A Charlie Brown Valentine

Valentine’s Day has arrived again. For this occasion, I will look at two shorts that I just finished watching. The first is going to be “Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown,” released in 1975.

While Charlie Brown (Duncan Watson) is waiting anxiously by his mailbox, Snoopy (Bill Melendez) puts on a puppet show and Linus (Stephen Shea) buys a box of chocolates for his teacher. Seeing Linus leave the store, Sally (Lynn Mortensen) thinks that the chocolates are meant for her, and works with Charlie Brown to make the right valentine in return.

When Valentine’s Day finally arrives, every kid has to cope with disastrous expectations. The little red-haired girl ignores Charlie Brown along with everyone else, and Linus’ teacher drives home with her boyfriend before he can give her the box of chocolates. However, Charlie Brown’s friends bring him a belated card, giving him back every hope about how many valentines he might get the next year.

“Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown” follows the same path as “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown,” but in this film Charlie Brown and Sally share Linus’ raised hopes for the holiday. Even small children can understand Charlie Brown’s disappointment when he doesn’t receive a single valentine and most adults and understand Linus’ hopeless crush on someone who doesn’t even notice him with his big box of chocolates. Michelle Erica Green said in her review, “Cynical asides about the commercialism of the holiday don't detract from the common desire to feel loved on Valentine's Day.”

This simple, traditional cartoon includes a humorous “pawpet show” by Snoopy (Bill Melendez) where Lucy (Melanie Kohn) gets covered in mud. Peanuts traditions like Lucy’s psychiatric advice and football coaching are especially not there. Yet the famous Peanuts composer Vince Guaraldi’s piano score includes bits and pieces from Bach and Beethoven to improve the active mood.

Green mentioned, “Five and eight year olds laughed aloud at Snoopy's puppetry and the valentine stuck to his nose by Woodstock. Kids charmed by doggie romance also appreciate Disney's LADY AND THE TRAMP. RUGRATS: I THINK I LIKE YOU has a similar storyline about a boy who doesn't have a valentine.”

Now that I have finally looked at that, it’s time to look at the second Peanuts short, “A Charlie Brown Valentine,” released in 2002.

The spirit of Charles M. Schulz and his beloved “Peanuts” characters are alive and well in this special, the first original TV special since Schulz’s passing the previous year. Collected from more than 18,000 daily comic strips written by Schulz, “A Charlie Brown Valentine” uses the same formula and production team that made Snoopy and the kids one and the same with major holidays.

Laura Fries stated in her review, “ABC, which bought the rights to the “Peanuts” franchise from CBS, plans to air more of these all-new specials in addition to the classics. Although CBS was blasted for letting go of Charlie Brown after 35 years, the Alphabet has recently been accused of manhandling the “Peanuts” legacy by airing “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” and “A Charlie Brown Christmas” amid formidable competition or in forgettable time periods. “A Charlie Brown Valentine” marks the first step toward redemption by giving it a holiday primetime premiere.”

Fries goes on to say, “A better timeslot means Charlie Brown gets humiliated on a larger scale with Valentine’s Day eliciting more disappointment for the guy with the big round head.” Charlie Brown (Wesley Singerman) is in love with the little red-haired girl and hopes to be her valentine. However, when Charlie Brown finally gets enough confidence to call her, he accidentally calls Marcie (Jessica D. Stone) and starts a friendly fight between her and her friend Peppermint Patty (Emily Lalande).

Meanwhile, Snoopy (Bill Melendez) is typing up Valentine’s Day love notes for the Peanuts gang, but his poems, which includes lines like “Roses are red, chocolate is brown,” leaves room for a lot of improvement.

Several themes remain an ongoing in the “Peanuts” realm, the most persistent being unanswered love. The second is problem-solving, which is achieved through farsighted wisdom informed by elementary school kids.

Fries is right when she says, “Although the same animation team is behind this production, the colors don’t look as rich and the backgrounds don’t appear as detailed as in previous specials. David Benoit’s rendering of the now-famous Vince Guaraldi tune is a case where more would be better. As is, the music is a bit watered-down.” Schulz still gets the writing credit, but the script is updated with modern vernacular like “Hold it right there, dude,” which is a shock of realism in the timeless universe of Charlie Brown.

Even though this is nitpicking, it’s still looks right for Valentine’s Day. The voice talent is obviously new, but for the most part, manages to keep the honesty of the characters in one piece. One that is evidently missing however, are Woodstock, Violet, Frieda and the kid who does the cool zombie dance in the Christmas special.

Still, director Bill Melendez continues to give dependable family entertainment, if not anything new and innovative. In the “Peanuts” realm, psychiatric help is only a nickel. Charlie Brown never gets any respect and Lucy (Lauren Schaffel) can’t win the heart of Schroeder (Christopher Ryan Johnson). That’s just some of the repetition that should remain intact.

Whenever Valentine’s Day comes around every year, you should definitely see these two Peanuts specials. They are going to give you some very good entertainment and you will be laughing from first minute to last.

As always, I will be saying Happy Single Awareness Day. Hopefully everyone who is single will be aware and happy of it, because I sure am. Check in tomorrow for my yearly President’s Day movie review.