Friday, August 27, 2021

Why Charlie Brown Why - 'Toon Reviews Shorty

If you like this review and want to stay updated for what else I have in store, become a follower of this blog, click here to like the official Facebook page, and click here to follow me on TwitterNow on with today's review:

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!

No comments:

Post a Comment