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A Boy Named Charlie Brown
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Wikipedia article
{{Infobox film
| name = A Boy Named Charlie Brown
| image = ABoyNamedCharlieBrown.jpg
| alt = The baseball team has a conversation on the pitcher's mound on the top of the poster; on the bottom, the group sits in Hollywood set chairs; the title and credits are set in the middle.
| caption = Theatrical release poster
| director = Bill Melendez
| producer = Lee Mendelson
| writer = Charles M. Schulz
| starring =
| music =
| editing =
| production_companies =
| distributor = National General Pictures
| released =
| runtime = 79 minutes
| country = United States
| language = English
| budget = $1.1 million
| gross =
}}
'A Boy Named Charlie Brown' is a 1969 American animated musical comedy-drama film, produced by Cinema Center Films, distributed by National General Pictures, and directed by Bill Melendez. It is the first feature film based on the 'Peanuts' comic strip. The film was well-received and a box-office success, grossing $12 million. Another 'Peanuts' film, 'Snoopy Come Home' was released in 1972. The film was Peter Robbins' final feature film role before his death in January 2022.
Plot
When Charlie Brown's baseball team loses the first Little League game of the season, he becomes convinced that he will not win anything. On the way to school one day, Lucy jokingly suggests that Charlie Brown enter the school spelling bee. However, Linus considers it a good idea and encourages him despite the jeers of Lucy, Violet, and Patty.
Charlie Brown nervously enters the spelling bee and defeats the other children in his class. As Charlie Brown studies for the school championship, he and Linus sing a spelling mnemonic ("I Before E") as Snoopy accompanies them on a Jew's harp. In class the next day, Charlie Brown freezes when challenged with 'perceive', but he recovers when Snoopy plays the song's accompaniment outside the school. Crowned champion, the other kids cheerfully follow him home and sing ("Champion Charlie Brown"). Lucy proclaims herself his agent, and when his friends suggest that he continue studying, he is confused. They tell him that he must now take part in the National Spelling Bee in New York City, and he is again filled with self-doubt. As Charlie Brown leaves, Linus reluctantly offers him his blanket for good luck, and the other kids cheer for him.
Back at home, Linus suffers terrible withdrawal after being separated from his blanket. Unable to withstand it, he pleads with Snoopy to go to New York City and help him recover it. The two meet with an exhausted Charlie Brown at his hotel room, but does not know where he left Linus' blanket. After searching outside of the hotel, The two return to Charlie Brown, only to find him absentmindedly using the blanket as a shoe-shine cloth. Linus joins Snoopy in the audience as Charlie Brown competes; the other children watch the contest at home on television. One-by-one, the other contestants are eliminated until only Charlie Brown and one other boy remain. However, after correctly spelling several words, Charlie Brown is eliminated when he accidentally misspells 'beagle', the type of dog Snoopy happens to be, as BEAGEL, much to his and everyone else's frustration, and Lucy (who is equally ashamed that Charlie Brown is eliminated).
Depressed, Charlie Brown returns home, along with Linus and Snoopy. the next day, Linus visits Charlie Brown. Who has been in his bed all day and refuses to see or talk to anybody. Linus tells Charlie Brown that the other kids missed him at school and that his baseball team finally got their first win of the season, but Charlie Brown says he will never return to school or do anything again. As Linus leaves, he now points out that the world did not end despite Charlie Brown's failure. Charlie Brown thinks for a moment, gets dressed, and goes outside. He sees the other children playing, and when he spots Lucy as she plays with a football which is the same one he failed to kick earlier, he sneaks up behind her to kick it. She pulls it away and welcomes him home.
Cast
* Peter Robbins as Charlie Brown
* Pamelyn Ferdin as Lucy van Pelt
* Glenn Gilger as Linus van Pelt
* Andy Pforsich as Schroeder
* Sally Dryer as Patty
* Bill Melendez as Snoopy
* Anne Altieri as Violet
* Erin Sullivan as Sally Brown
* Lynda Mendelson as Frieda
* Christopher DeFaria as Pig-Pen
* David Carey as 2nd boy
* Guy Pforsich as 3rd boy
Shermy appears in this film but doesn't have a speaking role. Peppermint Patty and 5 also appear in silent roles.
