanuts, it’s mostly felt through the antics of Snoopy like going to
school, exploring the hospital, or hanging with Woodstock’s flock. They’re as amusing as anything with this
famous beagle usually is, but in a special like this, they’re not always placed
as well as they could be. There is good
benefit to them such as breaking up the heavier emotions to give a wider
variety of feels like a good story should.
They’re also placed well to showcase the passage of time like starting
out sequences that take place in fall, winter, and spring, as well as establish
settings like the hospital. However,
they can feel awkward when placed during those sequences and not just
introducing them. Sometimes you can see
something amusing like Snoopy giving a light-hearted interpretation of a
hospital worker and then cut to Linus lamenting about Janice’s leukemia. Other times, they’re completely unrelated to
the subject at hand like when he’s setting up Christmas decorations before
going back to seeing the effects of the leukemia. Really all the antics are unrelated, but if
they just introduce different points in time, they’d probably be more effective
and have more of a purpose. The same can
be said for Sally’s long-winded rants about her disdain for school which, while
funny, aren’t the best fit for this kind of emotional subject. Levity is not executed perfectly for this
special, but I guess it wouldn’t be Peanuts without it.
Going
back to the subject of leukemia, considering its magnitude and how it’s like
other life-crippling diseases, some might wonder how all this ends. As it turns out, for a franchise that’s built
on learning to cope with failure and unfairness, even Peanuts isn’t too morbid
to showcase the worst effects of such a condition. The special ends with a true sign of life
renewal, fittingly unfolding as spring finally comes. The weather’s good, the swings are up, and
Janice is able to come back to school, her leukemia no longer the prominent
issue it was months before. To make it
clearer, as Janice rides the swings once more, here hair is revealed to grow
back, and the moment is staged like a huge moment of triumph. Considering how heavy much of the special has
been, especially for the featured characters, this is a very fitting conclusion
on an emotional level. As for the
serious topic defining the story, I’d understand if some would look at this
ending as too optimistic. I’m sure a lot
of us know that a good number of people don’t get out of leukemia alive, and
the ending may not seem to reflect that.
I personally am fine with how it ends since recovering from leukemia is
still very possible, and endings like this can give reasonable hope for
that. This is one other thing that can
be applied to the modern pandemic, for in the midst of how it’s greatly
reshaped daily life, there are ways to turn things around. Because of those precautions and the rise of
vaccines, the world is now starting to open up again, and life is beginning
anew. When you put things that way, an
appropriate thing to see is a story of a similar life-crippling condition whose
ending is a similar case.
The
works of Peanuts are some of the most enduring in animation, and they prove to
do a worthy job of tackling serious subjects with “Why, Charlie Brown,
Why?”. Its education may be on the nose
at times and the humor might not always be well-balanced, but what it gets
right is much more impactful. It
perfectly shows how being put through something huge and unprecedented can have
an effect on all kinds of people, ending with a healthy dose of hope. It also helps that it can somewhat relate
well to modern times depending on one’s point of view. So, if you’re looking for a relatable
somewhat topical work of animation starring a familiar cast, this is a worthy
contender.
Recommended
Stay Animated Folks!
