Professor Popinjay's Compendium of Perspicacity

A Non-Review by Professor Popinjay

Today’s Non-Review encompasses the following animated features: *deep breath*

• A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)
• Charlie Brown’s All-Stars (1966)
• It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966)
• You’re in Love, Charlie Brown (1967)
• He’s Your Dog, Charlie Brown (1968)
• A Boy Named Charlie Brown (1969)
• It was a Short Summer, Charlie Brown (1969)
• Play it Again, Charlie Brown (1971)
• Snoopy, Come Home (1972)
• You’re Not Elected, Charlie Brown (1972)
• There’s No Time for Love, Charlie Brown (1973)
• A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (1973)
• It’s a Mystery, Charlie Brown (1974)
• It’s the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown (1974)
• Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown (1975)
• You’re a Good Sport, Charlie Brown (1975)
• It’s Arbor Day, Charlie Brown (1976)
• Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown (1977)
• It’s Your First Kiss, Charlie Brown (1977)
• Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (and Don’t Come Back!!) (1980)
• What a Nightmare, Charlie Brown! (1978)
• You’re the Greatest, Charlie Brown (1979)
• She’s a Good Skate, Charlie Brown (1980)
• Life Is a Circus, Charlie Brown (1980)
• It’s Magic, Charlie Brown (1981)
• Someday You’ll Find Her, Charlie Brown (1981)
• A Charlie Brown Celebration (1982)
• Is This Goodbye, Charlie Brown? (1983)
• It’s an Adventure, Charlie Brown (1983)
• What Have We Learned, Charlie Brown? (1983)
• It’s Flashbeagle, Charlie Brown (1984)
• Snoopy’s Getting Married, Charlie Brown (1985)
• You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown (1985)
• Happy New Year, Charlie Brown! (1986)
• Snoopy: The Musical (1988)
• It’s the Girl in the Red Truck, Charlie Brown (1988)
• Why, Charlie Brown, Why? (1990)
• Snoopy’s Reunion (1991)
• It’s Spring Training, Charlie Brown (1992)
• It’s Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown (1992)
• You’re in the Super Bowl, Charlie Brown (1994)
• It Was My Best Birthday Ever, Charlie Brown (1997)
• It’s the Pied Piper, Charlie Brown (2000)
• A Charlie Brown Valentine (2002)
• Charlie Brown’s Christmas Tales (2002)
• Lucy Must Be Traded, Charlie Brown (2003)
• I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown (2003)
• He’s a Bully, Charlie Brown (2006)
• Happiness Is a Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown (2011)
• The Peanuts Movie (2015)

Right off the bat, I want to say, this article bears no reflection on the Peanuts comic strip. My incessant rambling is solely in reference to the features and short films.

I know I have to tread carefully here because Charlie Brown has become an institution. People swear by Charlie Brown and anyone who says boo about him is ostracized from society. I know I just went on a dogmatic elitist tirade singing the praises of Weird Al’s UHF but that was trying to be humor. I’ve seen actual friendships break up because of differences of opinion regarding Charlie Brown. Okay, that was also hyperbole but seriously, I’ve known people who have decided anyone who dislikes Charlie Brown must be missing some important character trait.

I get it… at least with the first Christmas feature “A Charlie Brown Christmas”. Slow can be good sometimes. One might call it stately. You could compare it to the steady march of Ravel’s Bolero. It takes its time and the payoff is worth the wait. It was reverent and accessible for kids. It had a message but wasn’t jamming it down your throat. The now iconic jazzy piano was tacked on and merely decorative, not actually accentuating key moments like a regular musical score but somehow it worked! I totally get it! I understand why CBS aired this special annually for 35 years straight.

It irritates me how down on himself Charlie Brown can be and I feel like it gives kids an unhealthy language to articulate and compound insecurities into full-fledged anxiety but it’s a charming film nevertheless.

After the unexpected success of the first animated feature, the network wanted more of course (because money) so Bill Melendez started cranking these out on a conveyor belt. Most of them followed the exact same formula. Slowly executed storylines. Dialogue performed by children. Tacked on Jazz music (that was sometimes inappropriately frantic). Many of these later installments feel like a half-assed cash-in for holidays that no one has even heard of or cares about. There’s a feature based on Arbor Day for crying out loud!

I feel like the formula doesn’t work when it’s not pertaining to something as reverent as Christmas. I don’t want to watch a dry plodding non-story about Arbor Day. No one does. I honestly believe anyone who gets huffy when someone poo-poos these later installments is going completely off their nostalgia for the first.

Fair is fair though, Snoopy is always adorable and his segments never disappoint. Could he have stood on his own without being juxtaposed to Charlie Brown’s depressed meanderings? Personally, I think so.

Eventually we get to “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown”. This is an animated version of the musical play that was making its rounds. I found this one genuinely enjoyable! It felt like a great deal of effort went into it. The songs were great. The voice acting is decent. I was pleasantly surprised! I still hated the verbal abuse that Charlie gets. If he’s a good man, why is he “the face of failure” as Lucy puts it at the beginning of this. Is he a good man or a punching bag for the other characters? After the first segment of verbal abuse however, this gets away from that and into fun songs and decent humor.

I was almost in a production of “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown” in high-school. I had auditioned and was trying for the part of Schroeder or Snoopy. The part of Schroeder was given to a young man who had seniority and frankly, fit the part perfectly even in my own opinion.

I eventually learned the decision of who would play Snoopy would be decided by the director’s daughter and the other actor vying for the role was already a personal favorite of hers. I didn’t have a chance. I’m a failure. Look up failure in the dictionary and there will be a picture of me. I don’t know why I even try. Why would I ever think I could be an actor? Me! A failure! Acting? ARRRRGH! GOOD GRIEF!!!

Isn’t that fun? I love it when people mope. Such an enjoyable thing to watch.

After “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown” it’s back to the soulless assembly line garbage again.

“What Have We Learned, Charlie Brown: A Tribute” was a particularly dreary trek through the history of the Allied invasion of Normandy. It was reverent as always. I wouldn’t expect such a thing to be counted as entertainment. It was definitely educational in an expository way. It certainly was telling more than showing. I couldn’t wait for it to end.

Finally we get to 2015’s The Peanuts Movie. It was friggin’ great! I know, it makes zero sense to me too! It’s like it was directed by someone who knew what made Charlie Brown great and burned away the chaff! I found Charlie Completely likable in this. The humor was great! The plot was interesting. This wasn’t a stately reverent plod. It was fast paced, funny, and had heart.

My wife at the time basically forced me to take the kids to this because she “jUsT LoVeD!” Charlie Brown. I wanted to hate this so bad but I couldn’t. It’s good.

Not sure why they parodied 2001: A Space Odyssey for The Peanuts Movie’s  promotional ads. Seems like a different kind of audience would be aware of what that even is. Personally I think everyone should watch 2001: A Space Odyssey so they can get everything that references it all the time. Yeah, it’s very slow and the music is tacked on but the only bald kid in that was a space baby who totally doesn’t seem down on himself at all.

I love that Charles Schultz eventually responded favorably to requests to include a black character in Franklin Armstrong and even defended his inclusion by threatening to quit producing the comic. Bravo, sir!

A 2023 series was released which focused on Franklin. It was directed by cartoonist Robb Armstrong (Namesake to Franklin’s surname, retroactively applied to Franklin by Schultz in the 90’s). I’ve not seen it but, I confess, I’m interested. And hopeful. I’m betting this is a welcome addition to the Peanuts franchise even the harshest critics like myself will appreciate. I’ll let you know.