'Toon Reviews 3: Peanuts 1960s Specials Part 5

He’s Your Dog Charlie Brown

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Snoopy’s antics have been very strong points in the previous 4 Peanuts specials, so it makes perfect sense that it wouldn’t be long before he ended up getting a special of his own.  This is actually one of the few non-holiday specials I owned back in the 90s when VHS was in its prime and I always really enjoyed it whenever I watched it, and I still do today.  It’s a really fun story that shows off exactly why Snoopy is regarded as the best character of the Peanuts gang. He’s very versatile as he lives his life always knowing how to liven things up for himself and the rest of the gang and never needing to use any actual dialog, adding to his charm as a character.  In the case of this special, most of his antics revolve around him getting engrossed in his fantasy as a WWI fighter resulting in a collection of highly amusing scenes where what he pretends interferes with the lives of the other kids.  This is what starts the conflict of them all wanting Charlie Brown to put a stop to his dog’s mischief, and apparently the only way to do this that Charlie Brown can think of is to send Snoopy to obedience school.  However, since Snoopy is a beagle who just wants to have fun, he ditches school and spends time at Peppermint Patty’s place where he continues to live out his fantasy.  The scenes of Snoopy living it up give a unique look at how he views the world around him, such as how he pictures himself at a French café on leave as he’s served root beer.  Adding to the charm of these scenes is Peppermint Patty’s absent-minded view of the world which includes her viewing Snoopy as a “funny-looking kid with [a] big nose.”  Now, considering that Snoopy, regardless of whether or not it’s intentional, is basically mooching off of Peppermint Patty, there are some consequences to this behavior.  After escaping Charlie Brown when he actually goes as far as to leash him, Snoopy decides to move in with Peppermint Patty who in turn makes him do all the chores to get back at him for making her his servant.  It’s at this point where the story presents something not just for Snoopy, but also Charlie Brown and the other kids to learn.  As Snoopy is working for Peppermint Patty, the kids start to notice how dull their lives are without Snoopy around and want to have him back, allowing them all to grow to appreciate what’s good about him.  As for Snoopy, what he goes on to learn is shown in a visually striking manner.  After making a mess which leads to him being forced to spend the night in Peppermint Patty’s garage, Snoopy is shown to think about Charlie Brown ordering him about, but also begin to feel sad and miss him.  This is a great way to show Snoopy realize that even though others may discipline him a lot, he truly does have a good life at his own home, and it’s all conveyed through body language and no real dialog.  That’s always a plus as well as a great way to utilize the animation medium.  Moments like this make the moment at the end a strong and rewarding way to conclude the special with everyone happy to be back together.  Charlie Brown and the other kids end up more accepting of Snoopy’s antics since they liven up their lives once more, and Snoopy learns to better appreciate his life and not take it for granted… at least by laying off his WWI fantasy and instead resorting to usual mischief like trying to take Linus’ blanket or getting into kissing fights with Lucy.  I think the reason I enjoy this special as much as the most popular of Peanuts specials is because it just packs in so much enjoyment from the characters, Snoopy especially.  His lively, off the wall persona bounces off Charlie Brown and the rest of the cast very well and it’s all part of a fun story with something for him and the gang back home to learn and is aided through simple, yet cool visuals and some of Vince Guaraldi’s best music composed for these specials .  There’s nothing left to say about this except it’s quintessential Peanuts entertainment.

Highly Recommended

Ranking

1)      A Charlie Brown Christmas

2)      It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown

3)      He’s Your Dog Charlie Brown

4)      You’re in Love Charlie Brown

5)      Charlie Brown’s All-Stars

 

Be sure to stay tuned for the last Peanuts special of the 1960s, "It Was a Short Summer Charlie Brown.

 

'Toon Reviews 3: Peanuts 1960s Specials Part 4

You’re in Love Charlie Brown

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Usually, I don’t find stories that revolve around a character falling for someone based on appearance very interesting since it makes their love feel cheap and somewhat unnatural.  However, I do find it more accepting if the character developing these feelings is just a kid, because in my eyes, kids seem to be easily impressionable when it comes to things like cute appearances.  This is why I get a lot of enjoyment out of this special which is the first animated depiction of the trope involving Charlie Brown falling for a character simply known as The Little Red-Haired Girl but being too timid to talk to her.  The fact that The Little Red-Haired Girl is never actually shown allows us to greatly connect with Charlie Brown and his nervous feelings he gets in regards to actually going up to talk to her and share a scene together.  It’s a clever way of depicting the unrequited love concept that you can really only experience here and in the comic strips since future specials, as well as the recent computer-animated Peanuts movie, give her a visual form whenever she's spotted.  Anyway, the special mostly consists of little scenes of Charlie Brown’s attempts to do something about his crush and actually befriend The Little Red-Haired Girl with the added challenge of there being only a few days left of the school year, meaning that if he doesn’t meet her now, he’ll have to wait until September.  Since it’s established that things very rarely go right for Charlie Brown, coupled with how nervous he is to just simply go up and talk to the girl, he ends up with a lot of failure.  His attempts mostly result in him embarrassing himself in class as well as getting put down by Lucy who’s dealing with her own romance problems with Schroeder.  My personal favorite attempt to meet The Little Red-Haired Girl involves the animated debut of who would become one of the most principal members of the Peanuts gang, Peppermint Patty.  It demonstrates her great appeal as a character of being willing to help Charlie Brown, or in her case “Chuck”, with his problem, but also her humorous side of being too absent-minded to successfully pull it off as her plan only leads to Charlie Brown meeting up with Lucy.  Now, that’s a pairing I’m sure many a Peanuts fan would find hard to fathom.  Anyway, all of Charlie Brown’s failed attempts are fairly entertaining and even get some laughs, but I’m still able to feel for him and wish for him to succeed.  Ultimately, we end up with a respectable payoff at the end of the special, where even though Charlie Brown doesn’t get to talk to The Little Red-Haired Girl before school is out for summer, he gets a note from her saying that she likes him.  The scene of Charlie Brown happy and full of hope because of this that plays through the end credits is just as satisfying as it needs to be.  This special is a very good outing for Charlie Brown; what he goes through can greatly resonate with anyone who’s had a crush on someone when they were young and even at an older age and they can see something worthwhile through the entertainment and the sympathy in all of Charlie Brown's attempts to talk to The Little Red-Haired Girl.  Even if you’re not really into love in general, I’d say that, at least for the Peanuts-style charm, it’s really worth your time.

Highly Recommended

 

Ranking

1)      A Charlie Brown Christmas

2)      It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown

3)      You’re in Love Charlie Brown

4)      Charlie Brown’s All-Stars

 

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next Peanuts special of this decade, "He's Your Dog Charlie Brown."