'Toon Reviews 8: Peanuts 1970s Specials Part 10

It’s Your First Kiss Charlie Brown

Some Peanuts specials are not as strong as others, but there are very few ones that are actually bad, in my opinion anyway.  Unfortunately, not only is this special bad, it’s probably the worst of all specials.  It takes the idea of Charlie Brown not being well-liked and known to always keep messing things up, and portrays it in the worst intelligence-insulting manner.  It has Charlie Brown learn that his crush, the Little Red-Haired Girl, is his school’s homecoming queen and he must escort her to the homecoming dance and give her a kiss.  It’s a nice setup and a good way for Charlie Brown to move forward with his love life.  Now, this special gives the Little Red-Haired Girl a physical appearance, which goes against her status as a symbol of a love interests we’re too timid to talk to.  Her not being shown when Charlie Brown saw her in the past was a creative way to get the idea across, but with her being shown, the idea isn’t shown much differently from how it would in any other show.  Now, if this was the only issue, the special would still turn out fine, especially since, in all honesty, it’s necessary for the Little Red-Haired Girl to be shown here since the plot requires Charlie Brown to physically interact with her.  The fact is, things get a lot worse when the focus turns to the homecoming football game which occurs before the dance.  It all boils down to the classic Peanuts trope of Lucy pulling away the football just as Charlie Brown’s about to kick it.  In normal instances, it would be a comedic highlight from the ways Lucy entices Charlie Brown, him buying into it, and the hilarious scream as he flies through the air after Lucy pulls the ball away.  Here, it’s just stupid for Lucy to pull that stunt when Charlie Brown runs for the kickoff because it's an actual game.  If the team wants to win, WHY would she think pulling the ball away is appropriate?  And that’s not the worst part.  Even though, we can clearly see that the only reason Charlie Brown misses the kickoffs is because Lucy keeps pulling away the ball, Charlie Brown gets all the blame.  That’s just unacceptable.  It’s one thing for people to acknowledge his faults and not their own, but this is blaming him for something that is OBVIOUSLY not his fault in the slightest.  We see that Lucy keeps pulling the football away in front of everyone in CROWDS.  How can they not see that SHE’S the reason Charlie Brown keeps messing up?  It’s like it’s a law that Charlie Brown is responsible for all problems no matter what, and an unfair law that blinds all from reality at that.  The real kicker comes in when we get to the dance, and Charlie Brown is chastised by the girls for coming to the dance after costing them the game.  They take the idea of Charlie Brown being completely at fault so seriously here, the special goes from a major nuisance, to a total disaster. I mean seriously, why do they never realize that their loss is ALL LUCY’S FAULT?!  Do they seriously hate Charlie Brown so much that they blame him for something someone else CLEARLY did?!  AAUGH!  Yes, after this we get a good scene of Charlie Brown successfully pulling off his kiss to the Little Red-Haired Girl complete with a very beautiful fantasy sequence of Charlie Brown flying through clouds.  Then, the happiness of the movie is quashed when Charlie Brown doesn’t remember this big moment the next day.  Linus does say something to get Charlie Brown to look on the bright side, but it isn’t too convincing.  Either way, the finish simply isn’t enough to forget the cruel, blind to reality tone that makes up the bulk of the special.  This is clearly Peanuts at its worst, and a sign that the specials would never be as good as before.  Not all the specials to come would be bad, but very few would come out as highly recommended, and considering how many highly recommended specials we got this decade and in the 1960s, it’s really a shame.  Good Grief.

Skip It

The Ranking

1. There’s No Time for Love Charlie Brown
2. It’s the Easter Beagle Charlie Brown
3. You’re Not Elected Charlie Brown
4. You’re a Good Sport Charlie Brown
5. A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving
6. Be My Valentine Charlie Brown
7. Play it Again Charlie Brown
8. It’s a Mystery Charlie Brown
9. It’s Arbor Day Charlie Brown
10. It’s Your First Kiss Charlie Brown

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next special where Snoopy, the most versatile dog in TV and comics, is forced to do the work of a normal dog in "What a Nightmare 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.

'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."