Production
Development
The film was partly based on a series of 'Peanuts' comic strips originally published in newspapers in February 1966. That story had a much different ending: Charlie Brown was eliminated in his class spelling bee right away for misspelling the word 'maze' ("MAYS" while thinking of baseball legend Willie Mays), thus confirming Violet's prediction that he would make a fool of himself. Charlie Brown then screams at his teacher in frustration, causing him to be sent to the principal's office (A few gags from that storyline, however, were also used in 'You're in Love, Charlie Brown').Music
'A Boy Named Charlie Brown' also included several original songs, some of which boasted vocals for the first time: "Failure Face", "I Before E" and "Champion Charlie Brown" (Before this film, musical pieces in Peanuts specials were primarily instrumental, except for a few traditional songs in 'A Charlie Brown Christmas'.) Rod McKuen wrote and sang the title song. He also wrote "Failure Face" and "Champion Charlie Brown".
The instrumental tracks interspersed throughout the movie were composed by Vince Guaraldi and arranged by John Scott Trotter (who also wrote "I Before E"). The music consisted mostly of uptempo jazz tunes that had been heard since some of the earliest 'Peanuts' television specials aired back in 1965; however, for 'A Boy Named Charlie Brown', they were given a more "theatrical" treatment, with lusher horn-filled arrangements. Instrumental tracks used in the film included "Skating" (first heard in 'A Charlie Brown Christmas') and "Baseball Theme" (first heard in 'Charlie Brown's All-Stars'). When discussing the augmentation of Guaraldi's established jazz scores with additional musicians, Lee Mendelson commented, "It wasnt that we thought Vince's jazz couldn't carry the movie, but we wanted to supplement it with some 'big screen music.' We focused on Vince for the smaller, more intimate Charlie Brown scenes; for the larger moments, we turned to Trotter's richer, full-score sound."Bang, Derrick. [http://www.kritzerland.com/KR_Charlie_Brown_Notes.pdf Liner notes for 'A Boy Named Charlie Brown: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack' (2017); Kritzerland, Inc.] Retrieved 7 May 2020 Guaraldi's services were passed over entirely for the second 'Peanuts' feature film, 'Snoopy Come Home', with Mendelson turning to longtime Disney composers, the Sherman Brothers, to compose the music score.
The segment during the "Skating" sequence was choreographed by American figure skater Skippy Baxter. A segment during the middle of the film, in which Schroeder plays the entire 2nd Movement of Beethovens 'Sonata Pathtique' was performed by Ingolf Dahl. Dahl also performs the excerpts of the 1st and 3rd movements which appear in the movie and are also played by Schroeder. Only the 3rd Movement (Rondo: Allegro) can be found on 'A Boy Named Charlie Brown: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack' and only as a shortened bonus track.
The film also features a Jew's harp, which Snoopy plays to help Charlie with his spelling.
Vince Guaraldi's songs were mostly from other specials and included (in addition to Skating and Charlie Brown's All Stars) Blue Charlie Brown, Good Grief, Snoopy Surfing and Linus And Lucy (several renditions are featured, including 2 slowed down renditions, one in minor key, featured while Linus was looking for his blanket and of course, the traditional rendition when Linus finally finds his blanket). Guaraldi also plays a rendition of Champion Charlie Brown in the opening credits on the piano.
The French-language version replaces Rod McKuen's vocals with a French version sung by Serge Gainsbourg, "".
A soundtrack album with dialogue from the film was released on the Columbia Masterworks label in 1970 titled 'A Boy Named Charlie Brown: Selections from the Film Soundtrack'. The first all-music version of the soundtrack was released on CD by Kritzerland Records as a limited issue of 1,000 copies in 2017, titled 'A Boy Named Charlie Brown: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack'.[http://www.kritzerland.com/boy_charlie_brown.htm 'A Boy Named Charlie Brown: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack' at kritzerland.com]
Art design
'A Boy Named Charlie Brown', while directed and produced by the same team of Bill Melendez and Lee Mendelson, who were responsible for all the Peanuts television specials (Phil Roman directed later TV specials starting around the mid-1970s), has many different aspects that most of the specials did not explore in a visual sense. The film itself has moments where there is rotoscoping prevalent, as in the sequence when Snoopy skates, and bleached-out silhouettes of real hockey players are visible behind him. Some backgrounds have a pop art feel, similar to much animation of the late 1960s, as in "The Star-Spangled Banner" sequence, where the images are purposely chaotically edited, or the sequence where Schroeder plays Beethoven on his piano, which effects a surrealistic quality similar to Disney's 'Fantasia'.There also seems to be a strong Andy Warhol influence, wherein actual photographs appear to have been painted over in semi day-glo psychedelic colors (this is particularly evident during the film's closing credits). Melendez, who had previously worked with Bob Clampett on cartoons back in the 1940s, also uses garish colors in some sequences, which takes its cues from many Clampett backgrounds, particularly a Warner Bros. cartoon called 'The Big Snooze' which was directed by Clampett and which Melendez had also worked on. Many backgrounds are also rendered in watercolor, or simple pen strokes, or fine lines, or sometimes all three at once. There are scenes where colors will change solidly and erratically, as witnessed by the Snoopy "Red Baron" sequence in the film. Perspective and horizon points are showcased in the "I Before E" scene. Split screen is also used to much effect in 'A Boy Named Charlie Brown', as well. But even with all these theatrical enhancements, at its core, the film still has the look and feel of many of the Peanuts television specials.
