Peanuts - A Boy Named Charlie Brown (1969)
Peanuts DVDs
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Things get off to a bumpy start. First, Charlie fails to make
anything profound out of the cloud formations above, just a "ducky"
and a "horsy." (But that's always been one of his best qualities--he
calls them as he sees them.) Then he has a disastrous kite
experience, followed by further humiliation on the baseball field
(with its dandelion-covered pitching mound). Just when it seems as
if things couldn't get much worse--they don't. Charlie finds
something he's good at. Lucy, Violet, and the rest of the Peanuts
gang doubt that his spelling bee winning streak can possibly last,
but Charlie proves them all wrong and makes it to the national
championships in New York City. His best pal, Linus, and
free-spirited pooch, Snoopy, arrive shortly afterwards and provide
their support. Granted, this rare, full-length feature film ends
just as it began, with one more small humiliation, but it's
Charlie's achievement that leaves the bigger impression. There are
even a few lessons to be learned, but the tone is never preachy or
condescending. Along the way, there are numerous pleasures to enjoy:
Vince Guaraldi's classic Oscar-nominated score (featuring lyrics by
Rod McKuen), the brightly hued, clean-lined animation (which
occasionally erupts into impressionist and pop art flights of
fancy), Schroeder's lovely rendition of Beethoven's Pathetique
Sonata, Snoopy's ice-skating escapade at Rockefeller Plaza, and
Linus's Fred Astaire-inspired dance with his long lost blanket.
--Kathleen C. Fennessy
