Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown (Remastered Deluxe Edition) (1975)
Peanuts DVDs
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"Peanuts" creator Charles Schulz retired from the cartoonist's
life early in 2000, and indeed left a few loose strings hanging
among his chronically dissatisfied characters. He never did, for
instance, cut Charlie Brown much slack in the romance department (or
let him kick Lucy's football, for that matter). Sympathetic readers
might have taken note of a story in the press just before Schulz
said farewell, in which the inspiration for Charlie Brown's
unrequited love interest--the never-seen, too-distant, "little
red-haired girl"--was identified as a woman who turned down a
marriage proposal from Schultz a half-century ago. That bit of
biographical detail now adds poignancy to Be My Valentine,
Charlie Brown, a 1975 television special built upon years of
Valentine's Day "Peanuts" strips. This half-hour show finds Charlie
Brown suffering, typically, the ignominy of receiving no
hearts-and-flowers greetings while the rest of the gang, including
Snoopy, spend their day sorting through piles of love notes. Worse,
Schulz's famous sad sack can't get up the nerve to approach his
unapproachable angel, though there may be--just may be--a
glimmer of hope this time around. It may be Valentine's Day, but not
much else is different in the "Peanuts" neighborhood. --Tom Keogh
