Charles M. Schulz passed away 17 years ago today, just after retiring from drawing his strip (and pulling the first of many "retirement+immediate death" career moves, setting the stage for Andy Rooney). Here are some clips to remember his work...
-Schulz jumped on the latest trend in 1983 with the special “Flashbeagle,” which has been derided in recent years but is actually pretty cute in retrospect. The soundtrack (impossibly rare) is pretty catchy, too.
-Snoopy’s favorite show-within-a-show is “The Bunny Wunnies.” Here, he enjoys it a little too much on a flight to England (en route to France) in “Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown.” I always wondered why they announce the other movie on the flight as “Naughty Marietta.” Sounds scandalous, and not appropriate for an audience on an airplane, which could include many kids. Note the Paramount logo (which was removed after the Peanuts gang moved to Warner Bros.).
-A very elaborate number, "Suppertime" is from the special "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown!" It’s catchy enough, but “hearing” Snoopy’s voice for the first(?) and only(?) time is incredibly jarring. I have since gotten used to it.
-This sequence from the under-rated Peanuts Thanksgiving special (1973), is based (I believe) on a newspaper strip. The whole segment (to the song "Little Birdie") always make the kids laugh.
-Snoopy’s alter-ego of Joe Cool is on display in this series of clips. The Joe Cool theme was finally released on CD a few years ago, complete with Vince Guaraldi’s great vocal.
-For years, I thought this arm-wrestling clip of Snoopy (the Masked Marvel) v. Lucy at summer camp was from "Race For Your Life, Charlie Brown!" Instead, it's from the Sept. 27, 1969 special, "It Was a Short Summer, Charlie Brown." Too bad that summer of 1969 couldn't have lasted a few decades longer.
-Here's something which, I believe, only ever aired once: the opening to the Wednesday night edition of the week-long special, "CBS: On the Air," celebrating 50 years of the CBS TV (and radio) network. This open starts with Dick Van Dyke and then gets wacky with Peanuts. The green screen effect is pretty well integrated for 1978 (Van Dyke remembered his training from "Mary Poppins," I guess).
#snl4kidz
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