Peanuts, Part 2

Today I will be wrapping up the non holiday shorts for Peanuts. While the two of these may not be as iconic as A Charlie Brown Christmas, or It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown they are still just as enjoyable.


He's Your Dog, Charlie Brown.

After one too many antics upset the other kids, Charlie Brown decides it's about time Snoopy was sent back to the farm for a refresher course in obedience. Snoopy, however has other plans as he decides to prolong his one night stay with Peppermint Patty and fantasizes he's a World War 1 flying ace on vacation in France. The kids eventually miss Snoopy and Charlie Brown tries to bring Snoopy home with little success until the dog realizes he'd rather be at home.


Charlie Brown's All-Stars.

With the arrival of the new season, Manager and Pitcher Charlie Brown hopes to make up for all of his past failures. Of course things go terrible and all of his teammates quit in favor of swimming and skateboarding. But when the local hardware store decides to sponsor the crew, the idea of real league uniforms lures them back. However, the league rules won't allow Snoopy and the girls to play in the organized league.


The latter of the two shorts stands out as my favorite despite the lack of Peppermint Patty. The loyalty Charlie Brown shows towards his team despite their poor treatment of him is rather sentimental. I also quite enjoyed how Schroeder put the girls (and Snoopy) in their place when it's revealed why Charlie Brown did not accept the uniforms.

However, that is not to say that He's Your Dog, Charlie Brown isn't inferior since it certainly is able to hold it's own and is quite enjoyable as well.

It Was A Short Summer, Charlie Brown

Originally created in 1950 as a comic strip, Peanuts centers around Charlie Brown and his friends. Charlie Brown, or "Chuck" as he's often called, is a kind child who just happens to be pretty unlucky in life. Often joining him is his imaginative pet Snoopy, and Linus his best friend who has a habit of always carrying around a blue blanket. Also part of the main group is Schroeder the fledgling pianist, Lucy who is well known for taking joy in Charlie Browns mistakes, Peppermint Patty the tomboy of the girls and Sally, Charlie's younger sister who has a crush on Linus. Rounding out the gang includes Violet who drives Charlie Brown crazy, Frieda who proudly wears curly hair and Pigpen who's arrival is generally announced by swirls of dirt and is much like his namesake.

The interesting thing to note about the Peanuts shorts is just how adult the kids often talk, using a vocabulary where even I at times have to look something up. As well, the world generally lacks visible adults. Rarely do we see any of the parents, and even then just partially. Perhaps the most recognizable is the teacher, Miss Halverson who is well known for her "wah-wah wah" manner of speaking.

Moving onto the review itself, the first of six shorts from the 1960's collection which contains the more iconic featurette's of the gang. While it will be some time until I get around to the Christmas and Halloween specials, for now I present "It Was A Short Summer, Charlie Brown"



Featurette: It Was A Short Summer, Charlie Brown
First Aired: September 27th 1969
Runtime: 25:16

We actually start on the opening day of school where after being caught playing Hangman, Linus and Charlie Brown earn the class a 500 Word essay on what they did during the summer. This is when we begin to backtrack to the events taking place months earlier through the point of view of Charlie Brown, Linus and Lucy.

As it turns out, some of the kids have plans for the summer which comes to a halt when Lucy signs them all up for summer camp, much to their dismay. What follows is a fun series of competitions between the boys and the girls, from softball to nature hikes the girls dominate the poor guys.

However, in the end the boys issue one last challenge. Wrist Wrestling. It comes down to Lucy versus the Masked Marvel, aka Snoopy who is described by Peppermint Patty as the only one on their team with any athletic ability. After a bit of back and forth between the two, and many crazed looks, Snoopy finally gets the upper-hand when he kisses Lucy which causes her to flail and announce that the Masked Marvel had fouled.


A rather enjoyable featurette, like all of the early Peanuts. Though it may lack the popularity of "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" or "A Charlie Brown Christmas" it still retains a feeling of nostalgia and charm. Despite the simple animation, and often changing number of campers per team, it's the simplicity that helps enhance an already charming and innocent world.