Reception
The movie premiered at the Radio City Music Hall in New York City, only the third animated feature to play there after 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs' (1937) and 'Bambi' (1942).
The film was well received by critics and holds a 95% rating at Rotten Tomatoes based on 22 reviews, with an average rating of 7.50/10.
'Time' praised its use of "subtle, understated colors" and its scrupulous fidelity to the source material, calling it a message film that "should not be missed." 'The New York Times' Vincent Canby wrote: "A practically perfect screen equivalent to the quiet joys to be found in almost any of Charles M. Schulz's Peanuts comic strips. I do have some reservations about the film, but it's difficultperhaps impossibleto be anything except benign towards a G-rated, animated movie that manages to include references to St. Stephen, Thomas Eakins, Harpers Ferry, baseball, contemporary morality (as it relates to Charlie Brown's use of his 'bean ball'), conservation and kite flying. "
The movie was a huge success at the box office, earning $12 million."November 2015 Box Office Forecast", 5 November 2015, p. 3.[http://www.boxofficeprophets.com/column/index.cfm?columnID=17946&cmin=10&columnpage=3 Boxofficeprophets.com] In its first week at Radio City Music Hall, it grossed $230,000, including a record $60,123 on Saturday, December 6. In its second week, it grossed $290,000 which made it number one in the United States.
A 1971 Associated Press story argued the success of 'A Boy Named Charlie Brown' "broke the Disney monopoly" on animated feature films that had existed since the 1937 release of 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'. "The success of 'Peanuts' started a trend", animation producer Fred Calvert told the AP, "but I hope the industry is not misled into thinking that animation is the only thing. You need to have a solid story and good characters, too. Audiences are no longer fascinated by the fact that Mickey Mouse can spit."
Awards and nominations
The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song Score, but lost to The Beatles' 'Let It Be'.Home media
'A Boy Named Charlie Brown' was first released on VHS and Betamax in July 1983 through CBS/Fox Video, before seeing another VHS, Betamax, and LaserDisc release in 1984, then several more in 1985, September 26, 1991, February 20, 1992, and 1995 by CBS Home Entertainment through 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, and May 29, 2001 through Paramount Home Entertainment, before making its Region 1 DVD debut in the original 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen aspect ratio on March 28, 2006, by Paramount Home Entertainment/CBS Home Entertainment (co-producer Cinema Center Films was owned by CBS). The DVD has more than six minutes of footage not seen since the 1969 test screening and premiere. The footage consists of new scenes completely excised from earlier home video releases (VHS, CED Laserdisc, Japanese DVD) and TV prints most notably, a scene of Lucy's infamous "pulling-away-the-football" trick after her slide presentation of Charlie Brown's faults (and her instant replay thereof), as well as extending existing scenes. The film was released on Blu-ray on September 6, 2016, along with 'Snoopy Come Home', however, unlike the DVD releases, both films are presented in an open-matte 4:3 ratio.[https://www.amazon.com/dp/B013Y6L5RI/ref=cm_sw_su_dp Amazon.com] The film earned $6 million in rentals."Big Rental Films of 1970", 'Variety', 6 January 1971, p. 11.[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0064107/business 'A Boy Named Charlie Brown' (1969) Box office / business]
See also
* 'Peanuts' filmography
* 'Snoopy, Come Home'
* 'Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown'
* 'Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (And Don't Come Back!)'
References
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